Senate budget cautious on LGBT, AIDS funding

The Senate Ways and Means Committee released its budget proposal for the next fiscal year on May 14, and like their counterparts on the House committee they opted to provide level funding to the state's LGBT programs and to provide a small increase to the state's HIV/AIDS budget. Lawmakers and advocates are working to file amendments and pick up co-sponsors by the deadline of noon on May 16 in an effort to boost those numbers.

Two weeks ago the full House voted for a series of modest increases for all of the state's LGBT programs, including LGBT youth programs, LGBT domestic violence programs, and the LGBT Aging Project, as well as for the Department of Public Health's (DPH) HIV/AIDS budget. The Senate is expected to debate the budget next week, and advocates and lawmakers hope the Senate will increase funding in all those areas above and beyond what was approved by the House. Once the Senate finalizes a budget both chambers will meet in a conference committee to reconcile the differences in their two budget bills and reach a compromise.

Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's (D-Boston) policy director, Wes Ritchie, said Wilkerson is filing an amendment to add $1 million to the HIV/AIDS line item to address racial, ethnic and other health disparities. He said Wilkerson is also filing amendments to increase the LGBT Aging Project's budget by $60,000 and to increase DPH's LGBT youth funding by $150,000. He said he was unsure how much of an increase Wilkerson would seek for the Department of Education's (DOE) LGBT youth programs. Matt McTighe, political director for MassEquality, said that Wilkerson had filed an amendment adding $150,000 to DOE's youth programs, but he said members of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBT Youth have asked them to try to downgrade that request by $50,000 and bump up the DPH request by that same amount because they feel that DPH has been more effective than DOE at allocating youth funding. McTighe said it is unclear whether they will be able to change the amendments on youth funding prior to debate or push for those changes on the Senate floor.

McTighe said Sen. Ed Augustus (D-Worcester) would file an amendment to increase LGBT domestic violence funding by $200,000.

Advocates said they were confident the Senate would at least be able to match the House proposal if not better it.

"I think we have a very good chance of at least getting what the House was, and for some of these issues we have a very good chance, if we have the support he had during the House fight, we have a very good chance of increasing that funding," said McTighe.

Bill Conley, lobbyist for the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said advocates deferred to lawmakers, who warned them that this year's budget would be tight and urged them to lower their funding requests to more realistic levels.

"What the senators have coaxed us into are amendments that are smaller than our ask in most cases, but amounts which they feel they can deliver on," said Conley.