Latest news with #JoanneM.Comerford
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In new budget, Mass. Senate Democrats to propose $25M for healthy food program
Bay State families struggling with their food bills could get some extra help if a western Massachusetts lawmaker has anything to say about it. The budget plan that majority-Senate Democrats are expected to unveil Tuesday will fully fund the state's Healthy Incentives Program, which allows qualifying people to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables from participating farmers. The language, backed by Sen. Joanne M. Comerford, D-Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester, would provide some $25 million in funding for the new fiscal year that starts July 1, up from the current $15 million. 'It really speaks to this critical moment,' Comerford, of Northampton, said of shifting federal winds that affected social services programs across government. The 'HIP' program, as it's known in legislative shorthand, traces its roots to 2017. It is intended as an adjunct to the federal government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sometimes referred to as 'food stamps.' With that federal program potentially on the chopping block on Capitol Hill, Comerford and her allies exclusively told MassLive that the expanded state support is even more critical. 'It is urgent and timely and necessary,' Comerford, the vice chairperson of the budget-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee, said. If it's finally approved, the additional money would also restore the maximum benefit under the program to $80 a month for a family of six or more. Right now, that benefit is flat-funded at $20, irrespective of the size of the household. The state was forced to trim support for the program after huge demand, which meant that an initial round of funding that was supposed to last three years was exhausted in 10 months, Rebecca Miller, the policy director for the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative, said. The advocacy group has been pressing the case for full funding for months, arguing that it provides a critical lifeline to hungry families and the farms that serve them. 'It's been devastating for farmers,' she said. 'A lot of farmers grew products to serve folks [in the program],' she said. 'Anecdotally, we've heard about people going to food pantries and having less options. Seniors have had to rely on other sources for food.' At the same time, 'we've seen a lot of chaos from the federal government,' as it's cut other programs that support access to fresh fruits and vegetables, including one that allowed schools to buy farm-fresh foods. That, too, rolled downhill on farmers. 'A lot of folks are scrambling, trying to figure out what they are going to do,' she said. If the new Senate language is approved, the infusion of additional taxpayer cash means families can buy 'tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, apples, strawberries and blueberries,' from local growers to augment the food they purchase through SNAP, Comerford said. And that also matters because every county in Massachusetts experienced some degree of food insecurity in 2023, according to the Greater Boston Food Bank. All told, that came out to 1.9 million adults, or 34% of the state's total population. In Bristol, Hampden and Suffolk counties, 45% of adults reported food insecurity in 2023, data show. The number is even higher among families with children, with 1 in 3 households with children statewide reporting food insecurity in 2023, the same data shows. The issue is particularly pressing in western Massachusetts, where the prevalence of child-level food insecurity hit 43% in 2023, data show. As a practical matter, that means a child went hungry, skipped a meal, or didn't eat for an entire day because there wasn't enough money for food. It also comes as families in Massachusetts and nationwide continue to contend with high prices on supermarket shelves, while the Trump administration says it's working to bring them down. 'Food insecurity is real. It's happening to people all over the state,' Nicole McKinstry, of McKinstry Farms, which participates in the program, told MassLive. McKinstry told MassLive that she's seen families with children come into her shop on Montgomery Street and heard them turn down their kids' pleas for strawberries and raspberries because they need to buy such longer-lasting produce as potatoes. 'It's hard for them to understand why they can't get those fresh fruits and vegetables,' she said. McKinstry said she's had to make financial adjustments, trimming staff to account for that reduced state funding. The program also helps her through the leaner winter months when there's not as much fresh produce at hand. While the Senate plan that's expected to be unveiled on Tuesday is one voice in the annual budget derby, it is far from the final one. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey included $18.8 million for the program in the $62 billion spending bill she filed earlier this year. The $61.4 billion budget proposal approved by the majority-Democrat state House last week sets aside $20 million for the program. That means the final amount, like nearly everything else surrounding the state's final budget, will have to be ironed out in closed-door talks that could stretch well into early summer. Comerford, the veteran of more than a few budget battles, is hoping for the best. 'It has been a win-win kind of program,' she said. More political news Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding for the T could derail Mass. budget debate. Here's how
