Overview of State Surplus Budget Funding
The Federal Funds Office supports the state government in administering funds from the state surplus budget. Please note that the FFO does not oversee all state surplus dollars, just select funding from Chapter 102 of the Acts of 2021, Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022, and Chapter 268 of the Acts of 2022. See here for information on Chapter 102 and Chapter 268, and see the section below for more information on Chapter 22.
Below is a table displaying all the state funds the FFO helps administer.
Overview of Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022
The Governor signed a $101 million supplemental budget on February 12, 2022. The supplemental budget included $76 million towards face masks, COVID-19 tests, and COVID-19 vaccines and an additional $25 million from the federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund for the COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided funds to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and made state dollars available for a Municipal Mask Program for the purchase and distribution of face masks as authorized by section 1599-0767 of Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Mask Program
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education distributed funding to school districts, education collaboratives, and approved special education schools for the purchase personal protective masks during FY22. These funds supplemented other COVID-19 relief funds previously provided for this purpose.
$8.6 million was distributed to 523 school districts and education organizations across the Commonwealth. The dashboard below shows recipients and the funding each received. Additional detail required by the Department on the number and type of masks purchased will be added to the dashboard as this data is reported.
Municipal Mask Program
The Municipal Mask Program made funds available to 20 communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic for the purchase and distribution of face masks. Communities were eligible for up to $740,000 for this initiative.
Funds were available for the purchase and distribution of face masks to the following entities through June 30, 2022:
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children, staff and faculty in elementary and secondary public-school districts, charter schools, approved special education schools and educational collaboratives approved pursuant to Section 4E of Chapter 40 of the Massachusetts General Laws;
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children over the age of 2, staff, and faculty in early education and care programs;
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personnel and residents in congregate care facilities including, but not limited to, nursing facilities, rest homes, and public housing developments;
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health care workers including, but not limited to, personal care attendants, home care aides, homemakers, and home health aides;
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staff in early intervention programs certified by the Department of Public Health; and
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homeless shelters
Of the 20 communities eligible for the Municipal Mask Program, 6 communities applied for and received funds – Brockton, Chelsea, Malden, New Bedford, Randolph, and Worcester. The dashboard below shows how the six communities spent their award and distributed masks as of August 31, 2022. Note that, in some cases, municipalities are still in the process of distributing purchased masks.