Yesterday, when Governor Charlie Baker testified before the Legislature about his administration’s vaccine rollout, there was a stunning degree of disconnect on display.
Baker refused to take any ownership for the failures to date and denied the lack of planning and equity that has been seen and documented across the commonwealth.
As Sen. Jo Comerford said, “This is where we were in two worlds. The committee was in one world. The Baker administration was in another.”
Fortunately, the Legislature can do something about it: they can pass laws.
The Vaccine Equity bill (SD.699 / HD.1283), filed by Senators Becca Rausch and Sonia Chang-Diaz and Representatives Liz Miranda and Mindy Domb, would ensure that equity is prioritized in the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts, recognizing that we can only have a successful recovery if it is an equitable one.
If the Legislature is going to start diving into the work of the new legislative session in earnest, they need to pass a set of Joint Rules. These Joint Rules govern how committees operate and how bills can proceed.
But due to opposition to basic transparency measures from the MA House, there is no agreement yet on these basic operating procedures.
The transparency measures embraced by the Senate are both essential and non-controversial:
Publishing committee roll call votes online
Making testimony accessible to the public with appropriate redactions (as with any other public record)
Extending the notice period for hearings to one week
All of these steps will help legislators do their own jobs better and strengthen the participatory nature of our democracy.
A Conference Committee of three senators and three representatives is currently negotiating what that final set of Joint Rules will look like.
This week, the Legislature re-passed their omnibus climate bill from last session, An Act creating a next-generation roadmap for Massachusetts climate policy, rejecting all of the amendments from Governor Baker that would have weakened the bill.
In the Senate, which voted on Monday, Ryan Fattman was the sole NO vote.
In the House, which voted on Thursday, the vote on re-passing the bill was 145 to 14, with 13 Republicans and 1 Democrat–Colleen Garry (D-Dracut)–voting no.
Earlier this week, a white supremacist mass shooter targeted three spas in Atlanta, killing eight people, six of whom were Asian-American women. We condemn such actions and the dehumanizing rhetoric that fuels them, and stand in solidarity with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
This tragedy was a reminder of how the epidemic of gun violence in this country is deeply intertwined with legacies of white supremacy and misogyny, and it is disturbing to see individuals already trying to deny the racist motivations behind the shooter’s actions.
Hate crimes against Asian-Americans have risen sharply over the past year, although such xenophobia is not a new phenomenon — as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Japanese internment camps demonstrate. Charting a future that is different from the past requires us all to commit to fostering a culture of solidarity borne out not just in words but in laws that strengthen the rights and protections for immigrants and workers who are most at risk.
For resources about how to take action and be an effective ally, visit the Asian American Commission website.
Today, the MA House will be voting on a bill (H.89) that will provide workers with access to emergency paid sick leave and offer targeted tax relief to unemployed individuals. Both of these are vital parts of an equitable economic recovery and pandemic response and should be celebrated. And the achievement of emergency paid sick time is only possible because of the work of activists like you across the commonwealth.
Unfortunately, the bill also contains a misguided “Double Dip” tax break for profitable businesses.
Under current law, businesses that receive Paycheck Protection Program funds won’t pay taxes on that money. Under proposed language, they would be able to deduct expenses paid for with those funds. In other words, profitable corporations would be able to write off expenses they paid for with money they didn’t have. Even former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (!) recognized the problem here, once referring to the issue as “Tax 101”: “you don’t get to deduct expenses that someone else paid for.”
The cost of this tax break could be upwards of $330 million — money that we could be investing in our public schools, our public transit, and our public health infrastructure instead.
Fortunately, Representatives Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) and Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) filed two amendments to address this:
Amendment #5 would limit this tax break.
Amendment #8 would fully eliminate it.
Can you call your state rep in support of these amendments?
Don’t have their phone number on hand? You can find it at http://www.progressivemass.com/legislator-lookup.
We’ll be providing some updates about the organization, electing some new board members, and having breakout sessions on a wide range of key topics, such as:
Beacon Hill 101
What’s Wrong With the Massachusetts State House — and How Can We Fix It?
