Just Mail Everyone a Ballot

On June 4, the MA House advanced a bill to expand opportunities to vote by mail and vote early in light of COVID-19 (Read about the good and the bad of the bill here.)

Now, it’s the Senate’s time to vote, and that means another opportunity to improve the bill–to make it better for voting access and better for public health.

That’s why we’re supporting the following amendments:

#1 (Rausch): Automatic Ballot Delivery for the General Election, which would automatically mail general election early voting ballots to every active registered voter in the Commonwealth

#3 (Lesser): Strengthening mail ballot request online portal, which strengthens the bill’s language establishing an online portal for absentee ballot requests

#6 (Chandler): Creating a Timely Online Ballot Request Portal, which would ensure that the early voting portal is available for the primary election as well as the general, as is included in the House version

#7 (Chang-Diaz): Voting Accessibility, which requires the necessary accommodations for individuals with disabilities to be able to vote by mail

#8 (Hinds): Ballots Mailed by Election Day, which ensures that ballots mailed by Election Day will be counted

#15 (Eldridge): Same Day Registration, which establishes same-day voter registration for all 2020 elections.

#20 (Eldridge): Safeguarding equity and access when making changes to polling places, which requires cities and towns to make specific findings when changing polling places, including that doing so would not have a disparate adverse impact on access to the polls on the basis of race, national origin, disability, income, or age, and increases the notice period for changed polling location from 15 to 20 days.

#23 (Rausch): Voter education and outreach, which requires Secretary Galvin to conduct a public awareness campaign promoting the new and expanded early voting and mail voting procedures included in the bill.

#24 (Eldridge): Guaranteeing Safe, Accessible, and Fair Elections For All, which strengthens the protections of and guidance around safe in-person voting

#35 (Cyr): Language Access, which requires transliteration of all candidates’ names as part of the bilingual ballot (for all translated ballots in languages not using Roman alphabet) and requires all candidates to be provided with written copy of transliteration

Send an email to your state senator here.

🚨Actions You Can Take from Home During the COVID-19 Crisis

With the outbreak of COVID-19, Massachusetts is facing a crisis.

We have a public health crisis, as the number of those infected grows every day. We have an economic crisis, as the threat of a recession looms larger every day and workers risk weeks (or months) without a paycheck. And we have a democratic crisis, as the virus outbreak challenges our ability to hold traditional in-person elections.

And this is on top of the crises we already face, such as the inequality that affects all aspects of our society.

And our Legislature needs to respond with the requisite urgency and comprehensiveness. 

Can you email your state legislators to demand quick and comprehensive action? 

Here’s what a comprehensive response must include: 

âś…Passing HD.4935 (Connolly-Honan): An Act Providing for a Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures During the COVID19 Emergency because, in a state of emergency in which people are being asked to stay at home, people need to have homes. Evictions and foreclosures exacerbate our public health crisis and strain our already weak safety net. 

âś…Passing legislation to provide immediate financial assistance ​to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic​, such as HD.4945 (Gouveia): An Act providing for emergency cash assistance in response to COVID-19, HD.4951 (Decker): An Act to provide short-term relief for families in deep poverty, and HD.4950 (Miranda): An Act providing emergency access to equity and justice for all in response to COVID-19 

âś…Passing HD.4958 (Mark/Sabadosa): An Act relative to COVID-19 emergency unemployment expansion, which would ensure that independent contractors, sole proprietors, partners in a partnership, freelance, and tipped employees are eligible for unemployment benefits and that COVID-19 emergency assistance does not make any worker ineligible for receiving any existing state benefits

âś…Passing Emergency Paid Sick Time legislation that guarantees all workers at least fifteen additional work-days (120 hours) of job-protected paid sick time for immediate use during the COVID-19 outbreak or any future public health emergency because no worker should be forced to choose between their health and their economic security 

✅ Passing ​HD.4963 (Sabadosa): An Act regarding Decarceration and COVID-19, which would require the release of individuals who are currently in pre-trial detainment or under incarceration if they are a member of a population deemed especially vulnerable by the CDC, are eligible for medical parole, are almost finished with their sentence, or are only being detained due to inability to pay bail or due to minor violations of parole

âś…Passing legislation to expand options to Vote by Mail (such as HD.4957 — Mark/Sabadosa), so that no voter is forced to choose between their health and their right to participate in our democracy 

âś…Providing the necessary funding to ensure that our response does not leave vulnerable communities behind, such as our immigrant population or our homeless population.

