Senate President Karen Spilka is designating an Arlington Democrat to start out crafting the chamber’s response to President Donald Trump’s actions that affect Massachusetts, because the Division of Training minimize $106 million in pre-approved Okay-12 schooling grant funding for the Bay State.
Beacon Hill Democrats have began to face growing strain from progressives to push by means of insurance policies that try and counteract Trump’s efforts to chop federal funding flowing to the Bay State, slash the dimensions of the federal authorities, and crack down on immigration.
Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, mentioned Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington would use the legislative committee she chairs — the Senate Steering and Coverage Committee — as a clearing home for insurance policies that reply to the Trump administration.
Friedman, who additionally leads a subcommittee tasked with responding to Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s efforts to audit the Legislature, will meet with all different Senate committee chairs to start out growing responses to conservative actions that have an effect on Massachusetts, in response to Spilka.
“We’re working off of that model because I believe it’s really important to utilize the expertise of our chairs because they hear what’s happening, they hear about the cuts, they hear from their constituents from all areas of the state,” Spilka instructed reporters on the State Home.
Democrats who serve in management of both chamber already recurrently meet with lawmakers who chair subject-specific committees to develop and direct coverage. Spilka didn’t announce any payments filed together with Tuesday’s announcement nor any imminent legislative hearings.
Friedman served as vice-chair of the Senate’s budget-writing committee final yr and was chosen this yr to chair the Senate Steering and Coverage Committee, a transfer that got here with a pay bump.
She had a base pay of $73,655 final yr and pulled in $102,340 in “other pay” for a complete of $175,995 in 2024, in response to publicly accessible state payroll information. Her annual charge in 2025 jumped to $82,044, and she or he has been paid $44,428 by means of March 8, information present.
Progressive advocates in Massachusetts have been hounding legislators to do one thing in regards to the Trump administration’s transfer to slash federal funding for a wide range of sectors within the state.
Progressive Massachusetts Coverage Director Jonathan Cohn mentioned Massachusetts voters have for months wished to see their elected officers “be bolder and more proactive in protecting” the state in opposition to Trump’s “chaos, cruelty, and corruption.”
Cohn mentioned voters wish to hear “real answers from Beacon Hill: how we will protect our essential services amidst looming budget cuts, how we will protect marginalized communities, how we will protect civil liberties and our democracy, how we will show a real governing alternative.”
“Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” Cohn mentioned in an announcement.
Home Speaker Ron Mariano and Spilka pledged in January to alter their inner guidelines this legislative session to advertise extra environment friendly and clear lawmaking after going through a wave of criticism when formal enterprise ended final yr with out offers on essential payments.
However three months into the session, few main insurance policies have made it to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and legislative committees simply began over the previous a number of weeks to carry hearings on payments underneath their purview.
State price range writers have held public conferences on the fiscal yr 2026 spending plan.
Spilka’s determination to faucet Friedman to steer the response to Trump got here the identical day the Healey administration introduced the U.S. Division of Training had minimize $106 million in pre-approved Okay-12 schooling grant funding for Massachusetts.
The cash was set to circulate to Massachusetts by means of a COVID-19-era fund that the Healey administration claimed it had till March 2026 to make the most of. However the governor mentioned the Trump administration notified the state Friday that the money was being minimize off final week.
Healey mentioned the {dollars} have been going for use to face up psychological well being care and math tutoring for college kids, in addition to beefing up college safety and putting in methods to wash the air at school buildings.
Springfield was in line to obtain probably the most cash from the federal authorities amongst cities and cities within the state — $47 million — whereas Boston was in line for $3.4 million, in response to the Healey administration.
Healey mentioned the cuts additionally affected 41 different states and an estimated $2 billion in education-related funding.
“At a time when students are still struggling to recover from the pandemic, we need to be doing everything we can to address learning loss and the youth mental health crisis. Instead, President Trump suddenly ripped away more than $100 million in funding that is supposed to go right to Massachusetts students and schools,” Healey mentioned in an announcement.
U.S. Division of Training spokesperson Madi Biedermann mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic is over and states and faculty districts “can no longer claim they are spending their emergency pandemic funds on ‘COVID relief’ when there are numerous documented examples of misuse.”
“The Biden administration established an irresponsible precedent by extending the deadline for spending the COVID money far beyond the intended purpose of the funds, and it is past time for the money to be returned to the people’s bank account,” Biedermann mentioned in an announcement.
Biedermann mentioned the federal company will take into account extensions on a person, project-specific foundation “where it can be demonstrated that funds are being used to directly mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on student learning.”
Spilka mentioned the choice to chop the funding was “horrific and cruel.”
“I am hoping that more happens on a federal level because he is usurping Congressional power,” Spilka mentioned.
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