2024-03-08 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Ways and Means
2024-03-08 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Ways and Means
(Part 3 of 4)
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Alright. We're gonna resume the ways and means hearing. Next up to testify is secretary of labor, Lauren Jones, who was, gracious enough to spend yesterday in here in Gloucester and then to come back up today. She must have really liked it.
LAUREN JONES - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT - Madam secretary. Well, good afternoon. Thank you very much, Senator Edwards, Representative Ferrante, and members of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. I was going to say good morning, but good31 afternoon. Thank you certainly for the opportunity to testify before you on Governor Healy and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll's budget recommendations for fiscal year 2025. I'm pleased to be joined today by members of my senior team, including under-secretary Mike Donnie of labor and my general counsel, alongside my chief financial officer, Adriana Leon, and a team behind me. Together, we collaborate with a team of dedicated employees from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development and many internal and external partners statewide to serve and support Massachusetts job seekers, employers, and our workers.
LWD strives to enhance the quality, diversity, and stability of the Commonwealth's workforce. As part of our portfolio, our team is focused on protecting the rights of workers and preventing workplace injuries and illnesses through the Department of Labor Standards, providing workers compensation benefits to individuals who are injured while performing their jobs through the Department of Industrial Accidents and promoting labor-management partnerships led by the Department of Labor Relations. Additionally, LWD often engages with workers and employers during some of the most difficult times, including when the Department of Unemployment Assistance provides unemployment insurance to individuals when employment is interrupted and when the Department of Family and Medical Leave provides127 temporary income replacement to eligible workers welcoming a132 new child into their family, who are struck by a serious illness or injury, need to care for an ill or ailing relative, and in some military considerations.
LWD is also committed to workforce development, including through the Department of Career Services, which oversees and manages the federal and state-funded public workforce system best known as MassHire, which offers services to employers in need of skilled talent, job seekers looking for work, and individuals transitioning from unemployment to reemployment. Many of our state-funded workforce development programs are also administered by our quasi-public agency, Commonwealth Corporation. Across all of LWD, we remain committed to ensuring greater access and opportunity to deliver quality jobs, sustainable wages, and economic mobility for Massachusetts residents. The proposed 114 $7,000,000 in FY 25 state funding for LWD and its departments may be small in comparison to many other secretariats, but these funds reflect critical resources.
Specific to workforce development, these proposed state dollars deliver education, training, and services to meet labor and workforce demands today and for the future. Like all states, funding for our mass hire public workforce system is complemented by federally funded workforce by the federally funded workforce system through the US Department of Labor, which further supports job matching, career counseling, and access to training resources for239 job seekers and employers and also supports re-employment services243 for workers receiving unemployment insurance. Workforce development is a priority for the Healy Driscoll administration and a need that spans industries, regions, and businesses large and small. Strengthening the delivery of workforce training and employment outcomes also takes a collaborative effort, both across state agencies and with external regional workforce partners.
Through this collaborative effort, LWD works closely with the governor's workforce skills cabinet, including the executive offices of Education, Economic Development, and Health and Human Services. As chair, I convene the workforce skills cabinet with a shared focus on four key priorities to close the skills gap. First, reimagining high schools and bridging meaningful pathways for kk through 12 to both college and career. Second, supporting the early success of mass reconnect. 3rd, strengthening career pathways for309 immigrants, among other underrepresented and underserved populations, and, lastly, boosting interagency strategies and resources for high-growth industries through an initiative called Mass Talent. As part of the governor's state workforce plan, LWD also works closely with secretariats such as veteran services, public safety, housing, and energy and environmental affairs on shared priorities to strengthen workforce opportunities for our residents.
In my testimony today, I will focus on how LWD will lead on this vision through FY 25 proposed budget investments with three strategies in mind, talent attraction and retention, talent development, and system infrastructure as we strive to reduce barriers to employment, increase labor market participation, and support and develop programs to deliver good jobs, skilled workers to meet industry and employer demands, and an equitable and inclusive economy statewide and certainly in regions across the Commonwealth. To focus on talent attraction and retention, talent development, and workforce system infrastructure, the Healy Driscoll administration will continue its imperative to close the workforce skills gaps, invest in effective workforce development resources for industries and sector career pathways, and reengage underemployed, unemployed, and discouraged individuals who have exited the labor market.
First, to attract and retain talent, we must reduce barriers to both employment and hiring, which will in turn increase labor market participation and foster a more equitable workforce. Every four years, Massachusetts, like all states, completes a workforce plan filed with the US Department of Labor as part of the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, federal funding that we receive. Among strategies articulated in the Healy Driscoll workforce plan, Massachusetts needs to implement a statewide effort to address cliff effects and provide economic mobility for444 low-income individuals. The proposed $300,000 to earn line item supports this endeavor. Building on interagency collaboration between LWD, the executive offices of Health and Human Services, including the Department of Transitional Assistance, and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.
Along with the Executive Office of Education, including Early Education and Care, and Housing and Living Communities, the governor's proposed budget recommends $300,000 to support the work of this interagency steering committee, to implement a pilot in 2025 to address the benefits cliff that impacts workers and the impact, rather, for workers. Over the past several years, this steering committee supported pilot testing for education and training pathways customized for benefit holders, cross-agency data sharing, and various strategies to perform benefit structures in a way that can incentivize work. So now505 it's time to use this use case model that has been designed, and this interagency steering committee will hold people longer in receiving benefits while receiving coaching, degree attainment, and advancement, all to achieve higher paying jobs that will ultimately jump the cliff.
This will involve reshaping benefit support structures, responses to527 wage increases, and benefit goal setting that is based on achieving wage targets and not time clocks. Ultimately, the goal of the model should integrate holistic coaching for participants anchored in career planning, credential attainment, and benefit reforms. Based on this model, the relevant state agencies will work together to realize the model, each managing its part of a very complex puzzle and therefore allowing participants to work toward higher paying jobs while minimizing net resources,556 as wages increase. The work ahead will be an incredible next step in reducing a significant barrier to employment, which is why I wanted to spotlight that as we think about the wide range of barriers that job seekers often face when looking to pursue career opportunities, in our workforce system.
LWD and its workforce partners have also identified several talent development strategies informed by industry to build diverse talent by tapping residents already here in Massachusetts but often disconnected from the workforce, discouraged, or in need of reskilling and upskilling to advance their careers. Talent development strategies include sector-based industry pipelines, the trades and technical pipelines, and looking at priority populations. The governor's House two budget proposal proposes $10,000,000 for the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund, which provides grant funding to invest in recruitment, education, training, and wraparound supports that require employer engagement with the goal of job placement upon successful completion of training.
This $10,000,000 investment will also be complemented by $12,500,000 in ARPA funding for WCTF that will be allocated by the end of 2024 by December 2024. Looking back in 2023, LWD and Commonwealth Corporation awarded over 55 grants from this pool of resources with projections to place over 46 100 participants in in-demand roles, such as medical assistants, nursing aids, and LPNs in health care, as well as roles666 in IT to restaurant and hospitality. Understanding the lack of or limited English may also be a barrier to employment and therefore hindering talent attraction. LWD and Commonwealth Corporation have also leveraged WCTF grants to boost ESOL as not only a talent attraction strategy but also another tool in the toolbox for talent development by extending $3,000,000 in last year's calendar year for ESOL workforce training.
We now have a new president and CEO at the helm, Molly Jacobson, and Commonwealth Corporation is also focused with her leadership in scaling the effective partnerships that are so needed with WCTF between employers,715 academia, and workforce training providers that will, in turn, develop effective training grants with these employment outcomes. Leveraging WCTF as a talent development strategy is part of a bigger initiative for the Healy Driscoll administration known as Mass Talent. Launched by Governor Healy in735 2023, Mass Talent is737 led by LWD and convenes with the executive offices of economic development, Health and Human Services, Education, Energy, and Environmental Affairs, and related quasi-public agencies, including Comcore, Mass Life Sciences Center, Mass Tech Collaborative, and the Mass Clean Energy Center, all to make it easier for employers to access grant funding and talent and for job seekers to navigate career pathways and opportunities.
This collaborative effort helps to also break down unintentional government silos to further leverage state774 funding with the shared goal of increasing job training and employment outcomes779 in high-growth industries, including advanced manufacturing, climate783 and clean energy, health care,785 and human services, and the life787 sciences. Once fully789 implemented, employers and job seekers will experience an improved front door. That's the795 goal of Mass Talent. Once complete, for example, a life sciences company that is also a manufacturer will be able to visit Mass Talent's website and be able to be directed to the available resources and applicable resources and workforce partnerships that can be unlocked under this Mass Talent brand and initiative rather than navigating the various agencies and understanding how to navigate inside government.
