“What do we want?" chanted hundreds of teenagers, as they marched through downtown Boston to the State House Thursday.
"Youth jobs!"
The protesters, mostly from the Boston and Worcester areas, want to see 5,000 young people employed in the state-funded YouthWorks summer job program. But they argue the governor’s budget fails to fund that goal, largely because it doesn’t account for an increase in the minimum wage. The budget includes $9.9 million for the program.
"Which is completely not enough," said protester Brianna Bryant with the student group I Have A Future. "If everyone's getting paid $11 an hour, and there's 5,000 jobs, we need $13.4 million," she said.
Governor Baker's office responded to a WGBH News inquiry with a written statement. “Governor Baker was pleased to propose a fiscally responsible budget that invests historic levels of education aid for public schools, supports workforce development and combating the opioid epidemic, and maintains a nearly $10 million investment in one of the nation’s only state-funded programs supporting work readiness for low-income young people, without raising taxes," said press secretary Billy Pitman.
The marchers also support a bill that expunge juvenile misdemeanors from their records, rather than just having those records sealed when they turn 18.
“I’ve had plenty of friends who have tried to get jobs," said protester Ashley Delva. "And it’s really hard once their record is pulled up.”
The proposal is one of several introduced by Senate democrats to overhaul the state's criminal justice system.
