State Senate Passes Fiscal Year 2021 Budget

HYANNIS – The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed a $46 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021.

Passed 40-0, the budget aims to move the state towards equitable recover amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by making investments in sectors impacted most, including early education and childcare, food security, housing supports, and public health.

As the pandemic continues, MassHealth was funded a total of $18.2 billion to maintain access to affordable health care coverage for over 1.9 million residents by the budget.

For students and educational institutions, the budget provides $5.283 billion, an increase of $107.6 million over FY20.

The budget also includes $345 million for the Special Education (SPED) Circuit Breaker, reimbursing school districts for the cost of educating students with disabilities at the statutorily required 75% reimbursement rate.

Affordable housing also received significant funding with over $540 million being invested in housing stability programs to support families, tenants and property owners during the ongoing crisis.

On Cape Cod, the Barnstable County Fire and Rescue Training Academy was secured $100,000 for a variety of purposes, including relocation of the academy to Joint Base Cape Cod.

The Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment secured $200,000 to coordinate COVID-19 testing programs.

A Conference Committee will convene to reconcile the differences between the Senate budget and the version passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month.

The Conference is expected to complete the process quickly as the current temporary budget expires on November 30.

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



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