LGBT funding increased

by Ethan Jacobs
associate editor
Bay Windows
NEW ENGLANDS LARGEST GLBT NEWSPAPER

Massachusetts: LGBT advocates and their allies on Beacon Hill made some modest gains this week during House debates on the next fiscal year’s budget.

Last month the House Ways and Means Committee released a budget proposal that included a modest $225,000 increase for HIV/AIDS funding and no increases for LGBT youth, elder, and domestic violence programs. But during the budget debate in the full House on April 29, state Rep. Liz Malia (D-Boston) and advocates successfully shepherded an amendment to add $20,000 to the LGBT Aging Project’s state funding. And as Bay Windows went to press on April 30 advocates expected the House to pass an amendment containing several increases, including $500,000 for HIV/AIDS programs, $100,000 for LGBT youth programs, and $100,000 for LGBT domestic violence programs. The gains come in the midst of one of the toughest budget cycles of the past few years in which Ways and Means made more than $100 million in cuts to the budget.

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