Massachusetts Budget Hearing Reveals $13 Million Trial Court Gap, DA Pay Crisis

BOSTON — March 24, 2026 — Massachusetts Joint Committee on Ways and Means heard warnings of staffing crises across public safety and the judiciary at a daylong budget hearing in Foxborough. Co-chaired by Senator Paul R. Feeney and Representative David Biele, the March 24 session drew testimony from more than a dozen agencies on the governor's $1.72 billion House 2 public safety proposal. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, presenting for the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, requested a ten percent operating budget increase and $12 million specifically to raise starting assistant district attorney salaries from $72,000 to $80,000, closing a $7,500 gap with public defenders now starting at $79,500 following last year's CPCS appropriation. Trial Court Administrator Tom Ambrosino told the committee the House 2 recommendation of $999.8 million falls $13 million short of maintenance needs, a gap he said equals roughly 130 positions at a time clerks' offices and probation departments are already "shot on staff." Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick Hayling, association president, acknowledged an inspector general's preliminary report had exposed a structural underfunding problem and pledged a reform proposal after a scheduled April 9 sheriffs' meeting. Secretary of Public Safety Gina Kwan confirmed EOPS has no current communication channel with ICE, drawing pointed questions from Representative Todd M. Smola ahead of the House's planned debate on the PROTECT Act the following day.