“Beacon Hill Lags on Sexual Harassment,” Boston Globe
“The bottom line is that State House staffers — now that most are making their post-pandemic return to the building — need someone they can turn to and trust if they are experiencing harassment or discrimination. That person needs to be a visible and accessible presence on Beacon Hill.”
“One Tool to Help Create Affordable Housing — Real Estate Transfer Fees,” Boston Globe
“We have the opportunity to arrest the statewide housing crisis, bolster our economic sustainability, and protect public health. The Legislature must pass the transfer fee and hand municipalities across the state the right tool so we can get to it.”
“Letter: Millionaires’ tax no ‘blank check’,” The Salem News
“Massachusetts is one of the few states without a higher tax on its uber-wealthy. Without that tool, Massachusetts voters know any other option will hit them directly in higher sales or property taxes, even more tuition and fee hikes, cuts to our children’s already understaffed and overstretched schools, or further deterioration of our crumbling infrastructure.”
“Rich Countries Must Stop Producing Oil and Gas By 2034, Says Study,” The Guardian
“The report, led by Prof Kevin Anderson from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at Manchester University, found that wealthy countries such as the UK, US and Australia had until 2034 to stop all oil and gas production to give the world a 50% chance of preventing devastating climate breakdown, while the poorest nations that are also heavily reliant on fossil fuels should be given until 2050.”
“Blue States Must Do More to Protect Democracy,” Democracy Docket
“Too often we have ignored the problems facing voters in blue states, focusing exclusively on the voter suppression laws passed by Republican legislatures. This is a missed opportunity. By improving voting rights, Democrats can improve voting rights for their citizens and raise the bar for what is considered normal and acceptable elsewhere. Finally, showing that expanding voting opportunities works undercuts the Republicans’ false narrative of voter fraud.”
“Wu, Janey, Pressley tout benefits of new fare-free bus service in Boston,” Boston Globe
“I’m very excited that now making those multiple trips to school, to home, to pick up the kids without having to worry about how that will add up or take away from your ability to pay for food, or medicine or rent, that is the ultimate goal here,” Wu said.
“Letter: Access to legal representation changes lives for domestic violence survivors,” Patriot Ledger
“Too often domestic violence survivors face eviction due to violence, and most are unaware of how to protect themselves in court. For too many, eviction means homelessness. All people deserve the right to live without fear of abuse or that they would be unfairly removed from their homes without representation.”
“Healey’s positions on criminal justice give some Democratic activists pause,” Boston Globe
“When you are an attorney general, there tends to be a built-in relationship [with police] and she has definitely been too deferential to state and local police,” said Progressive Massachusetts policy director Jonathan Cohn. “There are many good things she has done as attorney general, but she has not been a leader on criminal justice issues.”
“PILOT payments should be standardized statewide,” CommonWealth
“Given our communities’ needs—in such critical areas as housing, transportation, public schools, and public health—the legislation’s value is obvious. For institutions too, there is a value to having universal standards evenly applied across the board—offering a chance for them to restore public trust through deeds, and not just words.”
“Reform laws only as good as those who enforce them,” Boston Globe
“These fixes shouldn’t wait. When new and trailblazing laws are passed, politicians and advocates too often pat each other on the back and move on. But reforms are only as good as those willing to enforce them and those committed to make them work — not just on paper but on the ground.”
“No, COVID Isn’t Over,” Boston Globe
“Perhaps there will come a time for post-pandemic victory laps. But this moment needs more vigilance, not fewer protocols or threats to federal funding for virus treatments. COVID is still here, but what seems to be all but gone is the leadership on every level to do everything possible to eradicate it.”
“Letter: Fair Share Amendment could boost quality of life for all in Massachusetts,” Berkshire Eagle
“The current state income tax burdens lower-income taxpayers more heavily than it does the wealthy. Here is an opportunity to reduce the inequities of our system when thousands of working families in our state have lost jobs and housing and otherwise have had their lives upended as a result of the pandemic, while the wealthy have seen their incomes soar. As President Joe Biden remarked in his recent State of the Union, it’s time that “wealthy American start paying their fair share.””
“Mass. House leaders heralded the creation of an Equal Employment Opportunity officer. They’ve left the position empty for 15 months.,” Boston Globe
“Ten current and former House staff, most of whom spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation, told the Globe that they believe the unfilled role signals a lack of commitment to workplace safety by House leadership, and alleged that a self-evaluation McLafferty had conducted regarding staff pay and job descriptions was never finished or discussed after he left the House.”
“Inflation blunts impact of school aid increases in Baker’s budget,” WBUR
“More than 40% of the state’s school districts would receive the smallest possible bump in funding under the governor’s budget plan, and administration officials and lawmakers alike agreed Tuesday that the minimum aid increase is not really much of an increase thanks to the high rate of inflation.”
“Cheap fares, trains to more suburbs: This is what the MBTA was supposed to look like,” Boston Globe
“I think we’d have a city and a region far less dependent on cars,” Johnson said. “Far fewer folks would be impacted by high gas prices or terrible traffic. We’d likely be having fewer fights over parking in new developments.”
“Suspending the gas tax doesn’t make sense,” CommonWealth
“Let’s face facts folks. The problem is not high state gas taxes. They have not gone up since 2013. They don’t even keep pace with inflation. The problem is unbridled corporate greed coupled with US energy insecurity that makes us all economic victims of Russian aggression and self-interested oil cartels. Why, then, would we deprive ourselves of much-needed public revenue, why would we deplete the amount of funding available for investments that will improve our lives, as a response to these unstable, unpredictable, and unmanageable global forces? And why would we do so in a way that helps the wealthiest and not the neediest?”
“Wind down of housing assistance raises concerns,” CommonWealth
“Homes for All Massachusetts and researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a report which found that evictions are disproportionately occurring in Black and Latino neighborhoods, neighborhoods with more single mother heads of households, areas with absentee and corporate landlords, and in central and southeast Massachusetts. Of all evictions filed between October 2020 and October 2021, 43 percent were in neighborhoods where a majority of residents are non-white, even though only 32 percent of rental housing is in these areas.”
“Massachusetts House OKs Bill Banning Bias Based on Hairstyle,” NBC News
“Eighty percent of Black women are more likely to change their hair from its natural state to fit a workplace setting and changing to fit your workplace simply suppresses your creativity,” Tyler said.
