By Chris Lisinski
The Joint Ways and Means Committee Tuesday heard please from the public as it wrapped up its review of Gov. Maura T. Healey’s $62 billion budget plan for the year that begins July 1.
Rep. Kip A. Diggs and Sen. Pavel M. Payano, who represents Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill, chaired the more than five hours of public comments, during which more than 150 people were signed up to testify, comes at a time budget writers are building a fiscal 2026 proposal that takes into account economic volatility, uncertainty about federal supports and funding demands from myriad special interest groups.
Programs like the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, which distributes produce to community food providers, are at risk of losing $3.5 million in federal funding for food purchasing, along with cuts to other federal nutrition programs that critics say will put “unprecedented strain” on people.
With food pantry use up 80% between 2020 and 2023, Kate Adams, senior public policy manager at the Greater Boston Food Bank, requested $55.5 million in support for the food assistance program in the state budget, a roughly $10 million increase over last fiscal year.
“We measured on a monthly basis how many individuals are coming to our network of 600 community food providers, and that number is 600,000 every month,” Adams said. “That is the same as it’s been since the peak of the pandemic.”
Adams said that while a funding plug more like $100 million would fill the gap, there are several budget requests from other food security organizations at play in addition to hers.
Western Massachusetts Sen. Jo Comerford referred to “blow after blow” of federal funding actions impacting local farm-to-school and farm-to-food bank programs, which she said increase the funding gap even further.
“I just think it’s important for us to understand that $10 million seems like a lot, however, it is not sufficient,” Comerford said. “It wasn’t sufficient before the federal cuts, and now that the federal government is rolling back food security support…it is woefully insufficient.”
Insufficiencies are plaguing other sectors—including the Massachusetts parole system, according to Dean Lucia, a field parole officer of six years. Lucia spoke Tuesday in his capacity as a researcher about the Massachusetts Parole Board, “critical under staffing, inadequate training, infrastructure and system limitations that compromise parole officers’ ability to conduct safe and effective supervision.”
Speaking to his doctoral capstone, which involved interviews with parole professionals across eight states, Lucia said Massachusetts parole officers “carry out a unique, embarrassing workload.”
“They are responsible, not just for supervision, but also mentoring, case management, crisis response and whether acknowledged by policy makers or not, law enforcement duties. When parole officers are stretched thin, the ability to deliver quality, individualized supervision drastically declines,” Lucia continued.
Lucia’s sentiments added to a conversation among advocates and officers about how to reform an overburdened Parole Board.
The Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is another overburdened system, according to advocates speaking on behalf of the hard–of-hearing community. The agency is the only group providing screening and certifications for American Sign Language interpreters. Advocates say the agency is in desperate need of an update to its referral system, and asked for $2 million of budget funding so the agency fills requests in a timely, high-quality manner, “fix functionality and streamline the referral process.”
Another million-dollar ask came from the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, a statewide support service that aids families and communities impacted by homicides with support, case management and healing services.
CEO Clementina Chéry founded the service when her son died by homicide; several lawmakers, including Boston Sen. Liz Miranda and South End Rep. John Moran spoke Tuesday during Chéry’s testimony about how much the Peace Institute helped them respond when losing family and community members to homicide.