BOSTON (State House News Service) – The House Ways and Means Committee is polling a redrafted version of Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2023 supplemental budget Tuesday morning that includes elements of the nearly $1 billion “immediate needs” bond bill she filed as well, preparing it for the formal session that the House has planned for Wednesday.
Committee members were notified by email at 9:30 a.m. that an email poll would be open until 10:30 a.m. on the redrafted version of H 47, which was a $282 million spending bill when Healey filed it a month ago and told lawmakers it was necessary to manage a surge in demand for emergency shelter and to prevent the free school meals program from running out of money.
A committee spokesman said the redrafted bill has a net bottom line of $223 million and also includes $585 million worth of bonding authorizations. The draft appears to include almost all of what was in Healey’s version of the fiscal year 2023 supp — about $85 million toward the emergency shelter system, $130 million to keep expanded nutrition assistance that expires Thursday in place for a few more months, and $65 million for the universal school meals program.
The House is also including in its draft $68 million in early education and care workforce stabilization grants. The committee redraft also includes parts of Healey’s $987 million “immediate needs” bond bill for housing and economic development programs (H 51), including $400 million for the MassWorks Infrastructure Program, $34 million for the Underutilized Properties program, which is used for redevelopment of abandoned or underutilized properties, and $1 million for Community Planning Grants.
