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Boston's Morning Newsletter
How the new Republican megalaw will hurt and help in Massachusetts
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
A heat advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. today. Temperatures could reach up to 90 degrees, but the heat index says it'll feel like 95. Keep cool, and carry water if you can.
Now, to the news:
Megabill becomes megalaw: After several sleepless nights in Congress, Republican lawmakers passed President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" on Thursday — just in time for Trump to sign it on the Fourth of July. The new law extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts, allots billions towards immigration enforcement, cuts spending on health care and renewable energy and is set to add several trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. NPR has a full summary of the key provisions of the law here. Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University, spoke with WBUR's Tiziana Dearing about how those changes may impact us locally.
- How it hurts: Horowitz says "the biggest hit to people in Massachusetts is going to be Medicaid." That’s primarily due to new work requirements for non-disabled Medicaid recipients in the 40 states — including Massachusetts — that have expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act. “We are going to throw several hundred thousand people off of our MassHealth program over the next few years,” Horowitz said. “Those people will become uninsured.”
- How it helps: Horowitz says upper-middle-class and wealthy households will get “a really nice new” benefit via the bill’s provision lifting the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000, at least until 2028. The bill will also raise the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,200 per child and tie it to inflation. “There are a couple of small things, like no tax on tips," Horowitz said. "But you add these up and then try to compare it to the loss of health insurance for people, and it's really hard to balance that."
- The biggest impact on Beacon Hill: Food stamps. Starting in 2028, the law requires states to take on a greater share of paying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP. “What the feds are now saying is, ‘You know what? We used to pay for all that. Now we want the state to pay for more of that, or we're just not going to provide it at all.’ And that's a couple hundred million dollars … that we're going to have to start paying to feed low-income people,” Horowitz said. (WBUR's Martha Bebinger reports that 1.1 million people in Massachusetts participate in SNAP.)
- What the state is doing: The new state budget Gov. Maura Healey signed off on this past Friday (more on that in a moment) includes an unusual $800 million cushion to “insulate residents” against any immediate impacts. Horowitz said he expects the state to commit to fund things it “holds dear,” one way or another. “When they have to fill in for SNAP spending, they'll do it,” he said.
- Go deeper: Massachusetts Democrats say the cuts from this bill will be "devastating." Some health advocates worry it will reopen health care coverage gaps that the state worked to close when it passed "Romneycare" in 2006.
Fiscal fireworks: Healey signed the earliest state budget in 15 years on Friday — only four days after the new fiscal year began. As WBUR’s Eve Zuckoff and Roberto Scalese report, the $61 billion operating plan is a billion lower than Healey's initial proposal. And it includes some last-minute changes from the governor, who used her line-item veto power to trim an additional $130 million, as the fiscal impacts of the Trump administration’s federal policy decisions (funding cuts, tariffs, etc.) remain uncertain.
- As promised, Healey did sign off on the new rules requiring broker’s fees to be paid by whoever hired the broker. WBUR’s Zeninjor Enwemeka reports the change will save renters a lot of upfront moving costs, though some question how it will be enforced.
On the docket: The Trump administration will face off against lawyers for several university associations today in Boston. The administration is being sued in federal court over its campaign to arrest and deport faculty and students who took part in pro-Palestinian activism, such as Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk. The Associated Press has more on what to expect from the arguments here.
P.S. — Starting today, Somerville will be serving up free meals at local parks and camps to help combat child hunger over the summer. The program is open to kids under the age of 18 and will run through the third week of August.
