Growing up, I never heard the term “transgender.”  While in college, I became aware of the civil rights movements for the gay and lesbian community and worked on issues like opposing the U.S. military’s discrimination against gay and lesbian soldiers, but the first time I really learned about what it means to be transgender was during a dinner table conversation with my family one summer while I was home from school.

My dad, an electrical engineer at the time for Raytheon Company, which does a great amount of work with the U.S. military building weapons and defense systems, mentioned over dinner that an employee named Terry came to work that day wearing women ‘s clothes.  As my dad explained, “One day he was a man, and the next a woman.”  My dad explained further, in that analytical manner of an engineer, that Terry had had a sex change over the past year apparently, and now had come out fully as a woman.

I was reminded of this memory today as I listened to the parents of transgender children at the State House, asking the Legislature to pass H1728, An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes, to prevent discrimination against people based on gender identity or expression.

What I remember best from that dinner table conversation with my dad is how matter of fact the discussion was.  I really can’t remember any more details, other than how proud I was of my dad — and still am now — for being so unconcerned about someone’s gender preference.  I am also extremely proud that there were no stories of Terry’s co-workers discriminating against her, or that Raytheon had taken any action against her.  In fact, as I learned today from talking to my dad, Raytheon has always been a company ahead of the curve in supporting co-workers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.  The company even had a transgender chapter.

Raytheon is a company that — whether or not you agree with every defense program that the military builds — makes tremendous contributions to keeping the United States and all Americans safe.  I was always proud of my dad’s contributions to the company in creating new radar systems to defend against missile attacks around the world.  By having a firm anti-discrimination policy in place, including for transgender people, Raytheon was not just protecting Terry’s civil rights, but it was helping make the company’s workforce as strong as it could be.

One of my colleagues last week commented that the Massachusetts Legislature should be focused on creating jobs, and not on allegedly less trivial matters like protecting people’s civil rights.

But creating jobs isn’t done by some wave of the magic wand by the Great and General Court and Governor Patrick.  By passing laws, Massachusetts creates an environment where jobs are either created or not created.  I would argue that one of the key factors that makes Massachusetts such an attractive place to create jobs is that both through our culture and ours laws, the Commonwealth is a very inclusive society, and has a long history of eliminating discrimination.

There are lots of pieces of legislation that Massachusetts can pass to make the state a better place, and hopefully create more jobs.  Passing this legislation to make sure that people like Terry who might work, live or go to school in places that aren’t as friendly towards people like her as my dad or Raytheon was, will not only make life better for her, but foster an atmosphere that is also more job-friendly for everyone.

Today is Earth Day, the day we take each year to appreciate our natural environment and raise awareness of ways we can all help to preserve and protect that environment.

Last year around this time, I blogged about some of the great work being done in local communities to combat global warming, as well as steps I was personally taking to reduce my carbon footprint. This year, I’d like to talk more about what the Massachusetts Legislature can do to protect our earth.

The unfortunate truth is that the Legislature this year has yet to pass any environmental legislation of any significance – despite the many good proposals with broad support that are out there. Although it is my hope that we will see some environmental victories before the session ends on July 31^st, time is growing short and there is much work to be done.

Some of the good environmental bills that still have a chance of being passed this year include:

• The “E-Waste” bill, otherwise known as An Act to Require Producer Responsibility for Collection and Recycling of Discarded Electronic Products. This bill would make it easier for the public to recycle products such as computers, televisions and printers, which often can’t be recycled through normal municipal pick-ups.  As a result, they often end up in landfills, where they leach hazardous chemicals into the soil. It would also require the producers of this waste to be financially responsible for their proper disposal, removing the burden from municipalities.

• The Expanded Bottle Bill, otherwise known as  An Act to Improve Recycling Rates in the Commonwealth, which will expand our container deposit system to include drinks such as non-carbonated beverages, water, iced tea, juice, and sports drinks. This would add $15-20 million to state revenue through projected unclaimed deposits in addition to decreasing litter and increasing recycling.  At a time when the state has had to cut important state programs, including those protecting the environment and encouraging recycling, it is frustrating that the Legislature has not yet passed this legislation, which would help reduce the cuts to these or other programs.

