Massachusetts can’t stop Trump’s racist deportation agenda entirely, but we shouldn’t be complicit in it.
Continue reading“Massachusetts Doesn’t Need to Be Complicit.”
“A security that disenfranchises is no security at all.”
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Chairman Finegold, Chairman Lawn, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:
I’m writing on behalf of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide member-driven advocacy organization committed to advancing progressive policy in our state. Since our founding, good government and strong democracy have been an essential part of our mission.
As the 2020 election approaches, we need to be thinking about how we can best improve the security of our elections and the participation in our elections. Too often, security and participation are pitted against each other, and a security that disenfranchises is no security at all.
Post-Election Audits
Risk-limiting audits are an essential way to confirm the accuracy of elections and boost voter faith in the democratic process. The post-election audits that were created by the 2015 election modernization bill are limited to the presidential general election and rely on a sample of just 3% of total ballots, without confirming whether or not the election result is correct. Risk-limiting audits, by contrast, ensure that the reported winners of elections are the actual winners and can catch problems resulting from foreign interference, technological glitches, or simple human error.
We urge you to give a favorable report to S. 388, H. 687, H. 721, and H. 694. The first three bills would enact risk-limiting post-election audits, the gold standard reform. H. 694 strengthens the current system by applying the current 3% audit to presidential primaries and state general elections.
Language Access
Language should not be a barrier to participation in our democracy. Accordingly, we also urge a favorable report to H.690 (An Act concerning certain ballots). This bill would require the full translation of all ballots, including transliteration of candidates’ names in languages that do not use the Roman alphabet. This particularly impacts limited English proficient Chinese and Cambodian voters.
Transliteration affirms the right to a secret ballot, ensuring that all voters are able to mark their ballot for their intended candidates independently. This is a clear win-win for security and participation.
Early Voting
Early voting, which was authorized by the 2015 election modernization bill, was a success. However, it was limited to state and federal elections. The City of Boston has a home rule petition to expand early voting to city elections, and we urge a favorable report to this petition, H. 3859. Due to work, school, or familial engagements, many people are unable to find the time to go to the polls on Election Day. Expanding early voting ensures that scheduling conflicts are not a barrier to participation and reduces any confusion people might have about which elections offer early voting.
Our democracy is our most cherished institution, and we need to strengthen it.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Chair, Issues Committee
CommonWealth: Election Day voter registration is good for democracy
PM Issues Committee chair Jonathan Cohn penned an editorial for CommonWealth in honor of National Voter Registration Day today:
TODAY — THE FOURTH Tuesday of September—is National Voter Registration Day. It’s also the day that Boston voters will go to the polls for hotly contested preliminary elections for City Council.
If the past is any guide, turnout will be low (we’ll be lucky if it passes 10 percent), a product of both apathy and design.
We all have work to do to counter the apathy that drives low voter participation and to build a stronger civic culture. However, that’s a multi-year, ongoing process. Eliminating the barriers that exist by design is much simpler.
Take, for example, our 20-day voter registration cutoff date….
Driver’s Licenses: An Equity Issue and a Public Safety Issue
Chairman Boncore, Chairman Straus, and members of the Joint Committee on Transportation, my name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am pleased to offer testimony. Progressive Massachusetts would like to go on record in support of S.2061 / H.3012: An Act relative to work and family mobility.
The Work and Family Mobility Act would enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard Massachusetts driver’s license, regardless of immigration status, to increase road and public safety and allow for greater mobility across our Commonwealth.
Immigrants are a core part of the fabric of our community, but regressive laws still on the books hinder their ability to fully participate. Notably, our state still prevents undocumented residents from obtaining driver’s licenses, hindering their ability to work and to engage in the community.
This is bad for our economy and bad for public safety. In 2016, undocumented immigrants contributed $8.8 billion to the Massachusetts economy, and not being able to obtain a driver’s license prevents their full participation in the economy, especially as our underfunded public transit system too often provides irregular hours and insufficient reach.
Moreover, this situation is bad for public safety. All drivers on the road should have the appropriate training that comes with a license: that makes everyone — fellow drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians — safer.
But a true definition of public safety is much broader. In the first two years of the Trump administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of people with no criminal convictions more than tripled, fueled by a fivefold increase in arrests of immigrants who’ve been charged with an offense but not yet convicted. The most common charges are traffic offenses. Massachusetts can and should reduce our complicity with a federal immigration agenda out of step with our values and priorities as a Commonwealth.