Again streamlining the experience for both employers and job seekers. Among industries, we know that health care and human services are experiencing the most significant shortages and workforce challenges. LWD leverages WCTF funding to partner with health care and human service providers I'm sorry, health care and human service employers and has also dedicated a program through WCTF called Health Care Hubs to facilitate intentional and850 strategic employer partnerships in collaboration with MassHire Regional Workforce Partners and Training Providers. In February of this year, just last month, LWD and Comscore announced $16,300,000 in WCTF grants focused on healthcare and behavioral health sectors to partner with 9 mass hire regional workforce boards and 58 healthcare employers rejecting to place 1860 individuals and healthcare superiors across the Commonwealth. Just another example of how important the WCTF line item is.
Massachusetts also projects that several key occupations in construction and the trades are expected to experience increased demand over the next five to 10 years as older workers retire and the industry calls for a greater and more diverse talent pool. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, for example, projects a significant demand in coming years in the coming years for electricians, construction laborers, and general and operations managers to support Massachusetts' growing clean energy industry. As part of the governor's budget, LWD invests in two models that will help fill these demands, including registered apprenticeships and the Career Technical Initiative. First, on registered apprenticeship, the Hilly Driscoll administration recognizes the value of registered apprenticeship as a proven, effective model and trades940 as well as expanded industries for technical and skilled roles in fields like manufacturing,946 health care, and technology.
Governor Healy's inaugural FY 24 budget with the support of the legislature, thank you, included historic funding956 for registered apprenticeship with $3,800,000 dedicated to expanding registered apprenticeship to diversity963 in construction and trades and increasing adoption in new industries. The governor's proposed FY 25 budget recommends continuing with this very investment of $3,800,000 for registered apprenticeships. Maintaining level funding will increase the operating capacity of the team, programming in all sectors, pre-apprenticeships, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility strategies in construction trades. In this current fiscal year, LWD has leveraged increased funding of scale registered apprenticeships in fields like early childhood education, financial services, manufacturing, and the life sciences.
For fiscal year 25, this $3,800,000 in proposed investments are projected to support the placement of 650 apprenticeships in the next fiscal year, complemented by federal funding through the US Department of Labor to support another 150 apprenticeships, all to create a total of 800 registered apprenticeships with the proposed, investment. For career technical initiatives, the governor's proposed budget recommends a total investment of $15,800,000 for career technical initiatives, including 10,400,000 under LWD and another 5,400,000 through the Executive Office of Education to jointly support youth and adult pipelines. For LWD, CTI offers industry-recognized credentialing pathways for adult learners in technical and trade fields. Funds go to our vocational schools for tuition plus placement and wraparound services that benefit the unemployed as well as the underemployed.
Since CTI was first launched in fiscal year 21, $80,100,000 in state and federal funding has supported 375 employer partnerships at 29 vocational schools, yielding a projection of 3 hun 3,545 adult learners in training. The governor's proposed f y 20 5 budget recommends investing $10,400,000 for LWD to support the third shift for CTI programming, training unemployed and underemployed individuals at vocational schools in the evening to gain skills for in-demand trade and technical careers. FY 25 proposed funding will complement1109 2,000,000 in remaining ARPA dollars previously allocated by the legislature, thank you again, and award it by the end of this year. CTI vocational schools are in six of our workforce skills cabinet regions.
Among programs that have been completed so far, 43% of participants are in gateway cities. Additionally, among programs that also have completed training, approximately 85% of graduates were employed with a median income of at least $20 per hour. Governor the governor's proposed budget also invests in talent development for specific priority populations. For LWD, this includes formerly incarcerated individuals, youth and young adults, and individuals with disabilities. We must strengthen workforce pipelines among these populations as part of a broader strategy to enhance talent pipelines. As described in the state's workforce plan, other state agency partners add to this effort including the Executive Office of Health and Human Services such as the Department of Transitional Assistance and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.
FY 25, H 2 recommends $2,500,000 in funding for reentry through our workforce dev development demonstration program, which is administered by Commonwealth Corporation. Over the past five years, investments in this program have funded strategic program design and implementation via a sector-based approach to support job training of formally incarcerated individuals. Our reentry partners partnerships provide behind-the-wall case management that includes education, training, and engagement, direct connection to employ employment organizations upon release, and support to individuals to increase employment and stability. For our youth pipelines, we invest in long-term strategies. We need to make sure that as we do, we're providing employability skills for youth and young adults.
That is why the workforce skills cabinet established a goal last year to expand our reach to thousands of new students by providing employability skills, work-based learning, and innovative career and college pathways in our public high schools, including comprehensive and vocational schools. LWD invests in our youth pipeline by scaling youth employment opportunities for both in-school and out-of-school youth and young adults ages 14 to 25 years old for both summer and year-round employment through a program known as YouthWorks. In the fiscal year 25 proposed budget, the governor recommends funding YouthWorks at $15,740,000, which will help employ 2734 youth and young adults. YouthWorks administered by Commonwealth Corporation partners with MASF Higher.
Regional Workforce Boards, employers, and youth-serving community-based organizations, all with the shared goal of ensuring that young people, especially those at risk, can gain meaningful work experiences to improve future outcomes. In addition to providing youth in addition to providing employment, YouthWorks also provides program participants with soft skills development like dependability and communication through signal success, a 15 to 20-hour hands-on curriculum required for all participants to complete. The proposed fiscal year 25 funding for YouthWorks will be complemented by 9,400,000 in remaining ARPA dollars. Since fiscal year 23, we have leveraged 25,000,000 in federal ARPID funds to complement state investments for YouthWorks, and in total, will serve over 15,000, participants when we look back.
For individual disabilities, as part of the state's overall efforts to support our disabilities to access workforce development and employment outcomes, LWD teams up with Commonwealth Corporation to administer the young adults with disabilities program. First launched in fiscal year 18 with only $150,000 and supporting only two grantees, this program has grown with a track record in providing career and work readiness, work experience, coaching, case management, and post-placement support to young adults with disabilities between the ages of 18 to 35 years old. The Young Adults with Disabilities grant operates on a six-month program and maintains a completion rate of 80% among participants. To date, the program has provided career foundational support for over 100 young people entering the workforce.
The governor's H 2 budget recommends level funding for this program at $1,000,000 to support the successful results that this program continues to deliver. Investing in workforce investing in the workforce system includes key organizational investment in addition to technology upgrades. So I'll now speak to our focus on our workforce system infrastructure. Specific to H 2, the governor's proposed budget recommends, supporting our workforce infrastructure through a line item for the MassHire one-stop career center. It is worth noting that MassHire serves the state's public workforce system and is comprised of 16 MassHire regional workforce boards and 29 MassHire career centers, all managed under the MassHire Department of Career Services within LWD. Last year, in calendar year 2023.
MassHire Career Center supported over 102,000 job seekers, including 66,444 unemployed and, UI claimants, and over 21,000 companies. In a very tight labor market, career centers need to increase strategy and intentionality to reach individuals disconnected from our workforce or with the greatest barriers to obtaining employment. As Massachusetts continues to address the challenges with the EA shelter system combined with welcoming migrant and refugee arrivals in shelters, the MassHire workforce boards and career centers serve as an additional resource for enhancing work readiness assessment and career coaching for all individuals and job placement for work-authorized individuals. The governor's H 2 budget proposal recommends $9,900,000 for the one-stop career center line item, a $4,000,000 proposed increase.
This recommendation includes $3,000,000 in increased support for our career centers and $1,000,000 to sustain the role of seven market makers who connect directly with employers to support workforce development programming and skilled talent, especially among high-growth industries identified by our regional workforce teams as well as the Mass Talent Initiative, all tied with to employment outcomes. MarketMakers have facilitated engagement with over 980 employers, nearly 1000 employers, on a one-to-one basis, providing over 58100 services, including technical assistance and referrals. Additionally, these market makers are out in your local communities, and they're making referrals to MassHire, to the division of apprentice, standards, to our LWD team, including Comscore.
So many other programs to support the submission of grant applications, many of which I've already highlighted. As part of the MassHire Department of Career Services, the MassHire Regional Workforce Boards and Career Centers are tasked with providing job seekers with career guidance and referrals to jobs and job training and assisting businesses in finding qualified workers. So we need to make sure that the 29 career centers and 16 regional workforce boards, including with federal as well as state guidance, can continue to provide the technical assistance, that we need. That is why the governor's budget recommends level funding 2.2 $2,200,000 for the Department of Career Services. In addition to the one-stop career center line item previously cited.