• The Safer Alternatives Bill would ensure that if an economically feasible safer alternative to a toxic chemical is found, for a particular use, and the chemical presents a high hazard to Massachusetts residents and workers, programs exist to assist businesses in making a transition to the safer alternative.  Not only does this measure reduce exposure to toxic chemicals for everyone in Massachusetts, it does so in a way that supports economic growth and even saves the Commonwealth money – upwards of $100 million annually, according to one report.

• A PACE (Property-Assessed Clean Energy Program) would give towns interested in promoting energy conservation and green energy the legal mechanism to set up a revolving fund to offer loans to property owners for renewable energy improvements. This is one of the many ways we can reduce our carbon footprint and provide incentives for individuals to use more renewable sources of energy.

• The “No Net Loss” bill (An Act Protecting Natural Resources of the Commonwealth), which I have sponsored, would provide  protection for our public lands. In 1972, the Massachusetts voters approved an amendment to the state Constitution, Article 97, granting the people of the state the right to clean air and water, and other “environmental” benefits.  However, the pressure to convert public land protected by Article 97 is growing as development pressures increase, as vacant land becomes more expensive, and as the demand for land to be used for schools, easements, parking lots, utilities, and other services grows. This bill would require that other sites be evaluated before Article 97 land is developed and require that if Article 97 land is taken for development, open land is purchased to replace it.

Although it is important and understandable, given the economic crisis, that so much of our time has been spent on large-scale reforms and economic development proposals, we can’t — as a legislature or a society — ignore the growing problems our environment is facing. And, many of these bills I’ve highlighted would actually help create jobs — and more sustainable ones at that.

Finally, in this season of reform, I’d argue that many parts of our environmental protection laws remain in need of reform, too. If we don’t take action, the continued destruction of the earth – including our open space, clean air and clean water — will only continue. What better reform is there than reforming the way we interact with our planet?

This Earth Day is a good day to focus our attention on some of these problems, and things we all can do to help. I’ll be working hard over the next few months to try and pass some of these important environmental bills, and I hope you’ll lend your support as well.

***Cross-posted on BlueMassGroup***

Along with my colleague in the House, Rep. Carl Sciortino, I’ve been a frequent poster on BMG on the issue of transparency and accountability in government spending, particularly around the issue of corporate tax credits and economic development spending.

As time goes on, evidence continues to mount that the millions we give out in tax credits and subsidies to corporations each year are not having their intended effect, and that despite big promises, job creation numbers too often fall far short of expectations.

The Boston Globe recently did some great investigative journalism work looking into the hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local tax breaks we’ve given away under the Economic Development Incentive Program, which aims to encourage companies to invest here and create jobs. As the author noted:

“Often the incentives work and new jobs result. But far too often taxpayers have not come close to getting their money’s worth.”

I encourage you to read the whole story here.

And again today, another Globe story about the lack of transparency surrounding tens of millions in tax breaks being given out by the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council this afternoon.

As our budget situation worsens, and as many legislators make it clear that they have no interest in looking at ways of increasing revenue, leaving deeper cuts to local aid, human services, and other important programs as our only option, I’ve become more and more passionate on this issue of transparency.

We spend hundreds of millions on tax credits and subsidies each year — and yet legislators, and the public, have no idea where the money is going or what effect it’s having. How can we continue to cut important programs and services and still refuse to even look at the impact and effectiveness of the money we spend on these economic development packages?

Tomorrow the Senate will debate an economic development bill designed to, among other things, increase the efficiency of the state’s economic development agencies and direct more lending to small businesses to create jobs. There are many good things in this bill – but one major thing is lacking, which is data collection.

If we are truly looking to increase efficiency, then we need to be collecting the performance management data that will allow us to make informed decisions and ensure that our economic development dollars are being spent as efficiently as possible. Quite simply, you can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Without this level of accountability neither the public nor the legislature can have confidence that we are spending our economic development dollars wisely.

I’m proposing an amendment to the bill that would add data collection, transparency and accountability measures to the bill. You can read a summary or full text of the amendment (#69), but in brief it would:

- Provide greater transparency, by requiring public (online) reporting of all economic development spending (including tax reductions, credits & subsidies)
- Require uniform economic development reporting requirements, including current in-state employment levels, salary and benefit structures as well as job creation proposals
- Establish economic developments standards (including a per-job subsidy limit) and require clawbacks (recapture of taxpayer dollars) when job promises are not met.

