Getting traction and gaining speed

Spring greetings,

For years – like you, and in partnership with great colleagues – our team has been advocating for regional equity.

Thanks to the efforts of so many, we’re getting traction. Now it’s all about picking up speed.

Read on to learn about the team’s work throughout a blustery – and completely jammed – March.

But first, on behalf of our team, I wish joyous celebrations to all observing Passover, Easter, and Ramadan. For those who celebrated Holi in early March, I hope the festival was a wonderful celebration of spring returning.

Office Hours and Meetings with Municipal Leaders

My team and I will be hosting office hours across the district and on Zoom throughout the spring. Visit here to learn more. I’m also meeting with municipal leaders in our district’s 25 cities and towns. Thank you, thus far, to Amherst, Ashburnham, Deerfield, Hatfield, Montague, Pelham, Warwick, and Wendell for making time. Next up: Leverett! Only 16 to go!

Spotlight on Rural Communities

Years of work are starting to pay off with progress on regional rail, PILOT funding, rural school aid, and more. Within its first 100 days, the Healey/Driscoll Administration picked up the rural issues baton and now we’re sprinting forwards together.

Earlier this month, Governor Healey, Lt. Governor Driscoll, and cabinet members spent the day in our region, and during a stop at Williams Farm Sugarhouse in Deerfield announced the creation of the first-ever Director of Rural Affairs.

The Rural Affairs Director will examine every budget and policy priority to ensure it works for rural communities. They will be someone rural legislators can appeal to and work with – an advocate for our part of the Commonwealth. As you know well, a one-size-fits-all government doesn't work for western and north-central Massachusetts. (See the ‘Out and About’ section below for pictures from the Healey/Driscoll Day in western Mass.)

Regional Equity in Road and Bridge Funding

Another win for western and north-central Mass came when the Senate voted on a $350 million road and bridge funding bill, which will send $200 million in “Chapter 90” funding to Commonwealth cities and towns for transportation-related improvements, including road and bridge repairs.

I had two concerns about this bill. First, the Chapter 90 allocation formula should put less emphasis on population and more on road miles, so rural municipalities with relatively small populations but vast road miles get the funding they need to maintain all of our roads.

The second concern is that while Boston had a mild winter and didn’t have much snow, that just wasn’t the case in our neck of the woods.

That’s why I was so pleased when the Senate addressed these concerns by including a special $25 million set-aside for municipalities with low population density. We need this money to repair roads in our district that have experienced wear and tear from the harsh winter and to help maintain dirt and gravel roads. I spoke on the floor about these issues during the Senate debate and expressed my desire to tackle this funding formula once and for all to make it regionally equitable.

My remarks are here. (Note that you have to battle through some allergy-driven coughing and sneezing at the top!)

Meeting Needs as Pandemic Programs End

Also in March, the Senate debated and passed a supplemental funding bill that funds the universal free school lunch program through the end of the school year and funds the temporary continuation of extra SNAP benefits, helping to prevent a benefits cliff as additional federal benefits ended.

The bill also funds local water pollution control programs, broadband access, and appropriates funds to support newly-arrived immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

I successfully sought $250,000 to support a free abortion-focused legal hotline operated by Reproductive Equity Now to further our work protecting providers and those seeking care.

I ducked out of the Senate chamber during a break in the debate to summarize the funding provisions in this bill. You can watch here. This bill was signed into law by Governor Healey on March 29.

Statewide Spending and Opportunity to Testify

We are nearing the end of a series of hearings held by the Joint Committee on Ways and Means on Governor Healey’s proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget. I was honored to co-chair the March 13 hearing with Representative Andy Vargas on education and local aid funding at UMass Amherst in my capacity as Assistant Vice Chair of the committee. The hearing lasted seven hours. You can watch the truly interesting and informative discussion here.

Since then, I have criss-crossed the Commonwealth to attend hearings in Dartmouth, Arlington, and Gloucester. These were important forums for me to show up, learn, ask questions on behalf of constituents, and speak to the ways that these funding decisions affect our district. Read all about it here.

