Vargas Budget Amendments to Bring Haverhill Thousands More in State Aid

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State Rep. Andy Vargas introduced several amendments to Massachusetts’ state budget for the 2020 fiscal year this week, which stands to bring thousands of state dollars in state aid back to the City of Haverhill.

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Vargas’ amendments include $250,000 to assist paying off the Hale Hospital debt; $65,000 to benefit emergency shelter services at Emmaus; $80,000 for the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, also filed in the Senate by Sen. Diana DiZoglio; and $25,000 for the Mount Washington-area nonprofit Power of Self Education.

In addition, Vargas cosponsored several amendments to help benefit other Haverhill organizations, with $300,000 for Veterans Northeast Outreach Center, co-sponsored by Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, and $2.2 million for the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, which benefits the Haverhill Boys and Girls Club. The budget also contains $1.5 million for the Civics Education Trust Fund, which was created by Vargas’ civics education bill passed last year.

Haverhill also sees increases to other state-funded programs from the new budget, with an additional $3.7 million earmarked for education funding and $300,000 in unrestricted local funds.

Of the budget, Vargas said, “I was thrilled that our efforts to boost education funding resulted in a remarkable increase in local education aid for Haverhill. I was also very pleased that this budget funds the Civic Trust Fund to provide funding to districts that need support in complying with the civics education bill we passed last year.”

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