Ways and Means Panel Hears FY27 Pitches on Jobs, Housing, and Cannabis at Cape Cod Session

BOSTON — March 9, 2026 — Massachusetts Ways and Means Committee traveled to Barnstable Town Hall for an all-day regional FY27 budget hearing covering labor, housing, economic development, technology, cannabis, and arts. Co-chaired by Representative Kip A. Diggs and Senator Michael D. Brady, the March 9 session drew testimony from seven secretariats under Governor Healy's proposed $62.8 billion executive branch budget. Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Lauren Jones reported that unemployment insurance call wait times have dropped from more than two hours to 11 minutes and that 85 percent of claims are now paid within 35 days, even as base federal DUA funding has fallen by $17 million — nearly a quarter — since FY23. Interim Housing Secretary Jennifer Maddox presented a $1.2 billion housing budget including a new $12 million winter shelter line item, while acknowledging the Emergency Assistance family shelter caseload has fallen to about 1,600 families against a procured capacity of 3,200 beds. Senator Joanne M. Comerford pressed labor officials on a 30-to-50-percent funding shortfall at Hampshire Franklin Mass Hire, and Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O'Brien argued her agency's $32.9 million request represents just 10 percent of the $325 million the industry is projected to return to the Commonwealth in FY26 — a $13 million ask above the governor's recommendation of $20.1 million.