Health & Fitness
Rep. Bradley, Rep. Murphy approve House budget with more local aid
Rep. Bradley, along with his colleague Rep. James Murphy, explains how the state budget passed by the House of Representatives includes money to improve Hingham school building safety.
(State House) – Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, and Rep. James Murphy, D-Weymouth, joined their colleagues in approving a Fiscal Year 2014 state budget proposal which increases local aid and gives towns more flexibility in how they spend state highway funds on local projects.
As part of the $34 billion state budget plan approved by the House of Representatives on April 24, Rep. Bradley succeeded in adding $288,000 to enhance the safety of Hingham’s public school buildings. Rep. James Murphy, D-Weymouth, who represents Precinct 2 in Hingham, joined Bradley in supporting the amendment.
Rep. Bradley said, “After the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy in Connecticut, I reached out to the schools and police chiefs in my district to discuss how to improve security at our school buildings. Based upon those recommendations, I filed an amendment to provide additional funds. I am hopeful that the Senate will maintain that funding when they debate their version of the budget sometime next month,” he added.
Rep. James Murphy, D-Weymouth, said, “A secure learning environment is a productive environment; not only is the education of our students important, but their safety and well-being should be our first priority. I am confident that these measures will work to ensure a safe learning environment.”
Hingham Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dorothy Galo said, “Whenever there are unanticipated events such as the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, it is often hard to locate sufficient resources outside a budget cycle to address the heightened focus on such public safety issues. Any funding from the state that will help us to enhance protection for the Hingham school community is most appreciated.”
Hingham’s grant is intended to defray the cost of upgrading security systems, which could include installation of additional video cameras, automatic locking doors and the provision of additional training to ensure the safety of students, faculty, staff, administrators and visitors.
Rep. Bradley said the House budget increases Chapter 70 education aid for Hingham by $121,000 over the current level, to $6,355,052. Unrestricted general government aid, used to help fund other town services, increased by $31,554 over last year to $1,366,428.
During the House budget debate a $300M transportation bond bill was passed which helps towns by allowing them up to 5 years to spend money received in a particular fiscal year. This formalizes the practice of pooling money to spend on larger projects. Towns may also apply for a waiver if they need to exceed the 5 year limit. The town of Hingham would receive $1,128,970 in Chapter 90 highway funds, an increase of $376,323 over last year. The funds are distributed according to a formula using population, miles of public roads, and the number of people who work in the town. The highway funding bill still needs approval by the Senate and Governor.
The budget now moves to the Senate for consideration. The two versions of the budget will have to be ironed out in a joint conference committee before being sent to the Governor for his review.
