It’s Time to Lift Children Out of Deep Poverty
The Boston Globe had it right in their January 25, 2022 editorial piece Ending welfare as we know it – again: states should tie their cash assistance payments to inflation so that poor, vulnerable families don’t get squeezed by rising costs.
Analysis of the Governor’s FY23 Budget Proposal
The annual budget process begins each year when the Governor files budget recommendations as a bill with the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Under the state Constitution, the Governor must submit a proposal by the 4th Wednesday of January or, in the event of a new term, within the first five weeks. This bill is called “House 1” or “House 2” depending on the year.
On January 26, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker released his budget proposal for fiscal year 2023 (FY23), which is referred to as House 2. The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute prepared this analysis of selected budget topics impacting low-income residents of the Commonwealth:
- Cash Assistance, SNAP and Related Items Administered by DTA
- Child Welfare: DCF and Related Items
- Criminal Justice Reform
- Health Issues in MassHealth and ConnectorCare
- Homeless Services
- Housing
- Legal Services/Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
In the next step of the state budget process, the House Committee on Ways and Means examines the Governor’s budget and will release its own budget recommendations for deliberation by the House of Representatives. MLRI will prepare an analysis of the House Ways and Means budget when it is released.
In 2020 and 2021, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute Helped Thousands of Low-Income Families and Individuals across the Commonwealth
Working with Massachusetts Legislators Has Eased Food Insecurity, Kept People Housed, Moved Children Out of Deep Poverty
Boston, Mass. (December 21, 2021) – Through legal, policy, and legislative advocacy, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) helped thousands of families and individuals living in poverty throughout 2020 and 2021. MLRI is a nonprofit poverty law and policy center that advocates to advance policies and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income communities.
“No period in recent memory has placed as much stress on people living in poverty than the last 18 months,” said Georgia Katsoulomitis, MLRI’s executive director. “MLRI has spent more than five decades fighting on their behalf at both the state and national levels. We have an expansive network of advocacy partners and community organizations we collaborate with to advance high impact initiatives. This strong foundation allowed us to move quickly to work with Massachusetts legislators and with the Baker-Polito administration to help the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Those efforts have had considerable impact on the lives of thousands of Massachusetts residents throughout 2020 and 2021.”
Mass Legal Answers Online Marks Five Years of Providing Free Legal Advice
Over 6,000 low-income Massachusetts residents have been helped
This month marks five years since the launch of Mass Legal Answers Online (MLAO), a virtual legal advice clinic that enables low-income Massachusetts residents to obtain free legal advice from volunteer attorneys. Since MLAO’s launch in November 2016, 485 attorneys from across the Commonwealth have signed up to answer more than 6,600 questions on civil legal topics such as housing, family, consumer debt, and employment. We here at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute administer MLAO, with the assistance of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association.
The goal of MLAO is to expand access to justice by providing both clients and volunteers a platform to obtain and give free legal advice at a time and place of their choosing. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when many in-person opportunities for help were unavailable, MLAO has provided a unique, vital resource for thousands of low-income individuals.
MLRI Will Honor Mintz’s Brent Henry with Catalyst for Change Award
Organization to recognize Henry in April 2022 for his work on behalf of vulnerable communities
Boston, Mass. (November 4, 2021) – The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) will honor Brent Henry, a leading health care attorney at Mintz, as the latest recipient of the organization’s prestigious Catalyst for Change Award. MLRI is a nonprofit poverty law and policy center that advocates to advance policies and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income communities. Henry will be honored for his work promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, advocating for more funding for legal aid programs, and supporting health and housing equity at an event on April 28, 2022.
“Now more than ever, MLRI’s mission to fight for policies that benefit low-income people in Massachusetts and that advance racial equity justice is important to the future of our Commonwealth and our nation,” said MLRI’s Executive Director, Georgia Katsoulomitis. “Brent Henry knows what it is like to stand in the trenches to help those in need of support and to address both economic and racial injustice. His career is defined by promoting equity and inclusion, from the legal profession to health care to housing. We are honored to celebrate his work.”
MLRI Signs Race Equity Statement on House ARPA Plan
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute has joined a number of organizations in signing a statement regarding the plan by the Massachusetts House of Representative to distribute American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds in relation to promoting racial equity in the Commonwealth. Below, please find the text of the statement, which can also be found here.
Statement on House ARPA Plan
Federal pandemic relief funds are an unprecedented opportunity for Massachusetts. This is the time to address structural barriers and oppression laid bare by the pandemic. This is the time to right some wrongs by investing in our Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American communities who have been hit hardest by the pandemic and who have not historically received equitable funding. Our leaders must rise to this challenge; while the House debate led to some notable wins in these areas, there’s still a lot of work needed to meet the moment.
House HWM Legislation a Good Start but Legislature Should Address Opportunities
On Monday, October 25, the Commonwealth’s House Ways and Means (HWM) Committee released a bill that details how the state will spend the billions of dollars that Massachusetts received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In total, the Commonwealth received $8.7 billion from the federal government, with $5.3 billion allocated to the state and $3.4 billion designated for municipalities.
Unfortunately, some key priorities that will help the most vulnerable of the state’s residents — those who this funding is supposed to help — were left out of the HWM bill. The bill includes no support for Right to Counsel, despite the fact that the COVID Eviction Legal Help Program (CELHP) has been successful in preventing evictions. There is also no increase in grants for children living in deep poverty.
President Biden and Congress made their priorities clear when they passed ARPA this past spring. These funds are meant to help the most vulnerable, the people struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and have access to health care. This current iteration of the bill is a good start, but does not go far enough in meeting those goals and investing in the Commonwealth’s human capital.
MLRI Celebrates Signing of Meal Debt Legislation
Governor Baker Signs Law that Will Ensure More Children Have Access to Free Lunches at School and Curtail Practice of Shaming Children with Meal Debt
Boston, Mass. (October 14, 2021) – The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is celebrating the enactment of new legislation that addresses the challenge that children and families living in poverty face when it comes to unpaid school meal debt. Governor Charlie Baker signed today the new law called An Act Promoting Student Nutrition, which was championed by State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem and State Representative Andy Vargas.
“We are grateful to Governor Baker and the Massachusetts legislature for taking seriously the need to change the meal debt practices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Georgia Katsoulomitis, MLRI’s executive director. “No child should be made to feel uncomfortable at school because their family is unable to afford a school lunch. This new law will ensure that more children have access to free lunches at school and will put limits on how meal debt is collected.”