One of the state’s first experiments with helping families sock away money for college through a savings match program could be in jeopardy without action on Beacon Hill this fall.
A pilot program first authorized in 2016 was set to launch late this summer as students returned to school, but the deadline for interested families to enroll has been pushed back to Nov. 1 as officials wait to find out whether state funding will be available.
The Legislature last year approved $350,000 for the program, known as SoarMA. But as the program run by Treasurer Deb Goldberg was being set up and the five schools chosen to participate in the two-year pilot were being selected the fiscal year ended, putting the funding in a state of limbo.
Money left unspent at the end of a fiscal year typically reverts back to the state’s general fund to be used toward other expenses unless the Legislature and governor agree to “PAC’’ the account forward into the next fiscal year. The acronym stands for “prior authorization continued.’’
“We are continuing to work with the Legislature to make sure this important program moves forward,’’ Treasury spokeswoman Chandra Allard recently told the State House News Service.
Governor Charlie Baker filed a $59.5 million budget bill on Aug. 2 to close out spending and accounts for fiscal 2017 after a rocky year during which revenue collections failed to keep pace with projections and left the administration searching for unspent money and savings it could use to plug the spending gaps.
In the budget bill, Baker did not propose any carry-overs from fiscal 2017 into 2018, but the Legislature could initiate such a move when it considers the spending bill this fall.
The Baker administration said the $350,000 will revert to the General Fund unless the Legislature votes to carry it over into fiscal 2018 as part of the final fiscal 2017 close-out budget bill currently before the House Ways and Means Committee.
The governor’s budget office said the “year-end exercise remains in development’’ and the administration will review any PAC requests included in the final supplemental budget.
The schools chosen to take part in the pilot include Consentino Middle School in Haverhill, Stoklosa Middle School in Lowell, Reid Middle School in Pittsfield, South End Middle School in Springfield, and Worcester East Middle School.
The SoarMA initiative will make 529 college savings accounts available to families of eligible seventh graders from the five pilot schools. Funded through public and private partnerships, every account will be seeded with $50 and families must save at least $100 in the first year to become eligible for matching funds up to $500 saved toward future college tuition payments.
The idea behind the college savings accounts, according to proponents of the program, is to not only help families pay for college but also get students thinking about college as a realistic goal.
Goldberg’s office partnered with Inversant, a Boston-based nonprofit, to help provide participating families with educational financial planning services.
The treasurer’s office is also running a pilot program called “$eedMA’’ that opened in the fall of 2016, making 529 college savings accounts seeded with $50 available to all kindergarten students in Worcester and Monson.
