FY23 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET
Image features the Massachusetts State House. Background is decorative.
BOSTON (12/5/23) - On Monday, December 4, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law a $3.1 billion supplemental budget. The House and Senate finished their final negotiations and voted on the budget before beginning a seven-week holiday recess of informal sessions. The House adopted the compromise bill on a 105-14 vote, while the Senate agreed to the compromise with a 20-3 vote. Governor Healey signed the final package from the House and Senate the same afternoon.
The supplemental budget includes the following investments:
$250 million for shelter funding, with $50 million earmarked for waitlist shelters and $75 million for school districts to support additional student enrollments related to the emergency housing assistance program.
More than $2 billion for MassHealth
$100 million transfer to the state’s unfunded Pension Liability Fund
$75 million for special education costs in school districts
Funding to fulfill state employee raises.
The supplemental budget also sets next year’s statewide primary election date as September 3, 2024. The bill's signing will allow the state comptroller to start closing the financial books for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2023.
ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET READING
Recent developments at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) are deeply troubling as hundreds of grants for local projects have been cancelled, and massive staff reductions raise serious doubtsthat the agency can meet its statutory mandates.
We need advocates to ask Congress to sustain and protect both funding and staffing for the National Endowment for the Arts.
On Friday, May 2, 2025, the National Endowment for the Arts sent notices to recipients cancelling or withdrawing previously awarded grants. The Connecticut Arts Alliance, Cultural Alliance of Maine, and MASSCreative are working in partnership to collect data to help our elected officials and the general public understand the impact these cuts will have on communities in New England.
If you received a letter withdrawing or cancelling your NEA grant, please take this brief impact survey.
Join a coalition of artists, creatives, arts supporters, and change-makers to educate candidates and voters on the importance of a strong and inclusive creative community in Boston.
On November 15, 2024, the MASSCreative Action Network (MCAN) hosted an election debrief with community organizing and policy experts to learn how 2024 federal and state-level election results will impact the creative sector in Massachusetts. Watch the recording here.
Help get the vote out and play your part for a stronger democracy.
Check out our 2024 Create the Vote General Election Guides to see who is running for US Congress, State Senate, and State House of Representatives in Massachusetts.
Understanding the public hearing process and how you can participate will make you a more effective advocate. We have outlines and guides to get you started.
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On May 2nd, the Trump Administration proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute for Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in their FY26 Budget.
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Maintaining and increasing public investment in the creative community requires constant and broad grassroots activism throughout the annual budget process.
On Monday, January 27th, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget sent a memo to all federal agencies ordering the immediate freeze of all federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance funds.
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2025 Boston mayoral candidates participate in a Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture.
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Emily Ruddock, MASSCreative’s executive director, shares updates about some of our grassroots organizing and legislative achievements in 2024 and a glimpse of what we are preparing for 2025.
On Friday, November 22, 2024, MASSCreative welcomed 11 individuals into the 2024-2025 Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship during an in-person orientation at the Worcester Public Library.
