Education and Local Aid

My top two funding priorities remain Chapter 70 state aid to cities and towns for K-12 education and unrestricted local aid.

Education is the best investment we can make for our children. I have successfully fought for more Chapter 70 financial aid and tuition and fee free community college, which are the foundation of state commitment to an educated society and productive workforce.  I have also filed legislation to facilitate changing secondary school starting times throughout the Commonwealth (as we have already done in the 13^th Middlesex District).  Later school start times improve the health, safety, and academic achievement of our children.

Unrestricted local aid from the state provides essential funding to supplement municipal revenue.  This helps take some of the burden off homeowners and local businesses.

Meeting the Climate Crisis Challenge

Now that the legislature passed the 2050 roadmap to a clean and thriving Commonwealth, we need to meet our milestones and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045.  I was proud to vote for a landmark climate bill in 2022 that focused on electrifying vehicles and transit, reducing carbon emissions in new construction, and incentivizing offshore wind and solar power. I continue to work to have an energy and climate bill enacted in 2024 that will enable the timely construction of scores of new electrical substations and other infrastructure to allow our transition to clean energy sources which would satisfy all of our energy needs.

Safeguarding Our Environment, Food Supply, and School Grounds

While we have a Clean Air Act and a Clean Water Act, there is no Clean Earth Act at the federal or state level.

Glyphosate is the new DDT (an insecticide banned in the last century and subject of Rachel Carson’s acclaimed book, A Silent Spring).  Glyphosate, the world’s bestselling herbicide, has now been banned or substantially restricted in 22 countries around the world. Glyphosate (a chemical in Roundup) contaminates many of the processed foods on our grocery store shelves causing human blood levels multiple times the limit allowed in European drinking water.  GMO / Genetically Modified Organism seeds manufactured by Monsanto/Bayer to be immune to glyphosate are now used to grow much of the food Americans eat.  One liter of glyphosate diluted with water kills every living thing (not genetically modified) when sprayed over an acre of land.  While Monsanto insists that it is “safe enough to drink”, I continue to lead the effort in Massachusetts to curtail and eventually eliminate the use of this poisonous substance from our foods and water.

After having a Glyphosate Commission created and funded, I continue to pursue legislation and regulatory reforms to reduce our exposure to and ingestion of this chemical which has caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and other serious illnesses resulting in over $11 billion in judgments against Monsanto / Bayer (the company who earlier gave us DDT and PCBs).

I filed other legislation to replace the herbicide known as Agent Orange and other hazardous pesticides/herbicides from the list of chemicals permitted for use on Massachusetts school properties and playing areas with pesticides/herbicides found not to be harmful by the EPA.  This legislation was initially voted favorably by both the House and Senate on the last day of the previous session.

Campaign Finance Reform

A majority of Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters throughout the country want to amend the Constitution to nullify the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. This would return authority to the states to regulate campaign spending and stop the same treatment corporations and other non-human entities have as people.  The Citizens United decision has allowed billionaires, large domestic and multinational corporations and foreign governments to spend vast amounts of money legally (and unlawfully in the case of foreign governments) to drown out the voices of the people in both our state and national elections and ballot questions.

In the 2018 general election, over 71 percent of Massachusetts voters supported Question 2, creating a Citizens’ Commission to research, report, and issue recommendations on how to advance a constitutional amendment to undo the political financial corruption spawned by Citizens’ United. It was my privilege and honor to serve as an appointee on the Commission, which met on 20 times across the Commonwealth and released two detailed reports.

In bipartisan partnership with my colleagues in the House and Senate, I have filed and advocated for legislation for Massachusetts to join with other states to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United.

 Helping Our Seniors

Throughout my tenure in the legislature, I have served on the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs to better the lives of older residents.  I have focused on providing better wages to the home care workers and home health aides whose work, paid for with state funds, is essential for enabling thousands of older residents and disabled residents to remain in their homes rather than be forced into nursing homes.  I have been recognized for successfully leading the fight for both the homecare aide and home health care aide pay raises.  I continue to work for legislation which would cause their pay and benefits to be evaluated at least every two years.  Unless and until these workers are paid a living wage, thousands of older residents will continue to go without the essential care they are eligible for and desperately need.

I have also filed and advocated for legislation which would more easily allow towns and cities to implement means tested property tax exemptions for senior citizens. In Sudbury, this policy has helped seniors stay in our community after retirement.

Constituent Services

A State Representative has three main areas of focus:

1. Crafting the annual and supplemental state budgets
2. Preparing and/or advocating for passage of legislation to improve our lives – everyone’s life – in the Commonwealth
3. Constituent services

While budget and legislative work benefit millions of residents, constituent work aids specific families, individuals and small businesses. It is very personal and satisfying.

When you have a state agency seeming to be unresponsive, call me.

If a utility or company is causing you grief and you do not know what to do, call my state house office. Often my team can find a solution or at least provide direction. Utilities and many companies are regulated by the state.

If it’s a federal matter and you don’t know what to do, call me. I find our Congresswomen representing the 13^th Middlesex District and our two U.S. Senators very helpful and responsive.