The Massachusetts Senate recently took final action on amendments to the 2015FY budget. The complete estimated local aid estimates (also known as cherry sheets) can be found here. Senator Joyce in a letter to Milton residents outlined amendments he prioritized and that will have an impact here in town.

Dear Neighbor,

The Massachusetts Senate passed a balanced budget that includes many of my priorities including tracking down and eliminating government overlaps and redundancy, paying down pension liabilities to save taxpayer money in the future, and supporting early childhood education, mental health and substance abuse treatment services, senior home care, and veterans’ services.

The Senate’s budget spends less than the rate of growth while also boosting school funding by nearly $100 million, enforcing mental health parity rights for Massachusetts residents, reducing the waitlist for early education services, changing debt issuance practices to encourage competition in state and municipal bidding to save taxpayer money, and more.

Additionally, I sponsored some amendments for Milton that will provide:

• $300,000 as partial reimbursement for the extraordinary health care costs related to fully supporting injured Milton firefighter Antonio Pickens;
• $500,000 for maintenance and use of the Trailside Museum and Chickatawbut Hill Education Center;
• $250,000 for the geriatric program out of Beth Israel in Milton, and;
• Money from leases and agreements with the Blue Hills Observatory and Blue Hills Ski Area into the Blue Hills Reservation Trust Fund instead of the state’s General Fund

As always, it is an honor to represent you and your family in the Massachusetts Senate.

Sincerely,

Brian