Representative Biele, Senator Feeney, and members of the Joint Committee, good afternoon I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of the Judicial Branch of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Let me start by thanking the Joint Committee and everyone in the Legislature for your steadfast support of the Judiciary. In particular, I would like to thank you for restoring the $9.3M that was vetoed in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Trial Court budget. As a result, the Trial Court was able to avoid devastating cuts, particularly to staffing. We are grateful that the Legislature has consistently provided the Judiciary with the resources to meet our needs.
Today, I would like to outline some highlights of the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Judiciary budget requests and then provide you with details on the Supreme Judicial Court’s own budget request. Details on the Appeals Court budget request will be provided by Chief Justice Amy Blake, while Chief Justice Heidi Brieger and Court Administrator Thomas Ambrosino will speak about the Trial Court budget request.
The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court and other court leaders are fully aware of the financial constraints, particularly the uncertainty of federal support, that currently challenge this committee and will likely continue throughout FY27. Addressing the growing needs of the Commonwealth with limited resources is always difficult, but even more so in today’s environment. I want to assure the Joint Committee that the Justices and other court leaders are committed to continuing our strong partnership with you and your staff during the development of the FY27 budget.
Considering the clouds threatening the fiscal stability of the Commonwealth, the FY27 Judiciary budget requests are limited to funding needed to maintain basic operations. The major drivers of the increases sought throughout the Judiciary’s maintenance requests are tied to non-discretionary items such as the annualization of FY26 cost of living adjustments (COLAs) established through collective bargaining agreements with Local 6 and NAGE consistent with parameters set by the Governor, upcoming COLAs in FY27, and lease and utility costs.
The Justices and I fully support the FY27 budget request submitted by the Trial Court. To absorb a reduction in its FY26 maintenance budget, the Trial Court had to implement a series of cost saving measures, including a hiring freeze, a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, and the deferment of critically needed physical security upgrades and facility repairs. These are not the types of cuts that can be sustained if the Commonwealth wants to ensure a safe and well-functioning court system. The Trial Court's FY27 request for $1,012,629,529, a $41.9M or 4.3% increase over the FY26 projected spending, is the minimum amount necessary to continue an already bare operation.
In House 2, the Governor has recommended a budget of $999.8M for the Trial Court. Although the Governor’s recommendation is a welcome increase over the Trial Court’s FY26 appropriation, it falls short of meeting the Trial Court’s maintenance needs in FY27 by nearly $13M.
Let me turn now to the request of the Supreme Judicial Court. For FY27, the Justices have requested $12,684,430 in the Supreme Judicial Court administration account (line item 0320-0003) and $2,538,781 for the Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County (line item 0320-0010). These modest amounts provide base funding for court operations, information technology expenses for the two appellate courts IT expenses, and funding/money for collective bargaining obligations. The court continues to operate with a small staff, and thankfully, the Governor's FY27 budget recommendation fully funds the Supreme Judicial Court’s maintenance request.
Finally, there are several entities that, for budgetary purposes, are included within the sequence of accounts associated with the Supreme Judicial Court even though they are not part of, or affiliated with, the court. You may recall that the Supreme Judicial Court has no control over the budgets of these entities, and we do not oversee their spending. Consequently, our general practice has been to forward their budget requests without formal recommendations, and we have done so again this year.
I want to thank the Joint Committee Chairs, Senator Rodrigues and Representative Michlewitz, the chairs of today's hearing, Senator Feeney and Representative Biele, and all the members of the Joint Committee, for this opportunity to address the budgetary needs of the Judiciary, and to share the Justices' views on the Governor's FY27 House 2 budget recommendations. I thank you for the careful and considered analysis you have given to our requests in prior years; I know you will do the same this year. I also want to reiterate the commitment of all court leaders to work with you and committee staff as you prepare a budget that allows us to deliver justice across the Commonwealth in a fiscally prudent manner.
| Date published: | March 24, 2026 |
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