Adding strong disclosure requirements and making this data publicly available in a searchable database, would bring Massachusetts more in line with such states as Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island that already have similar provisions in place.

Ben Foreman of MassINC, which has been a leading voice for transparency in Massachusetts, wrote about the proposed amendment on his blog yesterday. As he noted:

“The vote on this amendment will provide a good measure of whether the bill’s economic development planning components are a sincere effort to protect taxpayer investment.”

If you support this idea, I urge you to please contact your Senator today and ask them to support Amendment #69 to the Economic Development bill, An Amendment Relative to Economic Development, Transparency and Fiscal Accountability.

It took a whole day to sink in.  After watching the final vote late Sunday, I jumped off the couch and cheered the passage of the national health care reform bill by the U.S. House of Representatives, 219-212, for a few minutes, then off to bed to get some sleep ahead of a busy day.

It was a typically-busy day. Meetings in the district and at the State House, emails, returning calls from constituents on various local issues, and lunch with seniors at the Southborough Council on Aging. As I ran from meeting to meeting, I didn’t have much time to think about what had happened the night before.

It wasn’t till the end of the day, talking with some of my staff, that I had a chance to really think about what had happened less than twenty-four hours before. We had passed health care reform -what the pundits had been saying was virtually dead since the eve of January 19^th.  And not just incremental changes to health care, but a dramatic, historic, life-changing expansion of health care that — while not totally overhauling the broken health care system — would go great lengths in providing health insurance for tens of millions more Americans.

Though it wasn’t the Medicare-for-All (single-payer) system I believe we eventually should move towards, the details of the bill are exciting.  Health insurance coverage for 32 million more Americans, including expanding Medicaid for people with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and health care exchanges offering health insurance for families up to 400 % of the FPL.  Reducing prescription drug costs for seniors facing the “doughnut hole”, including 80,700 seniors in Massachusetts.  Increasing Medicaid reimbursements for primary care physicians and more spending on community health centers, while moving away from the privatization of Medicare through shifting funding from Medicare Part C to Parts A and B.

It was an incredibly happy moment, to think of all of those Americans who will begin receiving health insurance coverage over the next few years.  That despite all of the rancor over the past 15 months over the need (or, in the minds of some, lack of need) for health care reform,  the rubber now hits the road, and many, many people across the country will be more secure in their lives. If they happen to become sick, get in a car accident, or need an operation, the likelihood that they will be able to access the care they need is much, much greater.

When I got home, as I did my physical therapy exercises for my shoulder, I thought about some of the men and women I got to know while I was recovering from own health care emergency at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, a little less than six months ago.  While many of these patients had the same excellent health care that I did — which won’t be affected by the national health care reform that passed on Sunday night — there were also patients who were cut off from receiving the therapy they needed to properly recover and were sent home early.  There were patients who didn’t have a primary care physician to check in with during their recovery.  These less well off individuals were much more likely to have the same health insurance coverage that I was lucky enough to have.

Reading (and watching) the news coverage of the previous day’s events, I noticed the focus was all about who voted for the bill, who voted against, a possible primary challenge to U.S. Congressman Steven Lynch, and Republicans’ plans to somehow repeal the bill as soon as they possibly could.  But this obsession with the politics of health care didn’t change my enthusiasm and hope about what had happened on Sunday night.  As Paul Krugman wrote in his New York Times editorial, “Fear Strikes Out.”

There is no doubt there are still some significant battles ahead for Americans, including here in Massachusetts, for transformative, universal health care reform.  Despite the passage & signing of this law, health care is still not a right, health care costs will still be too expensive, and some Americans will still not receive the health care coverage they deserve.  There is already a growing coalition of stakeholders in Massachusetts focused on filing legislation next session that tries to reach these goals for Massachusetts residents, which I am proud to be taking a lead on.

But the reality is that soon, millions more of Americans will be more secure in their lives, can take better care of their families, and will have less to fear, because of a bold act by Congress, and the courageous leadership of a visionary president.  Not a bad way to start the week.

Today – March 22nd – was World Water Day, which we marked at the State House with a briefing by the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign on how we can restore public confidence in our water supply, end unnecessary state spending on bottled water, and reinvest in our public water supplies.

