MASSter List: “Massachusetts Senate tax relief plan earns progressive stamp of approval — to conservative chagrin”

Erin Tiernan, “Massachusetts Senate tax relief plan earns progressive stamp of approval — to conservative chagrin,” MASSter List, June 9, 2023.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, praised the Senate for “rejecting the flawed trickle-down economics that believes that tax cuts for the super-rich and large corporations, rather than investments in our state’s commonwealth, are what make our state ‘competitive.’”

News Roundup – May 26, 2023

Editorial Board, “An unfinished piece of criminal justice reform business: Raising the age for juvenile offenders (Boston Globe)

“Today, given the state of scientific research on developing brains, the case is even stronger to keep young adults out of a prison system ill-equipped to provide the education and the rehabilitation they need.”

Lydia Edwards, Adam Gomez, and Liz Miranda, “Time to enact new rules for use of facial recognition software” (CommonWealth)

“Three years ago, our Commonwealth started the good work of putting democratic guardrails around police use of this powerful but imperfect technology. Now, it’s time to get the job done. “

Lisa Guisbond, “Time to end the state’s ‘test and punish’ accountability system” (CommonWealth)

“Better ways to improve schools and student learning are grounded in community-based efforts – not state takeovers or private partnerships – using holistic, wraparound services to support schools that face multiple challenges.”

Editorial Board, “It’s time to restore legislative democracy on Beacon Hill” (Boston Globe)

“Why should the public care about any of this? Because as power has flowed upward and rank-and-file legislators have lost any real policy role, constituents have had less opportunity to influence the process.”

Editorial Board, “Give in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrants” (Boston Globe)

“Allowing these young people easier access to a college education would give them a chance at a better life. Currently, schools charge students without legal status the higher international or out-of-state rate, which many immigrants cannot afford to pay. At UMass Boston, a Massachusetts undergraduate faces a bill of $15,535 in tuition and fees next year, while an out-of-state student will be charged $37,211.”

Kara Miller, “Public colleges should be truly public again” (Boston Globe)

“We have been steadily “shifting the cost burden to students and their families,” argues Tom Harnisch, vice president for government relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. “There’s a real intergenerational equity issue here that I don’t think gets talked about nearly enough.”

Mark Paul, “Economists Hate Rent Control. Here’s Why They’re Wrong.(The American Prospect)

” Some 67 percent of Americans live in owner-occupied homes—meaning they enjoy de facto rent control in the form of the 30-year mortgage…..It’s high time for the government to extend these benefits—and the economic security that comes with them—by adopting rent control to cover all people in the United States.”

Matt Stout, “Mass. tax revenues for April fell $2.2 billion below what state collected a year ago” (Boston Globe)

“The Raise Up Massachusetts coalition, which successfully pushed a ballot question last year raising taxes on the wealthiest, said in a statement that lawmakers should reconsider the tax cuts, should the state face budget shortfalls in the future.”

Carrie Jung, “Report: Boston’s child care capacity remains below pre-pandemic levels” (WBUR)

“The report also highlighted the increased costs of child care. Between 2018 and 2021, the average tuition for infant care in Boston increased by about $1,300 to $21,269. The tuition hike for toddler care was even steeper, increasing by about $5,600 to reach $19,402 in the same time period.”

Rally To Make Higher Education More Accessible Held At State House” (WBZ Radio)

“We have underinvested for well over four decades in public higher education, this is unacceptable,” Eldridge said. “This is the session we’re gonna begin to see major investments in public higher education.”

Phineas Baxandall and Stacy Thompson, “Fare debate: Make buses free to all” (CommonWealth)

“Free transit, especially when it comes to buses, isn’t a fringe idea. It is a popular and proven method for increasing transit ridership and improving service. It’s time we start treating it as such.”

Bruce Mohl, “Senate budget embraces in-state tuition for undocumented students” (CommonWealth)

“While Massachusetts leads in so many areas in education,” she said, “we are falling behind other states, including the red states, in offering what is not only the right thing for these immigrant students but good for our atmosphere of inclusion, equity, and overall success. Twenty-three states plus DC already have this. We need to be competitive as well.”

Bruce Mohl, “Senate budget boosts RTA funding, backs fare-free buses” (CommonWealth)

“The $100 million in the Senate proposal includes $56 million for direct operating support, $25 million for innovation grants, $4 million for accessibility grants, and $15 million so each of the RTAs can launch six-month, fare-free pilots on their bus systems.”