The Massachusetts Budget Dilemma: Wealthy State, Inequitable Services
Housing for All: Tackling the Affordable Housing and Evictions Crises
What the COVID Pandemic Reveals about Our Government
Police Reform: What Happened, and What’s Next?
Biden is President Now, So Why Are Massachusetts Immigrants Still at Risk?
Building a Green & Equitable 21st Century Infrastructure
Redistricting 101
Progressive Mass Q&A
There will be two periods of breakout sessions for the afternoon.
Breakouts 1
Beacon Hill 101
Facilitator: Jonathan Cohn
How does a bill become a law anyway? What is the timeline of the legislative process, and where are the best opportunities to engage? We’ll discuss the in’s & out’s of the legislative process and what that means for our work in the coming year.
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What’s Wrong With the Massachusetts State House — and How Can We Fix It?
Speakers:
Jonathan Hecht, former State Representative (2009-2020)
Galen Hall and Trevor Culhane – Co-authors of “Who’s Delaying Climate Action in Massachusetts? Twelve Findings” (CSSN Research Report 2021), Institute for Environment and Society, Brown University
Facilitators: Margaret Heitz and Leslie Greffenius
Every system is perfectly designed for the results that it gets. And if we aren’t seeing the progressive policy we want to see in the MA State House, at least part of that is structural. What are the structural impediments to passing progressive policy in the MA State House? What role do a lack of transparency and an over-centralization play, and how can we change both the culture and the outcomes? What can we learn from other states?
**
The Massachusetts Budget Dilemma: Wealthy State, Inequitable Services
Speaker: Monique Ching, Policy Analyst at Mass Budget
Facilitator: Rachel Poliner
Massachusetts is one of the wealthiest states in the country. So why do we continually fail to invest in our education, transportation, and health care systems to the extent we need? How has the pandemic made existing budget inequities worse, and how can we fight for a budget that serves community needs and reflects our values?
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What the COVID Pandemic Reveals about Our Government
Speakers:
Mike Hugo, Director of Government Affairs of Mass Association of Health Boards
Carlene Pavlos, Executive Director of the Mass Public Health Association
Roberto Jiménez Rivera, Chelsea School Committeeman and political organizer at the Boston Teachers Union
Facilitator: John Kyriakis
The vaccine rollout in Massachusetts has been a disaster for everyone, but it has been particularly devastating to the communities of color who have already been disproportionately sickened and killed by the virus. Meanwhile, Gov. Baker continues to cater to the interests of the business community, opening the state prematurely, and calling for the opening of schools without adequately vaccinating teachers and staff. What pre-existing inequities has COVID brought to light, and how can we ensure an equitable response now and an equitable recovery and government beyond?
**
Police Reform: What Happened and What’s Next?
Speakers:
Oami Amarasingham, Deputy Legislative Director at ACLU of Massachusetts
The MA Legislature recently passed an omnibus police reform bill. What made it in, and what didn’t? How can we continue the fight for police accountability and a community-centered vision of public safety at both the state and local levels?
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Breakouts 2
Housing for All: Tackling the Affordable Housing and Evictions Crises
Speakers:
State Rep. Nika Elugardo
Karen Chen, Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association
Isaac Simon Hodes, Director of Lynn United for Change
Facilitator: Etel Haxhiaj
Massachusetts has one of the highest qualities of life in the US, but with some of the least affordable housing, it is out of reach for too many. Housing instability was already widespread pre-COVID, and the pandemic has brought it to dangerous levels. How can we deliver on the promise of housing for all?
**
Biden is President Now, So Why Are Massachusetts Immigrants Still at Risk?
Speakers:
Laura Rotolo, Staff Counsel and Community Advocate, ACLU Massachusetts
Dalida Rocha, Political Director, SEIU Local 615
Brenda Quintana, Immigrant Worker Center Organizer, Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Facilitators: Leslie Greffenius and Zayda Ortiz
Relieved by the election of a new president in November, many assume that undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts are no longer at risk. But the previous administration was merely a wakeup call; undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts have, for decades, been particularly susceptible to wage theft and other crimes, domestic abuse, and family separation. And when immigrants are unsafe, it turns out, we are all less safe. This session will explore the reasons for the situation we are in and some of the bills that will help Massachusetts chart a safer course.
