THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2021 Page 19 BAKER | FROM PAGE 17 summer jobs Workforce development • $500M to support the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund • $500M for premium pay for low-income essential workers • $107.5M for workforce and career technical skills training • $24.5M for workforce development and capital grants to YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs Economic development • $135M to support cultural facilities and tourism assets throughout Massachusetts • $75M for grants to small businesses, $50M of which will go to businesses reaching underserved markets and minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses • $25M will be reserved for small businesses that did not qualify for prior programs Infrastructure investment • $100M to fund grants for water and sewer infrastructure improvements • $100M to improve culverts, dams and other environmental infrastructure • $90M for marine port development • $50M to close the digital divide and increase broadband internet access • $44.8M for food security • $25M for greening gateway cities Education • $105M for a variety of education supports, including recovery grants to state universities and community colleges, FOUNDATION | FROM PAGE 18 ied biology, epidemiology, oceanography, international affairs and environmental law. Upon completing their undergraduate degrees, they became members of the Henry David Thoreau Society. Thoreau scholar alumni have published articles in the “Henry David Thoreau Environmental Digest,” initiated environmental projects on planetary health and established companies and organizations, including the animation company Oxbow, satellite imagery startup CrowdAI and the nonprofit energy organization Equitable Origin. To learn more about the Henry David Thoreau Foundation and the Henry David Thoreau Scholarships, please visit thoreauscholar.org. workforce support for special education schools and support for recruiting educators of color • $100M for public school district HVAC grants • $100M for capital grants to vocational high schools and career technical education programs Governor Baker vetoed language in seven line items containing requirements that would cause delays in putting funds to use. Of 88 outside sections included in the bill, the Governor signed 86, including one that excludes federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advances, Shuttered Venue Operators grants, Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans from taxable income for individual taxpayers for all applicable tax years, creating parity with corporate taxpayers. Baker returned one outside section to the Legislature with proposed amendments and vetoed one outside section. Notably, while signing outside sections that establish and fund a $500M COVID-19 Essential Employee Premium Pay Fund for one-time payments to frontline workers, the Governor vetoed a section setting up administrative obstacles that would interfere with the efficient distribution of payments, including the requirement to consult with a 28-member advisory panel on program design. Vetoing this section will allow the administration to immediately get to work on the process to distribute these funds.
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