Boston Council Hears Calls to Restore Grants Gutted From Equity Cabinet in FY27 Budget

BOSTON -- May 12, 2026, Boston equity cabinet offices defend deep grant cuts at City Council budget hearing. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by District 6 Councillor Ben Weber, heard testimony Tuesday from the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, the Office of Language and Communication Access, the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and the Mayor's Office of LGBTQIA2S Plus Advancement on their proposed fiscal year 2027 budgets. The LGBTQ office's contracted services line, covering grants, programming, and events, was cut 87 percent, eliminating all three grant programs, including $275,000 in Beyond Pride grants and a $70,000 IDEA Fund for gender-affirming identity document assistance, with requests for that fund alone approaching $500,000 this cycle. Immigrant advancement faces cuts of nearly $1.8 million, eliminating the Weaving Wellbeing mental health program, ESOL classes, and the Strengthening Boston's Diverse Neighborhoods mutual aid grant. Councillor Brian Santana called on colleagues to "put forward amendments" to restore the funding, while Councillor Ricardo Arroyo Worrell tallied equity-cabinet cuts across departments exceeding $3.2 million and asked, "What is equitable about these cuts?" Chair Weber argued the council needs state passage of a 2 percent real estate transfer fee on sales above $2 million, projected at roughly $160 million per year, to avoid zero-sum choices between firefighters, veterans, and vulnerable communities.