Greetings everyone! I hope everyone had a fun and safe celebration of St. Patrick’s Day this past week. The celebrations continue today with the road race and tomorrow with the annual parade. I’ll be running in today’s race and am looking forward to the parade and seeing all of the floats that the committee has worked hard on.
This coming week, the Legislature will likely be voting on a local road repair bond bill to the tune of $200 million. This money will be used for road repair and maintenance, something that is desperately needed after this brutal winter. The Legislature has a record of delaying this sort of legislation, but our cities and towns can’t afford to have bureaucracy get in the way. There already exists a backlog in the work that has been undertaken and needs to be paid for, but the list of work that still needs to be done is growing longer each day.
In terms of increasing the amount of money going back to our cities and towns, I’ve filed a couple of bills this session to do just that. I have filed two pieces of legislation this session in order to not only increase funding to local aid but to start the process of getting this state back on track in terms of sending more money back to cities and towns to increase local control. The first bill would require the state’s budget to allocate a minimum of FY2007 levels for local aid to cities and towns.
The second bill would restore the lottery funding to its intended purpose. This legislation would provide for the distribution of lottery funds to cities and towns in direct proportion to the total revenues accumulating from lottery sales in each municipality. Both of these bills are extremely important to Westfield and to other cities and towns across the state. If either of these bills is passed into law, this would result in more funding for road and bridge maintenance, as well as money for our schools and teachers. It would make it so that local governments could create their budgets and distribute funds to local projects and programs that are important to the city. Some of my colleagues have filed similar legislation, which might mean that increases to local aid will be something we take on this session.
With this being said, when a government allocates more money to local aid, that money often comes from other programs that are already providing services for people. While this seems like a simple equation on the surface, it becomes much more difficult when we learn about the programs we’re cutting and the people they serve. That is why it is imperative to reach out and contact your elected officials and be sure that they are advocating for the most important programs and services.
One example of how hard making these cuts in funding can be is when we start talking about programs for people with developmental disabilities. I recently had the opportunity to meet with constituents who receive these services. I was able to gain a better understanding of how these services provide a better quality of life not only for the citizen who is disabled but also for the entire family.
One of the programs that serves people with developmental disabilities is called “Respite and Family Support.” It was incredible to hear how these young adults with developmental disabilities were able to go out in the community because of the support from this program and interact in ways that we take for granted. From going to the gym to learning how to go food shopping, these services allow people with developmental disabilities a chance to lead a more normal lifestyle and are critical to the family’s stability. Listening to these stories had a profound impact on me. Hearing how crucial it was for this group to have access to family support services is something I won’t easily forget.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. Have a great rest of your weekend!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
