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On April 15th, the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee released its fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. State reps introduced 1737 amendments to the proposal for new policy proposals and increased funding for various state agencies and programs. Over three days of debate, the amendments were packaged into consolidated amendments based on topic, and passed. Many amendments supporting the local food system were proposed, including an amendment for another round of local FPC grants by Rep. Sabadosa, FRESH grants and food literacy by Rep. Duffy, an increase to MDAR’s administrative budget by Rep. Saunders, for a state-funded LFPA program by Rep. Sabadosa, and for an increase to DTA’s caseworker line item by Rep. LeBoeuf and others. Unfortunately, none of these amendments were adopted. An amendment to establish a school meals nutrition standards advisory council, introduced by Rep. Vargas, was adopted.

House Ways and Means proposed $20M in new funding and a commitment to carry forward $9M on unspent funds for the Healthy Incentives Program, similar to the Governor’s proposal of $29.7M in H.2. The Collaborative thanks the House for their leadership, especially HWM Chair Michlewitz for mentioning HIP once again in his remarks to open debate. Please thank House leadership, and your own state rep, for voting for full funding for HIP! We look forward to the Senate process in May. 

See our updated budget table below.

On Wednesday April 15, 2026 the House Committee on Ways and Means released its fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. The budget includes a number of important food system programs; $198 million for universal school meals, $29 million for the Healthy Incentives Program, another infusion of $14 million in the Disaster Relief and Resiliency Fund, $60 million for MEFAP, and more. We appreciate House leadership’s support for HIP, and a climate resilient local food system. The proposal also contains proposed cuts to the MDAR and DTA agency budgets, which we are concerned about.

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 five amendments. Please use this template to reach out to your representative and ask them to cosponsor the below amendments.

#308. Food Literacy, $1,000,000, Rep. Duffy. This funding will allow DESE to make another round of FRESH grants, continue to support district wellness coaching, and develop a Harvest of the Month curriculum resource.

#350. Local Food Policy Council Grant Program, $250,000, Rep. Sabadosa. This amendment will fund a fourth round of this grant program, which helps local councils increase food security and build a more connected food system in their communities.

#795. Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources budget, $10,377,866, Rep. Saunders. This amendment will increase the MDAR agency allocation by $188,000. The agency has seen increasing responsibilities in the last few years, including the implementation of the Farmland Action Plan and the establishment of the Food Security Division.

#351 Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program, $7,000,000. Rep. Sabadosa. This amendment will establish a state-funded LFPA. This program was federally funded and cut by the federal Administration in spring 2025. State support would continue the momentum from this program, especially important in a time when food insecurity is rising.

#899. DTA Caseworker funding, $147,699,832, Rep. Lebouef. This amendment will raise the amount in the DTA caseworker line item by $26 million to level funding compared to the Governor’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal. SNAP recipients need to reach DTA staff so they can continue to receive SNAP. Without SNAP, folks lose access to HIP!

These five amendments total $27 million and represent 0.04% of the House’s proposed $63.3 billion budget.

On April 15th, the Senate passed S.3050, the Mass Ready Act, also known as the environmental bond bill. The EBB is a once every 5 year bill (the last was passed in 2018). Bond bills authorize funding amounts for the state to fund capital grant programs. The EBB was first introduced by the Governor in July 2025, and it was heard by the Committees on Environment and Natural Resources and Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets before being referred to Senate Ways and Means in January 2026.

The bond bill as released from Senate Ways and Means mirrors the Administration’s proposal with some additions:

• $125M authorization for the Food Security Infrastructure Grant program
• $7.5M authorization for the Massachusetts Food Trust Program – NEW
• $26M authorization for CSAP, FVEP, urban agriculture, compost, food safety, Farmland Plan implementation, plus a commitment to carry forward $26.3M of unspent funds from the 2018 environmental bond bill
• $42M authorization for APR, plus a commitment to carry forward $18M of unspent funds from the 2018 environmental bond bill
• $5.5M authorization for a Healthy soils Program under EEA’s general land acquisition line item – NEW
• $20M authorization to promote and support the growth and economic competitiveness of the commonwealth’s agricultural, commercial fishing and
  cranberry-growing sectors – NEW
• An outside section (4) that will unlock the milk producers security fund, allowing MDAR to better serve more dairy farmers.
• An outside section (5 and 6) that adds UMass Extension and the Division of Marine Fisheries to the Massachusetts Food Policy Council.
• An outside section (21 and 22) that grants MDAR a right of first refusal, positioned behind a municipality’s, on agricultural land protected under Chapter 61A when it comes up for sale. This is a critical step toward slowing the rate of farmland loss.
• An outside section (45 and 46) that modernizes animal commercial feed regulations.
• An outside section (69) that requires DEP to write a report on the organics waste ban by December 31, 2027 and include recommended legislative
  changes or resources necessary to increase the rate at which food and organic waste is composted. NEW
  
• An outside section (70) that establishes a port development commission, including the seafood industry. NEW
• An outside section (72) that establishes a commission to study revenue sources for wastewater treatment plants on the Southcoast in response to nitrogen pollution affecting water quality and shellfish producers. This is a priority of the new Aquaculture Policy Coalition. NEW

During debate, amendments relating to the food system that were adopted include:

• An amendment that creates a ban on rodenticides
• An amendment that creates a drought management task force, including the MDAR Commissioner.

Amendments that were not adopted that the Collaborative supported:

• An amendment sponsored by Senator Comerford to create a working capital loan program, to be administered by MDAR in partnership with a CDFI or similarly qualified institution.
• An amendment sponsored by Senator Comerford to ban the land application of sludge and create a PFAS Relief Fund for farmers, capitalized with $50 million.
• An amendment sponsored by Senator Gomez to authorize $5 million for the urban agriculture grant program.
• An amendment sponsored by Senator Lovely to capitalize MDAR’s new Buy-Protect-Sell authority with $10 million.

The bond must now be debated and passed by the House, any differences must be worked out by a conference committee, and it will then be sent to the Governor for her signature. Bond authorizations are then drawn down into capital budgets (or capital improvement plans), which are set by the Governor’s Administration on an annual or 2 year basis. Stay tuned for future action alerts!