Last month — around the one-year anniversary of the declaration of emergency in Massachusetts due to the COVID pandemic — the MA Legislature finally passed a law to allow all workers to access five days of emergency paid sick time for COVID-related sickness, quarantine, caregiving, and vaccination.
Enter: Republican Governor Charlie Baker.
Rather than signing the bill, Baker sent it back with amendments to deny Emergency Paid Sick Time benefits to municipal employees – workers who are on the frontlines of the pandemic response and deserve the same protections as private-sector workers.
At the same time that he is requiring schools to reopen, he is trying to take away vital protections for teachers and staff. And trying to put countless other public workers at risk.
Fortunately, your state senator and state representative don’t need to listen to Baker and can reaffirm their commitment to an equitable recovery.
Please take 2 minutes right now to email your legislator, asking them to oppose Governor Baker’s changes to the Emergency Paid Sick Time legislation.
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 were already a society of haves and have-nots before COVID-19, and this ugly reality has only gotten worse with more than a million Massachusetts residents going hungry.
Late last night, the MA House passed a much-delayed budget for FY 2021.
Let’s dive in.
The Good
The House last night voted to pass a slimmed down version of the ROE Act, which — although not as comprehensive as the ROE Act — has been celebrated by reproductive rights advocates as a major step forward.
The amendment, which passed 108 – 49, would do the following:
Expand access to abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases of a lethal fetal diagnosis, allowing pregnant people facing serious medical obstacles to their pregnancy to make the decision that’s best for them in consultation with their doctor and receive care here at home.
Allow 16 and 17 year olds to make their own decisions about abortion care without having to go before a judge.
Streamline access for those under 16 years old by allowing remote hearings, eliminating the need for young people to travel to a courthouse and stand before a judge.
How did your state representative vote? Find out here.
Want to thank them if they were one of the 108 YES votes? You can do so here.
The Bad
If we want to have an equitable recovery from the pandemic and the related recession, we need to invest in our public schools, our public infrastructure, our public health system, and our social safety net in all its forms.
And that requires money.
Unfortunately, the MA House hasn’t gotten the memo. The House budget fails to deliver on the promises made in the Student Opportunity Act last year and shortchanges public services across the state, especially public transit.
Legislators had a chance on Tuesday to push back against these cuts and vote to raise additional revenue.
Unfortunately, the House voted 127 to 30 against doing so.
In a time when the billionaires in our state keep getting richer, these representatives overwhelmingly voted against a common-sense amendment from Rep. Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) to tax unearned income (income from non-retirement investments and other forms of asset ownership, such as stocks, bonds, and dividend and interest income) at a higher rate than earned income (income from wages and salaries, as well as pensions, annuities, 401k, IRAs, and other similar retirement accounts). Unearned income goes overwhelmingly to corporate shareholders and other high-income individuals, and a modest increase could generate significant sums of money to fund public services.
Here was the vote.
The Ugly
If you follow the news, you know we’re in store for a dark winter, as COVID-19 case numbers and death tolls are expected to rise.
Low-wage workers are our first line of defense against COVID-19, but they are feeling the greatest economic impact of the outbreak. Healthcare and long-term care workers, janitorial workers, food service workers, child care workers, municipal workers, adjunct faculty, gig workers, and others on the front lines are critical to supporting our communities during the OVID-19 outbreak.
But many of these front-line workers are struggling economically and lack basic economic protections including adequate paid sick time. No one who is sick should feel like they have to go to work or else they will lose their job. That’s bad for the economy and bad for public health.
Unfortunately, even though a super-majority of state representatives signed onto a budget amendment to grant two weeks of job-protected emergency paid sick time, the House punted, choosing to leave workers behind again. Emergency paid sick time didn’t even get a voteor a debate.
If we want to have an equitable recovery from the pandemic and the related recession, we need to invest in our public schools, our public infrastructure, our public health system, and our social safety net in all its forms.
And that requires money.
