Wealth inequality in Massachusetts and across the country has increased sharply over the past several decades. Matched savings grants are a powerful tool to close the wealth gap – including a significant racial wealth gap – by providing hard-working households with a capital infusion incentives to achieve savings goals such as making a down payment, paying for education or starting a small business. These matched savings are paired with financial coaching and education that meets people where they are at and supports their financial goals.

Reach out to your legislators and ask them to sign on as co-sponsor for SD1221/HD2411 - An Act to Promote Economic Mobility Through Matched Savings

HD. 783 and SD. 711, An Act Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap, that would establish a Baby Bonds program here in Massachusetts. In response to the ever-growing wealth divide, State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg convened a Baby Bonds Task Force in March, 2022, to explore the creation of Baby Bonds in Massachusetts. The report provided comprehensive recommendations on developing an at-birth publicly funded trust fund program for low-income Massachusetts residents and informed this legislation.

More information on the report and Baby Bonds Task Force can be found here.

By creating a Baby Bonds initiative, Massachusetts can address the unique needs of our residents and our economy by providing children across the state who suffer from generational poverty, starting at birth, with a significant nest egg for their future, and help level the playing field for children of color by allowing them to begin their adult lives with the resources they need to build long-term economic security and generational wealth.

Reach out to your legislators and ask them to support baby bonds

This simple bill eliminates asset limits for the Emergency Assistance housing program (a.k.a. homeless shelters). Asset limits are a barrier to helping families that are homeless meet their basic needs while in a shelter. They also make it difficult for a family to save money to secure permanent housing. This bill is consistent with recent legislative enactments aimed at reducing poverty through the elimination of asset limits. Last session, the Legislature eliminated asset limits for Department of Transitional Assistance anti-poverty cash assistance programs.

SD132//HD1378

An act requiring financial education in schools

As part of the Healthy Families Tax Credit Coalition, our policy priorities are:

• Increase the Massachusetts Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from 30% to 50% of the value of federal EITC.

• Extend eligibility for the EITC to immigrants who file taxes with an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN).

• Establish a robust Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC) that supports all children by combining the existing Household Dependent Tax Credit and Dependent Care Tax Credit into a single credit (a CFTC), increasing the value to at least $600/dependent, and removing dependent age limits.

• Remove the large family penalty from both the EITC and new Child and Family Tax Credit.

• Improve access to the EITC through sustained funding for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and a robust communications and outreach campaign.

Read about the Debt Collection Fairness Act from our advocacy partners at NCLC and GBLS

Learn more about the work being done by Zero Debt Massachusetts