Massachusetts Senate Democrats advanced a $2.3 billion spending bill Monday that withholds most of the funding that sheriffs have requested, echoing an approach the House took last week.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee released its final fiscal 2025 supplemental budget (S 2655) Monday afternoon. It proposes steering $2.04 billion to MassHealth, $18.5 million to public health hospitals, $75 million to the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund, $60.7 million for state snow and ice removal costs, $18.3 million in financial aid this academic year to Massachusetts students at public colleges and universities, $12 million for free school meals, $10 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and $10 million for "technology enhancements" at the Department of Transitional Assistance, according to Senate summaries.
The redraft withholds a "majority" of funding requested by elected sheriffs until the state inspector general completes a report examining sheriffs' spending and compliance with state finance law. The report would be due on June 30, 2026. The House, which passed its $2.25 billion spending package last week, similarly chose to hold back the majority of sheriff funding but called for the IG report to be done by Feb. 27, 2026.
Senate Democrats also want to create the Sheriff Fiscal Oversight Council, which would scrutinize revenue and expenses on a monthly basis and be "empowered to set financial management metrics to ensure the fiscal and operational integrity of sheriffs' operations," according to a bill summary.
Like the House, the SWM bill allocates $12.5 million to cover free calls for incarcerated individuals and $14 million for Section 35 services for people being treated for substance use and alcohol addiction.
Gov. Maura Healey in her August supplemental budget filing requested $162.7 million for a reserve to cover costs accrued by county sheriffs, who oversee jails and houses of correction. Healey's request has been met with some alarm in the Legislature, where Democrats are seeking checks and balances on sheriffs' spending.
Healey over the summer attributed the large supplemental appropriation for MassHealth to "rising caseloads, patient health acuity and unforeseen increases in the costs to provide care."
Echoing a House amendment to shore up the Health Safety Net Fund, the Senate Ways and Means bill also updates the state's hospital assessment to increase funds for the Health Safety Net, which covers care to the uninsured, subject to federal approval. The fund faces a $300 million shortfall, according to Rep. John Lawn.
The SWM bill also incorporates policies to decouple the state's childhood immunization schedule from federal recommendations; criminalize the impersonation of a federal officer and create a $1,000 fine; stiffen penalties for fishing violations; facilitate fingerprint-based background checks for the Nurse Licensure Compact that Massachusetts entered into last year; update State Police compensation for "life-altering injuries"; support municipal broadband work; establish a $100 million Public Higher Education Student Support Fund to help public colleges and universities in future academic years; and ratify seven collective bargaining agreements for public employees.
Another provision would enable residents to access patient records from state-run institutions, many of which are now closed, that cared for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities or mental health issues. A Senate summary says the "goal of this proposal is to restore dignity to former patients and their families and increase transparency."
The House last Thursday passed its version of the bill (H 4615), which included $1.67 billion for MassHealth, $374 million in payments to former Steward Health Care hospitals and $10 million for 2026 World Cup matches.
Senate amendments to the spending package are due at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and the branch will consider the legislation during a formal session on Thursday. The bill passed through Ways and Means on a 16-0 vote.