At the briefing, we saw a preview of a new video explaining the bottled water problem and how demand for the product has become “manufactured” over time:

Massachusetts spends a little more than half a million dollars a year on bottled water for state offices and public events. At a time when the nation’s public water systems are facing a $24 billion shortfall, and our water infrastructure here in Massachusetts is severely underfunded, we can’t afford to spend scarce public dollars on bottled water – an unnecessary use of the most essential public resource.

Over the years, bottled water corporations like Coke, Nestle and Pepsi have become very good at convincing us that the only place to get clean, safe water is from a bottle. But the fact is that tap water is as clean — and in many cases, cleaner — than bottled water, without the serious social & environmental impacts.

As a result of this marketing by bottled water companies,  people across the country are losing confidence in public tap water, even though bottled water is less regulated than tap water.

The Think Outside the Bottle campaign aims to counteract this push by bottled water corporations by educating the public about the problems of bottled water and promoting the use of clean, safe, public tap water instead. I’m proud to support their efforts.

As part of that, myself and others are calling upon Governor Patrick to end unnecessary state spending on bottled water, switching to tap water as a show of confidence and reinvesting the savings – more than half a million a year – in improve public water systems.

Ending this unnecessary spending, as well as passing the Expanded Bottle Bill, are two ways our state can be part of the growing movement to reduce the use of environment-draining bottled water.

Last night it was announced that the MBTA has agreed to Acton’s proposed alternate design for the South Acton Train Station. This is incredible news for the Town of Acton, and all the commuters who use the South Acton Train Station.

Key features of the new design include dual side platforms, platform access from both sides of the station, and elevators and overhead bridge rather than ramps to accommodate crossing safely over the tracks.  The modified design will encourage multimodal access to the station, including automobile, pedestrian, bicycle and shuttle services.

I am so proud of all of the hard work and advocacy that local leaders, my colleagues in the state legislature, Representatives Benson and Atkins, and residents of Acton and surrounding communities put into this effort.  By working together we ensured that a vital piece of public transportation infrastructure will reflect the needs and values of our community and continue to be accessible and safe for everyone.

This is a good reminder that engaged citizens working together can make a real difference. Learn more about the citizen advocacy efforts here, or watch this video, created before last night’s announcement:

Today the State Senate unanimously passed An Act Relative to Bullying, bullying-prevention legislation that prohibits physical, verbal and written acts that threaten or cause harm to another student, including Internet “cyber-bullying”, and requires schools to develop a bullying prevention and intervention plan in consultation with teachers, school staff, professional support personnel, administrators, students and parents.

The anti-bullying legislation was largely based on a bill I originally filed last year, and it’s something I and my office have been working very hard on over the past few months. You can read the speech I delivered on the floor of the Senate today here.

The bill that passed today is comprehensive, prevention-oriented legislation that will work to end the persistent cycle of bullying we’ve seen in the Commonwealth’s schools for years, leading to tragedies like those in South Hadley, Springfield and too many other communities. Every student deserves to feel safe in their own schools, and this bill is a strong step in that direction.

The bill, which now moves on to the House, requires all school districts, charter schools and non-public schools to develop prevention and intervention plans by December 31, 2010 that include procedures for investigating bullying incidents, notifying parents and determining appropriate disciplinary actions.

The bill requires school principals to notify local law enforcement of bullying incidents if there is reason to believe criminal charges may be pursued. It also allows Individualized Education Programs for children with special needs to include provisions that will help them handle and respond to incidents of bullying. The bullying ban extends to all school facilities, school-sponsored functions, school buses and bus stops.

The bill that passed also included two amendments that I worked on with MassEquality, a statewide LGBT advocacy group that supported this bill. These amendments will ensure that bullying prevention training programs include research on populations of students most likely to be bullied, and that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education periodically reviews school districts to be sure they are properly implementing programs and trainings.

There is nothing I or the legislature could do that could begin to mitigate the tragedy bullying has brought to families across the Commonwealth. However, we can work together to pass this crucial legislation as soon as possible. And, in so doing, prevent more of our friends, neighbors and loved ones from ever knowing that same sadness.

I am often asked, when out in the district, what it is a State Senator “does.” It’s an understandable question. And especially when I’m talking to children in my district visiting the State House, it can be challenging to explain what it is I do for 70-80 hours each week!

