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Boston's Morning Newsletter
4 major policy changes in the new Mass. state budget, from child care to free community college
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Before we get back to watching clips of your two new favorite Massachusetts Olympians, we have big news to get to:
Better late than never: Gov. Maura Healey signed off on (most of) the new $58 billion state budget yesterday, 29 days into the new fiscal year. The spending bill does a lot of, frankly, boring stuff necessary to keep the government running through next June. But there are also several significant new policy changes. Here’s what to know:
- Free community college is officially a go. Starting this fall semester, all 15 of Massachusetts’ community colleges will be tuition-free for all residents, regardless of age, under a new program that builds on MassReconnect. It’s a “last-dollar” program, meaning the state isn’t technically eliminating tuition; rather, it fills the gap between the cost of tuition and whatever a given student is already getting in other financial aid and scholarships. Community college students making up to 125% of the state’s median income (roughly $102,00 for an individual) would also be eligible for a $1,200 stipend for expenses like books and supplies. Pell Grant-eligible students could get stipends up to $2,400.
- Child care 🤝 online Lottery. The budget makes permanent a pandemic-era grant program to help child care providers — thanks (in part) to revenue from new online Lottery sales. For the first time — and after several failed attempts — the State Lottery will be allowed to offer virtual scratch tickets and other online games. The “iLottery” is set to generate $100 million a year, covering over a fifth of the cost of the “C3” grants for child care providers.
- More money for parents. The budget also expands who’s eligible for child care subsidies. Under the new budget, parents who make up to 85% of the state median income would effectively have their child care costs capped at 7% of their income. For a family of four, that’s nearly $124,000 a year.
- All aboard the free bus. For a cool $30 million, the budget funds free buses for all 15 of the state’s regional transit agencies. The fare-free policy is something that many RTAs, like Worcester’s Regional Transit Authority, had already been experimenting with via (dwindling) federal COVID relief funds. While the free bus money does not apply to the MBTA, the budget does also fund the T’s soon-to-launch low-income fares program.
- The big picture: WBUR’s Walt Wuthmann reports that, even with some of these major investments, spending is only up about 3% over last year. “We’re doing this all fiscally responsibly, staying within our means, and in line with the rate of inflation,” Healey said yesterday.
- What’s next: Healey didn’t love everything the State House sent her way, vetoing about $317 million in specific line items and sending back several policy sections with amendments. (You can get into those weeds here.) Lawmakers have until the end of tomorrow if they want to override any of Healey’s vetoes.
Meanwhile in Paris: Team USA’s men’s gymnastics team won their first Olympic medal (bronze) since 2008 yesterday, thanks to the efforts of two Massachusetts natives.
- Stoughton’s Frederick Richard earned the squad’s top scores in the floor exercise, parallel bars and high bar. You can watch all his dizzying flips here, plus his dad’s amped reaction.
- The team then clinched bronze with a clutch pommel horse routine by Worcester’s own Stephen Nedoroscik. (The celebration afterward is almost as fun as all of the memes generated by this image of Nedoroscik waiting for his turn.)
- How is Team USA faring overall? Here’s the latest medal count.
PSA: West Nile virus has been found in mosquitos in several Boston neighborhoods. Health officials say positive samples were taken in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury.
- There haven’t yet been any human cases of West Nile in Massachusetts this year. The best way to keep it that way? Take simple precautions to avoid mosquito bites. Read more tips here.
P.S.— There’s a chance New Englanders could see the Northern Lights again over the next few nights, due to what’s known as a “cannibal coronal mass ejection.” However, you’ll likely need to be somewhere with little light pollution and a break in the clouds.
