Mass. House passes FY27 budget, invests in programs that support families across the Commonwealth

On April 29, 2026, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget. Funded at $63.41 billion, this budget responds to the needs of residents, provides record support for the Commonwealth’s cities and towns and among many critical investments, includes significant funding for education, transportation, health care, housing and workforce development.

“As a result of the Trump Administration’s sweeping federal funding cuts and reckless trade war, as well as two proposed ballot questions that seek to cut the Commonwealth’s revenues by more than $5 billion annually, this budget has come during a period of significant economic uncertainty. That’s why I’m incredibly proud of the investments that this budget makes despite those challenges, from funding for free school meals and for the final year of the Student Opportunity Act, to robust support for the MBTA, to nearly $10 billion for cities and towns across the Commonwealth,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “I want to thank Chairman Michlewitz and the Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means for all their work this budget cycle, as well as all my colleagues in the House for working to ensure that this budget delivers for every community across Massachusetts.”

“I’m proud to support a budget that delivers real results for our communities, from record local aid for our cities and towns to critical investments in transportation, education, and public safety,” said State Representative Jessica Ann Giannino (D-Revere). “For communities like Revere and Saugus, this means stronger schools, more reliable transit, and continued support for working families. Even in a time of economic uncertainty, we are making responsible choices that prioritize people, protect essential services, and ensure our municipalities have the resources they need to succeed. I’m grateful to Speaker Mariano and Chair Michlewitz for their leadership in advancing a budget that delivers for every corner of the Commonwealth.”

“I am proud to have supported the House budget for FY27. This budget includes important investments in Revere and Winthrop but also unprecedented investments in our transportation and education systems in the Commonwealth. This budget is fiscally sound and keeps the Commonwealth in a strong position to address uncertain economic times ahead,” said State Representative Jeffrey Rosario Turco (D-Winthrop).

Due to responsible fiscal management, the House’s FY27 budget is balanced and makes significant investments across several issue areas, without needing to include new taxes or tax increases. The House budget also strengthens the Stabilization Fund, which is set to reach $8.39 billion, reinforcing the state’s bond rating to keep borrowing costs down and save taxpayer money — while protecting the Commonwealth’s long-term fiscal health.

 

Fair Share investments

This budget includes $2.7 billion in investments for transportation and education initiatives supported through funding generated by the Fair Share ballot initiative that voters approved in November of 2022, which established a surtax of four percent on annual income above $1 million. The education and transportation investments:

 

Education

Student Opportunity Act Expansion — $550,586,435

Child Care Grants to Providers — $365,000,000

Universal School Meals — $198,000,000

Free Community College — $127,048,000

DCF and DTA Related Child Care — $119,446,796

Income Eligible Child Care — $114,718,769

Financial Aid Expansion — $85,000,000

School Transportation Reimbursements — $62,000,000

Minimum Per Pupil Aid — $52,200,000

State University SUCCESS grants— $18,000,000

Community College SUCCESS — $18,000,000

Targeted Scholarships — $10,000,000

Green School Works — $5,000,000

TOTAL — $1,725,000,000

 

Transportation

Mass Transportation Trust Fund — $220,168,000

MBTA — $470,000,000

Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) — $184,832,000

Health and Human Services Transportation — $100,000,000

TOTAL — $975,000,000

 

Local aid and education

The FY27 House budget delivers nearly $10 billion in aid to cities and towns across the Commonwealth, representing a $477 million (M) increase over the FY26 budget. The budget funds Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) at $1.33 billion and Chapter 70 education funding at $7.65 billion. The budget also funds the final year of a six-year implementation plan for the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), which was enacted in 2019 to modernize the state’s school funding formula to better support districts and expand resources for students, particularly those with the greatest needs. The budget increases the minimum aid total to $160 per pupil. Additionally, the budget includes the following education initiatives: SPED Circuit Breaker funded at $805.4M, supporting 100 percent projected reimbursement entitlement; $10M for school districts that have experienced unexpected enrollment reductions in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students; $57.1M for Regional School Transportation and $62M to fund Non-Resident Vocational and Regional Transportation.

