Press
For Immediate Release: Contact: Matuya Brand
May 25, 2005 617.722 .1673
SENATOR WILKERSON SECURES CRITICAL FUNDS FOR SECOND SUFFOLK AND BEYOND
BOSTON - Following two days of debate, the Massachusetts State Senate unanimously and expeditiously approved a $24 billion budget in which Senator Dianne Wilkerson (D-Boston) secured critical funding for the Second Suffolk District and beyond.
“This is a fair and balanced budget which helps to restore funding to the areas where it is most needed,” said Wilkerson. “I congratulate my colleagues in allocating funds to a variety of important causes. I am thrilled with what I
was able to achieve for programs in Boston and throughout theCommonwealth.”
In the initial Ways and Means Senate budget, Wilkerson secured funding for a variety of institutions in the District, including the Trotter Institute of the University of Massachusetts, the Caribbean Carnival, which brings millions of dollars in tourism to Boston each year; the Franklin Park Zoo, the largest zoo in New England; as well as Teen Pregnancy Prevention programs; Latinas y Ninos for substance abuse programs; and Casa Esperanza, which provides substance abuse assistance to multicultural communities.
Significant gains were also made for METCO, which received a $2 million increase; the Jewish Vocational Services for a welfare-to-work mentoring program; the Money Management Program to assist elders with managing their fiscal affairs; and the Museum of Afro American History. Wilkerson is most proud of language directing that funds for HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse be targeted to demographic populations in proportion to the incidence.
Wilkerson was also successful in adding over $3 million in funding through amendments in the Senate budget. She was significantly victorious in the health care sector by gaining funding for the New England Medical Center’s floating hospital for children; the Jewish Memorial Hospital; and the Dimock, South End, Whittier Street, South Cove, Fenway, and Mattapan Community Health Centers. Forsyth Dental received $750,000 to operate a pilot program which performs free dental examinations in Boston public schools. Additional funds were secured for Aid to Incarcerated Mothers, the New England Conservatory, and the 54th Regiment for historical re-enactment.
“I sincerely hope that the governor sees the importance of these earmarks and adopts the amendments made by the House and Senate,” said Wilkerson. “We’ve crafted a budget which targets so many programs which have for too long been underfunded. When it comes to health care, human services, education, and everything that promotes the vitality of the Commonwealth, it is crucial that we service each group in need. My goal was to try and include something for every neighborhood in the District. I think we succeeded. I look forward to preserving the final appropriations in the final budget by July 1.”
Currently serving her seventh term in the Massachusetts Senate, Senator Wilkerson’s Senate District includes the Boston neighborhoods of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, Roxbury, the South End, and parts of the Fenway, Dorchester, and Mattapan.