Other states have realized that changing the law so that immigration status is no longer a barrier to obtaining a license is common-sense policy. Fourteen states have already passed such laws, including our neighbors in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. It’s past time that we do too. We urge a prompt favorable report for S.2061 / H.3012: An Act relative to work and family mobility.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Chair, Issues Committee
Progressive Massachusetts
Are Your Legislators Keeping It 💯 for Our Students?
In the 1980s, steep cuts in property taxes strained school budgets across the state, creating gaping inequalities between the richest and poorest communities.
In response to that, parents from Brockton sued the state, claiming that it was failing to meet its constitutional obligation to “cherish” education for all students. This language written goes all the way back to John Adams.
In June of 1993, the Legislature responded to this lawsuit — and the underlying funding crisis — by passing the Education Reform Act, which has shaped the course of public education in Massachusetts since.
One core part of ensuring that every student got a quality public education was the Chapter 70 formula.
Here’s how it worked:
(1) Calculate a “foundation budget“: A district ‘s foundation budget is determined by multiplying the number of students at each grade level and demographic group (e.g., low-income students and English Language Learners) by a set of education spending categories (e.g., teacher compensation, building maintenance) and totaling those numbers up.
(2) Calculate a required local contribution: This is done by looking at incomes and property values. In other words, how much can a city or town contribute based on the resources that it has?
(3) Fill the gap with state aid. And if districts can and want to, they can choose to spend more than their required contribution.
And this worked! Well, at first.
Some things from 1993 last forever.
But most haven’t. And the assumptions built into this formula are now out of date.
The Legislature knows this, too.
In 2015, a commission created by the Legislature (the Foundation Budget Review Commission) found that we are underfunding state aid to public school districts by up to $2 billion a year due to outdated assumptions about the cost of health care, special education, English Language Learner education, and closing income-based achievement gaps.
That’s a lot of money!
And as a result, we have one of the most unequal public education systems in the country. All students lose out due to our outdated funding formula, especially the students who need extra help the most.
Wow, we really need to see action on this. What can I do?
The Legislature has been debating various proposals this year. Some, like the PROMISE Act (part of our Legislative Agenda), provide a comprehensive solution. Others are less far-reaching or have some provisions that could make inequities even worse.
It’s important that when legislators take action this fall, they get it right.
That means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students so that all students, regardless of income, have the opportunity to succeed.
For that to happen, your legislators need to hear from YOU, their constituents. They have to vote well for you to continue to vote for them to represent you. It’s that simple.
Are we a state that believes in high-quality public education for all students, or are we not?
So here’s what you can do:
(1) Look up your legislators’ phone numbers and email addresses here. (Put the numbers in speed dial!)
(2) Explain that you need them to commit to 100% additional funding for the poorest students. They need to be communicating this to House Leadership. (If they send a letter, ask them to send you a copy).
Here’s a sample script:
Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent from [YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD/CITY/TOWN].
It’s been almost four years since a commission created by the legislature showed that we are underfunding our public schools by up to $2 billion a year due to an outdated funding formula from 1993. It’s far past time for the Legislature to update this formula, and we have to do it right.
A good bill will do right by all our students, especially the most vulnerable. And that means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students.
I urge you to only support a bill that delivers on this promise of quality public education for all and to communicate this to Speaker Bob DeLeo and Education Chairwoman Alice Peisch.
Can I count on you to send a letter to them outlining your demands for an education funding bill?
[If time, personalize the issue by referencing the needs of your own school district or speak about your own experience as a student/teacher/parent/community member.]
(3) Let us know how the call went.
(4) Set yourself a calendar reminder for one week to call again.
(5) Ask five of your friends to do the same.
💯% Renewable Energy: We Have the Technology. We Need the Policy.
The following testimony was submitted to the TUE Committee on July 22, 2019.
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Chairman Barrett, Chairman Golden, and Members of the Joint Cte on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy organization devoted to advancing progressive policy in the Commonwealth. As such, we are committed to fighting for an energy system that reduces pollution, promotes clean energy, reduces greenhouse gasses and protects our natural climate and environment.
