Boston’s nonprofits took a big hit under Trump. How they’re fighting back | Bay State Briefing

John L. Micek

Mon, March 9, 2026 at 10:07 AM UTC

12 min read

Good Monday morning, everyone.

Tuyet Tran was raised in a religious household. So she's not one to easily resort to colorful language to describe the current state of the world.

But when she gets up in the morning and takes stock of the U.S. in the age of Trump 2.0, she's been known to let loose occasionally.

"I say 'OMG,' and that's immediately replaced by 'WTF,'" Tran, the executive director of the Worcester-based Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Mass ., said with a laugh.

Tran was one of several Bay State nonprofit leaders who gathered in Boston last week for a forum on the web of challenges posed by the Republican White House and how they're responding to them.

The event was co-sponsored by The Boston Foundation, the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and the MassINC polling group — all of whom, it bears pointing out, also are nonprofits.

Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, the Republican administration has targeted left-leaning nonprofit groups with whom it disagrees by stripping their federal funding and challenging their tax-exempt status, according to an analysis by the Vera Center for Justice.

So gatherings such as the one in Boston last week matter "at a time when we are living with a federal government that is mean-spirited, imperialistic and sometimes unlawful" that's "led by an American president who would be king," M. Lee Pelton, CEO and president of the Boston Foundation, told attendees.

"Coming together is not just symbolic, because it is, we all know it is strategic," he said. "It is sustaining. And it reminds us that none of this work can be done alone."

A MassINC poll released during the forum put numbers and data to some of those concerns, with 66% of the organizations surveyed saying they're seeing increased demand for their services, even as nearly 7 in 10 respondents (68%) said the Trump White House has made it harder for them to do their work.

"The results of the survey may not seem super-surprising to you, but I think that there's some sort of sense of solidarity (by) seeing ' Oh yeah, other people in my field are feeling the same way as I am about some of the things that we're experiencing," MassINC pollster Richard Parr said.

The poll of 488 leaders and employees of nonprofit organizations across the state was conducted from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1. It offers a cinematic glimpse of the concerns and priorities of the groups that work directly with the state's most vulnerable residents.

Most nonprofit organizations (51%) said their staffing levels have stayed steady, compared to 27% who said they've had to cut jobs.

Larger nonprofit organizations were better insulated and less likely to trim jobs, according to the poll. Smaller groups, operating on tighter margins, were more likely to make job cuts.

In the face of White House assaults on their funding and the communities they serve, Bay State nonprofit leaders told MassINC they've been getting creative with their responses.

In most cases, that means new advocacy efforts, with a plurality saying they've been more engaged with elected leaders and have worked to build coalitions with other groups.

That activity got more pronounced among nonprofit groups with bigger budgets.

For instance, while 48% of all respondents said they'd been more engaged with their elected leaders, 63% of nonprofits with budgets of $10 million or more said the same. They were more likely to hire lobbyists than their smaller counterparts, according to the poll.

For Tran, a Vietnamese refugee, the solution lies in being "upfront about the challenges that we're facing and talk to each other about and try to say 'Hey, this is what we need.'"

"And it's okay to take a moment to reflect on these things," she continued. "It's okay to feel angry. It's okay to feel anxious, and it's okay to also acknowledge that I need time to reflect because it's also about reexperiencing trauma. So a lot of that is not just for me to discuss within myself, but with the team and with other people."

Advocates will take the case for rural schools to the State House this week. (Getty Images/Bloomberg Creative )

Beating Swords into Desk Chairs Dept.

Educators, activists and lawmakers who represent more than 30 rural school districts are headed to Boston for a week of activism intended to call attention to the challenges they face because of stagnant funding and declining enrollment.

Activists want to use the week of action, which runs from March 9 to March 13, to pressure lawmakers to fully fund Rural School Aid at $60 million in the 2026-27 state budget. They also want lawmakers to adopt the recommendations from a 2022 state report on the issue.

