Senate committee’s supplemental budget includes $100M for winter relief

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means today filed a revised version of a fiscal 2026 supplemental budget bill with funding for a number of local programs, including $100 million to help municipalities with costs due to the stormy winter.

The Senate bill (S. 3041) proposes $391 million to support cities and towns, including the following:
• $232 million for special education costs, including circuit breaker reimbursements to local school districts, of which $32 million would be used to increase reimbursement rates in fiscal 2026

• $100 million to address winter infrastructure damage in cities and towns, as well as snow and ice removal deficits, with $80 million distributed based on road miles and $20 million allocated to communities that experienced extraordinary costs due to extreme weather

• $25 million to incentivize regionalization and shared services in smaller school districts

• $15 million for a literacy launch initiative

• $8 million for rural school aid, with $4 million in fiscal 2026 and $4 million set aside for fiscal 2027

• $7 million for maintenance of unpaved roads

• $2.5 million for school-based mental health support and wraparound services in public school districts

• $1 million for districts implementing bell-to-bell cell-phone-free policies in public schools

• $1 million for municipal grants for the purchase of truck safety devices

“After such an impactful winter, we’re very grateful for the proposed $100 million for various winter relief funding in this bill,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “Special thanks to Senate President Karen Spilka, Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues, and the Senate Ways and Means Committee for this strong proposal and its strategic investments in our communities.”

In total, the Senate bill would allocate $1.3 billion in Fair Share surtax revenue from fiscal 2025 and $491 million in general fund investments. The surtax investments include $753 million to support transportation initiatives and $591 million for education programs.

The Senate bill is a revised version of legislation passed by the House on March 18, which combined key elements of three bills previously filed by the governor.

Both the House bill and Senate committee proposal aim to address several deficiencies across state government, program surplus surtax revenues from fiscal 2025, and adjust tax policies to soften revenue impacts anticipated from the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3), which was enacted last July.

The OB3 creates several implications for Massachusetts’ services and revenues, including an estimated loss of at least $440 million in state revenues over fiscal 2026 and 2027 — unless state policy changes are made.

The Senate bill does not include a House-proposed provision that would be tied to the outcome of a potential ballot measure to lower the state income tax rate from 5% to 4%. The House proposed that, if the referendum were to pass, the state would permanently decouple the tax code changes from federal tax policies in order to mitigate an estimated $5 billion revenue loss.

The Senate committee bill would also address multiple state deficiencies, including $300 million for the Group Insurance Commission to offset unexpected cost increases.

Senators are expected to file amendments over the next several days, and are set to debate and vote on the bill on April 9.