Our department also partners with AFL CIO and the $150,000 in the governor's budget will help maintain this long-standing partnership, as the department delivers our rapid response to, and supports, impacted individuals who are in labor through, our partnership with AFL CIO. If you're not sure, Rapid's response works with companies and impacted workers who experience a layoff. Our team has a long-standing relationship with AFL CIO if and when union workers may be impacted. I1635 will now briefly highlight the FY 25 budget recommendation specific to the office of the secretary and LWD agencies. First, H 2 funds the office of the secretary at $1,800,000. LWD also maintains a shared service model consolidating our agencies, finance, human sir human resources, facilities, audit, and IT departments all under one central service, creating significant budget savings.
H 2 proposes 20,400,000 for our shared services, which is a $1,800,000 increase from last year's budget. This increased funding will1672 allow LWD to invest in critical technology, better support for our agencies as they expand their reach in service delivery and impact, and also recover from the backlog of pandemic-related work. H 2 also increases the budget for the Department of Labor Standards, the Department of Labor Relations, the Department of Industrial Accidents, and the Department of Economic Research, primarily driven by union raises and the increase in shared service costs referenced earlier to maintain each department's service levels. These proposed increases will ensure that LWD agencies can provide critical services to the Commonwealth.
The state's unemployment rate is directly linked to the amount of federal funding that the Massachusetts Department of Career Services and the Department of Unemployment Assistance receive. Beginning in fiscal year 23 and continuing in FY 24, the state's unemployment rate slowly returned to a usual low rate for Massachusetts. Based on the latest available report from 2024, the state's current unemployment rate is 3.2. Actually, as of this morning, 3.0. It's worth noting for state funding, as we think about, how that intersects with the federal funding that we get from DCS for DCS and DUA. The administration of DUA is federally funded through an allocation from the US Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration.
DUA administers the state's unemployment insurance, as you all know, including processing UI claims, payments, and dispute resolution. DUA also registers employers, assesses employment status, and calculates levies, and collects UI contributions. Unemployment contributions collected include solvency assessments, the workforce training fund, employer medical assistance contribution, and then the employer medical assistance contribution supplement. DUA also maintains the UI Trust Fund, which pays benefit claims to benefit payments to claimants from a fee assessed and collected by employers. When economic times are strained and unemployment increases, the federal government, after a lag period of what can be a year or more, increases administrative funding in response to the growing need by the agency.
The base federal administrative funding is determined by USDOL cost, a cost model, and does not fluctuate based on actual changes in expenses, such as increased salary costs due to the cost of living. Given this federal structure, DUAA's operational funding is not included in the state's operational budget, and I wanted to take a minute to explain that. So this is all because the US DOL cost model, including reduced funding from federal funding, combined with an ongoing post-pandemic recovery in DUI staffing and operations,1843 DUI has required in the past state supplemental funding. Lastly, I'll speak to the Department of Family and Medical Leave, which is an agency that is funded via employer and employee contributions and, as a1857 result, is also not featured as a line item in the state's operating budget.
DFML's Administrative Trust1863 Fund is a critical resource that1865 supports the Commonwealth's constituency on medical or family leave in addition to covering administrative functions for the department. DFML's programming provides temporary income replacement to workers who are welcoming a new child into their family or are struck by a serious illness or injury or need to take care of an ill or ailing relative and for certain military considerations. Since January 2021, DFML has distributed over two points, or almost $2,300,000,000 to 220,000 individuals. However given that DFML is not included in the state's operational budget, there is a technical language change in outside section 78 relative to DFML's funding calculation. Current current language links DFML's administrative budget to the contribution rate, which is required to be reviewed annually.
DFML contributions are split between employers and employees. This current formula creates tension for DFML to set the lowest possible contribution rate for the Commonwealth's employers and employees while also ensuring the contribution rate is high enough to directly support the upcoming year's administrative cost. Additionally, DFML has administrative obligations that require numerous enhancements to the overall claims processing solution that are not feasible based on the current formula and rates. The proposed language would link DFML's administrative cost to the trust fund balance, which would allow DFML to maintain a more stabilized contribution rate, Creating a maximum administrative threshold of 5% year after year allows DFML greater certainty for its funding allotment and, in turn, multiyear planning.
Certainty in funding would also allow DFML to advance to invest in enhancements to increase program accessibility and equity for the benefit of both employers and workers. Now I will conclude. Once again, thank you, Senator Edwards, Representative Ferrante, and all the distinguished members of the House and Senate Committee ways and means, certainly, for the opportunity to present today my testimony in support of the governor's budget for the executive office of labor and workforce development. As I expressed today, workforce development takes collaboration, which is why, in addition to the LWD proposed budget I have outlined.
I joined Secretary Tuck Wyler of Education, Secretary Howe of Economic Development, Secretary Walsh of Health and Human Services, and many of our other cabinet secretaries through a cross-secretariat strategy that is needed to deliver meaningful workforce development as presented in the governor's full budget proposal. I certainly look forward to working with this committee and the legislature on advancing key initiatives and building on impactful investments that help support our workers, job seekers, and individuals and families across Massachusetts. At this time, I'm happy to also take any questions that you may have for me or members of my senior team. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Thank you so much, madam secretary, and for such a comprehensive testimony. And I just wanna say that you know exactly how to, what's the word I want? No. No. Wow was yes, but also, you know exactly how to deal with this committee because you brought Josh Cutlass sitting behind you, and all of us are just so happy to see
SPEAKER3 - to see Josh
SPEAKER1 - today. Alright. Are there any questions?
Representative Zafarz Zafarz?
REP XIARHOS - Thank you, Madam Chair. Very impressive testimony. Thank you. In the beginning, you mentioned something about, how you interact with veteran services and public safety. Could you explain that further?
JONES - I appreciate the question. This speaks to the concept of collaboration and why2110 I know that Governor Healey leads2112 the team, but it's reflected in how we have to deliver for our2116 workforce. So, specifically, for veteran services and public safety, over the past several months, we've had the opportunity to develop a workforce state plan. The approach that we've taken is very unified, making sure that we're leveraging state funding across several agencies, including those two or more, and also grading federal dollars that support, various state agencies. So, specific to veteran services, Secretary Santiago, as a cabinet-level secretary now, is eager to work with our team, which has dedicated staff, working with veteran service offices within each of our municipalities and regions.
We're now working to strategize, as mapped out in our workforce development plan to build out efforts so that we're leveraging the resources within our department of career services that support employment opportunities as well as a new cabinet-level secretariat to make sure that we're reaching our veterans and being intentional. I spoke about the intentionality of linking job opportunities for our veterans looking for work. So certainly, we can do that through DCS, but we can do it even better through the complement that veteran services lead. Similarly, that same kind of collaborative approach is taken with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
We have a focus on reentry programming, thanks to a line item in the current budget, and we hope to continue in the fiscal year 25 budget. Again, having our teams working together and making sure that while we have dedicated team members focused on2212 the job training, we can do a better job in doing behind-the-wall training if we team up with the department of Corrections, and we have opportunities to grant funding through the reentry line item to do exactly that. So that's just an example of how we're trying to work collaboratively to have a greater impact on the very targeted populations that we're looking to serve.
XIARHOS - Thank you. More specifically, it is about public safety. One of my concerns in many of, us, especially on the cape, is getting people who want to be police officers or firefighters or in public safety. And I've spoken with Mass Higher on the Cape and they love the idea of doing more to try to help to get people to apply for those jobs. So I love the idea of veterans, also the citizens behind walls, but I'm wondering if there's more that you can do to get people to become employed in those jobs.
JONES - Well, I appreciate, that follow-up question. Just when I was with Rep Ferrante, in Gloucester yesterday, I was talking about registered apprenticeship at the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and highlighted how registered apprenticeship2283 here in Gloucester is a tool to help provide pipelines for some of our public safety workers right here in the city. So happy to talk with you, in a continued conversation as well as any other legislators who are thinking about different pathways for certain populations in your districts. We know that registered apprenticeships can be a tool. We also know many other models can, help support people and also work with employers to make sure that we are educating employers of all kinds so that they know what types of tools can2315 be leveraged, in our toolbox. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER4 - Thank you. Perfect. Thank you, chair.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Representative Smoloff.
REP SMOLA - Thank you, Madam Chair and Secretary. Thank you so much for your testimony here today. Very informative, and we appreciate your time. I don't think anybody in the legislature envies your job, particularly because we are accustomed, in the legislature to when we look at the workforce, challenges usually in a particular arena. So one year, we have a challenge in getting teachers, and in the next year, it's a challenge in getting police officers,2352 and then it's a challenge in manufacturing. Now that seems to be universal everywhere. So we're all hearing from our constituencies, how difficult it is to get people to apply for positions at the competitive competitiveness isn't there, and just getting people to knock on the door and show that interest is it's rough.
