The House Ways and Means (HWM) committee will release its FY 2022 budget proposal the week of April 12th and much has changed in the ten weeks since the release of Governor Baker’s spending plan. The combination of action at the federal level, changing assumptions on the state’s Medicaid program and the public health and economic response to COVID-19 all have altered the fiscal landscape for budget writers. This bulletin summarizes these key changes and highlights five areas to watch in the upcoming HWM budget.