Environmental Issues:

• PACE Amendment Passes in Municipal Relief Bill- Will Help Brookline and Homeowners Boost Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Improvements.
  
  I’m pleased to announce that communities and property owners in Brookline and throughout Massachusetts will now be able to more easily reap the benefits from improving their houses and the environment.  In our deliberations approving the Municipal Relief bill in April, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed an amendment I filed, giving municipalities the option of a establishing a betterment program to provide financial assistance to property owners for making energy efficiency and/or renewable energy improvements to their property. 
  
  The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) amendment will eliminate the high upfront costs of clean energy improvements, instead spreading out the cost over the life of the improvement measure.  Loans will be funded through bonds and repaid over a 20-year period as a betterment through an assessment to the property owner.  The lien on the property will run with the land when a property is sold; so subsequent property owners will take over the loan payments and continue to receive the extraordinary cost-saving benefits of the energy efficiency improvements.
  
  This amendment provides a no-cost tool for our residents and towns to promote energy efficiency and clean energy projects while eliminating the high upfront costs.  It will reduce utility bills for property owners who participate in the program and improve our environment.  The program basically pays for itself, so passing it was a no-brainer.
  
  The amendment was co-sponsored by 15 representatives and passed as part of a consolidated amendment to the Municipal Relief bill.  A very similar program was passed in the Senate version of the Municipal Relief Bill and I expect it will remain in the final version. We need more programs like this to help fight climate change.

• Cape Wind Gets Final Approval
  
  After a decade of resistance and lawsuits, we will finally get to see the nation’s first wind energy project in federal waters.  At the end of April, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the 130-turbine, 25-square-mile wind farm in Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound, outside the state’s three-mile jurisdiction and within the federal government’s oversight of the Outer Continental shelf.  
  
  Governor Patrick expects the project to generate enough power to meet 75 percent of the demand on the Cape and Islands, beginning within a year.  State and Federal officials estimate the project will cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 700,000 tons per year, equivalent to taking 175,000 cars off the road.  In addition, Secretary Salazar said it will produce about 1,000 construction jobs.
  
  This decision is a milestone in state and national renewable energy efforts.  There were many times during the ten years of seeking approval for this project that it appeared to be dead. Most people believed it would never be built.  Even people who we deeply respect tried to stop this from happening.  Thus, to make it happen is a miracle.
  
  To say this development is needed is an understatement.  Our emissions from fossil fuel burning are polluting the air we breathe and the environment in which we live.  As a result, glaciers and ice caps in the north and south poles and in the world’s highest mountains are melting.  Our oceans are warming and becoming more acidic.  Aquatic resources on which we rely are faring poorly.  Higher ocean levels are endangering homes on the seashore and destroying beaches.  And the warmer ocean water is further warming the atmosphere and causing more intense rain and storms.  
  
  Clearly, cleaner fuel has to be part of our national plan now. And wind energy is an essential component.
  
  The opponents of Cape Wind fought the development because they felt the wind turbines miles away would spoil their views, even though the turbines could barely be seen.  In comparison, the people living along the Gulf of Mexico for years have had to live with gigantic oil rigs and gas flares within their view in order to supply the nation with a harmful fuel.  Now they are now suffering from a catastrophe of historic proportion, as a rig exploded and caused the largest oil spill ever in our waters- a spill that may never be adequately cleaned up. Meanwhile, the people in Appalachia must see their mountain tops leveled, their soil and drinking water polluted, and their family members injured and dying in dangerous mining work. 
  
  Cape Wind will help prevent such problems because it provides clean energy with minimal negative impacts.  It is an energy source that will help our nation.  As the first offshore wind turbine development, Cape wind is symbolic. It will hopefully lead to more wind developments and give our nation a boost to cleaner energy.  As a business, it will not only be profitable, but will be an example of how we can and must move toward building a green infrastructure that will help our country become a leader in new jobs, as well as clean energy.
  
  Cape Wind is helping America move in the right direction.  I am pleased to have supported Cape Wind when it was fighting its battle and now we can all honor their victory.

