Worcester Trees, Parks, Nonprofits Get Boost In 2024 State Budget

WORCESTER, MA — State lawmakers on Monday passed the state's fiscal 2024 budget, a $56.2 billion spending plan covering the big state departments and new initiatives, like free school lunches and a forthcoming free community college program.

The budget also includes plenty of bits and pieces for cities and towns across the state. Each year, state lawmakers pack the budget with funding for local projects, providing a boost for initiatives that local budgets don't cover.

Worcester will get more than $1.8 million in state funding for these local programs:

• $350,000 to buy self-contained breathing apparatus for the Worcester Fire Department
• $100,000 for the Dismas House of Massachusetts, Inc., a local prisoner reentry program
• $50,000 for the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corp.
• $150,000 for tree replanting in Worcester
• $100,000 shall be expended for Veterans Inc. to expand behavioral health programs and create access to low-barrier treatment for people in city housing programs
• $100,000 for Friendly House, Inc. to operate the Center for New Americans in Worcester
• $50,000 for improvements at Elm Park
• $75,000 for the Worcester Education Collaborative and the United Way of Central Massachusetts, Inc. for the Worcester Literacy Partnership
• $100,000 for youth and community development programs at the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, Inc.
• $30,000 for cultural development work by Worcester Common Ground, Inc.
• $60,000 to the city of Worcester for costs related to emergency housing for unsheltered families
• $20,000 for the In the Hour of Need Family Shelter to assist transport children to
• childcare, summer camps and other outings
• $20,000 for the Worcester Black Heritage Juneteenth Festival
• $20,000 for the Worcester Caribbean American Carnival Association, Inc.
• $100,000 for the Centro Las Americas Inc. to operate the minority economic empowerment and homeownership center
• $65,000 for the Together for Kids Coalition
• $100,000 for the Worcester Public Library to seed the Library in Every Classroom project
• $65,000 for the Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester to implement racial equity strategies in the Greater Worcester Community Health Improvement Plan
• $60,000 for the Worcester Public Library to hire a temporary ESOL navigator for English language learning needs
• $200,000 shall be expended for the SMART and Eureka programs at Girls Inc., divided between the chapters in Framingham, Holyoke, Lowell, Lynn, Pittsfield and Worcester

These totals don't include funds set aside for state-funded agencies like Worcester State University, the Worcester County District Attorney's Office and the Worcester Registry of Deeds.

On top of those local initiatives, Worcester Public Schools will receive a boost in state Chapter 70 funds — the main state funding source for local districts — from about $316.2 million in fiscal 2023 to nearly $357.5 million in fiscal 2024.

Gov. Maura Healey still has to sign off on the budget before it goes into effect. The state Legislature was about a month late in passing the budget — the 2024 fiscal year began on July 1.