Our legislators need to start responding with the urgency required–and fast.

Can you email your state legislators today?

Did you already email? Then you can follow up with a call. Find your legislators here.

Take Action: The MA Senate Votes on Climate Action This Week

This decade — the 2020s — will be the decade in which our collective actions determine whether or not we’ll continue to have an inhabitable planet. And that means we need to start taking action–fast.

Tomorrow, the Massachusetts State Senate will be voting on omnibus climate legislation (for a good overview, read this).

The bill is strong in many ways, but it can be bolder and more equitable.

And that’s where you come in.

Can you call your state senator today in support of the amendments below?

100% Renewable Energy

  • #53 2035 Renewable Portfolio Standard (Eldridge) – Increases the RPS to 100% by 2035 and prevents wood and trash burning from being eligible in the RPS

Environmental Justice

  • #11 Regulations to Protect Low Income Households (Friedman) – Adds in language about low and moderate income protections 
  • #89 Giving Energy Sector Workers a Voice (Feeney) – Adds language to protect workers displaced by advancements in the renewable sector
  • #105 DPU mandate (Chang-Diaz) – Adds “equity” to the DPU’s mission statement
  • #113 Energy efficiency advisory council (Eldridge) – Adds environmental justice and youth representation to the energy efficiency commission 

Equitable Investment in Green Infrastructure

  • #80 Re-investing in greenhouse gas emission reduction, and our communities (Chang-Diaz) – Requires that at least 30% of revenue generated from a market-based mechanism be spent on green infrastructure and at least 40% of that revenue benefit low and moderate income people

Other Amendments that Support the Mass Power Forward Coalition’s Vision

  • #33 Net Zero Stretch Code Improvements (Comerford) – Pushes up the implementation date for the net zero stretch code
  • #54 Inclusion of combustion of fuel in emissions count (Eldridge) – Requires that burning any combustible fuel be counted towards state’s emissions

Take Action:

(1) Find your State Senator’s email address here, and then email them to urge them to support the amendments listed above.

(2) Follow up by calling your State Senator and ask that they support the amendments that you emailed them

Here’s a sample script:

My name is [ first name], and I live in [town/city].   I am with a broad coalition of environmental groups called Mass Power Forward and we’re calling about Senate climate legislation, specifically, S.2477 and amendments that have been filed to that bill. I sent an email to your office with the amendment numbers that achieve our goals of Environmental Justice, 100% clean and renewable energy for all, and creating equitable investments through carbon pricing.  

The Student Opportunity Act is a Win. Let’s Make it Better.

Four years ago this very month, the Foundation Budget Review Commission highlighted how the state has been shortchanging public schools due to an outdated funding formula.

Because of the advocacy of teachers, students, parents, community members, and YOU, that formula will finally get fixed.

The Student Opportunity Act will provide $1.5 billion per year in new school funding to help the students who need it the most.

Tomorrow, when the MA Senate votes on the bill, we have an opportunity to strengthen it so that this once-in-a-generation bill is as strong as possible.

For that to happen, your senator needs to hear from you–to hear that you support the bill’s passage and support the following amendments:

  • #17 (Targeted Improvement Plans), which increases community and educator involvement in school districts’ plans to reduce disparities — and requires charter schools to create such plans as well
  • #19 (Charter Cap Reimbursement), which caps the number of charter schools and charter school seats for any year in which the state fails to fully fund the charter school mitigation account.
  • #27 (Analyze Impact of Proposition 2 1/2), which requires a study of the impact on this regressive tax law on municipalities’ ability to provide a high-quality education to all students
  • #53 (Ensuring Proportional Phase-In), which makes sure that all of the updates get phased in at the same pace so that low-income students don’t get left behind
  • #61 (Charter School Reimbursement Accountability), which requires the Commonwealth to draw funding from charter schools to ensure full reimbursement to public schools
  • #63 (Following Through On Our Commitments), which makes sure that the Legislature fully funds charter reimbursements.