So the programs that you've outlined today, I think, will make a great difference in helping some of those arenas. But I'd like to focus on one arena specifically, especially as we work to formulate this budget, on the legislative side, and that's regarding remote work. So, of course, we've all seen the shift during the pandemic to this remote platform in so many different, arenas out there in terms of labor. Of course, we all recognize that in the workforce, the relationships there are symbiotic. So one does well on the back of another. A perfect example is you, go to work in the office building, but you grab your cup of coffee at the corner store in the morning, and then you go out and you get your lunch in the afternoon, and then perhaps you hit the store down the street, and you buy something before you go home, and then you go home.
It's the economy that's it's cyclical. Everybody depends upon, one another, and it's a formula that works. However, we've all seen that that has shifted dramatically. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about, and I'm not trying to spot you on this if you know, in terms of what percentage of our workforce in the Commonwealth is actually on a remote platform, and are we focused on that aspect of the labor and workforce development, you know, investments that we're making to try and figure out how we adjust to that remote platform because I think we all recognize that there's gonna be that percentage of jobs that just aren't gonna go back into the office. They're not gonna be physically interacting with people in a setting that they were used to before this platform came on board. So just wanted to get a couple of thoughts from you on that.
JONES - I'm happy to speak to that. Certainly, the pandemic accelerated, technology, which also disrupted how people work. We've seen in the aftermath of the pandemic now kind of an established pattern of remote work, hybrid work, and in-person work. As we think about all the different strategies that I outlined for investing in our talent, attracting talent to come back into the labor market and workforce, retaining that talent, and developing that talent, it's for all workers. We know that we can work with our employers to meet their needs and their needs are gonna vary. It may be where they have, a high need to support remote work, and we wanna make sure that those jobs are covered for Massachusetts residents.
So that's what's first and foremost. If there are remote trends, can we make sure that we are providing career paths so that those opportunities are still available for talent that's right here in Massachusetts untapped talent or rising talent that's right here in Massachusetts? So I would say that's first and2544 foremost. While I don't have the current stats to know the number of remote work, we know that it's certainly, very much a new way of working. We also make sure that as we think about training, we as an employer, how we're delivering training and working with training partners are doing so, not only in person but also hybrid so that we can meet, people where they are, provide the training that they can, be competitive in the job market that we have today.
SMOLA - Thank you very much for that. That's very helpful. I was glad to hear, you talk about, the relationship and the focus that your office has with our schools out there because that's the breeding ground basically for the workforce. So I think that the younger generation understanding the importance of getting out there or particularly following up in their field of whatever they're looking to pursue, I think, is something that has great value to it. So I appreciate that. Also to focus on the fact that this is everywhere. So it's in virtually every single arena of employment that that we're dealing with.
I know you have it on your radar screen, but but in municipalities too. So in public service positions, and we see this on the state level as well, where the the challenge is coming from our town halls as well. We're all talking to our town administrators, our town managers, and saying that they can't even get people in the door to apply for public service positions. And that that's a tough 1. And, of course, when that wheel stops turning at its highest efficiency on the local level, it has a greater impact on so many people that we all serve. So, so thank you for your testimony here today, and and I know you're paying attention to this.
JONES - If I can just add to that, with one thought as we think about the increase in mobile and remote work, we also know that there are plenty of jobs that have to operate2657 in person. And that's why Governor Healy last year launched mass talent with a lens of knowing we have high-growth industries and many of these high-growth industries are anchored by people working with their hands, people operating, creating things, innovating right here in Massachusetts in labs and facilities across the life sciences, our healthcare and human service workers, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. So we want to make sure that we are promoting those huge opportunities, and then that's where you see a lot of the investments that we're proposing are linked to these high-growth roles and opportunities that span every region of the state as well. So,2694 hopefully, that strategy can help to complement the continued trends trends that we're seeing in the labor market. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Representative Dorey.
REP DOHERTY - Thank you,2713 Madam Chair. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm always delighted to come to these hearings as a member of Ways and Means because I learned so much. So, for the yeoman's work that your office and your team are doing is very much appreciate it. Obviously, for our economic development. You are probably very much aware that this week the legislature passed, a supplemental budget, that, covers the shelter system for the rest of the year, one hope. Contained in that bill was a significant piece on training, work permits, and training. You did mention in your remarks that your office was working with the EA system. So could you, if it's not premature, talk a little bit about it because when I was voting, thinking about it, I thought, how is that going to happen? So if you could talk a little bit about the process, if you've given that some thought as yet.
JONES - I appreciate the question, and, I think taking a step further back to describe the process, which I think is what you're speaking to. When we think about our EA shelter system, I think traditionally that front door experience is led by housing workforce development at that front door so that we can work in collaboration with, the governor or lieutenant governor, the team that's across secretariats to make sure that at that front door, we have, capacity to assess individuals as they come into the shelter, understand their skills. Many individuals come here wanting to work with skills from their home country and make sure that we can work with them, as they gain work authorization. Now with 27 100 individuals with work authorization, how can we make sure that we then work in partnership with our communities, with our Mass Higher Regional Workforce Boards, and with local community-based organizations?
Most importantly, employers so that as we're providing that work readiness, career coaching, and skill building, we're also creating a path for direct employment outcomes. For the administration, we also saw how important this was as we turned into the new year. So I'm thrilled that on my team, we have Ken Brown, assistant secretary for employer and, engagement and employment outcomes, and Sarah Joseph, director of community engagement, working in tandem, side by side to support business development, engaging directly with employers, and making sure that we not only understand the employers' needs, but the opportunities that we can link to the migrants who are living in our shelter and create direct opportunities for our work authorized individuals living in shelter, knowing that that's going to be a huge opportunity to continue to support, the rehousing strategy.
DOHERTY - So the conundrum, as I see it, is the work permits. Is there any significant movement in terms of having people have more opportunities to acquire work permits as the federal government, is the federal government cooperating with us to escalate that process or expedite that process?
JONES - Well, recognizing that work authorization is a key component to rehousing, we work diligently towards the end of the year to stand up two weeks of legal clinics. As a direct result of that, we now have, as I mentioned, just over 2,700 individuals living in our shelter with work authorization. So our focus right now is making sure certainly to continue to increase work authorization opportunities, but making sure that we're working very closely with the population that is work authorized to provide a path for employment outcomes. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Representative Peace.
REP PEASE - Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Secretary. So my question's about the UI, and I'm wondering if there's still, the COVID-19 recovery assessment and some of the rates on that because I was being told that was quite a substantial increase for some businesses for the next couple of years. I guess you got a projected UI rate schedule that was, like, a, and now we're in the c and the c, and then 2026 is gonna be the d. But that's, it's like they're assessed, like, 10% on top of what their normal assessment is for some businesses. Then, like, other businesses might be 0.809% or something. So my question is and you can probably follow with me, but I just want to try to understand this because I'm getting asked questions from my business whether they got increased rates. After all, this is going to continue. I know we didn't pay back all the money that, into the fund that we didn't as a legislature, we funded some of the money back in, but not all of it. So we still have a deficit or a delta to make up, should I say. Is that the case?
JONES - Well, I think, at a high level, certainly, there is, a COVID assessment rate, which is what you're referring to. There is an increase that has occurred. But I'm going to ask my undersecretary, Mike Doheny, also general counsel to speak to this as he's worked very closely on this issue.
MIKE DOHENY - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT - So that COVID assessment is still there and will still be there. That is related to the, UI, the special obligation bonds taken out in August of 22. However, as the debt service gets paid off, that COVID assessment is going down. It's about, I think, one-fourth in 24 that it was in 23. But you're right. Then, because of things like the trust fund balance, you know, there's a there's a statutory formula that, that determines which rate schedule we're on. So the COVID assessment rate has come down this year, but we did move from Schedule A to Schedule C. For most of the employers we looked at in the modeling we did, the overall rate payment is about the same from 23 to 24 because one factor went down, and another factor went up. But it is very complex and the projections you know, projecting what the debt service payment is gonna be in addition to what the rate schedule is going to be over years is a tricky calculation to do.
PEASE - Yes. I guess maybe you could and we could reach out later why one and I'm talking about, like, a a golf course. Like, one side of their golf course business is getting assessed at 10%. Cloud 19, the bar food side, is getting assessed, like, a 0.809. That's a huge difference. Like, going under 1% to 10% in the same place. So again, you can follow up. We don't need to get into it here. Thank you. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER2 - Thank you, representative. Any
SPEAKER1 - other questions?
Madam secretary, thank you. Oh, well, I'm sorry. Oh, no. I'm sorry, senator Miranda. Senator Edwards just told me that you had 2, but I didn't see you around the corner.
SEN MIRANDA - Sorry. I've been outcasted to the side. Thank you, secretary. Always a pleasure. I just had two quick questions. At the time of this report, the briefings were done. You were at 2.7% unemployment. Now we're at three, you said. nationally, we're at 3.7. Is that broken down demographically? Do we know which population, which age group is, chronically underemployed or unemployed?
