House OK's $25m for security at Democratic convention
The US House of Representatives yesterday approved $25 million for security at next summer's Democratic National Convention, providing organizers a well-timed boost that will help finance Boston's first national political convention.
Convention organizers and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation applauded the move, which the Senate is expected to endorse next month. The money is slated to be used for equipment, training, and police staffing and overtime before and during next July's convention.
"We were able to secure the funding to give us a safe convention in Boston," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said.
The money was included in the final federal budget for fiscal year 2004, and the $25 million for Democrats in Boston was paired with $25 million for the Republicans' convention in New York City. The budget also includes $14.675 million for a variety of Boston transportation, health care, community, and education initiatives.
Among other projects, the city secured: $2.25 million to upgrade ferry access to the harbor islands; $1 million for Lechmere MBTA station upgrades tied to a nearby 45-acre redevelopment project; $1 million for a new cancer care center at Boston Medical Center; and $2 million to help Silver Line planning and design.
Congressman Stephen F. Lynch said the projects are particularly important given reductions in state aid to cities and towns in recent years.
"This federal funding will provide critical support for affordable housing initiatives, homeless children and their families, and the thousands of families served by our community health centers and hospitals," said Lynch, a South Boston Democrat.
Organizers of the Boston convention say they believe the $25 million for the convention should cover all of their security costs, but New York congressmen have suggested that the cost of the Boston event could zoom higher, to as much as $40 million. The convention's original budget called for just $10 million to be spent on security, but the estimated costs rose after the Secret Service deemed it a National Special Security Event.
The security money is headed to Boston as organizers have struggled to piece together the private donations they need to fund the convention. The convention host committee is trying to raise $32.5 million at a minimum.
