Senate Budget Amendments Could Benefit Worcester County Communities

BOSTON – In the week-long back-and-forth debate over the Senate’s $57.99 billion budget bill, 400 of the 1,100 proposed amendments submitted by lawmakers were approved. Many have state-level implications, others are based on local concerns.

It’s not a victory… yet. The budget process now takes the spending plans prepared by the legislators of each branch; the Senate and the House merge them. There is no guarantee that amendments, no matter how favorable they are adopted by one branch or another, will form the final document. The Legislature’s spending plan must be voted on and delivered to the governor before the end of the formal session on July 31. However, the governor has 10 days to review the legislative budget and cross out items.

“If we wait too long and present the budget too close to the end of the session, we may not have time to override his vetoes,” said Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury.

Education amendments would affect schools across the state

A victory on the state scorecard would be an increase in per-pupil state funding. In her budget, the governor proposed $30; The House in its budget proposed $104, which the Senate initially matched. However, an amendment introduced by Sen. John Cronin, D-Lunenburg, raised the proposal to $110 per student.

“It was adopted in a unanimous, bipartisan vote,” Cronin said, explaining that the increased funding would favor about two-thirds of Massachusetts public school districts, those considered minimum aid communities.

Also on the state scorecard is another amendment Cronin proposed as chair of the Gateway Cities Caucus, one that would expand the number of spots available to young people pursuing vocational education studies.

“The amendment was to build, professionally staff and scale 3,000 to 5,000 square feet of auxiliary classrooms at comprehensive high schools,” Cronin said, listing Doherty Memorial, Fitchburg and Gardner high schools. Comprehensive high schools offer both academic and vocational classes.

“These would serve students who go directly from a vocational program into the workforce,” Cronin said.

The controversy revolves around the current vocational education system in Massachusetts and school admissions policies. High demand, coupled with a lack of capacity and an admissions policy that favors high-achieving students and students with minimal absences and disciplinary problems, has excluded young people who could benefit most from attending a vocational school.

The Coalition for Justice in Vocational Education, a coalition of educational, civil rights, and union groups represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights and the Center for Law and Education, filed a civil rights complaint against the state in February 2023 before the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Affairs Rights on behalf of four Chelsea and Gardner students.

Cronin and his fellow lawmakers introduced measures to change admissions to a blind lottery. Lawmakers argue that the lottery system would ensure that all applicants have equal access and opportunities to secure a placement.

A Pioneer Institute study released earlier this month concluded that the best way to address the lack of capacity was to expand the system to accommodate demand. More than 50,000 young people are enrolled in a vocational program; The waiting list for a place can be 6,000 to 11,000 students.

A recent proposal to rebuild Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School in Haverhill would have cost $440 million, Cronin said, and would not have increased overall capacity. His proposal would create new capacity and create new pathways for students.

“The costs are low, the returns high, these new classrooms would create new economic opportunities for students,” Cronin said. The senator believes investment is imperative: “We need a workforce that can help us meet our climate and housing challenges.”

Proposal to review Chapter 70 financing

Moore introduced an amendment for a proposed study on Chapter 70 funding that would overhaul the way the state funds schools.

“Some suburban districts feel that they are not receiving proportional funding, that larger municipalities, those that have more English learners, more students with IEPs (individual educational plans), with more disciplinary problems, communities where incomes are not as high ” receive the majority of state aid, Moore said.

The amendment introduced by Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester, if it remains in the budget, would increase funding for Massachusetts’ nine YWCAs; budget cuts had reduced its funding to less than $1 million. Kennedy’s amendment added the missing $350,0000 back to the budget, restoring the funds to $1 million.

An amendment introduced by Sen. Ryan Fattman, R-Webster, and adopted unanimously, would allocate $200,000 to a pilot program to ease veterans’ transition between military service and civilian life. The program, designed in conjunction with the Massachusetts Army National Guard, would offer mentors and guides with lived experiences anonymously to service members facing mental health challenges.

“Service members face challenges when they come off deployment and come back to the United States and try to reintegrate, to find their place in American society,” Fattman said. Anonymity would protect veterans from losing rank or benefits and protect them from the stigma of negotiating their way through a mental health crisis.

All senators supported an amendment that would create a special fund to reimburse homeowners in central Massachusetts who want to test the foundations of their homes for pyrrhotite, a naturally occurring mineral that degrades when exposed to air and water. . The mineral has been found in ore deposits and quarries in Connecticut and central Massachusetts and has been mined and used as aggregate to make cement.

“Pyrrhotite testing is expensive,” Fattman said. The $50,000 fund would reimburse homeowners for the cost of testing. He hopes to include an amendment in the governor’s $4 billion housing bond bill that would create a special fund to help homeowners mitigate damage to their foundation. Mitigation includes raising the structure, removing contaminated cement and pouring new foundations, a project that can cost up to $200,000.

The extent of the problem is unknown because degradation is slow and can remain hidden for decades. But once cement starts to crumble, it can quickly turn to dust. Connecticut lawmakers have created a special remediation fund; Central Massachusetts lawmakers hope to emulate the state’s southern neighbor.

Child care, food insecurity, climate change

Local issues took on great importance for legislators. Kennedy focused on important issues of child care and food security. The freshman senator offered an amendment to study the network of child care providers made up of family, friends and neighbors, the providers who fill the gaps between daycare, school and other caregivers.

“We need to include these providers in the state’s early childhood education network,” Kennedy said.

Also on the senator’s radar: the state’s Child Protection Program at UMass Memorial Medical Center. Kennedy introduced an amendment that would invest $250,000 in the program, which funds two doctors who evaluate children for signs of child abuse and neglect during medical interventions.

Other amendments introduced with peer support would bring funding to Worcester programs, including $75,000 to address transition planning and $100,000 for the Regional Environmental Council to expand the mobile farmers market and bring fresh produce to every neighborhood in the city.

Also proposed is $50,000 for the Latin American Business Organization and $50,000 for the Latino Education Institute to support after-school programs. Three programs would raise $50,000 each: Greater Healthy Worcester, Together for Kids and Worcester Literacy Partnership to support the city’s summer reading program.

Kennedy included cultural concerns in his amendments, such as funding for the city’s Juneteenth celebration, the Caribbean Festival, and the Day of the Dead Casita.

“It’s important to me to invest in the city’s rich cultural diversity,” Kennedy said. Cronin also secured an investment for the arts with $750,000 for NewVue to rehabilitate a former elementary school into housing for artists.

The hyperlocal amendments supported by both Fattman and Moore include $75,000 to eradicate weeds and invasive species from Webster Lake. Moore also introduced an amendment that would provide $250,000 to the EcoTarium in Worcester to address deferred maintenance issues and $50,000 to the CENTRO food pantry to address food insecurity in the city.

The Court Appointed Special Advocates Project for Children in Worcester, with the largest caseload in Massachusetts, could get $26,000 if the amendment is upheld in the reconciliation process. Environmental programs include $50,000 for tree planting in the city and another $50,000 for the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Worcester Green Corps program.

Cronin also introduced hyperlocal amendments: $1 million for Fitchburg, including $250,000 to rehabilitate vacant residential and commercial space downtown. The remaining $750,000 would go to the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority.

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