JONES - I most recently with, the latest numbers and just taking a a close look at this, I was recently looking at it based on, race and ethnicity, but I did not look at it for age. So I can always follow up with you on how it trends for certain age populations. But, our job and unemployment numbers came out today, and we have a 3.0% unemployment rate among black, populations at 5.1%, and for Latinos, it's 4.3. Happy to have, my team, follow up with you to look more specifically at the age, breakdown.
MIRANDA - Because we had recently I think it was last year, like, Roca had did something where that was talking particularly about, black and brown young men in a specific age demographic, and it was quite alarming. I thought it the slide said, like, maybe close to 20%. I was really like, you know, wow. This is a huge thing for our communities, particularly, as I believe employment3249 is a big deterrent against violence. As you can see, violence rising in certain, gateway cities, and you can see the correlation. So I can talk offline about that.
JONES - Just to bring it back to the budget, that's a huge opportunity with the youth works line item. In recent years, we've extended the population to not only from 14 to, 17 or 18, but now to 25 years old. So we're able to reach a young3278 adult population and especially those3280 that may be at risk or potentially3282 of being at risk, knowing that the youth employment rate certainly was devastated during the pandemic, and we're still, recovering from that. To your point, ensuring, exposure and connections, for young people is a huge, opportunity and greater access to the promise that we want to make sure they have for our future. So Right. Thank you.
MIRANDA - As you talk about the youth at risk, it's a program that I've been supportive of since I got into the state house, but there has been a severe declining cut. I think that the program, maybe it's not from your side or our side, and you guys are new. But the idea that youth is at risk is super important. Just want to keep that elevated, not only as just providing pipe pathways or pipelines for young people, but for communities like the second suffix, we see the, as you keep young people employed and they're able to make a meaningful contribution to themselves, their communities, and their families, we see the numbers of violence go down. So I just want to highlight that.
JONES - I appreciate that. Our Mass Hyatt regional workforce board in in Boston, in your district, the Boston pick, like all of the regional workforce boards, plays a key role in making sure that we're delivering on, youth employment opportunities. So happy to continue this conversation with you or others who may have an interest in this topic as well. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Okay. If you have a question, raise your hand really high so I can see you because I'm so sorry that I just missed Senator Miranda. Okay. I think we're through with questions.3383 Secretary Jones, I wanna3385 thank you. I wanna thank you for your testimony. I want to thank you for all that you do to, take care of and to increase and stabilize our workforce. And, thank you for being here in Gloucester not once but twice this week.
SPEAKER2 - Thank you for having me, and thank you, everyone.
SPEAKER1 - Next up, we have the Secretary of Housing, at Augustus. Just for the members, Secretary Augustus is the last secretary to testify today. Then we have four quick commissions. We have the Board of Library Commissioners, the Mass Cultural Council, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Cannabis Control Commission. Just one note, we have sandwiches on the back table. So anybody who's been here through lunch that would like a sandwich, a cannoli, a snack, please find it there. Mr. Secretary, we're ready to start when you are.
EDWARD AUGUSTUS - EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF HOUSING AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES - Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon, to Chair Ferrante, Chair Edwards, and the members of the committee. Appreciate, you having us here this afternoon. I'm joined by Eric Schupin, who's our chief of policy for HLC, Brian Adams, who's the undersecretary for administration of finance, and Jennifer Maddox, who's our deputy secretary. Again, I'm glad to be with you this afternoon to talk about the governor's, H 2 budget proposal for the executive office of housing and livable communities and answer any questions you might have. As you're all very well aware, access to housing is the greatest challenge facing Massachusetts today. Production has not kept up with demand. As a result, rents and home prices have skyrocketed for many of our residents.
The consequence is significant. Nearly 28% of renters in Massachusetts pay more than half of their income on housing. The dream of homeownership is getting further out of reach for too many families with every passing year. Some of the people struggling just to make ends meet have been pushed into homelessness. This includes our seniors, who are the fastest-growing number of homeless individuals. The wait lists at our public housing are growing longer, with families filling our shelter beds. Over the last year, the Healy Driscoll administration has confronted the challenge head-on. We are leveraging all available resources to drive the production and preservation of affordable housing, to build a more competitive, equitable, and affordable commonwealth for the future. The executive office of Housing and Liberal Communities was created last year to bring a laser focus to this effort.
The Affordable Homes Act filed by the governor last fall will set us on a path to reverse the unaffordability trend. And I wanna thank Chair Edwards and the chair, our Sierra, and the members of the housing committee, for moving3599 that bill out of committee earlier this week. The governor's H 2 budget proposal before you funds the executive office of housing and livable world communities at $1,130,000,000. This represents a 6% increase over the fiscal 24 GAA. That funding will maintain a core of commitments to the people of Massachusetts. It also increases investments in programs critical to navigating our state out of a housing crisis, investments that will make our state more equitable, affordable, and competitive for all. Importantly, these programs are lifelines to many Massachusetts residents who might otherwise find themselves homeless.
I'd like to tell you a little bit more about these programs and how they are helping to build a more equitable and competitive state. Those efforts start with addressing family homelessness with a multifaceted set of policy policies, including emergency shelter, supportive services, education, workforce training, and affordable housing programs to help move families out of shelter into stable housing. The FY 25 budget funds the emergency assistance family shelter program at the 325,000,000 level to fiscal year 24 GAA. The supplemental budget the governor filed in January laid out the administration's plans to address the FY 24 and FY 25 family shelter funding needs without requiring budget cuts to other programs. We are encouraged that the house advanced the supplemental bill this week to support the family shelter system.
We look forward to working with the legislature to ensure the shelter system remains sustainable and continues to support families experiencing homelessness. Where the EA program helps our unhoused families, the division of housing and stabilization works to prevent homelessness, provide shelter for unhoused individuals, and find families permanent housing, which is always our goal. There are a variety of essential programs funded in this budget, including 197,400,000 for RAFT, the rental assistance for families in transition programs. This is a 4% increase over the FY 24 GAA. This program provides short-term emergency funding to help residents facing eviction, foreclosure, or other housing emergencies.
For many families, it is the one thing keeping them from being pushed into homelessness. The program provides a maximum benefit of $7,000 over 12 months. Another important housing stabilization investment is 110,700,000 for individual homeless shelters. This will preserve about 29,100 shelter breads for individuals experiencing homelessness. At the same time, we also need to focus on the tools that will help us move people out of shelters or divert them from winding up there in3790 the first place. This home base remains one of our best programs for doing this. The governor's proposed budget proposes this line item be increased by 55% to 57,300,000. This increase will help more families avoid shelter and help families who are in shelters move to permanent housing.
Another 3,000,000 for the housing assistance for reentry transition will support transitional housing programs for young adults and adults leaving incarceration. In addition, the governor's budget proposes creating a standard rate setting process for shelter providers by incorporating them into the into the chapter 257 process, a significant effort to support and build capacity for the incredible work of our shelter providers. Another vital piece of our housing agenda is our state run public housing system. With more than 43,000 units, Massachusetts has the largest public housing stock in the country. It's life sustaining system that provides a home for many of our low income families, seniors, and disabled individuals,
Subsidy to local housing authorities who run these homes. This is a 5% increase over FY 24. This is the first governor's budget in 12 years to propose an increase to the public housing subsidy line item, a critical step to ensuring housing authorities can keep up with the cost of inflation. It also funds a regulatory change that requires housing authorities to fund tenant organizations at state-run properties at the same level as federally-run developments often on the same campus. Another important measure to help restore dignity to some of our most vulnerable residents. Now I'll move on to our division of rental assistance, which may manage programs that provide financial support to low-income families and individuals through a variety of housing voucher programs.
Like many of our programs, these housing voucher programs are the best work against homelessness. The H 2 budget calls for $219,000,000 for the Massachusetts rental voucher program, a 22% increase above the previous fiscal year's GAA to match the increased need. More than 10,000 rental vouchers are expected to be leased up by the end of fiscal year 24. The budget also supports an increased number of project-based vouchers to help construct more affordable housing. To give you an idea of the number of people helped, as of December 31st, there were 9,680 rental vouchers leased. The budget supports 10 to 11,000 vouchers by the end of June 2025. Another 16.5 is carved out for the DMH rental subsidy program, which supports those helped by the Department of Mental Health.
