Lawmakers hear FY26 budget pitches for veterans, food aid, child welfare, services for people with disabilities and newcomers

WORCESTER, Mass. — Agency leaders told the Joint Committee on Ways and Means at a budget hearing in Worcester that Governor Healey's fiscal 2026 House 1 proposal largely sustains recent investments but also asks the Legislature to weigh supplemental steps as federal funding and program demand shift.

The hearing convened by Senate chair Robin Kennedy and House cochair Representative China Tyler featured testimony from more than a dozen health and human services agencies. The witnesses described significant policy and operations work already under way — and identified risks and gaps the Legislature may need to address before final passage of the state budget.

Why this matters: the agencies testifying account for a large share of the state’s social-services spending and serve populations that include veterans, low-income families, people with disabilities and recently arrived immigrants. Changes at the federal level, agency leaders said, have increased near-term uncertainty and in some cases created funding gaps the state is being asked to fill.

Most urgent: veterans, veterans homes and veteran homelessness

John Santiago, secretary of the Executive Office of Veteran Services, asked the committee to support the governor’s proposed $206 million allotment for the secretariat, describing it as the largest funding level for the agency in state history. Santiago said the administration has implemented “95% of its 40‑plus provisions” from the HERO Act, including increases to the disabled-veteran annuity and expanded benefits under chapter 115. He called out a multiyear effort to modernize the two state veterans homes and to use electronic medical records.

At the hearing, Christine Baldini, executive director of the Massachusetts Veterans Home at Chelsea, said the new Chelsea facility is fully integrated into operations and reported high resident satisfaction: “We achieved a 98% favorable rating,” she said, citing a facility quality report. Michael Lazo, executive director of the Holyoke Veterans Home, said construction there has reached a topping‑off milestone and reported that a recent VA survey showed “0 deficiencies.”

Santiago and other witnesses also outlined the state’s end-veteran-homelessness campaign, noting about $20 million in ARPA capital and outreach funds and dozens of units in the…