New! Please send us your hometown photos for inclusion in the Stanley Report!
Love to take photos? We are looking to include your pictures of Lincoln in The Stanley Report! Please email
Mark Phillips in Rep. Stanley's office a picture of your hometown for inclusion in the report. Remember to leave your full name if you'd like to be credited! We look forward to seeing your pictures.
Rep. Stanley attended NAPA Boston ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 18
Rep. Stanley attended the opening of NAPA's East Coast location at a 6,000-square-foot facility in Waltham on 9/18. NAPA (Neurological and Physical Abilitation Therapy Center) will employ 16 staff and offer three-week intensive therapy sessions providing various therapy modalities from around the world.
At NAPA Center, staff embrace each child's differences and work with them to overcome their unique challenges. They do this by designing individualized intensive therapy programs with unique combinations of its wide range of speech, physical, occupational and other innovative therapies. For many families, NAPA offers ground-breaking therapies that had previously not been available on the East Coast. NAPA has two other locations in Australia and Los Angeles.
Rep. Stanley & colleagues send letter to President Trump Urging Support of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
Rep. Stanley joined his colleagues in the House in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to preserve the status of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument - our nation's first and only marine national monument. Approximately 130 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, the Monument contains submarine canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and extinct underwater volcanos higher than any mountain east of the Rockies. These natural features and the surrounding ocean are home to a diverse, unique submarine environment.
In September 2016, the 5,000 square mile underwater habitat was first designated a national monument under the federal Antiquities Act, safeguarding its conservation status and closing it off from commercial fishing. Now, the Trump Administration has suggested reclassifying the Monument under the federal fisheries law and reopening it to commercial fishing operations. The letter urges the President to prevent this action from being taken. Revoking the Monument's current status would undoubtedly harm the local wildlife and eliminate the only ocean ecosystem in the American Atlantic that is protected from commercial extractive use.
Governor Baker Signs Law Strengthening Alzheimer's and Dementia Treatment in Massachusetts
Governor Baker was joined by members of the Administration, Legislature and healthy aging community at the ceremonial signing of H.4116 An Act relative to Alzheimer's and related dementias in the Commonwealth during an event at the Alzheimer's Association in Waltham.
In January 2018, Massachusetts became the second state in the nation to join AARP's Network of Age-Friendly Communities representing a major milestone in Massachusetts' goal to become the most age-friendly state in the nation. The new law strengthens the Commonwealth's age and dementia friendly initiatives by: Creating an advisory council and an integrated state plan to effectively address Alzheimer's disease; requiring content about Alzheimer's and related dementias be incorporated into physicians, physician's assistants, registered nurses and practical nurses continuing medical education programs that are required for the granting or renewal of licensure; allowing doctors to share an Alzheimer's diagnosis and treatment plan to a family member or legal personal representative within the existing framework of federal and state privacy laws; requiring hospitals that serve an adult population to have an operational plan in place for recognizing and managing individuals with dementia within three years of the laws' enactment; and requiring elder protective services caseworkers to be trained on Alzheimer's disease.
In Massachusetts, there are more people over the age of 60 than under the age of 20 and older adults will make up 23 percent of the Commonwealth's population by 2035. In 2017, Governor Baker established the Governor's Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts, which focuses on promoting healthy aging and making the Commonwealth an age-friendly state for people of all ages. The council brings together leaders from the aging, business, government, nonprofit, technology, education, transportation, housing and health care sectors to advise the state on innovative policies and best practices to support and engage older residents.
Governor Baker Signs Legislation Directing $2.4 Billion to Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental Protection, and Community Investments
Governor Baker ceremonially signed bipartisan legislation to authorize over $2.4 billion in capital allocations for investments in safeguarding residents, municipalities and businesses from the impacts of climate change, protecting environmental resources, and improving recreational opportunities. An Act Promoting Climate Change Adaptation, Environmental and Natural Resource Protection and Investment in Recreational Assets and Opportunity (H. 4835) enables critical environmental investments at the state and local levels and will put into law essential components of Governor Baker's Executive Order 569 establishing an integrated strategy for climate change adaptation across the Commonwealth, including the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program and the Statewide Hazard Mitigation and Adaptation Plan.
