State Senator Brendan Crighton’s amendment for $150,000 for the Lynn Police Department’s Behavioral Health Unit has been included in the body’s budget.

Passage of the amendment marks the fifth straight year the Massachusetts Senate has included funds for the unit.

The senate passed unanimously a $46 billion budget for Fiscal 21 last Wednesday that it hopes moves the Commonwealth toward an equitable recovery with investments in sectors impacted by COVID-19, including early education and childcare, food security, housing supports and public health, according to Crighton’s office.

The BHU program, formed in 2014, aims to reduce drug-related crime and overdose deaths by giving individuals the ability to seek addiction treatment and mental health services. The program has prevented countless deaths, helped individuals avoid unnecessary jail time, and has helped overdose survivors and their family members begin the process of recovery, Crighton said.

His priorities also included housing, food security, and ensuring that the local programs long supported by the state delegation were protected during the COVID pandemic. Also, his amendment for $100,000 for the E-Team Machinist program also passed. This machinist training program has helped greater Lynn residents learn the skills they need to earn good-paying jobs in an industry experiencing a high demand for workers, Crighton said.

“I am grateful to Senate President (Karen) Spilka and Senate Ways and Means Chairman (Michael) Rodrigues for their leadership in producing a balanced budget that responsibly funds the state’s spending commitments while dealing with the pressing issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Crighton said. “As we continue to fight this public health and economic crisis, we remain committed to providing the services and resources that every person deserves.”

The budget also funds MassHealth at $18.2 billion to maintain critical access to affordable health care coverage for more than 1.9 million people, “ensuring that we protect comprehensive care for our most vulnerable children, seniors, and low-income residents in the middle of a public health crisis,” Crighton’s office said.

The Senate’s budget also includes targeted investments to maintain and expand access to mental health care, while strengthening public health infrastructure at the local, state, and regional levels to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also included in the budget were several policy pieces that Crighton sponsored as standalone legislation this session including cashless lottery and altering fees on transportation network companies (TNC). The cashless lottery language would allow debit cards to be used to purchase lottery tickets, which helps small retailers and the Lottery. Lottery revenue, which will increase by $30 million annually under this policy change, is a major source of funding for municipalities and schools. The TNC language, offered by Senator Joseph Boncore, seeks to reduce traffic, lower carbon emissions, incentivize the use of public transportation, and raise revenue through a modest fee increase on rideshares, bringing MA in line with the rest of the nation.

Access to housing, which has taken on new urgency for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, is a major priority for Crighton who is the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing. The Senate’s budget invests more than $540 million in housing stability programs to support many families, tenants, and property owners in this time of crisis.

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