Melrose Delegation Secures $190,000 for Local Priorities

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian are pleased to announce that they have secured $190,000 for various local priorities in Melrose as part of the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Massachusetts state budget.

The FY25 state budget, totaling $58 billion, received final passage by the House of Representatives and Senate on July 19, 2024, and was signed into law by Governor Maura Healey on July 29, 2024. This budget delivers significant levels of investment in early education and childcare, K-12 public schools, public higher education, housing, healthcare, transportation, workforce development, and more, as part of a comprehensive strategy to make Massachusetts more affordable and equitable for all.

Within the budget, Senator Lewis and Representative Lipper-Garabedian secured funding for the following Melrose local priorities:

• $50,000 for improvements to the historic Wyoming cemetery.
• $50,000 to purchase an accessible van for the Melrose Council on Aging.
• $50,000 for LED lighting upgrades to support the city’s efforts to qualify for National Grid incentives.
• $40,000 for upgrades to city hall to address security concerns.

“This budget will deliver substantial resources to our communities, and make our state more affordable for working families by helping to address the high costs of housing, healthcare, childcare, and college,” said State Senator Jason Lewis. “I’m especially pleased that Representative Lipper-Garabedian and I were able to also secure funding for some important local Melrose priorities.”

“I am proud to have joined Senator Lewis to secure $190,000 in earmarks for the City of Melrose,” said State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian. "Funding in Melrose will go towards critical improvements to our historic Wyoming Cemetery, a final resting place for many. Additionally, LED lighting upgrades at the Hoover School and upgrades to City Hall’s door ensure the City is both energy efficient and safe. The Melrose Council on Aging will also now be able to purchase an accessible transport van to properly transport residents. Additionally, among the many critical and responsive statewide investments in the budget, I am thrilled to see historic funding in early education and childcare as well as critical policy reforms like making the Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) direct-to-provider grants permanent, a top priority for which I advocated.