Find your senator’s email and phone number here. And then tell them to support the Student Opportunity Act as well as amendments #17, #19, #27, #53, #61, and #63 so that we can deliver on our promise to all students.

Can we count on you to make that call or send that email?

Let’s Bring Election Day Day Registration to Massachusetts.

VOTE

Today is National Voter Registration Day. It’s also Election Day for cities like Boston, Chelsea, Lawrence, Lowell, and Taunton. 

With our 20-day voter registration cutoff, the last day to register, or update your registration, was all the way back in the beginning of September. By the time that a graduate in a new apartment, a young family seeking more affordable rent or more space, or a retiree looking to downsize may have found out that an election was even happening, they risked being shut out of participation.

That’s neither just nor necessary. 

Other states, including many of our neighbors, have realized this problem and eliminated a registration cutoff altogether. Maine has allowed eligible voters to register on Election Day since 1973. New Hampshire has since 1996. And Connecticut and Vermont eliminated their registration cutoff dates more recently.

Election Day Registration helps leads to more accurate voting rolls, better experiences at the polls, and even increased turnout. It’s a win-win all around. 

Can you call your state legislators today to urge them to support Election Day Registration (S.396 / H.685)?

Look up your state representative and state senator here to find their contact information and find out whether they’re already on board. 

And then make a quick call or send a quick email. Here’s a sample: 

Dear Legislator, 

As voting rights are under attack in other states, we need to strengthen the right to vote here at home. That means making sure that all eligible voters who want to cast a ballot on Election Day are able to participate. 

Massachusetts’s 20-day registration deadline, however, denies thousands of eligible voters the right to vote. It is arbitrary, unjust, and unnecessary, and our neighbors in Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont have already done away with their voter registration deadlines. 

I urge you to support legislation bringing Election Day Registration to Massachusetts (S.396/H.685). 

Thank you, 

[Your name]

Our democracy is strongest when everyone is able and empowered to participate. Let’s make that happen.

“Sexual Harassment Occurs in the State House every single day.”

The #MeToo movement brought national attention to how pervasive sexual assault and sexual harassment are across institutions and industries, but anyone who ever worked or advocated in the Massachusetts State House already knew.

As State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton) said in a recent article, “Sexual harassment occurs in the State House every single day.” 

And that needs to change. 

Massachusetts residents deserve a truly representational government, with legislative members and staff representing the full diversity of the Commonwealth. For that to happen, everyone must feel safe and respected at work.

Just as the government should be a model employer, the State House should be a model workplace, setting an example in terms of both rules and norms. 

A first step? Passing An Act promoting equality and respect in the legislature (S.1898 / H.3572), a bill from Rep. Sabadosa and Sen. Becca Rausch which would create an independent commission to investigate and report on complaints of workplace and sexual harassment in the Massachusetts Legislature.

Find your legislator’s email here, and let them know that it’s time to start taking workplace harassment seriously. 

Sabadosa and Rausch also filed a resolution in support of their bill at the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention. If you’re headed to Springfield, make sure to vote yes. 

A toxic culture won’t change on its own, but you can help change it. 

What Do Raytheon, Staples, and GE Have in Common? They Don’t Pay Enough in Taxes.

The bad news: Train derailments. The certified worst traffic in the country. Underfunded public schools. Tuition hikes at public colleges and universities. A growing statewide affordable housing crisis. Every day, we see new examples of how Massachusetts is in dire need of new revenue.

The good news: This is a problem that we can fix.

The MA legislature has made numerous public commitments to raise new revenue this coming fall. It’s a promise we need to hold them to.

But business groups and corporate lobbyists have been meeting with legislators to push for regressive taxes that take the burden off them and put it on working people.

That’s not right. Because we know that these large corporations are not paying their fair share.

So it’s time to make our values heard by the Legislature.