We are proposing $16,400,000 for the alternative housing voucher program, a 21% increase above FY 24 estimated spending to continue to support voucher holders through comprehensive search assistance, payment of security deposits, and first and last month's rent and accessibility funding. Finally, I wanna highlight one new proposal in Governor Healy's FY 25 budget. For the first time, our administration is investing 3,500,000, in the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation to provide legal representation to low-income residents and low-income owner-occupants in eviction proceedings. While the specific line item is not within HLC's budget, it is an essential piece of our administration's collective efforts to reduce evictions and help families avoid homelessness. All of these programs combined represent an indisputable multilayered support system that meets people's housing needs where they are. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your questions. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, mister secretary. I'm gonna turn first to my coach. So I know she has a number of questions. I'm gonna let her ask her for questions first.
SEN EDWARDS - Thank you so much, Mr. Secretary, and I've genuinely enjoyed working with your office. I don't know that there's a time when any of you have not been responsive to our questions coming to the hearings and also being able to be a partner in following up. I wanted to just kind of first narrow in some of the big topics. You had mentioned the raft amount of $7,000 over 12 months. The cap, I'm sorry, this is $7,000 over 12 months for families. I wanted to know if you're seeing an uptick, in the amount of people applying for it, and what is the average amount you're seeing since the last time we talked? Well, this is the first time we're talking in this context as many people recall. The4116 secretary came on after the last hearing. But at that last hearing, we were moving from $20,000 over the, I think, 12 months to seven. So that was one thing, and if, you know, I would like to hear about that context.
AUGUSTUS - Thank you, madam chair. The average raft amount is $52100. So while we are seeing it being utilized a little bit more, we do think that the $7,000 number is sufficient to meet most of the families who are coming to us for this assistance needs. We'll continue to monitor that as we go forward, but, so far, it seems like it is sufficient for the need.
EDWARDS - Excellent. Because I was again, we were concerned about those numbers. Now one thing I wanted to highlight we're very excited about is that, I think you've increased the amount on public housing from $6 to $25 for the tenant, organized organizing and supporting, and also, resources within public housing. That's tell me what went behind that. We're beyond excited. I'm beyond excited about that level of investment.
AUGUSTUS - I join you in the excitement about that, and it is a credit to the tenants, organization, and tenants union, who educated me, about this important disparity that existed. You often, as I mentioned, have federal and state public housing on the same campus, using some of the same facilities, and yet you have the tenants who are in the federally funded housing being funded for organizing activities at $25, and our state, funded sites only at $6. We thought it made sense to bring parity and equity to everybody who is in our public housing system, whether it be state or federal, federally subsidized, and provide them a voice, and a seat at the table, to help us as, you know, many housing authorities are going through repositioning and looking at, you know, changing the the, layout and design and perhaps adding units. We want those tenant voices at the table to be part of that discussion, and I think this helps facilitate that.
EDWARDS - Completely agree. I think with the, proposed $1,400,000,000 in terms of the retrofitting and possible public-private partnerships and all sorts of movement that hopefully will come from that amount, the tenants not having an equitable financially supported voice in that would be, detrimental. So I wanted to, again, thank you for that. I'll just ask one more. I know my colleagues have a lot of questions. I just wanted to also, turn back to the specifics of the bond bill and that that was proposed. Again, it is a great bill, that has a lot of wonderful amounts of investment in housing. It's a moonshot. I know one of the concerns is about not just what we're going to build, but who's going to be part of building it. Some minority contractors have reached out and wondering and making sure that as these grants and these programs are going out, the administration is committed to having diversity in in the bidding process.
AUGUSTUS - That is an important part. You know, you've heard probably sprinkled through my testimony, the guiding principles of the administration are about affordability equity, and competitiveness, and that guides, much of the work of the administration. Every two years, we, put together qualified allocation plans that kinda govern the work of all of our programs, including our production programs, whether they be the affordable housing or trust fund. We are redrafting those for the next two years, hopefully, in anticipation of some significantly increased funding that will come from the Affordable Homes Act, and including in that, additional points and incentives to developers who do have, you know, diverse representations as part of the team of folks who not only design, and are the developers of the units, but also who work on the construction, of those units. It's it's really important that as we hopefully supercharge housing production here in Massachusetts, we are, also advancing, our goals of equity, while we do it. I think the QAP process is gonna give us the ability to sync up nicely with some of the new, funding in the Affordable Homes Act. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - I'm gonna go to, representative Kilcoyne and then to senator Commerford.
REP KILCOYNE - Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today, with you and your team. , I just want to start by saying thank you. Earlier this year, I think right before Christmas, you visited the Clinton Housing Authority and met with both for the first time in a long time, seen and heard by the administration. So just wanted to express my thanks for that, and just speak a little bit about what you said, when you were talking earlier about the line item for the 112,000,000 representing I think you said it the first time in in 12 years that the governor's proposal included, an an increase4452 in that line item. I wonder if you could speak a little bit to sort of why that is so critical. I know actually, I was with my housing authorities on Monday, including Danielle Fahey, yours, our Clinton executive director who, again, shared some of the fun stories that you told to them at their visit to Clinton.
But, we happen to be at the one in Sterling which primarily senior, houses senior residents. These units were built, I think, in the 19 seventies and were not retrofitted for an elderly population. So, you know, they're dealing with issues such as wheelchair access, trying to find ways around4491 that. So just I wonder if you4493 can speak to me a little bit more about why that's needed. I know some of this can link to the Affordable Homes Act, which I know you and your team and the governor have been, advocating for strongly. I was pleased to see that move forward under the leadership of Chair Edwards, as we continue to look at that in the legislature. But, you know, I know capital improvements are a huge, priority from my housing authorities and I know for many across the state. Very pleased to see that this budget includes sort of recognition of not the capital improvements, but just how much these housing authorities work to make every dollar, count.
AUGUSTUS - Thank you, Representative. I appreciate you joining us on that tour. I was this morning before I came here at the Beverly Housing Authority, I committed to visiting every housing authority in the Commonwealth. This morning was number 28. I only have 202 left to do. So every one of them, I learned something, a little different, a little new. We were able to look at some senior units in Beverly4556 this morning that had been repositioned. The folks had been moved out temporarily, and completely redone, the units that have been molded. There have been all sorts of things that were compromising, the quality of life and also the health and safety of the folks living there. It's exciting to think that those seniors are going to be able to move back to something clean healthy and dignified. I think that is our goal as an administration.
I believe the legislature shares that that's how everybody in public housing should live, in a clean, healthy, dignified, home. We've got a lot of catching up to do. There's a lot of deferred maintenance on the capital side of things. We're trying to address that by tripling the amount of money going to capital needs in the Affordable Homes Act. But it's also important on the operational subsidy that we make investments that allow us to keep pace with inflation, if not, do a little bit better than inflation because you need to hire staff. You need maintenance workers who are the folks who turn over the units when somebody leaves and the units have to be repainted and new countertops put in or other things done to get it ready for the next tenant who's going to be there.
We don't have a4628 lot of time to spare when we have so many people who are on these wait lists. So many4632 people who are, you know, anxious for these units, the more fully staffed we are, the quicker we can turn these units around and get some other eligible senior disabled person, or family into that unit. You know, and I've prioritized our public housing. The governor has driven this home, how important our public housing system is. Because if you think about this housing emergency that we're in right now, imagine being in this emergency with 43,000 fewer units. That's what our public housing infrastructure is. That is a safety net system for our most vulnerable folks. Folks with 30% of AMI or below. This is essential that we keep this housing safety net system and keep it to reflect our values as a Commonwealth. So, thank you for those comments and I appreciate the partnership that I think we have on improving our public housing stock. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER11 - Thank you so much. And and very impressed that you're visiting so many housing authorities. I know I learned so much from my own, so I imagine you are getting quite the education and, looking forward to partnering with you to continue to support those efforts.
SPEAKER1 - Thank you, senator Comerford.
SPEAKER12 - Thank you, madam chair. Secretary, I I want to thank you also for your presence in Western Massachusetts. In 1 week, I saw you 3 times.
SPEAKER3 - That's not that's not
SEN COMERFORD - Three different community projects. So you know, we see you in Western Massachusetts, and it's deeply appreciated. I was excited when I heard you mention that you were, reevaluating the QAP. I4729 wondered, as you do that, are you looking at how to align the QAP so that rural projects can be scored so that they're competitive for funding? I know that advocates and, and, you know, and, service providers in Western Massachusetts are concerned that the QAP doesn't necessarily reflect, the communities they are trying to develop in or serve. And I know you know this better than most in the Commonwealth. Often, smaller developments get dinged. You know? They just can't compete. And so under your leadership, will the QAP, you know, allow a small town to bid, maybe not for 50 units, but maybe for 12, and be able to have those 12 be game changers?
