PM Issues Committee chair Jonathan Cohn was quoted in Steph Solis’s article in Mass Live on the Governor and Legislature’s response to the calls for racial equity in the wake of the murder of George Floyd:
Some critics, including Jonathan Cohn of Progressive Massachusetts, quickly noted that Spilka had removed Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, who was the only woman of color in the Senate, from her post as co-chair of the Joint Committee of Education in 2019….
Cohn, the chair of the Issues Committee for Progressive Mass, raised concerns about the Senate’s decision to launch an advisory group rather than move forward with legislation, as well as the addition of Moore, a former police officer.
Cohn said lawmakers should instead focus on re-allocating resources from police and prisons to investments in housing, health care and other priorities to support communities of color. He pointed to the recent letter from senators calling for changes to the governor’s IT bond bill as a recent example.
“So many legislators will talk about their rhetorical commitment to racial justice, but if you’re putting more money into the prison system, you’re missing the point,” he said.