Although we do our best to let our constituents know – through press releases and op-eds, through our email newsletters, and even through blogs like this – what we are working on, the fact is that most of what we do each day and week goes unreported.

A typical week for me is 6 or 7 days of work, often starting at 8am (or earlier!) in the morning and going till 9pm or later.  No complaints from me on that front – I love my job and feel honored to have the chance to represent the Middlesex & Worcester District in the State Senate. Every day is different, and there are so many important issues competing for my attention, as well the long-term organizing work that needs to be done to create lasting change in Massachusetts.

Tuesday was a particularly busy day here in the State Senate, and much good was accomplished. I thought I’d take this chance to give you a behind-the-scenes look into what it’s like to be a State Senator.

7:30am: Coffee in hand, I begin the day in the State House by sending notes to constituents I met with last week, and checking my email for requests and inquiries from constituents, assigning them to staff as needed.

On the docket for the day are a few key hearings, plus an all-important budget meeting with the Senate Ways & Means Committee, to prepare for.

9:30am: I speak to the Women’s Bar Association about one of my top priority bills, An Act Removing Barriers to Asset Development and Financial Stability for Low-to-Moderate Income Families. This bill would remove state-imposed barriers to asset development for low-to-moderate income residents of the Commonwealth who receive support through the Department of Transitional Assistance, promoting gainful employment and financial stability. This bill was put together through the work of the Asset Development Commission, which I chaired.

Jamie speaking to Women's Bar Association

It’s a common sense bill that puts our state government in the position of supporting, rather than discouraging, low-income families as they try to build assets and climb out of poverty, and I’m grateful to the WBA for their support of the bill this session.

10:30am: The Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, which I co-chair, is hosting a hearing on a number of local bills. But today is a particularly important day for the Committee: after many months of work, we have released the Municipal Relief Act, a package of legislative changes and local-option programs – big and small – designed to give our cities and towns the tools they need to operate more effectively and, ultimately, save money.

These are tough times for our cities and towns, with cuts to local aid coming at the same time as rising costs. This bill won’t make all of these problems disappear – but it will give municipal officials the tools they need to tackle these problems head on and govern as effectively as possible in this time of lean resources. Learn more here .

11:15:  - The Joint Committee on Economic Development is holding a hearing on the “An Act Promoting Economic Development Throughout the Commonwealth,” a reorganization of all the economic development agencies in Massachusetts. The room is packed with legislators, lobbyists, staff and media, all there to testify (or observe testimony) on this expansive, complicated legislation.

Jamie with Peter Lowitt, from the Devens Enterprise Coalition

I’m there to testify on some things I’d like to see the bill include: corporate tax credit transparency language, which would allow us to determine which credits are working, and which aren’t; a greater focus on workforce training and economic development for low-income families and poorer areas of the state; and the creation of a state-owned bank to make sure that small businesses receive the loans they need to grow and create jobs.

I’m also there on a more local matter, to ask the Committee to leave the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) out of the reorganization, given that the DEC is more of a land use board rather than an economic development agency. This is an issue of great local importance to the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Shirley and the Devens Community, all of which I represent.

Read my testimony to the Committee.

Noon: I’ve got about an hour and a half before my next meeting, with the Senate Ways & Means Committee. This is enough time to go through some legislative updates with my staff, answer a few phone calls from local reporters, review the final documents before the budget meeting, and even grab a quick lunch at my desk. (Chicken Caesar salad wrap, from the Hi-Spot deli across the street.)

Jamie preparing for the budget meeting with staff

1:30: Today I have my annual budget meeting with Senate Ways & Means Chair Steven Panagiotakos. This is my chance to lay out my budget priorities for the year, explain why they are important to my district and the Commonwealth, and press my case. My staff and I spent weeks preparing for this meeting – deciding which priorities I want to push for, and then laying out the case for why these programs and priorities are particularly deserving of support.

In this tight budget climate, I’m well aware that very few programs, if any, will see increases in funding; in most cases I’m asking that the programs at least receive level funding from last year.

My main budget priorities going into this meeting are:

1) Protecting local aid (including Chapter 70, lottery aid and regional school transportation) to cities and towns.

2) Maintaining funding for vital social safety net services (programs to help the homeless, low-income families, at-risk children, those with disabilities, the elderly).