Good Monday morning, everyone. Just as straphangers on the MBTA's Red Line thought they were done with a month's worth of delays and dreaded 'shuttle trains,' it looks like a debate over funding for the T could snag the debate over this year's state budget. How, you ask? Excellent question. The short answer: As is so often the case, the House and Senate, both controlled by Democrats, have very different visions for how to spend roughly $1.3 billion in 'Millionaire's Tax' revenue, which funds transportation and education programs. Now, an argument over how to spend $1.3 billion is, as problems go, a nice one to have. But it could throw debate over the state's annual spending blueprint (which has a price tag of around $61 billion to $62 billion) into a slow zone that only a Red Line rider could fully appreciate. A proposal advanced by Senate Democrats would steer $370 million in Millionaire's Tax revenue to the MBTA. That's far less than the $793 million that a plan backed by House Democrats would send to the T. Read More: So are millionaires really fleeing Mass.? A new report says they're staying — and paying All told, the $1.28 billion supplemental budget that Senate Democrats rolled out last week would set aside $613 million for education and $670 million for transportation and infrastructure, Senate leadership said in an email. The House's version, meanwhile, channels $353 million to education programs and $828 million to transportation and infrastructure spending, State House News Service reported. As a refresher, voters approved the levy, formally known as 'The Fair Share Amendment,' as a statewide referendum in 2022. It hits anyone making over $1 million a year with an extra 4% income tax levy. Read More: Mass. 'Millionaire's Tax' is a year old. Where it's helped, hurt | Analysis The more even split in the Senate plan appears to reflect concerns by lawmakers from outside the I-495 corridor that the perennially cash-strapped and maintenance-challenged T was benefiting at the expense of regional transit agencies elsewhere in the state. 'It is always our goal, but we do not count down to the pennies, to try to equally invest the money in both education and transportation,' Senate Ways & Means Committee Chairperson Rodrigues, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, told reporters last week, according to State House News Service. State Sen. Joanne M. Comerford, the Senate panel's vice chairperson, said the money will come in particularly handy with federal funding in ... ahhh ... flux. 'My constituents in western Massachusetts canvassed, advocated, and then voted overwhelmingly to pass the Fair Share Amendment,' Comerford, D-Hampshire/Franklin/Worcester, said in a statement. 'It is especially heartening now, amid blistering federal spending cuts, to have funds to invest equitably in education and transportation in the commonwealth.' On the other side of the State House, House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said last month that the lower chamber's big spend on transportation reflects its goal of 'ensuring that every Massachusetts resident has access to a safe and reliable public transportation system.' House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Aaron Michlewitz, D-3rd Suffolk, offered a similar sentiment, observing that the Millioniare's Tax cash is a 'unique opportunity for us to better strength[en] the commonwealth.' The debate over how to spend the windfall from the state's super-wealthy (again, a nice problem to have) will take place alongside the debate over the general fund budget for the new fiscal year that starts July 1, according to published reports. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has already filed her $62 billion version of the spending blueprint. The House proposes a smidge less at $61.4 billion. The Senate is expected to unveil its budget proposal this week. As a matter of law and practice, the state is supposed to have a new budget in place by 12:01 a.m. on July 1. As a matter of actual practice, they've overshot the deadline for years. And it looks like this year may be no different. Rodriques, balancing optimism against hard-fought experience, said lawmakers will try for an on-time budget this year, State House News Service reported. 'It's always our goal, yes,' he said. Some big numbers last week for a pair of pols looking to defeat entrenched incumbents. For Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft, that big number was 3,000. That's how many signatures the first-time pol needed to collect to be certified to appear on this fall's ballot. After a day of canvassing in neighborhoods across the city on Thursday, Kraft said his camp more than doubled up, collecting 6,500 signatures for the fall ballot. 'I am grateful to our team of volunteers that collected 6,500 signatures ... as it shows the strong support and momentum for my candidacy and our campaign,' Kraft, who's challenging incumbent mayor Michelle Wu, said in a statement. Wu's campaign said Friday that it's so far turned in more than 6,700 signatures from residents in every neighborhood in the city. 