AUGUSTUS - You're exactly right, senator. The impact in smaller communities, even with smaller developments, could be so significant and critical, especially at a time when we're seeing a lot of our naturally occurring affordable housing disappear. They talked about the fact there wasn't one available unit in the whole town. They talked about the fact there wasn't one available unit in the whole town. So you can imagine how difficult that is if for some reason you need to move from your site and there's nothing available in that community. So we are anxious to work with you and with other folks. Certainly, we'll work with, former senator, Goby, to make sure that our QAP process does reflect the needs of rural communities because we wanna make sure that we are inclusive with all parts of the Commonwealth in ways that we can be responsive and meet the needs. So, we are committed to doing that. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER12 - I think that's tremendous. Thank you. And, and I have the benefit of counsel from the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. So Linda Dunlavy and also Gina Gavoni Yeah.
SPEAKER3 - They're great.
SPEAKER12 - At the Franklin Regional Housing Authority. These are experts, and they are asking us to make sure that the QAP process really yields some meaningful relief, for our communities to be able to compete with larger developments.
SPEAKER3 - Absolutely. Look forward to working with you on that.
SPEAKER1 - Super. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Haddad.
REP HADDAD - Thank you. So I don't know if anybody here can say this, but I grew up in public housing. Because it's changed dramatically from, you know, my father coming back from the war and me living in Watuppa Heights. That's what the name of it was. Anyway, my I just talked about it in the back for a minute. I just want to put it on your radar screen. Small housing authorities are finding it very difficult, for all the things you said, the maintenance, etcetera, etcetera. But one, like, quirky thing, and I don't know if any of my colleagues have this. The housing authorities in my district were built by the municipalities and now have been turned over to be a state entity. You know, people remind us of that remind me of that quite frequently. It's, you know, so it's causing a problem that people from the community can't get into them.
So I just used I know you visit, but I just wanna put that on people's radar screens. Again, I don't know if it happens everywhere, but it is certainly causing, headaches. Then as you said, trying to get a unit turned over, takes way too long because we have one maintenance meal for each of my small community. So thanks for doing this. When I saw that you were appointed to this position, it was lifting. I was very lifted by that because I knew that, you grew you've done the wist Worcester and it's so much like the big cities, but, I'm looking forward to being able to educate you about, you know, the the challenges of our little ones. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER3 - Looking forward to it, representative. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - You. Senator Kearns.
REP KERANS -Thank you. Great to see you, the secretary, and your team. Thanks for all your help. As you know, I'm in Danvers. We're dealing the best we can with a hard situation. I just want to ask, and if it's too in the weeds, we can take it offline. But how is it going with the reconfiguration or design of the CHAMP system, which is causing I know it's kind of a tangled knot?
AUGUSTUS - Yes. I appreciate the question, representative. It was something that had been identified, you know, even before I came into this position, but something that we've tried to prioritize since I've been here. CHAMP system, as most of you probably know, is the selection process that goes through a huge wait list to find who is still eligible. When folks are on the waitlist, sometimes they've been on that waitlist for years. So you need to verify that they're eligible for the housing and to see if they still are interested in it. Often when people are in housing emergencies, they may check off that they're interested in every housing authority in Massachusetts and when they get called. It's on the other end of the state. They're not as5059 interested as they were when they chose it, but you've gone through that administrative burden. So we've tried to streamline that in recent months. We are scheduling at the end of March a legislative briefing for legislators and your staff to talk specifically about the changes we've made to CHAMP.
In the 28 housing authorities I've been to, every one of them has told me that it has improved The changes we've made to the system, it is streamlined. So they don't have to do all of the eligibility verification. We do that now centrally and then give them a list from their, waitlist of the folks who've been confirmed as eligible. So now the offers that they make tend to be a lot quicker to say yes to them because they're pre-determined to be eligible. So that has lifted some of the administrative burden that had been falling on housing authorities and contributed to some of the vacancies, that were continuing to build up because it was taking too long to fill these units. So we think we're moving in the right direction, still some work to be done, but, again, at the end of the month, we'll be able to go into a lot more detail with you and your staff, if you're interested. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER14 - Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - 2 virtual questions from, 1 from representative Barber that I'll read. In light of the large number of families in shelters now, is the executive office making additional investments in housing searches to help ensure families can find, housing and exit shelter? And I think that comes in the context of the house this week voted to limit the amount of time that folks can be in emergency shelter.
AUGUSTUS - Thank you. The challenge ultimately, or the goal ultimately for the families in emergency assistance shelters and the Commonwealth is to get families permanently rehoused. That's where they want to be. That's where we want them to be. It is particularly challenging when you have a 1.7% vacancy rate in the state to find the units available. Many of these families have different size configurations. So if you've got families of three or four children, the number of bedrooms that you're looking for in a given area close to the school, close to where folks might be working, gets to be a puzzle that is challenging sometimes to find that match that works. We've got several families that have disability or accessibility issues. And so finding units that meet the accessibility needs of that family adds another level of complication to finding the right match, in housing units.
But we have tried to focus, particularly as we've tried to stabilize the growth of the system so that we can focus on the exits, getting folks into permanent housing with the supports they need so that folks can come off that waiting list, get the help they need, and then move on. Our goal is for, you know, the EA shelter system or5248 even our individual, shelter system for homelessness to5252 be brief, nonrecurring, and to get people the kind of housing and support that they need to be successful. So we're working with realtors. We're working with a lot of outside folks to figure out what the opportunities to find those units that might be appropriate for these families, and then as quickly as possible, move families out into, those appropriate units.
REP FERRANTE - Earlier, we asked if we were hoping that, Secretary Howe had a magic wand. So in my next question, I'm hoping you have a crystal ball. Should the legislature come forward and pass a housing bill, and should your needs be met throughout the FY 25 budget, How long do you think it would take for housing production to begin?
AUGUSTUS - So I think there are a couple of answers to that. Unfortunately, housing production takes a long time. It just really does. It takes a long time in5314 terms of sometimes assembling the property necessary. It's not always just one the lot. Sometimes you're purchasing from several different folks assembling something that's the footprint that's necessary for the development. Then going through the permit process at the local level can be easy or hard depending on the community the nature and size of the project and the concerns of a Butters. Then there's just the complexity of the funding, if you look at most of the deals, it could be 12 or 14 different sources of funding that it takes to get a deal financed. You know, that sometimes takes multiple rounds, to collect whether it's historic tax credits, if it's repositioning a historic building for housing, old school, or whatever it may be. But we do believe that thanks to the actions of the legislature this summer with the tax bill and the significant increases that the LIHTC, the low-income housing tax credits were given from 40,000,000 to 60,000,000 and the5375 increases in the HDIP, from 10,000,000 to 30,000,000 and it was a one time $57,000,000 increase, to support market-rate housing in our gateway cities.
This has significantly, this last running funding round, we were able to fund every project, that came to, HLC, which is 1900 new units, to get those moving. So, again, the more resources we have, the more often we could say yes and get that process started. But we are also looking at the length of time these projects take. Our governor signed an executive order when she filed the bill to create an unlocking housing production commission, which I chair. We've got a good group of local leaders, developers, you know, kind of a representative group of folks from the housing ecosystem talking about what are the other barriers to housing production and how do we streamline and remove some of those barriers so that we can quickly build the housing that our residents so desperately need. So it takes longer than it should, but I think we've got several tools, that we're trying to use to reduce the time, that it takes to develop and bring on new units. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Questions from other members, representative Montano, and we'll get to you representatives first.
REP MONTANO - Thank you, Chair Ferrante. I have two distinct questions. The first one is related to access to counsel. Very glad to see that in the budget. I know that's something that the senator has worked senator Edwards has worked on for a long time as well. If you've ever gone to court with someone who's unrepresented, it's not a very good way to spend a day. It's very inequitable. How are you imagining that money being spent? Is it gonna be similar to Raft where once it's gone, it's gone and no one else can access it? I understand it's a small drop in the bucket and ideally, we'll be able to fund that, better in the future. The second question is related to state-owned public housing. Do we have a number on the cost for the deferred for, deferred maintenance that needs to be done to units, and how many units are still offline and need to be brought back online? Thank you.
AUGUSTUS - I think on the access to council, the 3,500,000 is a first pass at what might,5512 figure out what the5514 need might be. We could look at it in subsequent budgets, as to what the need is, and what the usage rate is. But we think it's an important step to try to equal the playing field, if you will because there is5529 a power dynamic that is not in the favor of a lot of folks who are facing eviction. We want to make sure that they have some equal representation in that process and hopefully, you know, deter some of the evictions that we're seeing. In terms of public housing, the number is different, but I think a safe estimate is somewhere between $5,600,000,000 of deferred maintenance in our public housing.
Particularly, if we look at trying to do things like, decarbonize our public housing stock that is critical to advancing our climate goals. We do recommend in the bill that 150,000,000 be set aside specifically for decarbonizing our public housing stock. But you could say it's 6,000,000,000 or 7,000,000,000. It's a lot. By moving the number from 500,000,000 where it is now over five years to 1,600,000,000, we're gonna significantly be able to, deal with a lot more of that backlog. On the issue of, what was the third question you had? Number of units offline. That changes, you5601 know, there have been some reporting recently. One of the offline units, for example, is Beverly, where I was this morning. There are 25 units.
