Massachusetts state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, D-Falmouth, announced in a press release a total of $445,000 has been secured during the Massachusetts House of Representatives fiscal year 2023 budget debate for Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties.
The funding includes the $100,000 already secured for Martha’s Vineyard for veterans housing, health and human services, and infrastructure upgrades for Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club facilities.
The rest of the funding will be used to support environmental protection. According to the release, $150,000 was secured for shellfish propagation in Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties. This funding will be jointly administered by the county governments and the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries. An additional $150,000 was earned to promote coastal water quality and natural resource monitoring in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. Finally, $30,000 was secured “to conduct beach erosion control, monitoring, and dune stabilization at Joseph Sylvia State Beach” on the Island. $15,000 was also earned for the Woods Hole Foundation.
Carlie Clarcq, legislative aide at Fernandes’ office, told The Times the amendment language does not “specify how much of the funding goes toward a particular place.”
The Massachusetts Senate will take up the budget after the House is done with its process. The budget will then be negotiated in a conference committee before a final version is sent to Gov. Charlie Baker.