The 100% Renewable Energy Act (S.1958/H.2836) will help us achieve that, and we urge you to give these bills a favorable report.
As a coastal state, Massachusetts will be hit especially hard by climate change; indeed, we already have. According to the latest report from the IPCC, we have to start acting fast if we want to avoid climate chaos, slashing global greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. The clock is ticking.
Although we have been a leader in energy efficiency, we still get most of our power from dirty fuel, particularly natural gas. Our current Renewable Portfolio Standard only requires utilities to source 14% of electricity from renewable energy, and this was only modestly increased in the last session.
We can do better, and we need to do better.
Renewable energy has been a win-win in Massachusetts, creating new job opportunities and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We’re generating more than 240 times as much solar energy in Massachusetts as we did just 10 years ago. Offshore wind as well as new technologies like electric vehicles, energy storage, and air source heat pumps augur well for the future.
But we can’t sit passively by and hope that such a more ecologically sustainable future comes to pass. We need policy to make it happen.
These bills will accelerate the growth of clean energy and set out clear, enforceable requirements to ensure we stay on track to achieve 100 percent renewable energy. Moreover, these bills acknowledge that the energy transition must be a just one, containing core provisions to ensure that displaced workers and the low-income communities and communities of color that have faced the brunt of fossil fuel pollution have a seat at the table.
Mother Nature doesn’t wait. The more we delay the bold, comprehensive climate action that we need, the worse we will fare in the future. It’s time to pass the 100% Renewable Energy Act.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Chair, Issues Committee
Progressive Massachusetts
Take Action: Here’s How to Keep it 💯, Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, people shouldn’t have to sue to make progressive change happen, but too often, that’s been the case. Two and a half decades ago, parents sued the state for failing to guarantee a high-quality education for all children, and they’re doing so again today. Similarly, lawsuits have been necessary to force the state to take the bold action on climate change that’s required for a resilient and sustainable future.
It shouldn’t have to be this way. If our elected officials were bold enough, they would be proactively passing the bills to move us forward, not waiting until they’re forced to.
That’s where you come in.
Keeping It 💯 on Education
Four years ago, the Massachusetts Legislature created a commission to figure out how to update the state’s funding formula for local aid to schools, which hasn’t been updated since 1993.
The commission made clear that the state is short-changing schools due to outdated assumptions about the costs of health care, special education, English Language Learner education, and closing income-based achievement gaps.
The Legislature knows exactly what they need to do. They just need to do it.
The PROMISE Act (S.238/H.586) is the only bill before the Legislature that follows through with those recommendations.
But House Leadership has been intransigent. In particular, House Leadership isn’t interested in funding education fully for low-income students, those who need that extra funding the most. And that’s not acceptable.
Any good education funding bill — like the PROMISE Act — would raise the low-income rate up to 100% for the 10th decile. In lay terms, this means spending twice as much as the average per pupil amount per low-income student in a high-poverty district. If we want to close achievement gaps, we need to be spending extra money on the students that need it most in the communities that can’t make up the difference in funding themselves.
Keeping It 💯 on Climate
As a coastal state, Massachusetts will be hit especially hard by climate change. According to the latest report from the IPCC, we have to start acting fast if we want to avoid climate chaos, slashing global greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050.
Although we have been a leader in energy efficiency, we still get most of our fuel from dirty energy, particularly natural gas. That needs to change.
The 100% Renewable Energy Act (S.1958/H.2836) will help make that happen.
This bill would accelerate the growth of clean energy and set out clear, enforceable requirements to ensure that Massachusetts stays on track to achieve 100% renewable energy, while ensuring that the displaced workers, low-income communities, and communities of color that have been most impacted by fossil fuel pollution have a seat at the table.
How can you make that bill into a law?
- Testify — or simply show up: The hearing for the bill is just around the corner: next Tuesday (July 23) at 1 pm at the State House (Room B2). If you can go, please do to show your support.
- Make your voice heard: But whether you can or cannot go in person, you can still make your support known to your legislators.
Can you call your legislators to urge them to support the 100% Renewable Energy Act?
Click the links above — and again here — to find out if your legislators are already supportive (and to find their contact info if you don’t already have it). Whether or not they are already supporters, they need to hear from you. Your calls, emails, and visits matter.
Will MA Be a Leader on Housing Access & Equity?
