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MCOA Membership:

As the 191st General Court begins to debate the FY21 Budget we find ourselves back at square one; advocating for $12/elder for the Formula Grant and fully funding the Service Incentive Grant program.

We had requested level funding for FY21 but House 2 (Governor Baker’s recommendation) starts the debate by underfunding Line Item #9110-9002 by $484,875 which could result in either a reduction of the Formula Grant by $0.30/elder to $11.70/elder or a 30% cut to existing SIG contracts if the legislators fail to increase the allocation. MCOA seeks Level Funding equal to the FY20 final allocation of $17m.

In addition, we are seeking level funding for Line Item #9110-1640 Elder Behavioral Health at $800,000 for FY21. House 2 did recommend level funding this line item at $800,000.

House 2 is only the first step of the budget debate that is slated to conclude before the start of the new fiscal year, July 1, 2020. Step 2 is the House and Step 3 is the Senate. As you read this, each member of each chamber is submitting “their priorities” to the Chairs of their respective Ways and Means Committees. Even if you have already contacted your legislators, contact them again and remind them of the message below. The time to contact them is now!

Contact your legislators with the following message: (Find your legislator’s contact info at:

House: https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Members/House

Senate: https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Members/Senate

CUT AND PASTE “MCOA and your local Council on Aging are requesting level funding of Line Item #9110-9002 at $17million; this will keep the Formula Grant at $12/elder and fully fund the Service Incentive Grant Program. Note: FY20 GAA included over $2,017,400 in earmarks but the correct allocation to achieve level funding is $17,000,000. In addition we are seeking level funding for Line Item #9110-1640 Elder Behavioral Health at $800,000 for FY21.”

Our full message to the Legislators can be viewed at https://mcoaonline.com/2019/12/06/fy21-budget-request-to-the-legislature/ with a link for a printable version you can download.

Remember two things:

  1. We seek level funding for FY21 because in FY22 the new US Census will kick in and if projections are correct we will need an additional $6m to maintain a $12/elder Formula Grant. That is $6m more on top of the existing $17m we ask this year…
  2. A $23m allocation in FY22 is unlikely thus be prepared for a reduction in the Formula Grant which may or may not include a reduction in your allocation depending on the number of older adults counted in your community. Preliminary projects and calculations can be reviewed at https://mcoaonline.com/2020/01/13/revised-formula-grant-projections-fy22/

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Dave

David P. Stevens
Executive Director
Massachusetts Councils on Aging
Email: david@mcoaonline.com
Web: www.mcoaonline.com
Cell: 413.539.0565

These charts show last year’s budget outcomes at each stage of the debate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminder: To track alerts we list them as follows for each stage

FY21 #1 Response to Governor’s Budget

FY21 #2 House (there may be letters- A,B,C after the number indicating steps within the chamber= FY21#2A= House Ways and Means version)

FY21 #3 Senate (there may be letters- A,B,C after the number indicating steps within the chamber= FY21#3A= Senate Ways and Means version)

FY21 #4 Conference Committee

FY21 #5 Final Budget referred to as GAA

 

Massachusetts Councils
on Aging

116 Pleasant Street, Suite 306
Easthampton, MA 01027
 
Telephone: 413-527-6425
Fax: 413-527-7138