Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
After reviewing more than 1,700 amendments, the House yesterday voted, 149-9, to pass a fiscal 2027 spending plan totaling $63.4 billion.
In addition to highlighting economic uncertainties for the coming fiscal year, and the potential impact of November ballot questions, the three-day debate included commentary on the needs of cities and towns and the Commonwealth’s residents.
House leaders emphasized the spending plan’s local aid investments, particularly increases to key education accounts, such as an increase in minimum new aid under Chapter 70 to $160 per student.
The budget bill approved by the House does not include language that was proposed by the governor to significantly change the collection process for delinquent municipal revenues including motor vehicle excise taxes and parking tickets.
The Division of Local Services has updated Cherry Sheet estimates for each city, town and school district based on the House’s budget bill.
The state budget now moves to the Senate for consideration, with the Senate Ways and Means Committee scheduled to release a draft budget proposal on May 5.
The MMA will continue to strongly advocate for additional local resources as the budget moves through the legislative process.
Local accounts
The House budget proposal for fiscal 2027 includes the following key components important to municipal governments:
UGGA: The budget includes $1.33 billion for Unrestricted General Government Aid, a $10 million increase over fiscal 2026.
Chapter 70: The bill has $7.66 billion for Chapter 70 education aid, funding the sixth and final year of the 2019 Student Opportunity Act funding schedule. The $296.5 million increase over fiscal 2026 would boost per-pupil support for minimum aid districts from the statutorily obligated $30 per student up to $160 per student.
Special Education Circuit Breaker: The House bill proposes $653.4 million for the Special Education Circuit Breaker program. This amount is intended to be paired with additional funding that has been proposed in a fiscal 2026 Fair Share supplemental budget that is currently under review by a House-Senate conference committee. Both the House and Senate versions of the supplemental budget bill include the additional funds in order to satisfy the state’s funding obligation for this important program.
Charter schools: The House bill would fund the charter school reimbursement account at $200.4 million, intended to meet the state’s statutory obligation to mitigate Chapter 70 losses to charter schools. This is a slight increase over fiscal 2026.
Rural school aid: The House bill would fund rural school aid at $10 million for eligible towns and regional school districts — $2 million less than in fiscal 2026. The proposal would maintain current eligibility requirements, amending the governor’s proposal to expand eligible entities. Additional funding for rural school aid is also under consideration in the fiscal 2026 Fair Share supplemental budget.
Vocational transportation: The House bill would provide $112.3 million for regional school transportation and $6.8 million for out-of-district vocational transportation, for a total of $119.1 million. According to the administration, this would represent 87% of anticipated eligible regional school transportation costs and 100% of eligible non-resident vocational school transportation costs.
McKinney-Vento: Reimbursements for the transportation of homeless students would be funded at $35.2 million to support districts in meeting their federal mandate. This represents 58.2% of anticipated claims for fiscal 2027.
PILOT: Payments in lieu of taxes would be funded at $55.4 million, an increase of 1.6% over fiscal 2026, which is intended to hold communities harmless from updated valuation changes.
English learners reserve: The House bill would provide $10 million to offset reductions in state education aid due to unexpected reductions in English language learners.
Universal school meals: The House bill includes $198 million to continue the universal school meals program, allowing all Massachusetts students to eat for free at school, regardless of household income.
Green School Works: The Green School Works grant program would be funded at $5 million. Additional funding is under consideration in the fiscal 2026 Fair Share supplemental budget.
Policy sections
The House budget bill includes several outside sections, including the following that are noteworthy for municipalities:
Disaster Relief and Resiliency Fund: Section 66 would direct $14 million of any consolidated net surplus for fiscal 2027 to the Disaster Relief and Resiliency Fund.
Local-option COLA for long-term retirees: Section 27 would allow optional cost-of-living adjustments for long-term retirees in local and regional retirement boards. This section would require local acceptance, as defined by a municipality’s form of government and the structure of the retirement system.
Special education transportation costs reporting: Sections 31-32 would require school districts to include detailed cost components in solicitation documents and annual reporting on special education out-of-district transportation costs. Vendors would be required to provide detailed cost components during the procurement process.
Special education transportation contract database: Section 33 would require the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to create and maintain a database of procurement and contract documents for all special education out-of-district transportation.
Special education transportation marketplace study: Section 51 would require DESE, along with the Operational Services Division, Department of Public Utilities, and Registry of Motor Vehicles, to study special education school transportation to identify solutions to address the lack of competition in the marketplace.