Overriding a veto, the Legislature
passed a raise for
ranking legislators,
state constitutional officers,
and judges.

We think hard work should be compensated fairly.
For everyone. Tell your legislators:
Fight for 15 (and shared prosperity for all) 

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I know that most of us here in Massachusetts are still reeling from the results of the Presidential election, but I feel compelled to share some thoughts on the outcome of the vote to raise the cap on charter schools.

On one hand I am delighted by the result of the vote. The voters of Massachusetts have spoken and they absolutely oppose any attempt to expand charters at the expense of traditional school districts. But on the other hand, I am utterly outraged at what the corporate education reformers have put our kids, our teachers and our school districts through over the last ten years given how little electoral support we now know that these champions of privatization have across the state.

Clear Message to MA Legislature

Consider this: Question 2 only passed in 16 out of 351 communities in the Commonwealth.

• Seven of these communities are located in one single state rep’s district on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
• The other nine are spread across six other state rep districts.
• And the only other district where a majority of voters voted 'yes' is in Education Committee Chair Alice Peisch's district in Metro West.

(click here for larger image; click here for original image source at WBur/Edify)

This means that the 'yes' side only carried two of the 160 state rep districts in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It was even defeated by a 2 to 1 margin in Speaker DeLeo's district of Winthrop/Revere.

Our chapters work on Progressive Mass’s state-wide priorities (legislation, campaigns, elections), such as Raise Up Mass, but they also organize locally around the issues important in their communities. We know that our strength comes from this energy and activism that comes straight from the citizen volunteers, and we want to share their work with you!

Progressive Watertown is one of our newer chapters, and is already off to a vigorous and successful start! Take a look at all they've achieved in their short history and their plans for the coming year, in this report by Sallye Bleiberg. Are you in Watertown/area and want to get involved? Sign up on Progressive Mass, and we'll help plug you in!

Massachusetts Sets the Bar on Sick Leave

President Obama, at the Boston Labor Breakfast yesterday, announced that federally contracted employees are now to provide sick leave for their employees. The policy sounds very much like the “Earned Sick Time” law that Massachusetts voters passed, overwhelmingly, in 2014.

Indeed the President praised that legislation in his remarks, putting Massachusetts in the spotlight again as a liberal leader for the nation.

There are other similarities -- political ones -- too, between the President’s executive action and the Massachusetts referendum that passed the sick time legislation. Both actions were taken because the Legislators refuse/d to legislate.

Progressive Mass member James Conway takes a deep dive into our state's revenue problem -- and what we can do to fix it. 

It’s Always Been a Revenue Problem

1. Investment and Big Ideas

2. Austerity Massachusetts

3. We Get What We Put In

4. Our Flat Tax

5. WHO is “Taxed Enough Already”?

6. The Commonwealth Constitution: A little history and shaping the future

7. Beat L.A.? Let’s Lead, Massachusetts!

8. Time to Invest in Massachusetts, in Our Future

9. Take Action

10. More Resources

We have been working on the Raise Up Massachusetts Campaign with 100 other faith, community, and labor organizations across the Commonwealth to provide a raise in the minimum wage and access to earned time off for all workers. A few months ago, we won on minimum wage, raising it to $11 over three years. But there has still been no legislative action on Earned Sick Time.

That’s why we are going to pass it on the ballot on November 4th.

Over the summer, we are highlighting aspects of our Shared Prosperity Agenda. Our members are sharing their experiences and expertise on Education, Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Wages, and Progressive Revenue.

This week we are focusing on Jobs -- Within five years, every job in Massachusetts should pay at least $15/hour, and everyone should have access to safe, affordable transportation; a good first step would be an increased minimum wage, indexed to inflation, and earned sick time.

Stacie Shapiro is an activist in Needham. This letter to the editor was published in the Needham Times on July 24, 2014.

Today, nearly one million employees working in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts receive no paid sick time from their employers. Since taking time off to see a doctor or staying home to recover from an illness will result in a loss of pay, for many of these employees, taking time off is simply not an option they can afford.

This November, thanks to a coalition led by Raise Up Massachusetts, there will be a question on the ballot that [question 4], if passed, will ensure that workers across the Commonwealth will have the right to earn a limited number of paid sick days per year.

Over the summer, we are highlighting aspects of our Shared Prosperity Agenda. Our members are sharing their experiences and expertise on Education, Healthcare, Housing, Jobs and Wages, and Progressive Revenue.

This week we are focusing on Jobs -- Within five years, every job in Massachusetts should pay at least $15/hour, and everyone should have access to safe, affordable transportation; a good first step would be an increased minimum wage, indexed to inflation, and earned sick time.

Matthew Szafranski, the author of this post, is the Editor-in-Chief of Western Mass Politics & Insight (WMassP&I), a Springfield-based political blog. Read more from WMassP&I here and contribute to the blog's fundraising campaign to maintain its operations through this particularly busy political 2014 cycle in Western Massachusetts.

Come January, tipped employees in Massachusetts will receive their first raise in over 15 years. The increase will be meager $1.12. The full minimum wage will rise to $11 from $8. Still, this time, the most vulnerable workers affected by minimum wage laws are not completely forgotten thanks in part to the work of Raise Up Massachusetts and the Shared Prosperity Agenda of Progressive Massachusetts.

We just finished driving over 80,000 petition signatures for raising the minimum wage and for earned sick time to 300 City and Town Halls across the state.

And they heard us on Beacon Hill--

Have your networks join the Raise Up MA Campaign.

Find events to come collect signatures at here.

See what we did the first weekend here.

Sign up to volunteer in other ways here.