Massachusetts State Senator
Many thanks to the Weston League of Women Voters of Massachusetts for hosting its recent legislative talk. State Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, and I took questions on solar initiatives and rising health care costs, to name a few. Photo courtesy of Katherine Wolfthal of the League.
Walking the State House halls with Boston Bar Association President and Lincoln resident Lisa Arrowood. We discussed funding for legal aid lawyers, who represent low-income people confronted with non-criminal crises like evictions, heating shutoffs and high hospital bills.
The State Senate has passed a bill to close the wage gap between men and women workers in Massachusetts. The legislation, which passed unanimously, mandates equal pay for comparable work, boosts wage transparency and requires the hiring process to be fair.
Women comprise almost half the state’s workforce, but earn roughly 82% of what men make. African American women earn 66 cents for every dollar made by male workers; Latina women only 54 cents.
Read moreI want these rate increases discussed in an open forum. I don’t want million-dollar propositions handled in private, where only industry is heard.
Bicyclists from around Massachusetts gathered at the State House recently to call for new road safety measures to prevent traffic injuries and deaths. One of the bills before the Transportation Committee sets a minimum distance for cars to pass bicyclists; another aims to stop cars from blocking bike lanes.
Both pieces of legislation are authored by State Senator Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont, and backed by local State Senator Mike Barrett, D-Lexington. Barrett, a committed cyclist, is a longtime supporter of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and other pathways across his district. He says the Legislature should act on bike safety now.
Congressman Moulton injects some much-needed perspective into the conversation about refugees: As Americans, we don’t turn our backs on those in need. We lend a helping hand.
Packed room at a recent Chelmsford Board of Selectmen meeting. I joined the town’s House delegation to report on the successful passage of local bills, troubling shortfalls in state “non-tax revenue” once expected from the operation of a new casino in Southeastern Mass. and pending legislation to help homeowners and businesses deal with gas leaks.
January 1st brought a measure of relief for many working families in Massachusetts. The state minimum wage bumped up to $10 per hour and the state Earned Income Tax Credit grew by more than 50%.
“Since the early 1980s there’s been a widening gap between pay for people at the top and pay for everyone else,” said State Senator Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, Senate Vice Chair of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. “These initiatives will help bridge that gap.”
Read moreMany baby boomers want to age on their own terms, among friends and as part of a larger community. Lexington at Home is a creative exercise in mutual assistance, a growing network of people committed to helping one another as the years go by.
