Cambridge councilor and workforce groups back bill to create a job‑training trust funded by linkage fees

Cambridge city councilors and workforce providers told the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government that a Cambridge jobs training trust would preserve development‑linked funds for multi‑year workforce investments and provide a reliable source of funding for training and stipends.

Councillor Javon S. Wheeler (testifying) described H.4134 as an enabling act that would allow Cambridge to hold fees collected from commercial development in a dedicated trust for workforce training. Wheeler said Cambridge’s economy includes many innovation‑sector jobs, but residents have unequal access to the training needed to enter those positions. He said the trust would allow linkage or mitigation fees to be held outside the general fund and distributed consistently across years.

Councillor Wheeler and other witnesses pointed to models in Boston and Somerville; Somerville’s trust has dispersed about $3,000,000 since its creation, testimony said. H.4134 would also allow training providers to give stipends so trainees do not have to forgo income while training. Perscolus/Per Scholas Greater Boston’s H. K. Howard described the nonprofit’s results: about 80 percent of trainees secure jobs within a year and often triple pre‑training earnings; the organization said Cambridge funding would increase outreach and enrollment for city residents.

Councillor Wheeler said the city manager and a coalition of 18 community organizations have supported the petition; written testimony from city management was submitted for the record. The committee did not vote on the bill.