3) Advocating for a fair, adequate and stable tax system that will raise sufficient revenue to support our state’s goals and priorities.

4) Promoting budget transparency and accountability, particularly around the issue of tax credit transparency, so that we can be sure that every penny of the public’s money is being spent effectively.

5) Preventing deeper cuts in spending on environmental protection, stimulating economic development, and investing in transportation.

2:30: The Judiciary Committee is hearing one of my bills, The Massachusetts Civil Rights Restoration Act. This bill would restore the right of an individual to bring a claim where a governmental policy or activity has the effect of unlawfully discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin or sex. It’s a complicated legal concept, but the end result of the bill would be to allow citizens to bring claims of discrimination against the government in cases where policies have led to systematic, indirect discrimination, particularly in areas of environmental justice, transportation and housing.  I’ve worked closely with ACE, an environmental justice group based in Roxbury, to highlight this legislation.

I join State Representative Byron Rushing, the lead sponsor in the House, to testify before the committee on why this bill is important. Read my testimony here.

Jamie testifies with Rep. Byron Rushing at Judiciary Committee Hearing

3:30pm: Earlier today, the Education Committee reported out a bullying-prevention bill, using a bill I filed last January as a framework. The bill prohibits bullying, including cyberbullying, on school grounds and would require schools to develop a bullying prevention and intervention plan. It’s a comprehensive, prevention-oriented piece of legislation, designed to end the tragic cycle of bullying we’ve seen in the Commonwealth’s schools for years, leading to tragedies like those in South Hadley, Springfield and too many other communities.

I work with my staff to review what’s included in the final bill, and put together a press release on the bill for local papers, which you can read here.

5:00pm: After a few more phone calls, it’s time to catch the train back to Acton. Since my accident last fall, I’ve spent a lot more time riding the Commuter Rail. It’s a good way to do my part to reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion, plus it gives me some time to relax. That said, it can be a long commute, and I look forward to gaining the extra 10 minutes once the double-tracking project from Fitchburg to Boston is complete. Securing the funding for the project is something I worked on for years with my predecessor, Senator Pam Resor, because we knew it would benefit thousands of constituents who commute to Cambridge and Boston and back every day.

6:30pm: It’s a rare meeting-free evening for me tonight. (In a typical week, I have evening meetings most weekdays, and sometimes on Saturday or Sunday night.) It’s a chance for me to catch up on paperwork: review staff memos, read the papers, and get some writing done as well.

And so ends a day – and night! – in the life of a Massachusetts State Senator.  This particular day involved more meetings at the State House – and fewer in the district – than usual, but it was the sort of jam-packed schedule I’ve gotten used to over the past years. There’s so much going on in the State Legislature and the district that my mind tends to race at night, thinking about what else needs to be done. (To the amusement of my staff, who sometimes joke about the emails they receive from me late, late at night or in the early morning.)

I love the work I do, and hope to continue to have the opportunity to do it for many years to come.

(Cross-posted on BlueMassGroup)

In the wake of Senator-elect Scott Brown’s unexpected victory last week, I know that many of us have been asking the question and discussing amongst ourselves, “What does this mean, and where do we go from here?”

There have been many theories and explanations for his win, from debates about campaign strategies to discussions of the effect larger national issues may have had on the race.

Whatever the explanation, what is clear is that voters are upset, and frustrated with the status quo. They’re angry about a lack of visible progress, deals made behind closed doors, and giveaways to corporate special interests.  In my opinion, the election results were partly a result of federal inaction on concerns important to Massachusetts families , and a gut-level belief that in this tough economy, not enough is being done by Democrats to help working families, while too much is being done to help the wealthy and privileged.

They’re frustrated with the status quo, and so am I – and so, I suspect, are you. The status quo is unacceptable, and we need to do everything we can to change it.

The answer, I believe, is to do more to help working families get and stay on their feet. Here in Massachusetts, we need to pass more legislation that has a direct impact on people’s lives, and that shows what we stand for as Democrats.

We need to pass meaningful Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) reform quickly, to help reduce recidivism rates among ex-offenders while lowering criminal justice costs. This is a problem that hurts tens of thousands of people across the Commonwealth every single day. Advocates and legislators have been working on it for years – it’s time to get it done.

