Council approves fire hazmat and East Boston senior center grants; $4.7 million for job training goes to committee

Two of the six grants on Wednesday's City Council agenda were approved on the spot. The other four, about $4.7 million that would mostly pay for job training, were sent to committee.

Grants like these let the city spend outside money, mostly federal and state, without touching the property tax levy. The council must vote to accept each one, so a referral to committee means the money waits.

What passed

• $760,000 for the Boston Fire Department's hazardous materials team (docket 2027), a state earmark in the fiscal 2027 state budget. The council suspended its rules and passed it on a motion by City Councilor Henry Santana. The record does not list a roll call.
• $187,000 for the East Boston Senior Center (docket 2030), from the Massachusetts Port Authority's East Boston Foundation Fund II, for the Age Strong Commission's operation of the center. It passed 12-0 on a motion by City Councilor Erin Murphy, with City Councilor Enrique Pepén not present.

What went to committee

The other four were referred to the Labor and Economic Development Committee, chaired by City Councilor Brian Worrell:

• $2,409,496.20, WIOA Youth Program (docket 2025), federal money for a youth employment program serving people ages 14 to 24 who face barriers to school and work.
• $1,822,840.20, WIOA Adult Activities (docket 2026), for job seekers' training, education, apprenticeships and support services.
• $190,105.22, Apprenticeship Building America (docket 2029), for pathways into registered apprenticeships.
• $300,000, Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Fellow (docket 2028), Harvard University money for a fellow in the Law Department.

Together they total $4,722,441.62. WIOA is the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. We described each grant in our preview.

What our records show

• Same-day votes are common, but not guaranteed. On Sept. 23 the council accepted two smaller WIOA administrative grants the day they arrived, each 12-0 with City Councilor Benjamin Jacob Weber voting present (docket 1778, docket 1783).
• Five grants from that same day are still waiting. Also on Sept. 23, five workforce and youth grants worth $651,097.84 went to Worrell's committee and remain there: a $267,721.80 WIOA Youth Activities administrative grant (docket 1775), a $250,000 Permanent Fund for Boston grant from The Boston Foundation for the Office of Youth Employment and Opportunity (docket 1776), a $50,000 Baupost Group grant (docket 1785), a $43,312.50 MLK Scholars grant (docket 1786) and a $40,063.54 U.S. Department of Agriculture SNAP expansion grant (docket 1787).
• A full committee. By our count, the Labor and Economic Development Committee now holds 23 items: nine of the mayor's grant orders, 12 hearing orders, a resolution and one item already heard. The hearing orders include City Councilor Henry Santana's order on the future of SuccessLink youth jobs (docket 1966) and City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata's order on the opportunity gap for young women and women of color, also referred Wednesday (docket 2043).

The youth jobs grant arrives as councilors press the administration on school-year jobs. On Wednesday the council also adopted City Councilor Julia Mejia's request for a job-by-job list of those positions (our story).

What's next

A committee can hold a hearing or working session on grants before recommending them to the full council. The council's next regular meeting is Nov. 4, followed by Nov. 18, Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, according to its 2026 schedule. Each grant's status will update on its docket page.