Advocacy Materials
Attached below, please find MIRA's list of budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2008. Also find testimony presented to Secretary of Health and Human Services, JudyAnn Bigby concerning our Health and Human Services Budget Priorities.
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Governor Patrick signed the FY09 budget on Sunday and while he vetoed a total of $122.5 million from the budget, all of MIRA's budgetary priorities made it into the signed budget without reduction or veto. The following is a brief summary of each budgetary priority:
Citizenship for New Americans
(line item 4003-0122) was funded at $650,000 for FY09, an increase of
$150,000 over FY08. The $650,000 also represents the higher figure
between the House and Senate budgets, although not as high as the
governor's request of $1.25 million.
Food Stamps for Legal Immigrants
(line item 4400-1001) who are not eligible for federal funding was not
included in the legislature's final budget, despite receiving a
$100,000 earmark in the Senate. Unfortunately, by not nutritional
assistance to legal immigrants, the legislature failed to recognize the
additonal strain rising food, energy, and gas costs have had on
immigrants across the Commonwealth, including vulnerable populations
such as the elderly and victims of domestic violence.
Refugee and Immigrant Safety and Empowerment (RISE) Program
(line item 4513-1130) was funded at an increase of $300,000 in the FY09
and the line item included language that does not restrict the
constituencies with whom RISE providers can work. This is a huge
victory for immigrant communities throughout MA and all the advocates
and organizations that invested their time and energy into helping stem
the cycle of violence in our Commonwealth.
Adult basic education (ABE) and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) was funded at $31,176,348 in FY09, an increase of over $1.1 million from FY08.
MassHealth Outreach and Enrollment Grants (line item 4000-0352) for MassHealth, CommonwealthCare, and CommonwealthChoice were level-funded at $3.5 million for FY09. The grants were not funded in the Senate after receving level-funding in the governor's recommendations and the House Budget. The inclusion of the grants in the FY09 budget reinforces the Governor and legislature's commitment to health reform in MA.
Anti-Immigrant Outside Sections
(48A, 12E, and 85E) did not make it into the legislature's final budget
after their inclusion through the amendment process in the Senate.
These outside sections would have made it virtually impossible for some
immigrants to receive state-subsidized housing.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Carly Burton, at cburton@miracoalition.org,Sarang Sekhavat at ssekhavat@miracoalition.org, or Toby Guevin at tguevin@miracoalition.org.
EOHHS-Testimony-2.15.07.pdf