Page 2 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MArCH 10, 2023 Rep. Wong supports supplemental spending bill to fund school meals and extend remote public meetings niversal free school meals will be funded through the end of the school year, and municipalities will be able to continue holding remote meetings for another two years under a $635 million supplemental spending bill supported by State Representative Donald H. Wong (R-Saugus). House Bill 57 received initial approval from the House of Representatives on March 1, passing on a vote of 153-0. In addition to providU ing $65 million in funding for the school breakfast program, the spending bill also authorizes $130 million in emergency food allotments for households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) to help offset the end of enhanced federal benefits that went into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Representative Wong noted $3.48 GALLON We accept: MasterCard * Visa * & Discover Price Subject to Change without notice 100 Gal. Min. 24 Hr. Service 781-286-2602 that additional COVID-era provisions to assist municipalities and businesses will be extended under House Bill 57. Communities are currently allowed to hold remote town meetings with a reduced quorum until March 31, 2023, but the supplemental budget will extend the expiration date until March 31, 2025. Remote meetings of public bodies, agencies and commissions are also subject to the same extension. According to Representative Wong, House Bill 57 also provides for a one-year extension for restaurants to offer outdoor dining and for licensed establishments to sell alcoholic beverages or wine and malt beverages in conjunction with food takeout and delivery orders. These provisions were due to expire on April 1, 2023, but would be extended until April 1, 2024, under the House proposal. Representative Wong said the supplemental spending bill also provides: • $1 million for grants and technical assistance to municipalities to support community development, housing production, workforce training and economic opportunity, child care and early education, and climate resilience initiatives • $68 million in Early Education and Care Workforce Stabilization Grants • $44.9 million in Emergency Assistance Family Shelters and Services to cover the cost of the projected increase in caseloads under the Emergency Assistance Program • $40 million to address the needs of homeless families and individuals, including health care, supportive services and specialized refugee-focused Donald Wong State Representative case management to families who need them • $2 million to reimburse SNAP recipients whose payments were stolen through electronic benefit transfer card skimming • $9.3 million for the Massachusetts Broadband Incentive Fund • $14 million for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation to provide matching grants supporting collaboration among Massachusetts manufacturers and institutions of higher education, nonprofits and other public or quasi-public entities • $50 million for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation to provide matching grants to assist academic institutions, nonprofits, industry consortiums, federally funded research and development centers and other technology-based economic development organizations in competing for federal grants in technology and innovation fields • $15 million for higher education manufacturing grants • $400 million for the MassWorks program • $34 million to assist projects that will improve, rehabilitate or redevelop blighted, abandoned, vacant or underutilized properties • $8 million for the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund • $104 million for the Clean Water Trust On March 2, House Bill 57, as amended, was referred to the Massachusetts Senate’s Committee on Ways and Means, which, on March 6, recommended its passage with an amendment. The COVID-19 Update Town reports 21 newly confirmed cases; no new deaths By Mark E. Vogler T here were 21 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Saugus over the past week through Wednesday (March 8). The new cases reported by the state Department of Public Health (DPH) over the past week increased the overall total to 10,548 confirmed cases since the outbreak of the global pandemic in March of 2020, according to Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree. This week’s total was an increase of five over the number of newly confirmed cases reported last week. PROTECT | FROM PAGE 1 Fralick said he would consult with the City of Malden health director to learn more about the program. During Monday night ’s meeting, Panetta also asked Fralick for an update on the rundown Karla’s Shoes building on Route 1 South, just before the Main Street exit to Wakefield. The building has already been marked by the Saugus Fire Department with an x, designating it a public safety risk. “If a piece of it falls onto Route 1, it’s going to cause fatalities,” Panetta said. “It’s a huge safety concern,” she said, adding that the town needs to take some kind of action. Fralick said he agrees that There were no new COVID-19-related deaths over the past week, as the death toll remained at 110. “Our hearts and prayers go out to those families affected by this health pandemic,” Crabtree said. the building is “definitely an imminent hazard” to pedestrians and squatters who may try to enter the building. The building needs to come down, but efforts have been slowed down by “a delusions of grandeur type situation” where the owners think they can get money by selling the property. “The property may be more valuable as an empty lot,” Fralick said. “We’re trying to take as much action as we can.” Noting that the building is covered with graffiti, he said officials may rely on the town’s anti-graffiti regulations to take the owners to task and force cleanup of the property. “They’re going to have to do some kind of work,” he said.
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