From food stamps to rental aid: Pandemic-era funding is ending, and Mass. wants to build an off-ramp - The Boston Globe

Those decisions are taking place as lawmakers begin to craft spending plans for the coming fiscal year. Governor Maura Healey is seeking at least $800 million in state funds — split between two separate spending proposals — to either plug funding shortfalls or extend programs that relied on federal pandemic-era aid. But that federal aid is drying up and temporary policies are expiring, leaving Massachusetts and other states grappling with whether, or how, to keep some pandemic-era programs alive. During the COVID-19 emergency, the federal government sent Massachusetts an unprecedented...