Additionally, this budget reforms out-of-district school transportation based on the legislatively mandated review by the Inspector General (IG). The FY27 budget implements the recommendations issued by the IG by:

• Requiring DESE to maintain an electronic database for procurement and contract documents, establish best practices for districts and study the special education school marketplace to identify areas to improve transparency and ensure open and fair competition
• Requiring school districts to provide detailed cost components from vendors for DESE analysis of cost trends

 

Public transportation

This budget includes $470M for the MBTA, including $40M for the MBTA Academy. This budget continues to support water transportation and income-eligible reduced fares. The budget includes $217. 5M for the 15 Massachusetts RTAs. This investment includes $94M for general state contract assistance; $66M for additional state contract assistance to support expanded service hours, weekend services, and route expansions; $35M to continue fare-free fixed routes and ADA-compliant service across all RTAs; $10M for projects that improve connections between different RTAs and between RTAs and the MBTA; $8.5M to support RTAs in delivering enhanced service and workforce initiatives; $4M for the Community Transit Grant Program, which expands mobility options for older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income residents.

 

Early education and care

Continuing the House’s longstanding commitment towards investing in the early education and care (EEC) workforce, this budget includes $157.2M more than in FY26 to sustain recent rate increases and other historic investments in child care access and affordability. This investment is in addition to the Fair Share supplemental budget that was recently passed by the House, which included $38.7M to reduce the income-eligible waitlist, $8M for child care providers and $7.5M for an EEC educator loan forgiveness program. Other early education and care investments in this budget:

• $598.6M for child care for children involved with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA); also allows for expanded access to families involved in the Emergency Assistance (EA) Shelter System
• $623.6M for child care for low-income families
• $475M for Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants
• $20M for Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
• $20M for Head Start
• $7.5M for an EEC Educator Scholarship Program

 

Public higher education

This budget allocates $866.5M for the UMass system, $419.8M for community colleges and $407.9M for state universities. Other higher education investments include $176.7M for scholarship funding, $18M for the Community College SUCCESS program, $18M for the State University SUCCESS program, $10M for the UMass SUCCESS program, $15M for Early College, $12.9M for Dual Enrollment.

 

Health and human services

This budget includes $22.41 billion for MassHealth and invests in primary care rates and behavioral health. It extends the Health Connector’s ConnectorCare Pilot program, which offers lower premiums, no deductibles and reduced copays, until the end of 2027. As of January 1, 2026, residents with incomes of only up to 400% of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) were eligible because of the expiration of the ACA tax credits. The Pilot Program included in this budget extends coverage to those with an income of up to 500% of the FPL.

This budget invests in the human services workforce by including $175M for Chapter 257 rates for health and human service workers and $132M for rate increases for nursing facilities. This budget also extends the Personal Care Attendant Program working group and mandates that any additional cuts to the program can only occur with the agreement of the working group. It also funds the following initiatives:

• $5.6M for the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety
• Maintains $16 per elder formula grant and $2.2M for Service Incentive Grants for Councils on Aging
• Permits MassHealth to set coverage limits of $1,750 per year on dental services provided to MassHealth members and Health Safety Net patients, in alignment with caps on Group Insurance Commission (GIC) members. This would save the state $35M annually.

This budget ensures greater access to HIV-prevention medications, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). It prohibits cost sharing and prior authorizations, improves access for incarcerated individuals in the Commonwealth consistent with 1115 waivers and requires insurers to accept prescriptions from any licensed health care provider.

To alleviate the cost of living, this budget makes investments to lower food costs and ensure access to our most vulnerable populations. It includes $60M for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, $20M for the Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) to provide a dollar-for-dollar match to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients purchasing locally grown healthy food and $11M for the SNAP for Low-Income Workers program, increasing the benefit to $35 per eligible family.

