Bill allocates funding to ensure continuation of state programs
BOSTON – State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) joined his colleagues in the House to pass a $537 million Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) supplemental budget that provides funding to ensure the continuation of state programs such as child care financial assistance, home care services, emergency funding for housing, and food access initiatives, as well as municipal grants for the 250th anniversary of American independence. The bill has a net cost to the state of $325 million after offsets.
“This supplemental budget tackles important issues facing our communities—from families who need help with childcare costs to seniors relying on home care services and residents dealing with food insecurity,” said Representative Haggerty. “We’re also making sure that some of our most vulnerable students, English Language Learners and students with disabilities, get the coordinated support they need to succeed in school and have access to the same opportunities as all the other students.”
Current law does not explicitly define the rights or service requirements for students who are both ELLs and have disabilities, and instead, the current framework relies on regulatory and federal guidance, which can create uncertainty and inconsistency in how schools identify, evaluate and serve those students. By codifying practices into law, the House is ensuring that special education students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) who are also English learners in Massachusetts are protected— regardless of a potential federal shift in guidelines or regulations.
The passed amendment:
- Requires the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to ensure meaningful communication between school personnel and the parents or legal guardians of all students who are receiving educational services, ensuring that interpreters and translators who work in public school settings meet certain expertise and training requirements.
- Requires school districts to address any academic deficits resulting from time spent on English language acquisition programs within a reasonable amount of time.
- Prohibits school districts from recommending that parents decline services within an English learner program for any reason, including facilitating scheduling of special education services or other scheduling reasons.
- Requires school committees, when conducting an IEP evaluation for a child who is an English learner, to consider the child’s proficiency in English.
- Assessments must be administered in the child’s primary language.
- An IEP team for an English learner must include participants who have knowledge of the student’s language needs and other expertise in second language acquisition and the needs of students with disabilities.
- The IEP team must ensure that the IEP includes services to meet the English language and special education needs of a child.
- Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to promulgate regulations related to placements in alternative education settings; and to make updates to regulations consistent with the new requirements in this act.
Funding allocations in the FY25 supplemental budget include:
- $189 million for childcare financial assistance
- $134 million for the Medical Assistance Trust Fund
- $60 million for Home Care Services
- $42.9 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program
- $15.5 million for EBT care replacements
- $15 million in grants to support municipal celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the American independence
- $7.5 million for the Healthy Incentive Program
Last week, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law an additional $240 million for the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), which provides health insurance and other benefits to the Commonwealth’s employees and retirees, and their families.
Outside sections in the bill include policy changes related to Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMV), donations to Veterans’ Homes, and the ratification of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs).
The supplemental budget passed the House of Representatives 149-1 and now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
