Healey packs social media, hunting and shelter proposals into supplemental spending bill

Gov. Maura Healey proposed $227.3 million in additional spending Tuesday, mostly for snow and ice removal costs, in a bill that also includes policy changes to limit youth social media use and expand access to the state's emergency family shelter system.

The fiscal year 2026 supplemental budget (HD 6042) that Healey filed Tuesday afternoon seeks to make up the deficit left behind by a harsh winter that dumped several feet of snow across Massachusetts. Cities and towns have struggled to keep up with the costs of removal.

The budget includes $159.8 billion beyond what was allocated in the fiscal year 2026 budget to the Department of Transportation and Department of Conservation and Recreation for that surge in snow and ice removal. It proposes covering those costs through a reserve funded with excess surtax collections in fiscal year 2026

Healey is also requesting $11.2 million for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security following the severe winter weather, which she wrote in her filing letter "also required added personnel and safety response expenditures." That total includes $9.5 million for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and $1.7 million in National Guard activation costs.

The Senate last week passed a roughly $1.6 billion supplemental budget that contains $101 million for municipalities for "extraordinary snow, ice and winter recovery costs incurred during the winter of 2026."

Assistant Secretary for Budget Chris Marino pointed out the funding during a Local Government Advisory Commission meeting Tuesday. Drawing laughter, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll interjected, "We don't hate that."

Sharon Select Board Chair Kiana Baskin said the town was slammed with 32.5 inches during the February blizzard. Sharon has spent nearly $881,000 on snow and ice removal this winter, compared to about $328,000 in fiscal year 2024.

"The bill also includes a proposal to allow cities and towns to amortize any snow and ice cost overruns for up to three years," Baskin said of the Senate bill. "After the year we've had, these resources would be incredibly helpful to nearly all cities and towns."

Healey's bill includes the same proposal to allow cities and towns to pay off the snow and ice deficits from this winter over three years.

The supplemental budget includes policy changes as well as spending.

Over her tenure as governor, Healey has overseen dramatic changes to the Emergency Assistance shelter system. Massachusetts had been a so-called "Right to Shelter" state since the 1980s, and guaranteed a place to stay for any family in Massachusetts without a home. But following a huge spike in shelter demand in 2023 and 2024 driven in part by immigration, Healey and lawmakers sought to put restrictions on the family shelter system.

Democrats had been under political pressure to control the hundreds of millions of dollars in costs associated with assisting unhoused families, roughly half of whom were at times new immigrants.

Among the changes the governor and Legislature made, were: capping the shelter system at 7,500 families, tightening eligibility rules, prioritizing Massachusetts residents, imposing a six-month time limit on shelter stays, and requiring families show documented engagement of case management.

"In partnership with the Legislature, I reformed the Right to Shelter law for the first time in state history — requiring proof of residency and lawful immigration status and implementing length of stay limits and criminal background checks. None of these safeguards were in place where I took office," Healey wrote in her letter to lawmakers Tuesday.

She continued, "Additionally, more than 90% of families in the shelter system are now long-time Massachusetts residents. In response to declining caseload, this budget proposes programmatic updates to help make sure we can serve Massachusetts families in need, without adding new costs for taxpayers."

Those changes include expanding the six-month maximum length of stay to nine months, and increasing the income threshold for families to qualify from 115% to 120% of the federal poverty line "to better reflect cost-of-living pressures and align with similar programs."

The governor is also proposing new requirements for social media companies to create default settings that deactivate certain addictive features like infinite scrolling and auto-play, limit platform use to two hours a day, turn off location tracking, restrict notifications overnight and during school hours for those under 18 years old. Healey said at a press conference earlier on Tuesday that it is a "complimentary" proposal to the social media bill passed by the House last week.

"I am grateful that the Legislature shares our administration's interest in tackling this important issue and view our proposal as a complement to the work already underway by our partners in the House and Senate," Healey wrote in her letter.

Under her proposal, a parent or legal guardian must consent to the modification of the default settings for users 15 years or younger, while users 16 or older can alter their own accounts' default settings. Social media accounts that violate the restrictions "will face steep fines," she wrote.

Other policy changes in Healey's bill would remove the state's Sunday hunting ban and delete "out of wedlock" on birth and marriage certificates.

It would also allow for pre-construction condominium buyer deposits to be used for construction costs, a change meant to facilitate housing development. Also meant to spur development, it increases the construction procurement thresholds for Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance projects, which is in line with recommendations from the Public Construction Working Group.

The bill expands eligibility for veterans' bonuses from individuals who resided in the state for at least six months before they enlisted, to include all individuals who lived in Massachusetts at the time they applied to join the military.

On the spending side, the bill also includes $14.1 million for the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, tied to increased use of the law that allows family members, doctors and police to petition a court for the involuntary commitment of someone with substance use disorder who poses a threat of harm to themselves or others. A judge can order up to 90 days of treatment.

Healey also recommended a total $22.5 million to cover free phone calls to incarcerated people and their families, a line item that the sheriff's departments have said is causing their budgets to grow. The bill includes $12.5 million for sheriffs and $10 million to cover the calls for the Department of Correction.

It also has $8.2 million for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, $2.9 million for the State Police crime lab, $1.1 million for the chief medical examiner, and $1.75 million for district attorney information technology expenses.

State House News Service reporter Alison Kuznitz contributed reporting.