 

Public health and mental health

This budget funds the Department of Public Health (DPH) at $1.16 billion and the Department of Mental Health (DMH) at $1.32 billion for FY27. Investments include:

• $184.1M for the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS)
• $35M for HIV/AIDS Treatment and Preservation
• $11.1M for a Gun and Violence Prevention Program
• $10.1M for Community Health Centers, including $4M for the Gender Affirming Care program
• $4M to address safety, health and quality of life at the “Mass & Cass” area of Boston
• $679.7M for Adult Mental Health Supports
• $136.7M for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
• $3M for the DMH Loan Forgiveness Program

 

Affordable and accessible housing

This budget maintains the House’s commitment to protecting renters and homeowners across the Commonwealth from eviction and homelessness by investing in the following programs: $115M for programs for homeless individuals; $10M for shelter workforce assistance; $281.3M for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP); $210M for the Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program; $82.3M for HomeBASE; $8M for a new Winter Beds program; $3M to the Access to Counsel program, which provides legal representation for low-income families in eviction proceedings. This budget includes $258.6M for the EA Shelter System, which accounts for $17.1M in savings because of a decreased shelter portfolio and several savings initiatives. The budget also expands protections for children in the shelter system by requiring any child under the age of three to be referred for an Early Intervention evaluation and assessment.

 

Workforce development and economic development

The FY27 House budget funds the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development at $112.8M and the Executive Office of Economic Development at $123.9M. Additionally, it invests in the following workforce development initiatives:

• $58.4M for Adult Basic Education Services
• $20.4M for DTA Employment and Training Services
• $17.4M for Summer Jobs for At-Risk Youth
• $10M for the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund
• $8.9M for Career Technical Institutes
• $7.9M for One-Stop Career Centers
• $6.5M for School-to-Career Connecting Activities
• $3.3M for a Registered Apprenticeship Expansion
• $3.1M for Career and Technical Education Grants
• $1.5M for first-time homebuyer counseling and best lending practices
• $1M for Social Enterprise Grants, a new workforce development program

This budget requires 7.5 percent of sports wagering revenue to be deposited into the Sports and Entertainment Events Fund, which was created in 2025 to provide competitive matching grants for major sports or entertainment events in the Commonwealth. Based on recommendations issued by the COLA working group that was established in the FY25 budget, the FY27 House budget establishes a funding process to trigger cost-of-living adjustments for retirees in the State Employees’ and Teachers’ Retirement Systems and provides an opt-in for local retirement systems.

 

Energy and Environmental Affairs

The House budget includes $477.1M for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, continuing investments in conservation and sustainable development while keeping the Commonwealth on track to meet its climate goals. This investment includes $153.3M for the Department of Conservation & Recreation; $81.1M for the Department of Environmental Protection; $71.4M for the Department of Agricultural Resources; $63.4M for the Clean Water Trust and a $10M transfer to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

 

Criminal justice

The budget annualizes the second phase of increases to Committee For Public Counsel (CPCS) raises for private bar advocates and the hiring of more staff attorneys. The budget also increases the minimum salary of Assistant District Attorneys to $76,000 a year.

The House budget includes $812.1M for the state’s sheriff offices, which is a $52.6M increase. The budget takes the first step in an ongoing process toward eliminating funding deficiencies by adopting reforms that were outlined in the IG’s preliminary recommendations. To better track cost drivers, the budget separates out funding for costs that have been identified as reasons for the deficiencies: operations, payroll, no cost calls, and medication-assisted treatment. Other criminal justice investments: $33.7M for the Office of Community Corrections; $16.1M for Community-Based Reentry Services; $6.9M for Emerging Adults Pre-and-Post Release Reentry Grants; $52M for Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp. to provide legal services to the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable populations; $7M for the Immigration Legal Assistance Fund for nonviolent offenders.