The fiscal year 2024 budget has been signed by Governor Maura Healey into law! This year’s budget includes several important wins for a sustainable, equitable, resilient food system. The Food Security Infrastructure Grant program is funded for the first time in the annual budget at $25 million, signaling a strong commitment from the Governor and […]
read more…The Massachusetts Senate completed its budget debate in May, making some significant investments in food system needs. These include $1,000,000 for food literacy, $250,000 to continue the grant program for local food policy councils, and $1,020,000 for healthy soils. The Senate budget also increases administrative budgets for the departments of Agricultural Resources and Public Health, […]
read more…More than 1,000 amendments have been filed to the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means draft budget. Senators now have a week to review and consider these amendments before debating and voting on a final budget the week of May 22. Senators may choose to cosponsor as many amendments as they wish, to show […]
read more…The House Committee on Ways and Means released its FY24 budget draft and the full House of Representatives debated and passed its proposed budget at the end of April. While the debate ultimately failed to yield any new support for food system priorities, the original draft included some significant investments thanks to years of work […]
read more…More than 1,500 amendments have been filed to the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means draft budget (H3900). Representatives now have a week to review and consider these amendments before debating and voting on a final budget the week of April 24. Representatives may choose to cosponsor as many amendments as they wish, to […]
read more…The state budget process begins in earnest in April, with the release of the House Committee on Ways and Means draft proposal on April 12. This will lay out the Committee’s priorities for every dollar the state will spend in fiscal year 2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024). Large, statewide items like HIP […]
read more…The following 16 food literacy experts have helped to guide the campaign for food literacy by providing input on policy priorities, participating in events, and contributing to outreach efforts.
read more…NOTE: this is an archived page of legislative activity from 2021-22. For current legislative activity, click here. The Massachusetts legislature is considering many bills in the 2021-22 session that relate to recommendations made in the 2015 Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan and the 2020 Perspectives on Resilience and Recovery report. This list includes bills that […]
read more…The following organizations support the Collaborative’s campaign to expand food system education in K – 12 schools in Massachusetts. Follow these links to learn more about the campaign and read the policy ask. To sign your organization on to the campaign, please click here. For more information, please reach out to Rebecca Miller at [email protected]
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The legislature’s formal session for 2021-22 wrapped up on July 31, and while there still may be some movement on bills during the informal session things will be relatively quiet on Beacon Hill until the new legislature is seated in January, as attention turns to campaigns. The biggest news of the past few months was […]
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