The Boston Globe had it right in their January 25, 2022 editorial piece Ending welfare as we know it – again:  states should tie their cash assistance payments to inflation so that poor, vulnerable families don’t get squeezed by rising costs.

In Massachusetts, the Legislature increased payments twice in the past year. But these increases still leave the maximum payment at only $712 a month for a family of three with no income – well below half of the poverty level, known as Deep Poverty, currently $960 a month for three.

An Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty (H. 199, S.96), filed by Senator Sal DiDomenico (D. Everett) and Representative Marjorie Decker (D. Cambridge), would raise grants by 20% each year until they reach the very modest Deep Poverty level. After that, grants would increase by a small amount annually to keep pace with inflation. There is broad support in the Legislature: 96 House Members and 26 Senators have co-sponsored the bill.  The bill was reported favorably out of the Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee on January 31, 2022.  We urge legislators to make this a priority in the FY23 budget.

Inflation has reached its highest level since Ronald Reagan was President. Very low income families can’t pay for basic necessities.  We must raise cash assistance grants – because no child in Massachusetts, or in America, should have to live in Deep Poverty.