Senator Brownsberger has submitted a letter detailing his budget priorities to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. You can access the letter here: Budget Priority Letter- FY14. You can also review the text of the letter below.
April 26, 2013
The Honorable Stephen M. Brewer
Chair, Senate Committee on Ways and Means
State House, Room 212
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Chairman Brewer:
Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you in February to discuss my budget priorities, as well as your willingness to engage in further conversation as the budget deliberations continue. In February, we discussed the following top budget priorities:
1) A significant investment in transportation;
2) An equitable Chapter 70 funding formula;
3) Full funding of the special education circuit breaker;
4) A grant program for differentiated/digital learning;
5) The Department of Public Health;
6) The Department of Conservation and Recreation; and
7) Expanded eligibility for emergency shelter.
These items remain my top priorities. However, I would like to take this opportunity to identify some additional budget items that are of importance to me and my constituents and have more recently been communicated to me.
0321-1600 Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
0321-2000 MHLAC
0321-2100 Prisoners’ Legal Services
0640-0300 Massachusetts Cultural Council
1410-0250 Homeless Veterans
1599-6901 Human Services Salary Reserve
2180-2041 Massachusetts Stewardship Council
3000-4050 TANF Related Child Care
3000-4060 Part of Income Eligible Child Care
3000-5000 Head Start
3000-7000 Healthy Families Program
3000-7050 Parent-Child Home Program
4000-0051 Family Resource Centers
4003-0122 Citizenship for New Americans Program
4120-4000 Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission- Independent Living (including Assistive Technology)
4125-0100 Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
4401-1000 Employment Services Program
4401-1000 Young Parents Program
4403-2119 Teen Living Shelter Program
4510-0600 Environmental Public Health Services
4510-0710 Health Care Quality and Improvement
4512-0103 HIV/AIDS
4513-1020 Early Intervention
4513-1130 Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention and Treatment Services
4516-1000 Hinton State Laboratory Institute
4530-9000 Teen Pregnancy Prevention
4590-0250 School-Based Health Centers
4800-0038 Young Parent Support Program
4800-0040 DCF Family Support and Stabilization Account
4800-1400 Support Services for People at Risk of Domestic Violence
5011-0100 Department of Mental Health
5095-0015 Community-Based Mental Health Services
5911-1003 Department of Developmental Services
5920-2000 Residential Services
5920-2025 Community-Based Day and Work Programs
5920-3000 Family Support
5920-3000 Respite Family Supports
5920-3010 Autism Waiver/Services
5920-3010 Children’s Autism Medicaid Waiver
5920-5000 Turning 22
5948-0012 Access to Support DESE-DDS
7000-9406 Braille and Talking Book Library in Watertown
7002-0012 Youth At-Risk Grants
7002-0012 Youth Works
7003-1206 Massachusetts Service Alliance
7003-1206 Workforce Funding for Homeless Individuals
7004-0102 Homeless Services for Individuals (including language “that no organization providing services to the homeless shall receive less than an average per bed per night rate of $30”)
7004-1000 Low income Home Energy Assistance Program
7004-2033 Fuel Assistance
7004-3045 Tenancy Preservation Program
7004-4314 Expansion of supportive housing
7004-9005 Public Housing Operating Subsidy
7004-9024 MRVP (including language mandating a portion of any new housing vouchers be made available for homeless individuals)
7004-9030 Alternative Housing Voucher Program
7004-9316 Residential Assistance for Families in Transition
7010-0012 METCO
7027-0019 School-to-Career
7035-0002 Adult Basic Education
7061-0012 Access to Support DESE-DDS
7061-9412 Expanded Learning Time
7061-9611 After School and Out-of-School Time Quality Grant
7061-9626 YouthBuild
7061-9634 Mentoring Matching Grants
7061-9634 Mentoring Program
7066-0015 Workforce Development Grants to Community Colleges
7066-0021 Tuition and Fee Waiver for foster care youth account (eligibility should not be contingent on a FAFSA analysis)
7066-1300 Completion Incentive Grants
7070-0065 Massachusetts State Scholarship Program
8000-1800 Jail Diversion Program
9100-1500 Enhanced Community Options Program
9110-1604 Expansion of supportive housing
9110-1630 Home Care Services
9110-1633 Care Management Services for Home Care Clients
9110-1636 Protective Services
9110-1700 Homeless Elders
9110-1900 Elder Nutrition Program
9110-9002 Councils on Aging
· Elimination of Outside Sections 81 and 82 in the House Ways and Means FY14 budget proposal
· Expansion of and Increased Access to Quality Early Education
· Funding of Silent Spring Institute to expand research on drinking water on Cape Cod and in Southeastern Massachusetts
· Inclusion of S1139, An Act reducing health care costs through extraordinary medical placement, in an outside section of the budget
· Quality Improvement for Early Educators
Thank you very much for your consideration of these items. I understand that you have both a broad and comprehensive understanding of the areas of financial need across state agencies and programs. As we have discussed previously, I would be happy to work with you to ensure greater equity in the Chapter 70 funding formula.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions. I can be reached by phone at 617-771-8274 or by email at willbrownsberger@gmail.com.
Respectfully,
William N. Brownsberger
STATE SENATOR