BOSTON (SHNS) – Representatives kicked off their second day of budget debate Thursday with a public safety and judiciary mega-amendment that provides money for first responders to buy things like radios and gear, funds programs that help abused or neglected kids through Juvenile Court, and directs the state’s redevelopment of prime land that’s hosted a prison for nearly 150 years.
The consolidated amendment, the third one appended to the House’s fiscal 2025 budget so far, has a total bottom line of $10,136,367. It was adopted unanimously around 1 p.m., bulking up the bill’s bottom line despite few signs of tax collection revenue growth and spending side pressures like the enormous costs of the family shelter crisis.
The House budget already endorsed Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to close the state’s medium security prison in Concord, and the consolidated amendment includes language that aims to direct the process around the state’s conveyance and redevelopment of the MCI Concord property.
The language, based on a Rep. Simon Cataldo amendment, would require the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to study and conduct planning for the reuse of the MCI Concord property, hold at least three public hearings, and issue a written report at least 60 days prior to the transfer of the property. It also appears to give Concord a 180-day right of first refusal related to a transfer of the wastewater treatment facility located on the property.
The property covers 62 acres and abuts West Concord Village, the Route 2 rotary, and the West Concord stop on the Fitchburg commuter rail line.
“Because of its size and location, we can finally — finally — fix the dreaded, unsafe and traffic-inducing Route 2 rotary that plagues commuters from Leominster and Fitchburg to Boston and back,” Cataldo said, seeming to draw praise from a colleague. “We can build an overpass, we can create jobs, we can generate tax revenue, we can advance the policies of smart growth that this House has supported for many, many years. But in order to do all that, we have to be smart.”
He said the process the consolidated amendment proposed involved input from various stakeholders because “this is no time to assume, and in fact it would be naive to assume, that the state and local organizations and municipalities will all play nicely in the sandbox on a valuable piece of land.”
Cataldo also has a budget amendment (#939) that would earmark $475,000 for Concord to engage planning consultants to think about the reuse and redevelopment of the property.
“Today is a full-circle moment from my hometown,” Cataldo said in his inaugural speech on the House floor. “In 1878, the town of Concord petitioned this Legislature to move the Charlestown Jail from Charlestown to West Concord. This amendment positions all of us to do right by the legacy of this facility, to usher in a new era of economic opportunity and prosperity for the region, and to serve the best interests of the state and my district.”
The House also adopted much of Rep. Jim O’Day’s request for $1.6 million towards the Juvenile Court Department’s court-appointed special advocates programs, through which a judge can appoint a volunteer citizen to represent the best interests of an abused and neglected child in Juvenile Court. The consolidated amendment earmarks about $1.5 million for the programs and the Massachusetts Court-Appointed Special Advocates Association.
The consolidated amendment also addresses training needs for police, fire and other public safety departments across Massachusetts. There’s $500,000 for the Boston fire department training academy, $45,000 for a training facility feasibility study for the Yarmouth police, $50,000 to Boylston as compensation for hosting a municipal police training academy, $30,000 for critical incident and de-escalation training for the Lunenberg police, $20,000 for turnout gear, radios, training AEDs and CPR training equipment for Newbury, and $50,000 for the Wilmington police to pay for a drone, supportive equipment, and training.