Recognizing the significant impact of climate change on coastal and inland communities, the legislation authorizes $501 million to respond to and prepare for extreme weather, sea level rise, inland flooding and other climate impacts: $290 million will be used to fund improvements and repairs to dams and seawalls and to implement diverse coastal resiliency strategies; $75 million will provide planning and action grants to communities through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program; and
$100 million will be invested in implementing the Commonwealth's Integrated State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan.
The legislation also authorizes $665 million to enable investment in deferred maintenance and recreational resource stewardship across state government - including $25 million for the expansion and interconnection of trails through the MassTrails program and $400 million for Department of Conservation and Recreation recreational facilities across the Commonwealth.
The legislation allocates $581 million to continue supporting communities around the Commonwealth and the environmental stewardship work they do, including: $405 million for community investment grant programs for municipalities, regional planning agencies and other eligible entities; $35 million for tree planting and forest land protection programs; and $55 million for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Complete Streets Program which provides funding to communities to provide safe and accessible options for all travel modes - walking, biking, transit and vehicles.
The legislation also includes over $474 million to support environmental programs at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and other agencies ranging from air and water quality monitoring to hazardous waste cleanup and the restoration of rivers, wetlands, streams, and lakes. This includes an additional $60 million for the Commonwealth's Clean Water Trust to continue its strong partnership with cities and towns in developing water infrastructure projects.
To protect the Commonwealth's maritime industry, the legislation will allow the Department of Fish and Game to update decades-old fines and penalty schedules for marine fisheries violations, including doubling non-criminal fines and increasing criminal penalties. To ensure the continued viability of Massachusetts' agricultural industry and protect family farms, the legislation reduces the estate tax on farmland in agricultural use for at least 10 years.
Baker Administration Announces MassHire Brand for Commonwealth's Workforce System
The Baker Administration announced the transition of the state workforce system brand into one central name - MassHire. Linking state career centers and workforce boards through a single brand will streamline and enhance communications within the network of employment services. The transition to MassHire furthers the Commonwealth's capacity for creating powerful connections between businesses and job seekers.
Prior to the MassHire brand unification, the state workforce system encompassed 29 career centers and 16 workforce development boards, each using different names and logos. The new brand serves to enhance MassHire clients' ability to navigate the variety of opportunities for employee training, job placement, and career development, as well as the recruitment of highly skilled employees for businesses.
The development of the MassHire brand system represents the state's response to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The bill required Massachusetts to design a strategic plan providing access for job seekers to employment, education, training, and support services in order to compete in today's global economy. Under the MassHire brand, career centers and workforce boards can better serve jobseekers and businesses by increasing access, visibility, and connectivity of workforce services by the MassHire network.
Baker Administration, Public Safety & School Officials Convene School Safety Roundtable on $72 Million School Safety Package
Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito, Education Secretary James Peyser, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, Public Safety and Security Secretary Daniel Bennett, and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley joined several school superintendents, teachers, police chiefs, mental health experts and local legislators to discuss efforts the Commonwealth can take to improve safety in schools.
During the roundtable, the Governor spoke with local officials about the $72 million school safety package he filed last month, which was the result of input from many stakeholders, including several superintendents and mental health experts that participated in the discussion. Governor Baker proposed a wide-ranging $72 million package to make school security upgrades, hire additional mental health professionals and train first responders to better handle threats within schools. The proposal includes $40 million in additional aid to school districts to hire social workers, mental health counselors and psychologists, and $20 million in matching state grants for security and communications upgrades in K-12 schools and public colleges and universities.
The package also includes: $2.4 million to create a tip line to provide public safety and school personnel with timely information on potential risks; $2 million for a statewide "Say Something" campaign; $1 million for school safety training for educators, health officials, and first responders; $750,000 for the Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative; $500,000 for sharing best practices in emergency planning, threat assessment, and rapid response; and $500,000 to create a school safety website.
