--The Senate narrowly rejected in a 16 to 22 vote upping funds for youth summer jobs programs to $8 million from $4 million. Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said the jobs were important to keep Boston youth off the street and uninvolved in the violence. Chang-Diaz said she was prompted in part by a recent funeral she went to for a youth, where she watched the youth’s 12 to 14-year old friends file by the casket. Chang-Diaz noted that the Senate had passed anti-bullying legislation earlier this year in response to the death of a South Hadley girl. “Our kids are dying too,” Chang-Diaz said. The Senate’s budget chief, Steven Panagiotakos (D-Lowell), defended the allocation and said their version of the budget had more money than both the governor and the House proposed by $300,000.