Unfortunately, the MA House hasn’t gotten the memo. The budget that it’s currently debating fails to deliver on the promises made in the Student Opportunity Act last year and shortchanges public services across the state.
Legislators have a choice of whether to invest in an equitable economic recovery or accept a dangerous trajectory that leaves the most vulnerable behind.
Yesterday, 127 state representatives chose the latter, voting against a common-sense amendment from Rep. Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) to tax unearned income (income from non-retirement investments and other forms of asset ownership, such as stocks, bonds, and dividend and interest income) at a higher rate than earned income (income from wages and salaries, as well as pensions, annuities, 401k, IRAs, and other similar retirement accounts). Unearned income goes overwhelmingly to corporate shareholders and other high-income individuals, and a modest increase could generate significant sums of money to fund public services.
Here was the vote.
You should let your legislator know what you think of their vote. But there’s an opportunity for them to do better.
Your representative may have voted the wrong way yesterday. But they can still take progressive votes if the following amendments are brought to the floor.
Emergency Paid Sick Time
Urge your state representative to support Amendment #231 — Emergency Paid Sick Time, which would provide ten additional work-days (80 hours) of job-protected emergency paid sick time for immediate use during the COVID-19 outbreak to workers not covered by federal emergency paid sick time protections.
Strengthening Reproductive Rights
Amendment #759 — Improved Access to Health Care would remove medically unnecessary barriers to abortion care. It doesn’t contain everything from the ROE Act, but it contains many vital provisions and would be a significant step forward. Voters have made clear that reproductive health care matters, and with abortion and other health care under threat from an anti-abortion Supreme Court, it’s time for Massachusetts to act.
Tomorrow marks eight months to the day since Governor Baker issued a state of emergency.
And our Legislature still hasn’t passed emergency paid sick time legislation.
Low-wage workers are our first line of defense against COVID-19, but they are feeling the greatest economic impact of the outbreak. Healthcare and long-term care workers, janitorial workers, food service workers, child care workers, municipal workers, adjunct faculty, gig workers, and others on the front lines are critical to supporting our communities during the OVID-19 outbreak.
But many of these front-line workers are struggling economically and lack basic economic protections including adequate paid sick time.
The MA House has the opportunity THIS WEEK to take action via the budget.
But there’s more.
The proposed budget by the MA House fails to deliver on the promises made in the Student Opportunity Act last year. Our Governor and our Legislature made a promise to students, teachers, and community members that they would fully fund public schools. In a wealthy state like ours, they can’t punt on this obligation and hide behind manufactured budget constraints.
Legislators have a choice of whether to invest in an equitable economic recovery or accept a dangerous trajectory that leaves the most vulnerable behind.
Amendment #231 (Donato) — Emergency Paid Sick Time
Amendment #524 (Sabadosa) — Increase the Tax Rate on Corporate Profits
Amendment #675 (Connolly) —Increase the Tax Rate that Investors Pay on Unearned Income
Amendment #719 (Gouveia) —Tax Profits Shifted Overseas by Increasing the Tax Rate on ‘GILTI’
More about the amendments below
Amendment #231 (Donato) — Emergency Paid Sick Time. Would provide ten additional work-days (80 hours) of job-protected emergency paid sick time for immediate use during the COVID-19 outbreak to workers not covered by federal emergency paid sick time protections. This would allow workers with COVID symptoms to stay home so they can recover and not risk infecting others. As we enter a difficult winter with increasing rates of infection, Emergency Paid Sick Time is urgently needed to limit the spread of COVID19.
Amendment #524 (Sabadosa) — Increase the Tax Rate on Corporate Profits. Would raise the current corporate profits tax rate of 8.0% to the pre-2010 rate of 9.5%, generating $375 to $500 million annually for investments in an equitable recovery. Businesses that are turning a profit should be expected to contribute more to support the public goods on which their profits are based, especially during a public health and state fiscal crisis.