The final budget hearing is on April 10 at the State House and is open to all members of the public. If you wish to testify in person or virtually, you can sign up here. If you want to submit written testimony, please email Dru Tarr (andrew.tarr@mahouse.gov). (Don’t forget to cc jo.comerford@masenate.gov) so that I can also benefit from your thinking.

Solidarity with Workers at UMass Amherst

I have joined Representative Mindy Domb and Congressman Jim McGovern in pushing back against a proposed restructuring of fundraising and advancement positions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I love UMass and appreciate the complexities of managing such a vast entity, but I do not support the proposed upheaval and the privatization of state-pensioned, union jobs.

March 27 statement posted via Facebook with Representative Domb

March 31 statement posted via Facebook with Representative Domb and Congressman McGovern

Progress Report on Ending Hunger in Massachusetts by 2030

Folks on the frontlines of ending hunger – from the five western counties – turned out to hear Congressman Jim McGovern describe what’s happened nationally and in Massachusetts as a result of last year’s White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

I was glad to co-organize with Representative Mindy Domb, The Food Bank of Western Mass, CISA, Stone Soup Cafe, Growing Places, Springfield Food Policy Council – and others who were invited by the Congressman to the White House Conference. You can watch Jim’s entirely inspiring remarks here.

Advocacy Days in Full Swing

A highlight of the spring thus far has been several wonderful, jam-packed advocacy days in the State House. Constituents have been pouring into the State House to make sure Beacon Hill hears their legislative and budget priorities, and it has been our pleasure to receive you. We’ve learned so much while discussing environmental issues, health care, education, immigrant issues, the foster system, gun safety, and so much more.

We have two fun summaries to share here and here.

Out and about

The year has circled ‘round again and it’s sugaring season. I was delighted to join Representative Natalie Blais, MDAR Commissioner Ashley Randle, Massachusetts Maple Producers Association’s Winton Pitcoff, the Williams family, and other maple enthusiasts at the Williams Farm Sugarhouse in Deerfield.

On Friday, March 10, Governor Healey, Lieutenant Governor Driscoll, and many of their team joined us in western Massachusetts to learn more about the region and announce the first-ever Director of Rural Affairs position. We first stopped by the inspirational Just Roots with Representative Susannah Whipps and Representative Natalie Blais to hear about the impact of the food security infrastructure grant program.

Then we visited William Farm Sugarhouse for the Director of Rural Affairs announcement.

Glad to join Representative Lindsay Sabadosa to finish up the day with Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh and Department of Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Jane Ryder for a tour of Pathlight’s programs and ServiceNet’s Rooster Cafe & Restaurant.

On March 23, I spoke to advocates in a packed Hall of Flags at the State House about our team’s Estate Recovery Bill, which eliminates all so-called “estate recovery,” which is the state practice of recouping MassHealth expenses from the estates of people over age 55 who die while on MassHealth, in excess of what is required by the federal government. Learn more about estate recovery here.

Hundreds of people from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket came to the State House to show their support for our Local Real Estate Transfer Fee Option bill. This bill allows cities and towns to levy a local fee on the transfer of luxury houses, with the money generated put into that municipality’s affordable housing trust fund. Legislative Director Brian Rosman and Communication and Engagement Director Katelyn Billings are pictured below holding one of the shirts from the rally day.

Below are just two of the great advocacy day pictures, featuring Center for New Americans and Moms Demand Action. You can see more pictures and get a better sense of the breadth of groups engaged in advocacy here.

Sending our love to you,

Jo, Elena, Rachel, Katelyn, Brian, and Jared

P.S.

At the start of the pandemic, Congress required that state Medicaid programs (MassHealth) keep people continuously enrolled through the end of the month in which the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. What mattered is that folks had health care without disruption. As we emerge from COVID, Massachusetts is resuming its "redetermination" process, which is an examination of MassHealth subscribers to check for eligibility.

If you're on MassHealth and have questions, this is a good resource. MassHealth is also hosting a public webinar on Wednesday, April 12, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Register here.

If you run into any difficulty during the redetermination process, please let us know.