Although Massachusetts is a national leader in expanding access to health insurance, health care costs continue to spiral out of control, particularly for small businesses. There are a number of proposals before the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing.  Passing meaningful health care cost control legislation could have a real effect on struggling local families and businesses.

The growing foreclosure crisis is an affordable housing issue that has had a serious effect on the Commonwealth. The Legislature should quickly pass legislation that would increase neighborhood stability by creating protections for tenants in foreclosed properties and requiring banks and financial institutions to ensure proper upkeep and maintenance of foreclosed properties.

There are a number of important bills dealing with environmental safety that should be enacted this year, from the “E-Waste” bill to promote recycling of electronics like TVs and computers (which I’ve filed with Representative Smizik) or the Safer Alternatives bill, which would reduce exposure to toxic, cancer-causing chemicals currently found in any number of commonly used products. Passing these bills will ultimately save lives, and the sooner we do it, the better.

In the wake of another tragic story about the deadly consequences out-of-control bullying can have, it’s well past time we pass bullying prevention legislation. Ensuring that every school has a bullying prevention and intervention plan, one that includes a focus on cyberbullying, would be a first step towards stopping this sort of behavior when it starts and before it spirals out of control. I’ve proposed a bill that would do this, as have many of my colleagues. The leaders of the Joint Committee on Education have indicated they are working on a bill; I hope the best parts of all the proposals can be combined and a strong bill reported out and voted on soon.

And we need to do all of these things, and more, with a focus on transparency and accountability, so that voters can be confident that we are always acting in the best interests of the people, and not for special interests.  A good start would be to include provisions in the state budget to promote tax credit transparency so that the Massachusetts Legislature and the public has a better sense of where our tax credit dollars are going, and what we’re getting, in terms of job creation, in exchange.

These are just a few of the many issues affecting working class families that the Legislature ought to tackle in the upcoming months. Right now, I am spending  some of my time at the State House making calls to House and Senate committee chairs, asking that the legislation mentioned above is reported out of committee and brought to a vote as soon as possible — and I hope you’ll join me in that effort.

In times like these, it can be a natural reaction for legislators to want to run away from being bold, to avoid doing anything that might be seen as politically risky.  I couldn’t disagree more, and that’s where you can help make a difference. We face huge problems, and the people need their representatives to be problem solvers.

So let your legislators know that you’re paying attention, and that you want to see action on these and other important matters before the end of the session.  We need to hear from you, now.

Yesterday, I was honored to speak at a press conference announcing a new report from the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow and the Safe Chemicals Healthy Families Campaign. The report added to the ever-growing body of evidence regarding the link between exposure to chemicals found in many household products and many common, chronic diseases.

Read the report.

This report only further highlights the need to pass the Safer Alternatives Bill, of which I am a co-sponsor, in this legislative session. Passing this legislation will help keep Massachusetts residents – especially children – safer and healthier.

I co-sponsored this bill, and continue to advocate for its passage, because there is strong evidence linking exposure to certain common chemicals to rates of chronic diseases such as cancer, childhood leukemia, learning disabilities and reproductive disorders.

The Safer Alternatives Bill would ensure that if an economically feasible safer alternative to a toxic chemical is found, for a particular use, and the chemical presents a high hazard to Massachusetts residents and workers, programs exist to assist businesses in making a transition to the safer alternative.  Not only does this measure reduce exposure to toxic chemicals for everyone in Massachusetts, it does so in a way that supports economic growth.

In addition to providing vital protections from harmful chemicals, this measure will save the Commonwealth millions of dollars in healthcare costs. According to the report released today, Massachusetts would save more than $100 million annually. In this time of fiscal crisis, such savings are another compelling reason to support this legislation.

Not only will this bill save the Commonwealth money, but preventing exposure to toxic chemicals is, quite simply, the right thing to do — and we should do it as soon as possible. As the Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on the Environment, I am working to see this bill reported favorably out of committee. I hope to see the bill brought the floor of the House and Senate for a full vote before the end of this legislative session.

It was great to have the opportunity to speak in favor of this important piece of legislation, and to hear from other legislators and advocates who understand that passing this bill can increase the length and quality of life for millions in Massachusetts. It’s been wonderful to hear from so many constituents about this bill, and, as always, I look forward to your continued input moving forward.