The Barrett Report
Labor Committee approves $15 an hour minimum wage for fast food and big box retail workers
MassLive News
The Massachusetts Legislature’s labor committee has voted to approve a bill setting a $15 an hour minimum wage for fast food and big box retail workers.
“People have got to make a living if they work full time,” Barrett said.
The carbon tax, an idea with appeal
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe’s Scot Lehigh writes, “Although carbon dioxide emissions are the primary contributor to manmade global warming, the price of carbon-based energy doesn’t reflect the environmental harm it causes.” His favored solution: “put a price on carbon.” My bill, S.1747, would do just that. I want us to lead the way on an approach that other states — and eventually the entire country — can adopt.
Lawmaker wants officials to reconsider insurance rate hikes
The Boston Globe
“The chairman of a powerful state Senate committee on Wednesday called on the Division of Insurance to reconsider the substantial rate increases granted to two of the state’s largest home insurance companies and open hearings on whether increases are justified.
“Barrett, chairman of the Senate’s Post Audit and Oversight Committee, said the rates deserve further scrutiny and public hearings, something consumers have urged, but the Division of Insurance has rarely held.”
Read the article on Sen. Barrett’s work on homeowners insurance rates
Chelmsford respite care earns much-deserved praise
Full-time caretakers for the elderly and people with disabilities often don’t have the support they need. That’s where the Chelmsford Companion Respite Care program comes in. Run by the Council on Aging, the service lends a hand by providing temporary supervisory work so that caretakers can take time for themselves. The initiative recently won praise from the Mass. Office on Elder Affairs for its distinguished work. From left to right: Annie Smith, Council on Aging Board Member, Companion Coordinator Betty Chaput, and Colleen Normandy, Supportive Day Program Manager.
MBTA postpones schedule changes on commuter rail
The Concord Journal
Victory — if not forever, then for now. The T will delay cuts in train stops in Concord and Lincoln until May of 2016. It has committed to reconsidering its planned changes and will entertain “robust public engagement” before making further decisions. New scheduling proposals will likely come out next month, following which there will be the kind of opportunity for comment that was lacking this time around.
Volunteers spruce up area rivers
The Concord, Assabet and Sudbury Rivers are regional treasures — hot spots for local recreation and storied settings in the history of Massachusetts. In 1999 the federal government designated parts of all three waterways as “wild and scenic” for their ecological features and cultural importance. As it happens, they’re the closest “wild and scenic” rivers to a major metropolitan area in the entire U.S.
I recently dropped by OARS’ annual cleanup. On that day, 200 people chipped in to help spruce up the Assabet, the Sudbury and the Concord. Pictured here with a local Girl Scout troop, employees of Concord-Littleton Lumber, stalwarts of the Environmental Law Club at BU Law School, and members of the Concord-Carlisle High School Fishing Club. That’s me, over there. I’m the, um, older guy….
Carbon Pricing takes center stage
Barrett calls for price on carbon
Press Release
Boston – Inside a packed State House hearing room, businesspeople, economists, faith leaders, civic groups and concerned citizens pushed for a ground-breaking proposal to tackle global warming. The standing-room only crowd urged the legislative committee to approve S.1747, An Act combating climate change, filed by State Senator Mike Barrett, D-Lexington. The bill places a charge on dirty fuel emissions that contribute to global warming and then returns the money — in direct rebates — to residents, businesses and non-profits.
“We have to step up our fight against climate change,” Barrett told the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities & Energy. He explained that the idea is “effectively a user fee on pollution.”