Kristina Mensik and Adam Eichen, “It’s time to restore felon voting rights” (CommonWealth)

“As a new Sentencing Project report shows, disenfranchisement is associated with a range of adverse societal consequences that come at the expense of political and racial equality and the public good, ranging from lowered future political participation to roadblocks towards reintegration into society. One study has found that among individuals who had been arrested previously, 27 percent of non-voters were rearrested, versus 12 percent of voters.”

MASSter List: “Massachusetts sees fewer competitive races than any other state, advocates say democratic process ‘suffers’

Erin Tiernan, “Massachusetts sees fewer competitive races than any other state, advocates say democratic process ‘suffers’,” MASSter List, May 2, 2023.

“The fact that we so rarely have contested elections here in Massachusetts does a disservice to the democratic process,” said Jonathan Cohn of Progressive Massachusetts, noting Beacon Hill’s reputation for top-down management and back-room dealmaking.

Boston Globe: Healey vs. Baker and the Legislature

Samantha J. Gross and Matt Stout, “Months in, Healey is scoring wins with a Democrat-led Legislature in the very places her GOP predecessor failed,” Boston Globe, April 17, 2023.

“The disappointing thing about this is that many people were looking forward to having a Democratic trifecta,” said Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts.“But they weren’t hoping to have a Democratic trifecta get tax breaks for day traders and speculators.”

PM in the News: House sends $1.1 Bil tax bill to senate

John Budenas, “House sends $1.1 Bil tax relief bill to senate,” State House News Sevice, April 13, 2023.

The Progressive Massachusetts group zeroed in on the estate tax, short-term capital gains tax and single sales factor apportionment reforms collectively worth about $440 million as pressure points. During its lobby day earlier on Thursday, the organization slammed those measures as “regressive” and likely to blunt the impact of a newly voter-enacted surtax on high earners.

“Think of all that we could do with $440 million if instead we invested it in our public transit systems, in education, in child care, in climate resilience, in affordable housing, or in health care,” the group wrote in a handout from its event. “Indeed, tackling our housing crisis should be the #1 priority if legislators actually cared about the goals of ‘affordability’ and ‘competitiveness.’”

PM in the News: Globe on “Maura in the Middle”

Joan Vennochi, “When it comes to issues facing the state, it’s Maura ‘in the middle’ Healey,” Boston Globe, April 10, 2023.

“To progressive Democrats, the answer is not enough. Pointing out that Healey’s tax reform proposal is basically the same as Baker’s, Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, said, “Her instinct has been to give that money back, weakening our state’s ability to deliver on the promise of investment.” On housing and transit, he added, “I think we need to see more from her administration about what their major goals are and how they would track their own success. There isn’t enough communicated urgency about what is needed for the affordability crisis and the crisis of the MBTA.” Cohn also flagged Healey for a “wait-and-see” attitude on zoning changes that are aimed at increasing affordable housing.””

PM in the News: “Proposed amendment to state constitution could give prisoners back their right to vote”

Ivy Scott, “Proposed amendment to state constitution could give prisoners back their right to vote,” Boston Globe, April 6, 2023.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of the grassroots political group Progressive Mass, cited multiple studies that indicate a significant percentage of incarcerated people leave prison believing their right to vote is gone forever. Eleven states prevent formerly incarcerated people from voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Preventing prisoners from voting “disenfranchises more than just those directly affected,” Cohn said.

PM in the News: MassLive on the Senate’s Vote Repealing Term Limits

Alison Kuznitz, “Eight-year term limit eliminated for Mass. Senate President Karen Spilka,” MassLive, February 9, 2023.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director at the grassroots activist organization Progressive Mass, said the lack of floor debate Thursday likely stems from senators’ fear of retaliation from Spilka, particularly as committee assignments have yet to be released.

Yet should senators eventually elect a “very conservative” president, Cohn warned “you’re stuck with them for a long because there’s no fail-safe.”

“When you give one person that level of power- and agenda-setting for the body, it also just slows things down because you’re the one person and you’re in charge indefinitely for the future,” Cohn told MassLive. “It makes it clear that everything needs to run through you, and there are only 24 hours in the day. That centralization that exists in both House and Senate is something that causes a lot of the inertia that exists in the building.”