Six Days of Work To Go!
Can you believe it? We have made it to the last week of Session (along with Sine Die). Fittingly enough it is Holy Week and so what better to end Session on our last part of Session than on the most Holy of weeks and important during the year. It is up to us to finish strong and hopefully honor the Lord in our work.
BOOST Program Gets Funding After All
This past Wednesday, the Republican Joint Caucus was happy to announce that the BOOST Program will be funded after all. It had been looking as if it would be cut from the budget completely but that has been avoided.
The BOOST Program will receive $11.5 million in FY24, with $9 million going to scholarships and $2.5 million available to participating schools for safety, textbooks, nurses and other school health expenses. This reflects another $1.5 million in funding the program. Additionally, language that would have phased-out the BOOST Program has been removed.
This will make the program more accessible and increase the overall funding to $11.5 million for FY24. This means that BOOST scholarships will continue, and 3,200 Maryland children will be able to stay in their schools and thrive for the long term.
We are thrilled that students and parents will continue to have the opportunity and access they need!
Funding for District 1
This year there have been great wins for our District. While we are still finding out what will be funded. Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties have been approved to receive a grand total of $140,425,632 from the Capital Budget. Broken down, Garrett County will receive $18,634,851; Allegany County will receive $81,039,781; and Washington County will receive $40,751,000. I will be able to give you more information soon on what projects will exactly be funded as Session concludes. Stay tuned!
Throughout this Session, I want to hear from you. I serve Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties and all of your voices are important to me. The best way to represent you is to have your voice heard. Please feel free to contact my Annapolis Office at (410) 841-3565 or my District Office at (240) 362-7040. My public email address is now mike.mckay@senate.state.md.us. Please feel free to email me at anytime. I also have a District Office at the Williamsport City Hall. It is on the second floor in the first office. Our mailing address below remains the same however.
I continue to be your voice and advocate in Annapolis so I want to hear from you. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or what I can do to help you. I am on the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the Executive Nominations Committee. All of our hearings are streamed live on Youtube and the MGA website.
If you are interested in seeing where my bills are in the process, you can create a MyMGA account or you can click here to view bills I am sponsoring by clicking “Legislation” under my name. You can sign up to testify on any bill you wish.
Sincerely,
Mike