Today, the Baker-Polito Administration filed its Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget recommendation, a $44.6 billion balanced and fiscally-responsible proposal which fully funds the first year of the historic Student Opportunity Act, increases funding for the MBTA and the Commonwealth’s transportation system and helps train 20,000 more workers in skilled trades and technical fields by transforming vocational high schools into Career Technical Institutes.
Economic Development and Workforce Development
- $8.4 million in funding to transform 15 vocational high schools into Career Technical Institutes adding two shifts per day
- Will train 20,000 new workers over four years in skilled trades and technical fields including plumbing, HVAC, manufacturing, and robotics
- $4.0 million for the Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program, a $900,000 (+29%) increase above FY20 spending for entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those owned by women, immigrants, veterans, and people of color
- $2.5 million for the Advanced Manufacturing Training Program, which connects businesses with unemployed and underemployed individuals including veterans
- $250,000 for a reentry pilot program to provide individuals who are about to exit correctional facilities with necessary job-search skill.