Greetings!
 Yesterday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives released their version of our state budget.
The budget funds the system of public structures that our state has worked for decades to build - they keep our communities safe and healthy, educate our children, and draw business to our state.
In an effort to avoid raising state taxes, the House has dramatically cut those public structures in a time when we all rely on these structures more than ever.
Now is the time to talk to your legislators. that we support an adequate, balanced tax package
Participate in our Virtual Rally:
- Contact your legislators - in the House and in the Senate - and tell them that you support an Adequate, Balanced tax package that both addresses our structural deficit and stabilizes the public programs that we depend on!
Customize your message by telling them why this is important to you and your local community!
- Pass it on via Facebook, email, or in person - to five of your friends and neighbors. Once you've called your legislators, Twitter about it with the tag: #MassRevenues
Have Questions?
Here is a look at what else has been going on across Massachusetts: |
Goal: By 2013, the voice and input of the state's multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities will create a counterweight to the currently dominant voice and will be tangibly reflected in the public decision making process.
Current Developments:
- Election Day Registration. Election Day Registration lobby day is approaching and we need all the help possible in making this day a success. Please feel free to contact us at carmen@realclout.org if you or your organization would like to be part of this day and would like to bring volunteers to help us spread the word to our legislators on the importance of this bill.
If you can not attend this event but you would still want to help us support the bill please consider talking to your town clerk about the importance and characteristics of the bill. For more information and talking points you can use when talking to your town clerk go to: [Frequently Asked Questions] [Town Clerk Script]
|
Goal: By 2013, a fair, adequate, and stable tax system will be implemented. It will raise sufficient revenue so that state and local governments can fund the array of services needed.
Current Developments:
- House budget cuts local aid avoids tax hike. House lawmakers are releasing a budget this afternoon that includes steep cuts in nearly every area -- from police grants and anti-gang programs to local aid and education grants - that are bound to be met with protests and calls for new taxes. Local aid would be slashed 25 percent beyond cuts outlined this year by Governor Deval Patrick. [Boston Globe]
- Local Option Tax Package to Emerge Next Week. A legislative commission exploring policy options to relieve budget pressure on municipalities will recommend "a package of local option taxes" and a proposal on health care planning that balances the needs of municipal managers and employees, the commission's co-chair, Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, said Tuesday. [State House News]
- Casinos. State Senate President Therese Murray said today that a bill allowing casinos in Massachusetts will be debated by both houses of the Legislature this fall as lawmakers intensify the push to expand gambling in the face of plunging tax revenues [Boston Globe]
- Students Rally Against Higher Education Cuts. Over a hundred students from state and community colleges rallied on Wednesday to keep lawmakers from further cutting higher education funding. "We've been cutting higher education for decades," said Alex Kulenovic, a UMass-Boston student trustee and a founder of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM). "We're here to say we need to change the paradigm of higher education." Students from UMass-Amherst, UMass-Lowell, and Roxbury Community College gathered by Park Street Station and then marched up to the State House. [State House News]
|
Goal: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
Current Developments: - House Advances Pension Reform Bill. The House on Monday morning quietly advanced a pension reform bill. The bill's advancement follows the Senate's adoption of legislation meant to stem egregious abuses of the pension system loopholes that have been tolerated for years by the Legislature. [State House News]
|
Want More Information on ONE Massachusetts?