Delegation Amends House Budget, includes Prison Mitigation and Local Aid for Walpole

Representative John Rogers (D-Norwood), on behalf of the Walpole Delegation, announced last week the House voted to approve a $300 million transportation bond bill and $34 Billion FY14 Budget.  

The Walpole Delegation successfully amended the House budget to include $750,000 for Walpole in prison mitigation money

Under Gov. Patrick's December 2012 proposal, Walpole's $750,000 in prison mitigation funds and anticipated $30,000 in post community program funds would have been cut.

But the delegation succeeded and the House budget is expected to include the town's prison mitigation funds.

“Rep. Lou Kafka, as a member of House Leadership, led the charge on the prison mitigation funding for Walpole and arranged a meeting with House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey who ultimately agreed with the delegation," Rogers said. 

Rogers added the efforts of Rep. Paul McMurtry and Rep. Dan Winslow were also factors in the town's prison mitigation money being included in the House budget.

“This was truly a bipartisan effort,” Rogers said.

Walpole has been the only town to receive a specified amount in the budget in previous years to help cover the costs of hosting a prison facility. The funding was cut by Gov. Patrick in FY08 and from FY13’s budget.  

“The Walpole Delegation worked together to get this essential funding back in the budget” said Rogers, who initiated the funding in 2004. “Prison mitigation is a top priority of the Walpole delegation and we worked hard despite the slow economic growth to restore the funding.”

The FY14 House Budget, which passed the House last Wednesday, also includes Chapter 70 school funding and Unrestricted General Government Aid. Walpole schools are expected to receive $7.4 million in Chapter 70 funding, up from $7.3 million last year.

Walpole will also receive more than $2.2 million in Unrestricted General Government Aid, up from $2.1 million last year.

In a separate bill, which also passed the House last Wednesday, Walpole will be receiving Chapter 90 funding to repair local roadways. Walpole will take home more than $1.1 million of the transportation funding designated specifically to repair and maintain local roads. This is a dramatic increase of almost $400,000 from the previous year.

Rogers also worked with Walpole Police Chief Richard Stillman on behalf of the Mass Chiefs of Police Association for funding to provide the 17,000 municipal police officers statewide the necessary in-service training police officers require to combat crime including counter terrorism tactics like those employed in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. 

The Rogers Amendment was co-sponsored by more than 40 House members, including Kafka and McMurtry and successfully secured sufficient funding to provide 20 hours of in-service training for the 17,000 municipal police offices in the Commonwealth.

I'm proud to work with my colleagues in the Walpole delegation to bring much needed relief to the residents of Walpole at the same time making public safety a priority," said Rep. McMurtry.

Rogers added there should be more relief from the Special Education circuit breaker announced.

“We’re also expecting increases of more than $300,000 in McKinney-Vento funding and Special Education circuit breaker funding, but those numbers are not finalized yet,” said Rogers.  “There’s still lots of work to do, but I think we’re off to a positive start.”