April 18, 2025
More than 1,600 amendments have been filed with the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means draft FY26 budget (H.4000). Representatives now have one week to review and consider these amendments before debating and voting on a final budget starts on April 28th.
Representatives may choose to cosponsor as many amendments as they wish to show support for efforts that serve their communities. Your representatives need to hear from you about the items that are most important to you and your neighbors, so please take this opportunity to review the amendments in this email as well as others, and contact your Representatives by April 25th to let them know your priorities.
Join the Collaborative at 10 am on April 23rd, 2025 to call your Representatives in support of these amendments! Please register for the zoom link here. If you can’t make the meeting, you can use this template to reach out to your representative and ask them to cosponsor these amendments.
Dozens of the filed amendments relate to Massachusetts’ food system, proposing investments in local programs and projects, as well as in statewide efforts. The Collaborative has prioritized four amendments:
#20. Healthy Incentives Program Funding, $25,000,000, Rep. Kane. This funding will reverse the cut that occurred in December 2024 to the monthly benefit caps, and fully fund HIP all year long.
#765. Food Literacy, $1,000,000, Reps. Vargas and Duffy. This funding will support DESE in expanding opportunities for students to learn about nutrition, culinary skills, and other food system issues via another round of FRESH grants and district wellness policy development and implementation coaching.
#1035. Local Food Policy Council Grant Program, $250,000, Rep. Sabadosa. This amendment will fund a third round of this grant program, which helps local councils increase food security and build a more connected food system in their communities.
#1207. MDAR agency line item, $11,227,101, Rep. Blais. This amendment will increase the MDAR agency allocation by $250,000.
These four amendments represent a significant boost to our food security, local economy, climate resilience, and the growth of a sustainable, equitable, resilient food system.
Below is a table of food system budget items under discussion in the House. We urge stakeholders to contact legislators in support of these items, as well as any amendments supporting local earmarks in your communities.
For more information about how to support these asks, see these organizations:
