During the week of May 19, the Senate debated its version of the FY26 budget. Senate members filed over 1,000 amendments to the Senate Ways and Means proposal. The Arc of Massachusetts worked with legislators and advocacy partners to prioritize the following six amendments:
- Language to ensure that the states does not roll back any human service wage rates.
- While our advocacy in the House focused on increasing chapter 257 wages, given how challenging this budget year is, we pivoted in the Senate to hold the line and protect wages. We look forward to continuing to advocate for increases in future budget years.
- Funding for Operation House Call
- Nicky’s Law expansion
- Increased funding for Turning 22 programs
- Funding for mobile crisis training
- Increased funding for DDS Community Day & Employment programs
Thank you to the nearly 500 people who completed our action alerts to help build support among Senate members for these amendments! And thank you to all amendment sponsors for their work and commitment.
One of our amendments was successful. We secured $75,000 to ensure that mobile crisis teams have the tools to respond to individuals with autism and IDD who are in crisis. Currently, individuals with autism and their families are not accessing mobile crisis services when needed because the teams are not trained to respond appropriately to their unique needs. This is especially true for folks with profound autism or those with autism and mental health conditions. Thank you to amendment sponsor Sen. Keenan, Senate Ways & Means Chair Rodrigues, and Senate President Spilka for supporting this amendment.
While our other amendment priorities were not accepted, two other critical amendments were included that support our current work at The Arc.
The Arc’s CEO Maura Sullivan has been appointed by the Governor and legislature to serve on the working groups for Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital and PCA program sustainability.
- $31 million was earmarked for the Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, allowing them to continue operations, after the Governor’s budget called for closing the facility. Thank you to Senators Fernandes and Feeney for their work on this.
- The Senate budget also includes a 5% increase for the PCA program for FY26. Neither the House nor Senate budgets included the Governor’s proposed limit on PCA spending.
We knew that this year’s budget would be tight. State revenue concerns coupled with federal uncertainty leave the state in a challenging situation. We appreciate that the legislature is prioritizing protecting the most vulnerable communities, and we will continue working to ensure that those with intellectual and developmental disabilities are supported.
There is one major step left in the budget process. The final House budget and the final Senate budget will now go to a Conference Committee. Made up of members from both chambers and both political parties, the Conference Committee will negotiate and agree on a final version, which will then be sent to the Governor.
We will be advocating throughout this part of the process to ensure that our priorities, including Operation House Call, mobile crisis training, Pappas and PCA amendments remain in the final version. Please stay tuned and stay engaged.