Amendment #675 (Connolly) — Increase the Tax Rate that Investors Pay on Unearned Income. Would tax unearned income (income from non-retirement investments and other forms of asset ownership, such as stocks, bonds, and dividend and interest income) at a higher rate than earned income (income from wages and salaries, as well as pensions, annuities, 401k, IRAs, and other similar retirement accounts), generating millions annually for investments in an equitable recovery. Unearned income goes overwhelmingly to corporate shareholders and other high-income individuals, who should be expected to contribute more to support the public goods on which we all depend.
Amendment #719 (Gouveia) — Tax Profits Shifted Overseas by Increasing the Tax Rate on ‘GILTI’. Would adopt a provision of federal law to tax a portion of MA-based corporate profits that are shifted overseas, raising $200 to $400 million annually for investments in an equitable recovery. Many multinational corporations that do business in MA dodge taxes by using complex accounting schemes that make their MA-based profits appear to have been earned in offshore tax havens. A federal provision called ‘GILTI’ identifies this shifted income and allow states to tax a portion of it.
In a mere eleven days — on Friday, July 31st, at 11:59 pm — the legislative session in the Massachusetts State House comes to an end.
The bills that didn’t make it past the finish line this year will disappear into the ether or return like a phoenix from the ashes in January next year, only to face the same grueling process.
But there are many policies that can’t wait until January. Indeed, passing them now is already far later than should have been done. And, frankly, the Legislature shouldn’t get to leave session until they finish.
What priorities are we talking about?
Passing the Safe Communities Act so that state and local law enforcement aren’t being deputized as ICE agents
Passing the Work and Family Mobility Act because mobility is a basic right, regardless of one’s citizenship status
Passing the ROE Act because MA needs to strengthen reproductive rights here at home as they remain under attack on the federal level
Passing the 100% Renewable Energy Act because we can’t keep stumbling forward into climate chaos
Passing Emergency Paid Sick Time so that no worker has to choose between their health and their job security
Passing guaranteed housing stability for at least one more year because if we want people to stay at home, they need a home to go back to
Passing a budget that raises Progressive Revenue by making sure that corporations and the rich are paying their fair share
The Legislature can’t keep punting session after session and patting themselves on the back.
Unless anything changes, four weeks from today — Friday, July 31st — the formal part of the 191st Legislative Session of the Massachusetts General Court will come to an end.
That means that there are four weeks for the MA Legislature to up its game on pretty much every single front.
Four weeks for them to take action in support of immigrants’ rights, such as passing the Safe Communities Act and the Work & Family Mobility Act.
Four weeks for them to take action in support of reproductive justice by passing the ROE Act.
Four weeks for them to tackle the systemic racism in policing and the criminal legal system.
Four weeks for them to tackle our affordable housing crisis (and just over a month for them to take action before the eviction moratorium passed earlier this year expires).
Four weeks for them to take action to address climate change because Mother Nature doesn’t care about self-imposed deadlines.
Four weeks for them to pass Emergency Paid Sick Time so that workers don’t have to choose between their health and their job security in a global pandemic.
Four weeks for them to pass a budget that lives up to our values by raising progressive revenue to avoid deep, harmful cuts in public services.
None of this will happen unless your legislators hear from you — loud and clear — that they can’t keep procrastinating. That they can’t keep punting issues to later and later in the session until each session runs out. And then the cycle of excuse-making and delay continues.
Can you call your legislators to demand action in these final four weeks?
“The House has once again failed to enact policies that the overwhelming majority of Massachusetts voters support,” Jonathan Cohn, Progressive Massachusetts’s issue committee chair, said in a press release. “When you’re stuck on a disabled train tomorrow or your child’s school announces that it is cutting its art and music programs at the end of this year, the blame for that rests solely with our state legislature.”
Jonathan Cohn, of Progressive Massachusetts, said in a statement, “When you’re stuck on a disabled train tomorrow or your child’s school announces that it is cutting its art and music programs at the end of this year, the blame for that rests solely with our state legislature.”
