BOSTON — The state Senate’s approved fiscal year 2026 budget could bring more than $1 million in earmarks to western Massachusetts.

Within the Senate’s approved $61.4 billion budget are 493 amendments totaling $81.1 million, which include earmarks from Buckland to Orange focusing on economic development, food system supports and human service programs. The earmarks were secured by Sens. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Paul Mark, D-Becket.

“This budget is a testament to the Senate’s collective values and our shared responsibility to invest in every community, every person in the commonwealth — from the Connecticut River Valley to Cape Cod,” said Comerford, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “By prioritizing education, transportation, health care and supporting municipalities, we are not only addressing immediate needs but also laying the foundation for a more equitable and resilient commonwealth, amid a time of great national turbulence and strife.”

“This is a challenging budget year due to the uncertainty we face in cuts from the federal government, but in spite of that, the Massachusetts Senate has presented a strong, balanced budget with targeted investments in so many important state and local programs and projects,” Mark added in a statement. “I am happy to report that money was secured for several vital local organizations who had recently lost previously promised grants or funding sources and that the Berkshires and western Massachusetts are receiving more and more attention from the rest of the state as we fight to guarantee that we receive our fair share in each budget.”

In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will appoint three members each to a conference committee to reconcile the differences in each body’s proposal, which will result in a compromise version of the bill coming before the House and Senate for a final vote. All earmarks are subject to the final budget vote.

The Senate’s budget includes a litany of earmarks for Franklin County, including $250,000 to Baystate Health for its Family Medicine Residency program at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, $110,000 to LifePath, $100,000 to the Quabbin Food Connector, $95,000 for economic development in Orange, $50,000 for the Rural Network to End Domestic Violence, $40,000 for the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and $25,000 for the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness

Additional funding includes $150,000 to the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region, supplemented by an additional $150,000 in the House budget, and $25,000 for the Mary Lyon Foundation.

The House budget, too, includes several earmarks for local organizations and projects. Reps. Natalie Blais and Susannah Whipps helped secure $25,000 for Musica Franklin, $75,000 for vehicle maintenance and upgrades for the city of Greenfield, $75,000 for Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School’s playground and $25,000 for the Rural Policy Advisory Commission. The House also included the $250,000 for Baystate’s Family Medicine Residency Program, meaning it has a good chance of making it into the compromise version, as both chambers included it in their respective budgets.

“As a delegation, we worked together to try and deliver for Franklin County,” Blais said.

Baystate’s Family Medicine Residency Program, the organization’s first academic department housed outside of Springfield, launched in 2022 with the intention of developing a teaching center in the region to draw primary care physicians to Franklin County. The state allocated $250,000 to the program in FY25 and $150,000 in FY24.

The state funding allows the program to design curriculum addressing Franklin County’s specific health care needs, provide faculty/doctor development, help with the creation of marketing materials and recruitment activities, and enhance community access, according to Baystate doctors at an October 2024 roundtable discussion with Greenfield’s legislators.

Over in Orange, the Quabbin Food Connector expects to use the $100,000 to restart its “Protein Bundles for Healthy Eating” program, which provides folks with monthly meal packages containing high-protein foods from local farms. Program partners include the Athol-Royalston Regional School District, Valuing Our Children, the Quabbin Harvest Food Co-op, Diemand Farm and Coolidge Hill Farm.

Pat Larson, chair of the Quabbin Food Connector, said funding for the protein bundles ran out on Dec. 31 and the effort provided 240 bundles to residents in 2024. She added that the nonprofit is “so grateful to Jo Comerford and her office” because the program provides healthy food for folks who need it, while also providing economic benefits to the region’s farms.

“We’ve developed pretty strong partnerships with those groups. We still have to do a little planning to develop the program to get it ready to go and bring on some new partners. … It really is about the local economy and building a strong regional food system,” Larson said. “We have to become more resilient as a state and a region, and to have this kind of support from the state, when so many things aren’t happening, that is really a positive thing.”

Jessye Deane, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is grateful to Comerford and Mark for securing funding in a difficult budget year, as it can go a long way to helping businesses survive and thrive.

“Strategic dollars go further in rural economies like ours, especially when over 70% of our businesses have fewer than 10 employees. In Franklin County, small business owners are facing rising costs, workforce shortages and limited access to resources — challenges that put increased pressure on already thin margins,” Deane said. “Over the next fiscal year, the chamber will work hand in hand with local businesses to ensure these dollars are invested thoughtfully and have the greatest possible impact on Franklin County.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.