BOSTON — House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz has “some serious concerns” about the governor’s election-year proposal to spend $100 million on public schools before they’ve even collected the revenue to support it.
“The ink hasn’t dried yet on the actual fiscal year 2027 budget, so I think we’d like to see that be implemented first,” the House budget chief said. “There’s a lot of concerns related to raising that Chapter 70 number further, may further complicate things for future budgets.”
Gov. Maura Healey filed a $100 million fiscal 2027 supplemental budget last week, two weeks after the first day of the fiscal year and just six days after she signed the budget.
Lawmakers agreed to invest $7.66 billion in public education aid, completing the final year of the Student Opportunity Act, a nearly 4% or $300 million increase over fiscal 2026. They also agreed to review the contentious school funding formula with a revival of the Foundation Budget Review Commission.
Healey’s plan would inject another $100 million into public schools on a per-pupil basis — a proposal she announced at a press conference flanked by education, local and union leaders during a year when she is running for reelection. The strain on municipal budgets has been among the largest challenges this session, and a repeated campaign theme.
“We’re certainly going to talk with the administration on this, and talk with the members of the House,” Michlewitz said. “But I do think we have some serious concerns related to changing that number so quickly, so fast, right after the budget has been signed.”
The governor’s supplemental budget filing letter says the funding would come from “excess, unbudgeted Fair Share surtax revenue in FY27.” For the past few years, the Legislature and governor have used conservative estimates when budgeting education and transportation spending from the 4% surtax on high earners, as they often say it is a volatile revenue source, then spent the excess revenue from the previous year each spring after total collections are known.
Healey is proposing to dedicate excess tax collections to the supplemental budget before they’ve been gathered.
Asked about this, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Administration and Finance said, “The bill proposes to use Fair Share collected above the $2.7B used in the budget. We don’t have an updated projection at this time for FY27 but we know we collected over $3B in FY25 and through May 2026 we had already collected over $3.1B in FY26.”
Michlewitz said the administration told him in advance that they planned to file the bill, “So, I mean, I wouldn’t call it a surprise,” he said.
“But I do think moving that quickly is certainly unprecedented,” Michlewitz said. “I don’t remember a supplemental budget being filed a week after the budget’s been signed in the past.”
Healey surrounded herself with supporters of her proposal when she announced a “major new investment we’re making in our schools, our students and our communities” during a press conference in the State House on July 15.
“Cities and towns across Massachusetts are facing serious financing challenges,” Healey said, asserting schools are making “impossible choices” like layoffs, service and program cuts, and reductions to counseling and extracurricular activities for students.
[Michael P. Norton contributed reporting]
Sam Drysdale is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs Pro Massachusetts. Reach her at [email protected].
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