"Deerfield and most other rural communities across the commonwealth are facing wrenching FY27 budget choices, and the main culprit is the woeful lack of equitable school funding from the state," Deerfield Select Board member Tim Hilchey said in an email. "Our school committee just voted to eliminate Frontier Regional School's librarian to save money. When school expenses make up almost 70% of the entire municipal budget, barring major school funding increases from the state, the wheels are going to come off the bus."

Local officials need "both short and long-term solutions and we need them now. In the short-term, we need full funding of rural school aid at $60 million, which is the amount that a Special Commission indicated was necessary in 2022," Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee Chairperson Martha Thurber said.

You can find more information on the call to action here .

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a meeting of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, June 12, 2025.Screen Capture

Warren revives bill to keep 'weapons of war' off American streets

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is making a new push to keep military-grade weaponry off U.S. streets.

The Cambridge lawmaker, joined by colleagues on both sides of Capitol Hill, reintroduced the " Stop Militarizing Our Streets Act ," which bars Defense Department contractors from selling military-grade assault weapons and ammunition to civilians.

The legislation also holds firearms and ammunition dealers accountable by putting their Pentagon contracts at risk if they fail to comply with the law, Warren's office said in a statement.

The legislation gained new legs in the wake of recent reporting revealing that Mexican drug cartels were getting the upper hand on law enforcement with ammunition made for the U.S. military, Warren said.

"Americans' tax dollars should not be used to fuel gun violence," Warren said in a statement. "Congress must step in to keep Americans safe, and that means stopping the U.S. military and giant defense contractors from selling weapons of war to cartels, criminal groups, and mass shooters that terrorize our communities."

"We should not live in a world where weapons and ammunition sold by the government end up in the hands of violent criminals and are used to devastate our own communities," U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of a companion bill in the House, said.

The bill would impose "commonsense oversight, like background checks and record maintenance, and allow for congressional oversight of contractors to make sure the weapons they make don't end up in the black market," Garcia, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Oversight Committee, said.

A cadre of Western Massachusetts pols is backing U.S. Sen Ed Markey, D-Mass., for reelection. Republican Newsroom

Western Mass. pols rally for Markey

Elected leaders from across Western Mass. say they're backing U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., for reelection.

Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, and Chicopee Mayor John Vieau — along with city councilors and school committee members from across the four cities — are backing the Malden pol, who's in a three-way September primary fight.

Markey has "consistently delivered for Springfield — supporting federal investments that strengthen our infrastructure, grow our economy and create opportunity for our residents," Sarno said in a statement released by Markey's reelection campaign.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-6th District, and political newcomer Alex Rikleen of Acton also are vying for the Democratic nod in the Sept. 1 party primary.

Markey has been traveling the state for months trying to sew up support from local elected leaders and members of the state's all-Democrat U.S. House delegation.

But it's Markey, who's been on Capitol Hill since the Carter administration, who "understands the priorities of cities like Chicopee and has worked to ensure Western Massachusetts is represented and supported at the federal level," Vieau said.

Here's a look at state tax collection numbers for February 2026. AP

Monday numbers

Massachusetts collected $2.3 billion in taxes in February, according to newly released state data. That's $208 million, or 9.8%, more than the state collected in February 2025, and $59 million above the state's benchmark.

Year-to-date collections totaled $26.3 billion, which was $817 million or 3.2% more than actual collections in the same period in the 2025 budget year, and $589 million or 2.3% above the year-to-date benchmark, the same data show.

Those increases, however, were "partially offset by decreases in sales tax and corporate and business tax. The increase in withholding is due primarily to typical timing factors in tax collections," Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder said in a statement .

And the "increase in non-withholding income tax is driven mostly by a favorable decrease in refunds. The decrease in sales tax is due, in part, to typical timing factors in tax collections," he added.