Those are technically offline. They're offline because they're being refurbished. So, you know, sometimes if you know you're going to be doing a major rehab or a tear down of units, and it's gonna be in a year or 18 months, you don't fill the units that become vacant through attrition because you don't want to have to move that many families and displace them, in anticipation of that. So there's a significant number of our vacancies that fit into that category, but there are some that fit into the category. We just have not given them enough capital dollars to deal with some of the turnover repairs that are necessary when it5647 goes from one family to another. Again, we're trying to catch up with that on the capital piece or the maintenance staff, the contracting staff.
Sometimes you have to hire outside plumbers or painters or others because you don't have enough tradespeople on staff. So use outside contractors to do that turnover. By upping the subsidy, we're going to allow them to have more access to that, to do that more frequently. Part of it is the CHAMP system, which we have tried to make some significant changes. Then part of it is things that can be controversial if folks look at them from 30,000 feet, but when you get closer to it, it makes more sense. Again, I'll use Beverly just because it's fresh in my mind.
They did take5689 one unit offline, but they took it offline to put a laundry unit for all of the seniors who live in these garden-style apartments in multiple buildings. So they located it right in the center of the building. So in the middle of winter, seniors don't have to lug their laundry, you know, huge distances to try to, you know, take care of their needs. So, again, I think when you delve into it, there a multiple causes to the open number of units, Some5719 of which we're trying to address, and some of which are just the normal part of doing business, quite honestly.
MONTANO - Just to clarify, so for access to the councilman, are you imagining it just pay first come, first serve, or have you not even gotten to the point where it's how to distribute this? How will it work?
AUGUSTUS - I think we'll probably we'll have to do some regs that go with that. So I think, we're open to suggestions that you or the legislature may have as we get closer if this does get, included as part of the, ultimate budget or how to allocate those resources, not yet knowing what the demand might be for them. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Miss Bennett. REP XIARHOS - Thank you, Madam Chair. Sir, I wanna commend you for your veteran housing program. I was proud to be in Boston with you and the governor and the secretary Santiago where you targeted $20,000,000 as a start to make sure veterans are not homeless. I remember the governor's words, no veteran should be homeless. So I appreciate that. I think you have, and your team are doing a great job. You have one of the biggest and most, challenging missions. Even on Cape Cod, beautiful Cape Cod, we have people paying the state $17 a day to pitch a tent in the state forest because they're homeless and they go to work all day long and they come back to the tent. That's sad. 41 families do that in the summertime. In the winter, their park closes.
So they're in their cars and they park at Walmart because Walmart lets them sit outside in the parking lot. So even on Cape Cod, we have it. I appreciate, really, from my heart, you addressing it. I think another thing you could keep in mind, there is a movement to take some of Joint Base Cape Cod. There's so much land there. There's not much land left on the Cape to build on. It's only 14%. But joint base Cape Cod5849 has a lot of land, and there was a section that's not used, and they might be able to turn that over to the state for housing. I think that would be fantastic. I'd ask that it targets veterans and5861 the military, and I'd be proud to work with you on that if it does come forward. Thank you.
AUGUSTUS - Thank you, representative., Again, a lot of credit to Secretary Santiago and his team are spearheading the effort to end veterans' homelessness in Massachusetts. It's it's totally within our ability to do it. They're manageable numbers. We have some of these opera dollars, and I can't think of anything more important for us to do to make sure we take care of our veterans.
FERRANTE - Thank you. Another question virtually from representative Andy Vargas. Some shelters have advised us to look at how MRVP prioritizes people who have been in shelters the longest. They say this sometimes has the unintended outcome of incentivizing folks who may receive home base from taking it because if they wait because if they do, they may wait a little bit longer. They may receive MRVP vouchers which provide greater assistance. However, I'm sorry, I'm probably not reading this well. But I think he's trying to say, you know, some people choose less benefits because they'll get out of shelter and beyond the priority to get out earlier. Some people pick other programs even though they're of greater assistance because they're worried about staying in the shelter longer.
AUGUSTUS - . I think that's why we the home base were significantly trying to increase that. That's often necessary to go with the vouchers to help truly facilitate. It could be the first month, the last month, or the security deposit, that becomes a barrier. So you need those along with the vouchers to help, rehouse folks. So I think the more flexibility that we have understanding that folks' circumstances are unique, the our housing market in different parts of the state is different. So having flexible tools that can meet the unique challenges or issues that folks have, I think, allows us to do what we5985 all want to do, which is get people out of shelter5987 and into permanent homes. So
FERRANTE5989 -5989 Do you believe you have that flexibility, or do you need any do you need us to act and give you that flexibility?
AUGUSTUS - I think to the credit of the legislature, you've done a lot in recent years to provide flexibility around these programs. I think home base in particular is a very flexible and nimble program,6006 and we see home base as being one of the most important tools to exiting families from the emergency assistance shelter. That's why we're asking for such a huge increase This is why we focus on the exit piece. You know, those first month, last month, those types of barriers, we can take some of those down with some.
SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - secretary Augustus? Representative Taherty.
DOHERTY - Thank you, Madam Chair. While we have had several questions about the bill that we passed this week and the EA system, and the concern of many of us, of course, is pushing people out of the shelter after nine months or 12 months under special circumstances, into nothing. You described the paucity of housing that's available. So that's a huge concern. Before we took the vote, and I was looking at my phone, I reached out to the provider of the shelter in Taunton, doing a good job there. Also, his organization provides for the shelter in Plymouth. I asked him, particularly about the restriction in terms of people being forced out or asked to leave at nine months.
I'm going to read you what he told me, what he wrote to me, and then ask your opinion, about what he points out. He so he says, no family should be evicted from the shelter that is actively complying with their rehousing plan while in the shelter. Only families and noncompliance with rehousing plans determined by the shelter provider should be subject to eviction from the shelter. After he'd written that, I asked him, if that is a universal application across all shelters, that that each of the migrants has, a rehousing plan available6127 to them. He responded that he does it. He's not quite sure about whether everybody else does it as well. So I'm putting that question to you. Is a rehousing plan a requirement across the Commonwealth? If so, if it's not being adhered to, what's the next step?
AUGUSTUS - It is a requirement, but it is not universally in place at this time. Part of the challenge of that is been the unbelievably rapid growth of the system. You, probably remember that in July, we had so many families coming in. We ran out of providers. So we opened several sites that had no providers. It's the providers that work on the rehousing plans. So as we've capped the number of families in, part of that, the logic of that was to be able to catch up and make sure we had rehousing plans for the families we did have in the shelter. So that they did have a strategy and a pathway to ultimately exit.
We have also reworked the rehousing plans. They were fairly complicated cumbersome and time-consuming to put together and we have streamlined those plans so that they're a little bit more nimble, quicker to put together, and hopefully quicker to focus on implementing. So we are trying to look at the quality of the housing plans to not have them be an end in themselves, but they should be a tool to facilitate the exit of families to permanent housing. So, again, our providers are stretched very thin, and we do have several states that still don't have providers proof of that's where the National Guard piece came in. So we are trying to catch up with more families and get those housing plans in place.
DOHERTY - If I might, just a real quick6239 follow-up. Is there in place where it is possible to have a rehousing plan, I e a provider, Is there a way to put more teeth in the requirement that that does happen? I think that one of our colleagues offered an amendment similar to that and ultimately withdrew it. The idea was that the family would have a checkbox. He's done the family's done this, this, this, and all of the things that the family is required to do to comply, but there is no housing available. That family then should be held harmless, I guess, from being evicted if they're doing everything. Not all families do follow rules, I'm sure, that that's the case. So I just put that to you because it is a concern of ours.
AUGUSTUS - No. I agree. Something that we are focused on trying to make sure that, ultimately, every single family in the EA shelter system does have a rehousing plan, and has the support to work those plans to the ultimate goal of of rehousing. SHOW NON-ESSENTIAL DIALOGUE
SPEAKER1 - Thank you. Any further questions?
No. Mister secretary, thank you to your team for coming down today. As I've said to those who have testified before you, I know how busy you are. I know what you have on your plate right now and and what you're trying
SPEAKER3 - to
SPEAKER1 - get through and accomplish. And it means a lot to us that not only you, but your team came up with you today6329 to
SPEAKER3 - testify before us. We appreciate the opportunity, and thank you6334
SPEAKER1 - for your time
SPEAKER3 - and support. Thank you.
SPEAKER1 - Okay. Next up, we have the Mass Cultural Council.
© InstaTrac 2025