Massachusetts

Democrats control the governor’s office and hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Governor Maura Healey signed a $60.9 billion budget for FY2026 and launched a public dashboard tracking federal funding cuts to state agencies.

The state’s leverage against the Trump administration runs through Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s courtroom wins and a series of first-in-the-nation policy moves on climate, housing, and reproductive rights.

---

Andrea Campbell is winning in court

AG Campbell has filed 47 lawsuits against the Trump administration since January 2025. Those cases have protected $3.14 billion in federal funding that the administration tried to withhold or terminate. That is a 95% recovery rate.

The lawsuits cover FEMA disaster mitigation, CFPB defunding, and education funding tied to DEI programs. In December 2025, a court ordered the administration to restore billions in FEMA disaster mitigation funds after Campbell proved the termination was unlawful.

Campbell co-led a 19-state coalition that secured an agreement preventing the feds from withholding education funding over DEIA programs. She co-led a 24-state coalition challenging an executive order that would have given the federal government control over state elections.

The Harvard fight is the highest-profile case. The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants. A Massachusetts federal court granted partial summary judgment for Harvard and ordered the funds released. The administration’s $500 million settlement proposal remains under negotiation.

---

Vineyard Wind is finished and generating power

Vineyard Wind completed construction on March 13, 2026. It is the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States. The project sits 14 miles off the coast and generates 806 megawatts of power.

$1.4 billion in projected electricity bill savings for Massachusetts customers over 20 years

The project eliminated 1.68 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. That is the equivalent of removing 325,000 cars from the road. In 2025 alone, Vineyard Wind installed 624 MW, driving a 261% jump in total U.S. offshore wind capacity.

Metric	Number
Capacity	806 MW
Jobs created	Nearly 4,000
Economic output	$1.94 billion
Savings per kWh	1.4 cents (less than half of winter 2024/2025 peak pricing)
CO2 eliminated	1.68 million metric tons/year

More than 50% of Massachusetts electricity now comes from carbon-free sources. With Vineyard Wind and the Clean Energy Connect transmission line, the state projects 75% carbon-free power by the end of 2026.

The Trump administration is fighting back. A federal judge overturned Trump’s anti-wind memo in December 2025, but the administration then targeted leases for all five under-construction offshore projects. Contract negotiations between state utilities and two additional developers have been delayed through June 2026.

---

The Climate Superfund bill would make polluters pay $75 billion

House bill H.1014 and Senate bill S.588 would require fossil fuel companies responsible for more than 1 billion metric tons of CO2 or methane emissions to pay into a state climate adaptation fund. The projected revenue is $75 billion over 25 years, roughly $3 billion per year.

The bill requires at least 40% of funds to go to environmental justice communities. Eligible uses include coastal protection, wetland restoration, and building weatherization.

The legislation is in its soft-launch phase during the 2025-2026 session. Massachusetts has set targets of 50% emissions reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2050. Without new revenue, those goals depend entirely on general fund spending and federal grants that the Trump administration is actively cutting.

---

Building one affordable unit now costs $1 million

The cost to build affordable housing in parts of Massachusetts has nearly doubled in four years. In some metro areas, a single unit now runs close to $1 million.

The MBTA Communities law, passed in 2021, requires 177 transit-served municipalities to zone at least one as-of-right multifamily district near stations at a minimum density of 15 units per acre. By January 2026, 102 developments totaling nearly 7,000 units were underway. Cambridge adopted sweeping zoning reform in February 2026, eliminating exclusionary restrictions across most of the city.

The Affordable Homes Act, signed in 2024, commits over $5 billion for housing production, public housing repairs, and commercial-to-residential conversions.

Two ballot measures will go before voters in November 2026. One would cap annual rent increases at inflation or 5%, whichever is lower. Another would legalize starter homes statewide.

$978 million spent on emergency shelter in FY2025 under the state’s right-to-shelter law

Massachusetts is the only state with a right-to-shelter law for families with children. That law drove $978 million in emergency shelter spending in FY2025, up from $894 million the year before. Healey capped the system at 4,000 families through December 2026 and is shifting from hotel placements toward lower-cost shelter options.

---

The shield law blocks other states from reaching in

Abortion is fully legal in Massachusetts. The state constitution protects the right, and the 2021 Reproductive Health Act codified it in statute. But the 2025 shield law goes further.

The shield law also covers transgender health care. Providers face no disciplinary action or insurance consequences for delivering care that Massachusetts law permits. Separate 2025 legislation added data privacy protections restricting the sharing of medical records and requiring enhanced security for health data.

Governor Healey and AG Campbell issued joint guidance in February 2025 telling educational institutions to continue DEIA programs, directly countering the Trump administration’s “Dear Colleague” letter that declared DEI efforts unlawful.

---

Protect yourself right now

1. Check your voter registration. The state primary is September 1, 2026. The general election is November 3. Verify your status at sec.state.ma.us/voterregistrationsearch.

2. Know the ballot measures. Rent control, an income tax cut from 5% to 4%, and top-two primary elections are all expected on the November 2026 ballot. Read each question before you vote.

3. Track federal funding cuts. Governor Healey’s public dashboard shows which state agencies have lost federal money. Visit mass.gov and search “federal funding cuts dashboard.”

4. Contact AG Campbell’s office. If you believe a federal agency has unlawfully withheld funds from your employer, school, or community organization, report it to the AG at 617-727-2200.

5. Show up at zoning hearings. Your municipality may be one of the 177 towns required to zone for multifamily housing under the MBTA Communities law. Attend the public hearing. These votes determine whether housing gets built near you.