Add your voice to the momentum for the Thrive Act!

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On Wednesday, an inspiring number of teachers, students, parents, community members, and education leaders from across the Commonwealth showed up in Gardner Auditorium at the State House in support of the Thrive Act.

During the six-hour hearing, people gave moving and deeply informed testimony about how state takeovers and the use of MCAS as a graduation requirement are failed, punitive strategies that narrow curricula, exacerbate inequality, eliminate voice, undermine democracy, and disrupt students’ lives.

But people were not just there because of what they were against. They were just as clear about what they are for: improving learning environments for students, building capacity for local, democratic school leadership, and rethinking assessment. They testified in favor of schools that focus on the whole child, inspire a love of learning and teach a wide array of skills, are responsive to teachers, students, and families, and of assessment models that encourage creativity and real-world problem-solving and acknowledge different types of learners.

It’s not too late to submit testimony in support of the Thrive Act.

Can you write to the Education Committee today?

OR 

PM in the News: “We Don’t Have the Money” Doesn’t Cut It

Chris Lisinski, “Healey, not Baker, gets to sign big tax relief law,” State House News Service, October 4, 2023.

“Voices on the left were also less enthused about the final product. The Progressive Massachusetts group contrasted the $1 billion in relief with the roughly similar amount of revenue the state expects to generate this year from a new surtax on high earners, revenue from which will be earmarked for education and transportation investments.

“It is simply not acceptable for legislators to say ‘We don’t have the money’ when it comes to meeting basic needs, when they are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary and regressive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations,” the group said in an unsigned statement. “Our commonwealth has the resources we need to solve the great challenges we face; the question is whether our elected officials have the will to do so.” “

What Just Happened with the Tax Bill

Last year, voters showed up in November and sent a clear message by passing the Fair Share Amendment: we need greater investment in public education and transportation in the Commonwealth, and the wealthy should pay their fair share. 

Because of the new revenue raised by the Fair Share Amendment, more kids will have access to pre-K, students will have access to free school meals, our schools will be greener, and fewer graduates of our public colleges and universities will be burdened with debt. Even more, we will see better hours for our Regional Transit Authorities, better upkeep for roads and bridges, and much-needed additional funding for the MBTA. All of this just in the first year of new revenue. 

And that is why it is so disappointing to see the Governor and Legislature focus so much energy this year on cutting taxes, particularly for the ultra-rich and large corporations. Almost 40% of the tax package —  passed nearly unanimously by the Legislature and supported by the Governor — consisted of regressive tax giveaways, disproportionately benefiting the Commonwealth’s richest residents, corporations, and estates. Multi-million-dollar estates will be getting a tax break of almost $100,000 each. Day traders, speculators, and multinational corporations also come out well ahead. 

More progressive components of the bill, such as the child tax credit ($200 per child) and renters deduction (a paltry $50), can help families struggling to make ends meet but miss the mark when it comes to actually addressing the problems of affordability in Massachusetts. We need to be investing in our child care infrastructure and in preserving and expanding affordable housing, and the regressive tax cuts in the bill siphon away vital funding for doing so. That said, the fact that the Legislature closed a loophole that could have enabled tax avoidance of the Fair Share tax is both welcome and necessary. 

It is simply not acceptable for legislators to say “We don’t have the money” when it comes to meeting basic needs, when they are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on unnecessary and regressive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations. 

Our commonwealth has the resources we need to solve the great challenges we face; the question is whether our elected officials have the will to do so. 

Testimony in Support of the Language Access & Inclusion Act and Indigenous Peoples Day

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Dear Chairman Collins, Chairman Cabral, and Members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1990/H.3084 (An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion) and S.1976/H.2989 (An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day).

S.1990/H.3084: Language Access and Inclusion Act

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

Massachusetts, correspondingly, is home to great linguistic diversity: more than 1 out of 4 residents report speaking a language other than English at home, with the most common languages being Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Russian. However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court.

The Language Access and Inclusion Act would help our Commonwealth better meet the needs of all residents by standardizing and enforcing language access protocols and practices at public-facing state agencies. Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak.

S.1976/H.2989: Indigenous Peoples Day

For decades, Christopher Columbus has been celebrated as a “hero” who “discovered America.” Indigenous people have made it clear that, to the contrary, these lands were invaded, not “discovered,” and that Columbus and his men were responsible for the enslavement, rape, and murder of countless Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean. Since the 1970s, Indigenous people have asked that Indigenous Peoples Day should instead be celebrated on the second Monday in October as a positive day to learn about and honor Indigenous history and peoples.

Our neighbors in Maine and Vermont already celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, as do an increasing number of cities and towns in Massachusetts. The Commonwealth should join them, and S.1976/H.2989: An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day will make that happen.

Thank you again for all your work on today’s hearing, and again, please give a favorable report to S.1990/H.3084 (An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion) and S.1976/H.2989 (An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day).

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts