(BOSTON 4/13/2026) — The Massachusetts Senate last week approved a budget plan that pairs statewide education and transportation investments with innovative policies to spur new multifamily housing construction, boost the family medicine workforce, protect immigrants, and ease strained municipal budgets with regionally equitable Fair Share investments.
The legislation, S.3041, exempts building materials from the sales tax for qualifying housing projects and boosts the primary care workforce by delivering scholarships to UMass Medical graduates who agree to practice in underserved populations in Massachusetts after graduation.
The bill sends significant funding to city and town budgets to help with the costs of heavy winter storms, increases reimbursements for special education services, and strengthens scientific research operations at public universities.
“The incredible success of the Fair Share Amendment is helping us make historic investments into our schools and transportation systems, and this legislation is the proof,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “Combined with smart, targeted policy changes that will help boost housing production and expand healthcare access across the Commonwealth, this Fair Share supplemental budget is a massive win for hardworking Bay Staters. I’m thrilled to have voted to approve this legislation, as I am to have secured earmarks for each and every city and town in the Second Worcester District. This is exactly the type of policy we need to keep Massachusetts the envy of the nation – I look forward to continuing these efforts through the rest of the term.”
During Senate debate, Senator Moore secured a number of earmarks supporting education and transportation in the Second Worcester District, including:
Regional
$105,000 for Blackstone Valley Tech – in collaboration with Senator Rebecca Rausch and Senator Ryan Fattman
Auburn
$70,000 for Auburn Public Schools to purchase sidewalk snowplow and salt spreader vehicles
Grafton
$130,000 for Grafton Public Schools to upgrade classroom technology and purchase an activity van
Millbury
$125,000 for Millbury Public Schools to purchase a wheelchair accessible van and upgrade school security systems
$5,000 for vocational programming in partnership with the North Atlantic States Carpenters Union
Shrewsbury
$82,500 for Shrewsbury Public Schools to upgrade school security systems
Westborough
$115,000 to conduct a traffic study on Route 9 and upgrade roadway signage
$12,500 for the Westborough Public Library
Worcester
$130,000 for the repair or replacement of ADA non-compliant sidewalk wheelchair curb ramps
$45,000 for Worcester State University’s Latino Educational Institute
Policy and funding highlights of the bill include:
Education Investments
As part of the Senate’s $618 million Fair Share investment in education, the legislation addresses Massachusetts’ shrinking primary care workforce with a pilot scholarship program.
The new approach uses $10 million in Fair Share funds to offer full-tuition scholarships for UMass Chan Medical School students pursuing family medicine if they commit to remaining in Massachusetts and serving populations in need for five years after graduation.
The legislation invests $100 million to ensure that Massachusetts’ public universities are able to withstand reductions in federal research funding and continue to strengthen their life-saving research and development operations, grow their renowned talent pipelines, and build strategic partnerships for the future. The funds would buoy the education and scientific research sectors through a new Public Higher Education Bridge Funding Reserve.
The bill features a new $32 million investment to provide immediate relief for strained municipal budgets by increasing special education reimbursement rates in the current fiscal year. That investment is part of a larger $232 million appropriation for special education costs and circuit breaker reimbursements.
The bill also includes $150 million toward supporting high-quality and accessible early education and care; $40 million for early literacy initiatives; and $18.3 million to expand financial assistance offered to Massachusetts students enrolled at state universities and UMass campuses. Additional investments of $2.5 million would boost school-based mental health support, and $1 million would help public schools implement bell-to-bell cell-phone free school policies.
Transportation & Municipal Relief Investments
As part of the Senate’s $763 million Fair Share investment in transportation, the bill sends $100 million to help towns and cities with extraordinary winter costs, including funds specifically marked for communities that were impacted by significant winter storms such as the historic Blizzard of 2026.
The bill also includes generational funding in statewide Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs), funding for unpaved roads, and $535 million in direct support for the MBTA for operational funding, commuter rail support, and the low-income fare relief program.
The legislation’s transportation and education investments are possible because of the Fair Share surtax on households that earn more than $1 million per year. Fair Share revenues have continued to exceed expectations year after year, leading to mid-year supplemental packages such as this one.
Incentivizing New Housing Construction
The legislation includes a new targeted sales tax exemption for building materials to incentivize the construction of new affordable, moderate-income, and middle-income housing units for certain housing projects.
To target production in areas with the greatest need, the program focuses on projects that include at least 15% affordable units and projects in communities where the median household income is below 120% of the average household income.
Legal Defense for Massachusetts Immigrants
In response to federal legal actions targeting immigrants living in Massachusetts, the legislation invests an additional $1 million in legal defense services for immigrants, allocated from the state’s general fund.
The funding comes following the success of an initial $5 million investment by the Legislature that created the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative, which has already provided legal aid to hundreds of Massachusetts residents.
The Senate and the House proactively split off critical funding for the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), which was originally contained in this bill, and fast-tracked that $300 million supplemental appropriation to the Governor earlier this week.
The Senate passed the bill with a 35-4 roll call vote today and sent it back to the House of Representatives for further review.
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