With our partners around the state in the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, we’ve launched a quality call campaign, asking activists to call their legislators and make perfectly clear what our expectations for any revenue package are:

  1. Any near-term revenue proposals must include a commitment to move the Fair Share Amendment through the legislative process.
  2. Fair: Economically progressive, to bring the share of income paid by higher-income people more in line with that paid by lower-income people. 
  3. Sustainable: Supported by the public and capable of surviving attempted repeal, so that we can count on the revenue to make necessary investments. 
  4. Adequate: Raises enough revenue to meet the Commonwealth’s needs.

Having technical difficulties and unable to use the tool above? Please email info@raiseupma.org or text 857-242-0412 with the outcomes of your call, including:

  • Which legislator did you call?
  • Did you talk to your legislator or an aide?
  • Did your legislator commit to supporting progressive revenue? 
  • How would your legislator suggest we raise revenue?

Are Your Legislators Keeping It đź’Ż for Our Students?

In the 1980s, steep cuts in property taxes strained school budgets across the state, creating gaping inequalities between the richest and poorest communities.

In response to that, parents from Brockton sued the state, claiming that it was failing to meet its constitutional obligation to “cherish” education for all students. This language written goes all the way back to John Adams.

In June of 1993, the Legislature responded to this lawsuit — and the underlying funding crisis — by passing the Education Reform Act, which has shaped the course of public education in Massachusetts since.

One core part of ensuring that every student got a quality public education was the Chapter 70 formula.

Here’s how it worked:

(1) Calculate a “foundation budget“: A district ‘s foundation budget is determined by multiplying the number of students at each grade level and demographic group (e.g., low-income students and English Language Learners) by a set of education spending categories (e.g., teacher compensation, building maintenance) and totaling those numbers up.

(2) Calculate a required local contribution: This is done by looking at incomes and property values. In other words, how much can a city or town contribute based on the resources that it has?

(3) Fill the gap with state aid. And if districts can and want to, they can choose to spend more than their required contribution.

And this worked! Well, at first.

Some things from 1993 last forever.

I Will Always Love You gif

But most haven’t. And the assumptions built into this formula are now out of date.

The Legislature knows this, too.

In 2015, a commission created by the Legislature (the Foundation Budget Review Commission) found that we are underfunding state aid to public school districts by up to $2 billion a year due to outdated assumptions about the cost of health care, special education, English Language Learner education, and closing income-based achievement gaps.

That’s a lot of money!

And as a result, we have one of the most unequal public education systems in the country. All students lose out due to our outdated funding formula, especially the students who need extra help the most.

Wow, we really need to see action on this. What can I do?

The Legislature has been debating various proposals this year. Some, like the PROMISE Act (part of our Legislative Agenda), provide a comprehensive solution. Others are less far-reaching or have some provisions that could make inequities even worse.

It’s important that when legislators take action this fall, they get it right. 

That means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students so that all students, regardless of income, have the opportunity to succeed.

For that to happen, your legislators need to hear from YOU, their constituents. They have to vote well for you to continue to vote for them to represent you. It’s that simple.

Are we a state that believes in high-quality public education for all students, or are we not?

Keep it 100

So here’s what you can do:

(1) Look up your legislators’ phone numbers and email addresses here. (Put the numbers in speed dial!)

(2) Explain that you need them to commit to 100% additional funding for the poorest students. They need to be communicating this to House Leadership. (If they send a letter, ask them to send you a copy).

Here’s a sample script:

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent from [YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD/CITY/TOWN].

It’s been almost four years since a commission created by the legislature showed that we are underfunding our public schools by up to $2 billion a year due to an outdated funding formula from 1993. It’s far past time for the Legislature to update this formula, and we have to do it right.

A good bill will do right by all our students, especially the most vulnerable. And that means providing 100% additional funding for the poorest students.

I urge you to only support a bill that delivers on this promise of quality public education for all and to communicate this to Speaker Bob DeLeo and Education Chairwoman Alice Peisch.

Can I count on you to send a letter to them outlining your demands for an education funding bill?

[If time, personalize the issue by referencing the needs of your own school district or speak about your own experience as a student/teacher/parent/community member.]

(3) Let us know how the call went.

(4) Set yourself a calendar reminder for one week to call again.

(5) Ask five of your friends to do the same.