Chairman Eldridge, Chairwoman Cronin, and Members of the Judiciary Committee:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for shared prosperity and racial and social justice.
Shared prosperity is impossible in a state where people cannot afford to live or are barred from opportunities for housing. Tackling our affordable housing crisis requires action on a wide variety of fronts, and curbing the outsize role of eviction records in access to housing is an important part. We urge you to give a favorable report to the HOMES Act (S.824/H.3566).
Having an eviction record is creating a devastating barrier for tenants looking for housing. Since 1988, over 1 million eviction cases have been filed in Massachusetts. Records are created as soon as a case is filed and are publicly available forever––regardless of the outcome. These records impact people’s ability to obtain housing, credit, and employment, harming many, especially women and people of color.
Regardless of whether one does anything wrong or is actually evicted, being party to an eviction or housing case is being unfairly held against tenants when they try to rent a new place. Even winning in court hurts tenants. If an eviction case is not the fault of the tenant, is dismissed, or ends with a tenant satisfying an agreement, these records should not be made public.
Even worse, under the current system, children being named in eviction proceedings and burdened with eviction records that follow them into adulthood, complicating their efforts to obtain housing and credit.
Moreover, under the current system, mistakes, errors, and common names result in incorrect information being reported to landlords. Housing should be viewed as a human right, and no one should lose their rights due to a clerical error.
With the HOMES act, Massachusetts has the opportunity to be a leader in ensuring that housing is accessible for all. We hope that you take it.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Chair, Issues Committee
Progressive Massachusetts
Take Action: Families Are Being Ripped Apart Right Here in MA.
Every day, we hear new horror stories about families being ripped apart at the border and the terrible conditions that children seeking asylum are held in.
We can — and must — continue to lobby our elected officials in Washington to do all they can to close the dystopian detention camps and craft a humane immigration system.
But there’s work to be done in Massachusetts, too. Police officers in Massachusetts are being deputized by ICE to act as immigration officials, ripping families apart and forcing our immigrant friends and neighbors to live in fear.
Massachusetts, we can do better.
The Safe Communities Act (SCA) will enable us to do so.
The SCA has five key parts:
- Barring law enforcement and court personnel from inquiring about immigration status
- Protecting due process rights
- Setting standards for law enforcement and court officials to notify ICE only when a person is released after serving a sentence, not before.
- Ending contracts with ICE that allow state and county personnel to act as federal immigration agents, at state taxpayers’ expense.
- Providing crucial training and accountability
This — not ripping families apart — is what true public safety looks like.
Can you call your state legislators in support of the Safe Communities Act (S.1401/H.3573)?
You can find out if they are already a co-sponsor here.
- If they are, thank them and ask them to pressure their colleagues and Leadership about the urgency of the bill.
- If they aren’t, put on the pressure to make sure that they are.
Everyone Deserves a Safe and Respectful Workplace
The following testimony was submitted to the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on June 25, 2019.
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Chairwoman Jehlen, Chairman Brodeur, and members of the Joint Labor and Workforce Development Committee:
My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the chair of the Issues Committee of Progressive Massachusetts. Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide grassroots advocacy organization that fights for social and economic justice.
Good-paying jobs with fair working conditions are a central part of our organization’s shared prosperity agenda. As such, Progressive Massachusetts would like to go on the record in support of S.1072 (An Act addressing workplace bullying, mobbing and harassment), known as the Healthy Workplace Bill.
Everyone deserves a safe and respectful workplace, and that means one that is free of inappropriate and harmful behaviors like bullying.
Massachusetts labor law currently provides no protections against workplace bullying unless such bullying is targeted at an individual because of their race, sex, or other protected identity. This excludes far too many cases, and even when individuals sue because of identity-based harassment and discrimination, courts can choose to deny them redress out of a disagreement on the motivation for the mistreatment, not the existence of the mistreatment itself.
Better training is good so far as it goes, and that is not far. Accountability is what will change behavior. The Healthy Workplace Act will offer that.
Countries like Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, and Sweden–as well as various provinces in Canada–have enacted protections against workplace bullying. [1] It’s time for Massaachusetts to join them.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Chair, Issues Committee
Progressive Massachusetts
[1] See Ellen Pinks Cobb, “Workplace Bullying Protections Differ Globally,” SHRM, June 24, 2014, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/workplace-bullying-protections-differ-globally.aspx.