To a $49.68 billion state budget proposal passed by the Senate last month, Sen. Nick Collins added several amendments to support public safety.
The first one asked for $1 million in grants to create a Peer Support Trust Fund for state and local law enforcement. A second Collins amendment included $850,000 for upgrades and expansions of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC).
Collins was a co-sponsor on several other amendments as well, including one to allow the State Police to hire retired officers for public safety roles, restoring more than $2 million in funding to the State Police, and providing an additional $1 million to Environmental Law Enforcement.
One community-focused effort in the budget proposal that gained Collins’s support included $13 million in funding to the state’s Shannon Grant violence prevention and intervention program. A second community-focused effort included $10 million to create a neighborhood gun violence prevention program.
Overall, the Senate budget proposal made investments in public safety that included $441.7 million for the State Police, nearly $35 million’ for the state’s municipal fire departments, and $11.6 million for a proposed Municipal Police Training Committee.
The House passed its own $49.7 billion budget proposal in April. Both plans will go to Conference Committee to be reconciled before a bill is sent to Gov. Baker for his final signature. The state budget typically is passed before July 1, when the state’s fiscal year begins.
