BOSTON Gov. Charlie Baker wants to more than quadruple annual funding for an initiative to train 20,000 new workers in high-demand trades, but House Democratic leaders this week showed little appetite for the expansion.
Baker proposed directing $16.9 million to the Career Technical Initiative program in his fiscal year 2022 budget, a boost that he and his deputies said would accelerate economic recovery and help close unemployment gaps exacerbated by the pandemic.
But the House did not incorporate that funding in the budget it passed early Thursday morning.
During a Thursday tour of Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School in Danvers, Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and cabinet secretaries, said greater investment in vocational and technical education opportunities is even more necessary now than when they launched the CTI program in January 2020 because of COVID-19 s impact.