'We're thrilled by the outpouring of support from residents across every neighborhood of Boston. It's a reflection of the momentum behind Mayor Wu's leadership and focus on making Boston a home for everyone,' a spokesperson told MassLive. For Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike Kennealy, it was $130,000 (and some change). That's how much the former Baker administration official said he raised in the first three weeks of his campaign for the Corner Office. The GOP hopeful added that he's already committed to spending $2 million of his own money in his bid to unseat Healey, who said in February, that she's running for a second term. Healey was sitting on nearly $2.9 million in her campaign account as of late last week, state filings showed. The top Democrat in the state Senate, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, has confirmed that she plans to seek reelection in 2026, according to NBC-10 in Boston, which snagged the scooplet last week, as part of a broader conversation with the MetroWest lawmaker. 'The thing about the economy is that when people get uncertain, they stop buying things, and if they're a business, they stop hiring people. And then those decisions start becoming self-fulfilling, right? Then you start to tip into a recession because consumers stop buying, some businesses stop being able to sell [things], [and] some businesses stop hiring. And then, because they stop hiring, people get nervous ... And this is how you start to spiral down.' U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District, fresh off meetings with constituents, business leaders, financiers and others, sums up their mood on President Donald Trump's economic policies. 'It's what they deserve': Trump will move to strip Harvard's tax-exempt status Mass. Rep. Auchincloss on how Harvard can 'Punch the bully in the nose' | John L. Micek 17 'crucial' AmeriCorps programs in Mass. on the chopping block amid DOGE cuts Mass. Gov. Healey: Trump's fight with Harvard isn't about protecting student safety How a Mass. group is fighting Trump cutting assistance for legal green card holders Boston Mayor Wu leads Josh Kraft in new poll, but pressure points arise Do you know a Massachusetts Republican who's done something particularly noteworthy or helped to make their corner of creation a better place? If so, the Massachusetts Republican Party wants to hear from you. Nominations are officially open for the 2025 Lincoln-Reagan Award, which, as the name suggests, honors the legacy of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. 'Do you know a standout Republican who has made a powerful impact in your community or across our state?' the state party said in an email. 'It could be an elected official who's led with integrity, a grassroots warrior who never backs down, or an activist whose passion has inspired the next generation. Whether they're in the trenches or behind the scenes, we want to hear about them,' the party continued. This year's event takes place on Thursday, May 29, at the Lenox Hotel in Boston. Organizers promise more details to come on that score. You can submit your suggestions right here. You saw her in 'Wicked' and you loved her. So now's your chance to catch actor/singer Cynthia Erivo in Massachusetts. She takes the stage at Symphony Hall in Boston on May 8 (tickets and more information here). From 2021, before mega-stardom, here's the very lovely 'Alive.' Okay, so granted, this is happening across the pond in the United Kingdom. And it's got a bit of the nanny state about it. But if you've ever spent time on public transportation and found yourself forced to listen to the chaotic symphony that is speakerphones turned to full blast, then you might understand the appeal. From GQ's UK edition: If there was any platform on which the Lib Dems could sweep into power, it's this: the party have proposed a ban on playing music and videos out loud on public transport. Any 'headphone dodgers' (their phrase) who don't comply would be fined a maximum of £1,000. You or I could probably think of far worse punishments we wish would befall those who share the audio of their TikTok algorithm or their favourite Diary of a CEO episode with an entire train or tube carriage. Crush their phones under the wheels of said train or tube? Revive the medieval stocks for repeat offenders? There probably isn't a single political policy more popular in Britain than a pitiless clampdown on all this: a YouGov poll last year found that 86% of British adults 'consider using speakerphones in shared environments inappropriate'. The piece does raise the very real issue of enforcement. And it asserts, sensibly, that sometimes, it's as simple as asking someone to turn down the volume. Best of luck if you try this one on your own. Let me know how it goes. That's it for today. As always, tips, comments and questions can be sent to jmicek@ Have a good week, friends. Mass. Rep. Auchincloss on how Harvard can 'Punch the bully in the nose' | John L. Micek Trump at 100 Days: In Mass., protests, pushback and all the lawsuits | John L. Micek Mass. gave the U.S. its Constitution. Why it matters more than ever| Bay State Briefing Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. Read the original article on MassLive. 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