Harriette Chandler-Democrat for State Senate

Education

FY ’06 Budget

FY ’07 Budget

Latino Education Institute

$200,000 in the FY ’06 budget, and $250,000 in the FY ’07 budget, for the Latino Education Institute at Worcester State College

WPI School of Excellence

$1.27 million in the FY’06 budget and $1.5 million the FY’07 budget in support of the School of Excellence, which offers advanced educational opportunities for students who are gifted in math and science

Local Aid

FY ’07 Budget

Lifted the cap on lottery aid (local aid) to Massachusetts cities and towns, providing Worcester with a major 24 percent increase in local aid

Public Safety

$2 million for the new Memorial Fire Station

This funding will help finance the construction of a new state-of-the art fire station that will also serve as a memorial to the victims of the tragic Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire (over the veto of Governor Romney)

Jobs & Economic Development

CitySquare

Secured $25 million in funding for Worcester’s innovative CitySquare downtown development project
Also shepherded through the Legislature CitySquare’s enabling legislation

North Main Street

$150,000 in funding for a planning grant for Worcester’s North Main Street Corridor initiative. This money will be used to capitalize on the redevelopment around WPI’s Gateway Park and the new Courthouse

Center for Women & Enterprise

$250,000 for the Center for Women & Enterprise in both FY ’06 and FY’07 (over the veto of Governor Romney)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Empowerment Center

$75,000 in FY ’06 and $150,000 FY ’07 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Empowerment Center (over the veto of Governor Romney)

Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI)

$500,000 in FY ’06 for MBI, a Worcester-based economic development agency centered on biotechnology (over veto of Governor Romney)
$700,000 in FY ’07 (over the veto of Governor Romney)

Mass Manufacturing Extension Partnership

$850,000 in both FY ’06 and FY ’07 for the Partnership, which is headquartered in Worcester, and provides resources to help local manufacturers compete more effectively in the global marketplace (over the veto of Governor Romney)

Worcester State Hospital

As a member of the Special Commission studying the future of the state’s Department of Mental Health facilities in Westborough and Worcester, successfully persuaded the Commission to locate the new, state-of-the-art facility in Worcester

Worcester Land Court

Directed the state’s Land Court to meet in Worcester on an ongoing basis for the first time in its 100 year history.

Additional Funding for Worcester

$625,105 for the Central Massachusetts Shelter for Homeless Veterans
$205,000 for the Major Taylor Memorial, which will be located at the entrance of the Worcester Public Library. It will be Worcester’s first public monument to an African American.
$125,000 for the Worcester Center for the Performing Arts’ restoration of the former Loew’s Poli Palace Theatre
$100,000 for the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network, a grassroots neighborhood resource center
$100,000 for the City of Worcester’s Downtown Marketing Initiative, a first-time appropriation
$80,925 for the Central Massachusetts Donations Clearing House, which provides donated furniture and household goods, at no charge, to families and individuals moving out of homeless shelters