Disability, housing and reentry groups press Ways and Means for vouchers, accessibility funding and reentry earmarks

A broad coalition of housing and disability advocates told the Ways and Means committee the governor's FY27 proposals fall short on accessibility, vouchers and reentry housing supports.

Noelle Sanders, senior community organizer with the Boston Center for Independent Living, urged increasing the Accessible Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) line item (7004-9030) and asked the committee to consider boosting it to $25,000,000 while adding an outside-section appropriation from the governor’s package. "This program is so critical because it is one of the few that serves a moderate percentage of Massachusetts residents," Sanders said, and argued making existing accessible units usable is a responsible investment.

Aaron Raleigh, a disability peer advocate, described the practical difficulty of finding accessible units within common price ranges and recommended augmenting the AHVP and related rental supports. Witnesses cited a growing demand: one speaker reported 94,895 applicants this year for housing-related programs, roughly 20,000 more than last year.

Justice for Housing and partner Trade Corps asked the committee to amend section 2 of line item 7004-9034 to earmark at least $450,000 for housing, vocational training and family services for justice-involved individuals. "Justice for Housing has housed over 650 justice-impacted individuals while maintaining a 2% recidivism rate," Justice for Housing Executive Director Leslie Credo told the panel, and Trade Corps founder Angela Rivera described a pilot project tying housing revitalization to trade-training pathways.

Committee members thanked the witnesses and noted the testimony will be considered alongside other budget priorities. No formal appropriations or amendments were recorded during the hearing.

Provenance: testimony recorded in-person before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means.