Governor’s proposed budget cuts DCR operations and seasonal employee accounts
Following three years of very good to reasonable increases in the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) operations budget (line 2810-0100) and seasonal employees budget (line 2800-0501), the Healey-Driscoll Administration is proposing to cut both budgets by 8.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
Unveiled on January 28, the FY2027 budget proposal, which starts July 1, would increase all state spending by 4.0 percent, yet cut all environmental spending under the auspices of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs by 4.5 percent.
DCR funds most of its day-to-day functions from the operations account, while the seasonal account pays to staff our forests, parks, campgrounds, beaches, pools, and other DCR facilities during peak use periods, primarily during the summer months.
The budget proposal also seeks to divert $100 million to the state Stabilization Fund, AKA the Rainy Day Account. Due to prudent fiscal management by successive gubernatorial administrations and the Legislature, that fund has grown to more than $8.0 billion.
“With this additional $100 million investment, the Stabilization Fund is estimated to grow to a historic $8.24 billion by the close of FY27,” the budget executive summary states.
With specifics to follow, MPA will ask the Legislature to reduce that $100 million appropriation by a small amount and use those funds to give operations and seasonal employee accounts a 3.5 percent increase, which is only a half-percent above the state’s 3.0 percent inflation rate.
From a public policy perspective, Mass Parks for All (MPA) questions the ability of this budget to reflect the Administration’s past commitment to our state parks, which, according to 2021’s Legislative Special Commission on DCR report, draw more than 26 million visitors per year. Park, beach, forest, pool, rink, playing field, and playground visitors deserve well-staffed, safe, clean parks that stay open for the entirety of their respective operating seasons and offer commensurate programming.
The Special Commission report, compiled during the covid pandemic that proved beyond all doubt our parks are essential to our physical and mental health, also revealed that Massachusetts at the time was last among all states in per capita tax dollars spent on public open space.
From an economic development perspective, it makes no sense to us to shortchange a vital economic engine still not fully recovered from more than a decade of woeful underfunding during and after the 2008 recession. DCR contributes mightily to the state’s $16 billion annual outdoor economy, $13 billion in consumer spending and another $3.0 billion in worker wages. It is currently the fastest growing outdoor economy in the nation. We want to see that growth continue.
By the numbers
H.2 proposes an overall increase in state spending of some 4.0 percent, from $60.9 billion for the current FY2026, which ends June 30, to $63.4 billion for FY2027. Within that budget, environmental spending by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), which oversees DCR, is proposed to drop by 4.5 percent, from $552.9 million in FY2026 to $527.80 in FY2027.
In contrast, DCR’s total spending by the end of this fiscal year on June 30 is projected to be $165.5 million. H.2 would cut it by $12.5 million, or 7.6 percent, to $153.00 in FY2027. The operations account is slated to drop from $113.82 million this year, to $104.40 million next year. That is less than the FY2024 appropriation, the first Healey-Driscoll Administration budget, of $105.60 million. It seems patently unfair to us that DCR’s overall spending and operations spending is proposed to drop at all, let alone twice as much as all environmental spending, while the entire state budget is slated to increase by 4.0 percent.
As we did in FY2026, MPA adopted what we see as a realistic position in asking for a 3.5 percent increase because the calendar 2024 and 2025 Massachusetts inflation rate both hovered around 3.0 percent. Granting DCR a 3.5 percent increase in its operations account would increase it to $117.8 million, while a like increase in the seasonal employees account would bring it to $30.3 million. We don’t think that is too much to ask in a $63.4 billion state budget.
In conjunction with the December 2021 release of the Special Legislative Commission on DCR report, we called for DCR’s operations account to increase by $10 million each year for a decade to help the agency dig out of the operational hole it was in. The operational increases DCR received during fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026 were close to that, totaling $28.8 million. Another salient point in that report, on Page 51 (Page 60 of the .pdf), is the revelation that at the time, Massachusetts spent less per capita in tax dollars on public open space than any state in the nation.
However, because the federal government was, and still is, threatening massive cuts in aid to Massachusetts, especially in health care, we tempered our expectations for FY2026 and 2027. Being realists, our goal for both years was to keep DCR moving forward on the progress it has been making by keeping the agency’s funding just above inflation.
The economic concerns state executive and legislative branch budget writers have are real. We share those concerns. Massachusetts tax revenue growth is expected to be sluggish. Nationally, as we begin calendar 2026, job creation is slowing, inflation is hovering near three percent, prompting the Federal Reserve to stay the course on interest rates, and consumer confidence is down sharply.
But as we noted earlier, the state Stabilization Fund has more than $8.0 billion. MPA respectfully requests that the Legislature reduce the proposed $100 million infusion to the Stabilization Fund by $15.32 million. That would allow for an increase of $13.42 million in the operations account, and an increase of $1.9 million in the seasonal employee account. That would bring those accounts to $117.80 million and $30.30 million, granting the 3.5 percent increase we are asking for, while still adding almost $85 million to the Rainy Day Fund. This is an uphill battle to be sure, but a battle we are willing to wage with your help because it’s the right thing to do for our parks, our outdoor and overall economy, and our physical and mental health.
Capital Needs
On the capital side of the ledger, DCR has a $1.0 billion deferred maintenance backlog, much of it owing to a lack of capital funding during the same period the agency’s operating budget suffered. As part of the statewide Environmental Bond Bill Coalition, we are advocating for significant increases in DCR capital funding for parks, parkways, trails, and land acquisition, which has also failed to keep pace with need.
We raise this issue again here because the operating and capital budgets are interdependent. DCR cannot eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog without adequate capital funding and the operating funds to hire the staff to design, bid out, and monitor projects.
Between FY2025 and FY2026, DCR’s allocated state bond cap fell from $152.4 million to $143.7 million. While the agency capital budget always contains a look ahead for several years, each year’s bond cap was set on an annual basis. In a departure from past practice, the Administration set the bond cap for FY2027 at $147.5 million when it set the FY2026 bond cap. MPA contends that unless DCR receives much higher capital spending levels and the staff to actually plan projects and get the money out the door, the agency will never retire the backlog.
The new bond bill, dubbed the Mass Ready Act, is now in front of the Senate Ways & Means, having been reported out favorably from both Environment and Natural Resources and Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets committees. Neither committee made any changes to the bill. Senate Ways & Means will act on the bill followed by House Ways and Means.
As we move forward, it is important to keep in mind that this is a marathon, not a sprint. So put on those running shoes, hydrate liberally, and please join us as we seek to bring our state parks squarely into the 21st century, and keep them there. Now more than ever, the park you save may be your own.
Doug Pizzi is the Executive Director of Mass Parks for All