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Building a Green & Equitable 21st Century Infrastructure
Speakers:
Cabell Eames, Legislative Manager for 350 Mass/Better Future Project
Jarred Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at Transit Matters
Yanisa Techagumthorn, Electoral Team Lead at Sunrise Boston and Associate Transportation Planner at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting
Facilitator: Jonathan Cohn
Over the past year, we’ve seen both the beauty of car-free streets and the ugliness of disinvestment from public transit. And in the omnibus climate bill that the Legislature will finalize any day now, transportation is notably missing. What steps should we be taking to bring our infrastructure into the 21st century and to ensure that equity is at the forefront?
**
What to Expect (and Fight for) in Redistricting in MA
Speakers:
Beth Huang, Executive Director of Mass Voter Table
Avi Green, Senior Advisor at the New School
Rahsaan Hall from the ACLU
Moderator: Ziba Cranmer
This year, Massachusetts will be redrawing the borders of state legislative and Congressional districts. What does the process look like? How can we ensure that underrepresented communities are able to make their voices heard, and what lessons can we learn from the last redistricting cycle?
**
Progressive Mass Q&A
Facilitator: Rachel Poliner
Curious about chapters, committees, finances, etc? Have ideas for events, fundraisers, building up for 2022? Come with your questions and ideas.
It was “a tragic thing to see that the first election to happen after the defeat of [ranked-choice voting] on the ballot last year is one where ranked-choice voting very well could have led to a different outcome,” said Jonathan Cohn, elections committee chair for Progressive Massachusetts, which had backed Jaramillo. “Given that 64 percent of voters didn’t wake up that day and say they wanted to vote for a Democrat who supported Donald Trump, it’s entirely possible it could’ve led to a different outcome.”
Jonathan Cohn of Progressive Massachusetts, which backed Jaramillo, said the results also show the need to redraw some districts to better represent changing demographics.
Still, he said it’s “bitterly ironic and unfortunate that the first open election after the failure of Question 2 last year has a candidate who is by far more conservative than the others in the field win with 36%.”
Emma Platfoff, “Special election for former speaker DeLeo’s seat will test appetite for progressive politics,” Boston Globe (2/28/21)
Progressive Massachusetts, along with Pressley, Sanders, and the Massachusetts Teachers Association, have backed 27-year-old Juan Jaramillo.
“Replacing Bob DeLeo with someone who’s a progressive Latino labor organizer is a powerful statement about moving forward — both for how people understand that district, and valuable for the politics of the building,” said Jonathan Cohn, elections committee chair for the group. “This is a major opportunity for an upgrade.”
Emily Achtenberg of JP Progressives’s Immigrants Rights Action Group penned a letter to the editor to the Globe about the need to pass the Work and Family Mobility Act:
Marcela García is right to wonder whether President Biden’s proposed federal immigration reform promises, as the headline of her column puts it, “a new day, or an old story, for the undocumented” (Opinion, Feb. 2). Here in Massachusetts, we should be concerned, too, about our elected state officials’ failure to protect our undocumented neighbors.
Last year, the proposed Work and Family Mobility Act, which would authorize driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, failed to pass the state Legislature after being reported out of committee for the first time in 15 years. The bill received widespread support but was opposed by Governor Charlie Baker.
As the pandemic has revealed, undocumented immigrants make up a significant portion of the essential workforce, the people who keep our economy going and our families safe while suffering a disproportionate share of COVID-19′s burdens. Now more than ever, households need the ability to drive in order to gain access to medical care, testing, and vaccines; grocery shopping and food distribution; jobs; and schools. Public transportation and ridesharing options are unacceptably risky as well as severely curtailed.
The Work and Family Mobility Act has just been refiled in the Legislature, and it deserves our active support. Fifteen states, including Vermont, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware, plus the District of Columbia have legalized immigrant driving. Let’s catch up in Massachusetts.
