Bhaamati Borkhetaria, “Legislators push to restore felon voting rights,” CommonWealth, January 30, 2024.
“Inmates with voting rights also become another constituent group that gets attention from elected officials, said Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, a Somerville Democrat and cosponsor of House versions of the measures to restore felon voting rights. “When incarcerated individuals had the right to vote, there were [many] more legislators going in and out of prisons and jails because there are voters there,” she said.”
Sarah Betancourt, “In key election year, prisoners with felonies seek right to vote in Massachusetts,” WGBH, January 29, 2024.
“State Sen. Liz Miranda, a Democrat from Roxbury, says she filed legislation as “a matter of racial justice.”…“The disenfranchisement of these citizens, our people, perpetuates the racial injustices already present in the entire system,” Miranda said. “It’s effectively diluting the political voice of entire communities.”
Joanna Gonsalves, “Letter: State can make a debt-free education possible,” Boston Globe, January 28, 2024.
“Economists have shown that investment in high-quality, debt-free public higher education is one of the best ways to advance individual and community prosperity. With passage of the Fair Share Amendment, Massachusetts has dedicated annual education funding that could be put toward this goal.”
Yvonne Abraham, “Tenants facing eviction need legal representation. Let’s give it to them.,” Boston Globe, January 20, 2024.
“So many parts of this state’s crippling housing crisis seem impossible to solve, meaningfulfixes many years and billions of dollars down the road. Here is something we can do, and right now. It’s right, we know it works, and it will keep thousands of families in their homes.”
Molly Dickens and Lucy Hutner, “What the Child Care Crisis Does to Parents,” New York Times, January 16, 2024.
“We know inadequate child care is an economic issue, costing states, families and businesses billions of dollars every year. We know it’s a gender issue that contributes to a widening pay gap. We know it’s a policy issue, made worse by the absences of a federal pre-K program and a federal paid-leave policy. But here is another critical consideration worth pushing for: Our country’s inadequate child care system is also a health care issue.”
Rebekah Gerwitz, “Letter: Our state’s most vulnerable children will feel the effects,” Boston Globe, January 9, 2024.
“The Lift Our Kids Coalition, of which our organization is a member, has worked for years with families, teachers, lawyers, social workers, service providers, and others on the front lines to pass an increase in subsistence benefits to lift families out of poverty. The Legislature agreed in this year’s state budget to a much-needed and very modest increase, set to go into effect in April. With a stroke of the governor’s pen, the increase is now erased.”
Gabrielle Gurley, “The Fight for $15 Can Take a Bow,” The American Prospect, January 11, 2024.
“Massachusetts has a persistent unaffordability dynamic in play. Child care is more expensive than a state-college education. The state has some of the highest annual child care costs for toddlers at $19,961, representing more than 50 percent of the median single mother’s income, and close to 15 percent for a married couple with children. In-state tuition at University of Massachusetts Amherst is $17,364 for the current academic year.”
