A communication from the Executive Office of Economic Development (see item 7002-2021 of Section 2 of Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023) submitting the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Program annual report for fiscal year 2024

This bill serves as a procedural document submitting the annual report for the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Program for fiscal year 2024. The program provides competitive grants to local organizations in Massachusetts communities facing high rates of incarceration, poverty, and underrepresentation to fund projects like job training, housing support, and addiction treatment. A key update for this year is that grants are now awarded for a three-year period to offer more stable funding for grassroots groups. The report details how a specific advisory board helped set grant criteria and describes the rigorous scoring process used to evaluate over 140 applications from 23 communities.