Massachusetts State Senator
“The story of Quock Walker marks an historic moment for Massachusetts and our country,” Barrett said. “It’s a story that needs to be told. I’m grateful to the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington for sharing it with the people of Massachusetts.”
In January of this year, the Massachusetts State Senate passed An Act Setting Next-Generation Climate Policy, now pending before the House of Representatives. The Senate’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is radical not in its ideology but in its seriousness; we’re determined to get emissions down across the Massachusetts economy, transportation and buildings included.
We should add that the senators who wrote the legislation sat down with a good many commercial interests, listened to what they had to say, and made changes. At the time of the bill’s final passage — with the votes of both Democrats and Republicans, and with only two dissents in the 40-member Senate — its seriousness of purpose seemed to impress the business community without unsettling it.
“It was disturbing to see in-person voting produce chaos in Wisconsin,” said local State Senator Mike Barrett. “People had to risk getting sick to cast a ballot. For us, in Massachusetts, revamping elections almost overnight has not been without its problems. But we’ve adapted and gotten the job done.”
Your country, your state, maybe the neighborhood in which you live, are engulfed by three crises at once: climate change, a pandemic, and social unrest triggered by murder and racial injustice. Your mind reels. Your heart breaks.
What to do? What you cannot do is give up. At a demonstration to protest the death of George Floyd, someone held a sign: “We didn’t come this far to only come this far.”
Just so. You get yourself together. You take a deep breath. You look around for things worth doing now.
“A year ago, the survival of the Field Station was in doubt,” said state Sen. Mike Barrett in a statement. “The nonprofit tenants, all involved with heathy eating, sustainable local agriculture, and what you might call food justice, faced eviction. But the Greater Waltham community rallied. Residents demanded that the farm be preserved and the tenants be protected.
“Thanks to the Mayor, the City Council, and the tenants for working together, we took a giant stride forward,” he added.
Rep. John Lawn, Barrett, and Rep. Thomas Stanley will be guides for the legislation to move through the state House and Senate.
“What remains, importantly, is passage of some enabling legislation,” Barrett said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Rep. Lawn to get that final piece done.”
Lexington officials continue to prepare for a virtual version of the Annual Town Meeting, which was supposed to take place in late March. Malloy now anticipates the virtual session to take place in early June. Presentations will be posted online for viewing by Town Meeting members beforehand, in an effort to make the process as efficient as possible. The town has been working with Senator Mike Barrett and Representative Michelle Ciccolo to push a bill forward in the House of Representatives that would authorize remote participation at town meetings.
The Select Board approved a Special Town Meeting to take place on June 1. The meeting would only have one warrant item, which would provide the authority for the Select Board to confirm the validity of any action that would take place at the subsequent Annual Town Meeting. This would only be necessary if the bill spearheaded by Rep. Ciccolo does not pass in time.
A group of concerned legislators — 15 state senators and 23 state representatives — have sent a joint letter to Gov. Charlie Baker, urging him, as part of the state’s response to the COVID-19 Health Crisis, to step up the screening and release of inmates from Massachusetts penal institutions.
The letter-writing effort, initiated by State Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, was inspired by an opinion issued earlier this month by the state’s supreme judicial court, five of whose seven current members are Baker appointees.
“Among inmates and correctional officers — we’re concerned about both — the positive cases continue to climb,” said Barrett. “We think it’s quite significant that the court has issued polite but pointed advice on how to speed up the pace of releases.”
Sen. Mike Barrett, a Democrat from Lexington, said he spearheaded the letter-writing effort because he is troubled that government officials have not been adhering to a directive by the Supreme Judicial Court to speed up the process. Earlier this month, the state’s top court released a ruling directing the Department of Correction and the Parole Board to “expedite” releases in a system where social distancing is almost impossible.
“I am annoyed that the spirit of the court decision is being subverted,’’ said Barrett in an interview with WGBH News.
Nobody from Baker’s team could be reached for comment about the letter. But in a press conference on Thursday, Baker said that officials from the state Department of Correction have been working with public health officials since early March to prevent the spread of the virus.
“There’s always going to be room for improvement,’’ he said.
“A year ago, the survival of the Field Station was in doubt,” said State Sen. Mike Barrett in a statement to Patch. “The nonprofit tenants, all involved with healthy eating, sustainable local agriculture, and what you might call food justice, faced eviction. But the Greater Waltham community rallied. Residents demanded that the farm be preserved and the tenants be protected. This week, thanks to the Mayor, the City Council, and the tenants for working together, we took a giant stride forward.”
Sen. Michael Barrett, the Senate chair of the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, said he is pleased with the updated regulations and especially with the administration’s decision to set aside 5 percent of the incentives for projects serving low-income communities.
“It’s a terrific step in the right direction,” he told the News Service, noting that a similar requirement was built into a bill the Senate passed in January. “We have a terrible track record in terms of making sure that poor people benefit from net metering. This is an important remedial step. It’s not enough, but it is directionally exactly where we need to go.”
The senator said the state isn’t yet setting the pace it will need to meet its emissions reduction targets, but that solar will be a critical component to getting there.