Here's a look at some key tax collection metrics:

Income tax collections for February totaled $1.41 billion, $127 million or 9.9% above the state's benchmark, and $285 million or 25.3% more than February 2025.
Sales and use tax collections for February totaled $649 million, $37 million or 5.4% below the state's benchmark, and $33 million or 4.8% less than February 2025.
Corporate and business tax collections for February totaled $23 million, $38 million or 62.8% below the state's benchmark, and $41 million or 64.4% less than February 2025.
"All other" tax collections for February totaled $252 million, $8 million or 3.4% above the state's benchmark. But they were $3 million or 1.2% less than February 2025.

Historically, February is the weakest month for revenue, contributing less than 6% of annual collections, Snyder's office said in its statement.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey presides over a meeting of the Governor's Council on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at the State House in Boston, Mass.John L. Micek/MassLive

They said it

"What better place to have a convention, and a Democratic convention, than Boston, Massachusetts. This year, we celebrate 250 years (as a country). Boston, Massachusetts — we were integral to this country's founding and American democracy. So I think it's a fantastic opportunity for Massachusetts. I welcome all conventions, all conferences, all events to Massachusetts. We want to see more and more and more."

— Yes, Gov. Maura Healey is very excited about Boston being named one of five finalists for the 2028 Democratic National Convention.

A view of the Massachusetts State House in Boston, looking up Park Street toward Beacon Hill, on a busy evening on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.(John L. Micek/MassLive)

What goes on

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio will be one of several people to pick up the Boston Arts Academy Foundation's annual Champions Award during its 10th annual awards ceremony on March 19.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Vice President Robert Chambers, Vitra Health CEO and BAAF board member Lorena Silva, and Inspira Financial Executive Vice President Chris Herman also will be honored at the event at the academy's headquarters on Ipswich Street.

The award "reflects the foundation's mission to support the development of young people as artists, scholars, and citizens, and to provide equitable access to arts education," the school's president and CEO, Denella Clark, said in a statement.

The event is one of the academy's major fundraisers. Organizers are looking to raise $300,000 to support arts education at the school, which depends on both public and private funding.

The Hives performing on the Sand Stage during Sea.Hear.Now 2024 in Asbury Park, NJ on Saturday, September 14, 2024.Al Mannarino | For NJ Advance Media

Turned up to 11

Swedish garage rockers The Hives play The House of Blues in Boston on March 20 ( tickets and more info here ). The band released its most recent longplayer " Forever the Hives " in 2025. But the chances are good you know them from their best-loved song, " Hate to Say I Told You So ." Definitely turn this one up to 11.

A shortage of public defenders across the country is causing gridlock in the court system and jeopardising a defendant's right to justice.(Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media )

Your Monday long read

A nationwide public defender shortage is wreaking havoc in courtrooms across the country, Texas A&M researchers Georges Naufal and Emily Naiser write in a new piece for the public policy site The Conversation.

If that sounds familiar, that's because it is.

Last summer, hundreds of criminal defendants across Massachusetts had their cases thrown out because no lawyer could be found to represent them. Even after the Legislature hiked pay rates for private defense lawyers , the crisis continued.

Now, roughly nine months after the private lawyers, known as bar advocates, stopped taking on new cases, officials say the crisis has largely abated, thanks in large part, to an incentive program, MassLive's Charlie McKenna reported last week .

But it's continuing unabated in other parts of the country.

Pennsylvania faces a similar shortage of about 30% of the public defenders it needs, with insufficient numbers of attorneys in nearly every county. New Mexico needs 67% more attorneys to provide effective counsel. Kansas needs 277 more public defenders , or roughly triple its current number, Naufal and Naiser wrote.

The bottom line?

"Without enough lawyers providing indigent defense, defendants sit in jail longer, plead without guidance and risk wrongful convictions. Prosecutors face delays in clearing their cases. Court dockets slow , costs rise and public trust declines," they wrote.

"In other words, indigent defense shortages harm not only defendants but the justice system as a whole," they wrote.

That's it for today. As ever, you can send comments, questions and tips to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, friends.

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