BOSTON— Last week, the Massachusetts Legislature took the final steps needed to end the state’s family cap policy by overwhelmingly voting to reject a Governor veto and enact Senator Sal DiDomenico’s legislation to lift the Cap on Kids. 

 The Cap on Kids– also called the “family cap”–  denies benefits to children conceived while, or soon after, a family began receiving benefits. As a result of the Cap on Kids, Massachusetts does not provide benefits for nearly 9,000 children living in poverty. Their parents struggle to provide even the most basic essentials for their children, causing everyone in the family to suffer.

“Lifting the ‘Cap on Kids’ is simply the right thing to do to ensure that families are not denied basic benefits simply because of when their children were born,” said Assistant Majority Leader Sal DiDomenico. “I have heard many personal accounts from families who have been hurt by this cap on kids— parents who struggle to meet their families’ basic needs because of this policy. Today, I am proud to say that we have put an end to this ineffective and unjust policy and show that we value all children equally, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.”

This was the sixth time the Massachusetts Senate took bipartisan action to pass DiDomenico’s policy proposal. This session, legislation to lift the Cap on Kids was a top priority for the Massachusetts Senate, with the Senate passing DiDomenico’s bill in March and also including the family cap repeal in its FY19 supplemental budget. In his remarks on the Senate floor, DiDomenico thanked his colleagues for their support and expressed his gratitude to Senate President Karen Spilka for her ongoing commitment to repeal the Cap on Kids: “This is a critical policy change that will help thousands of children across theCommonwealth, and I would like to especially thank Senate President Spilka for continuing to make this a Senate priority and addressing this issue at the very beginning of our session.”

Massachusetts’ ‘Cap on Kids’ policy was established in 1995 and has been detrimental to families across the state.  Since filing this legislation, Senator DiDomenico has passionately disputed certain erroneous assumptions about our Commonwealth’s low-income families: “The facts are crystal clear - this policy hurts our children which is why so many states have already taken action to repeal their family cappolicies. For over two decades, the Cap on Kids has done nothing but move us backward and make it harder for low income families to meet their basic needs, such as food, housing, and warm clothes.”

The new policy begins on September 1, 2019. The repeal of the family cap is also retroactive to January 1, 2019. Upon implementation, children who are, or would be, excluded from grant calculations will now be included. The fiscal year 2019 budget already provides funding for this change, which was included in the House and Senate conference committee report.

Legislators and advocates celebrate Lifting the Cap on Kids

DiDomenico and his legislative staff

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Last week, the Massachusetts Senate reaffirmed its commitment to ending the state’s family cap policy by overwhelmingly voting to pass Senator Sal DiDomenico’s legislation to lift the Cap on Kids. 

 The Cap on Kids – also called the “family cap” — denies benefits to children conceived while, or soon after, a family began receiving benefits. As a result of the Cap on Kids, Massachusetts does not provide benefits for nearly 9,000 children living in poverty. Their parents struggle to provide even the most basic essentials for their children, causing everyone in the family to suffer.

 “I am proud that the Senate has once again taken action to put an end to our Commonwealth’s ineffective and unjust family cap policy,” said Assistant Majority Leader Sal DiDomenico. “Lifting the ‘Cap on Kids’ is simply the right thing to do to ensure that families are not denied basic benefits simply because of when their children were born. This is a critical policy change that will help thousands of children across the Commonwealth, and I would like to especially thank Senate President Spilka for continuing to make this a Senate priority and addressing this issue at the very beginning of our session.”

 Massachusetts’ ‘Cap on Kids’ policy was established in 1995 and has been detrimental to families across the state.  In his statement on the Senate floor, Senator DiDomenico passionately disputed certain erroneous assumptions: “To be clear, there was and continues to be no evidence that people have children to receive additional benefits, which is why so many states have already taken action to repeal their family cap policies. For over two decades, the Cap on Kids has done nothing but harm children and make it harder for low income families to meet their basic needs, such as food, housing, and warm clothes.”

 The new policy passed by the Legislature would start September 1, 2019, and makes the repeal of the family cap retroactive to January 1, 2019. Upon implementation, children who are, or would be, excluded from grant calculations will now be included. The fiscal year 2019 budget already provides funding for this change, which was included in the House and Senate conference committee report.

This legislation now moves to the Governor’s desk for his approval.

BOSTON- Senator Sal DiDomenico recently spoke on the floor of the Massachusetts Senate in support of the reauthorization of the Early Education and Out Of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund. The reauthorization of this fund was included as part of the Housing Bond Bill that was passed by the Massachusetts Senate last week. Senator DiDomenico was the original sponsor of legislation that created the $45 million EEOST Capital Fund, which provides loans and grants to early learning centers and out-of-school-time programs predominately serving low-income families to support major renovation and construction projects.

 In 2013, Governor Deval Patrick signed Senator DiDomenico’s bill into law as part of a five-year housing and community development bond bill.  For the first time, this fund affirmed the positive impact that high quality early education makes in children’s lives and in the economic development of the Commonwealth. Over the years, the EEOST capital fund has continually been included in subsequent bond bills, and has helped to transform old facilities and substandard spaces into safe and developmentally-appropriate learning environments, while also creating jobs in both the education and construction industries.

 “The establishment of the EEOST capital fund is one of my proudest achievement as a State Senator, and it was a pleasure to once again advocate for the reauthorization of this capital fund, this time as part of the Housing Bond Bill,” said DiDomenico. “As a Commonwealth, we must understand and respond to the link between housing and childhood health, as it has been well-documented that environment influences the architecture of a child’s developing brain. Many of our young children spend over 40 hours a week in early learning or afterschool settings, and this capital fund helps to ensure that more of them have access to the learning environments that they need and deserve.”

 To date, the impact of the fund has been significant:

• Over 20 projects have been funded throughout the state, increasing capacity by adding almost 450 slots to the early education and care system.

• The quality of learning environments has been improved for over 2,000 kids.

• 34 full-time educator jobs and 360 construction jobs have been created.

• Over $44M in additional investment from foundations, banks and other sources has been leveraged.

 In addition to the EEOST Capital Fund, the Housing Bond Bill authorizes a total of $1.8 billion in investments for the preservation and production of affordable housing across the Commonwealth. 

 Additional authorizations in the Housing Bond Bill include:

• $600M for the modernization and redevelopment of the State’s public housing stock;

• $400M for the development and preservation of affordable and mixed income housing;

• $125M for the preservation and improvement of existing and expiring use affordable housing;

• $100M for the preservation and development of workforce housing;

• $65M  for community based housing for individuals living with mental illness or disabilities;

• $60M for home modification for elderly residents and those living with severe disabilities; and

• $50M to incentivize smart growth production and transit oriented developments.

The bill also extends and expands critical tax credits dedicated to incentivizing the development and modernization of the Commonwealth’s housing stock. 

The bill will now be reconciled with a version passed by the House of Representatives.

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