City Council President Bernard “Jack” Young introduced a bill that would set aside three percent of the city’s operating budget for programs that would help children and youth.
According to CBS Baltimore, the Children and Youth Investment Act would provide $31 million for the programs. While specifics weren’t provided Monday, the bill would have to outline which programs would benefit from the money. Young said it is a response to calls to provide more youth programs in the wake of the riots that followed Freddie Gray’s funeral.
“I don’t understand how anyone could support the status quo. We have to get serious about investing in our young people,” Young said in a Facebook post. “This proposal is a starting point to bring in parents, students, teachers, nonprofit and business leaders and others to determine an agenda and spend real dollars supporting our young people.”
If it passes the Council, the program could run into trouble in the mayor’s office. City spokesman Howard Libit told the Baltimore Sun that the mayor doesn’t want to create a situation where “every feel-good group seeks to go to the ballots to carve out its share of the budget,”