Statewide issues:

• Casino Gambling
  
  I oppose casino gambling in Massachusetts, and I am disappointed that this issue is sucking up so much of the political oxygen both in the media and here on Beacon Hill.

  I am very concerned about the side effects of casino gambling – issues like prostitution, domestic violence, and organized crime. Furthermore, I believe that the Governor’s revenue projections are overstated, and that casinos will not be the boon to the state treasury that he claims.

  In my opinion, we need to focus our economic developments strategies on other industries that could position Massachusetts as a true leader in the global economy – sectors such as renewable energy and alternative materials production. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture, at least, that’s where I’ll be putting my energies.
  
  For more information on casino gambling, check out the Globe's comprehensive coverage or some of the analysis done by the Mass Council of Churches.
  

• State Revenue & Taxes
  
  In 2007, Governor Patrick proposed a series of changes in our state's corporate tax codes, designed to ensure fairness and raise revenues for important programs. In addition, the Governor has recognized the severe financial strains facing communities across the Commonwealth and has proposed a series of local-options taxes under the banner of his Municipal Partnership Act.
  
  The folks over at the Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center have done an excellent job analyzing the Governor's corporate tax loopholes proposals. Click here to read up on one of the general loopholes the Governor is going after (called "combined reporting") and here to learn about one that specifically and unfairly benefits the telecom industry. In addition, you can read about the Municipal Partnership Act by clicking here, which will direct you to the website of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
  
  As opposed to the casino issue, I am in complete agreement with the Governor on these revenue issues. I am proud that the legislature passed significant portions of his proposal in 2008, and I look forward to continuing to work for passage of a revised Municipal Partnership Act in the upcoming legislative session.

• CORI Reform
  
  The Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system in Massachusetts is broken, and it has been for a long time. It punishes people long beyond their sentences, preventing them from obtaining a good job, decent housing, or a fresh start, after paying their dues to society.
  
  Working with the Massachusetts Alliance to Reform CORI, I hope to help champion changes in this outdated and punitive system during the 2009-2010 legislative session.
  
  Check out the website of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods to learn more about this important issue.
  
  
• Reproductive Health Clinic Buffer Zones
  
  One major success we had during our last session was the passage of a bill that established a fixed 35-foot buffer zone around the entrances and driveways of all reproductive health facilities in Massachusetts. The bill was necessary to protect those who seek and provide reproductive health care, as the previous Buffer Zone law did little to protect individuals entering the clinics. The previous Massachusetts Buffer Zone Law (2000) resulted in a six-foot “bubble zone” within an 18-foot zone of regulated conduct outside of reproductive health care facilities, but it had proven to be ineffective due to its vagueness and complexity, with harassment still a very real problem at clinics across the Commonwealth.
  
  As a strong supporter of women's reproductive freedom, I was proud to support this bill and am glad to hear from advocates that its effects are already being felt at clinics across Massachusetts.
  
  For more information, check out the website of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.

Brookline issues:

• Reduction of Fossil Fuel Use in Vehicles (as approved by Town Meeting)
  
  Sometime near the beginning of January, I will be re-filing An Act to Promote the Reduction of Green House Gas Emissions and to Reduce the Use of Fossil Fuels for Vehicles in the Commonwealth. This exciting bill, which came to me via Town Meeting and the Selectmen's Clean Car Committee, presents the idea of a “feebate” (“fee” plus “rebate”), a simple economic carrot and stick incentive mechanism designed to encourage drivers to purchase more fuel efficient cars. Transportation is one of the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, as the burning of fossil fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.) produces carbon dioxide pollution in enormous quantities. Essentially, “feebates” are rebates for cars with good fuel efficiency and fees, or surcharges, for poorly performing cars. I am very much looking forward to working on this legislation when the new session begins.

• State Budget Priorities
  
  Aging in Place
  Aging in Place is a project of the Jewish Family & Children's Services in Brookline.
  
  Aging in Place serves elders who have grown old in "naturally occurring retirement communities," or NORCs. A NORC is any group of apartments, condominiums, houses, cooperatives, planned communities or public housing units in which the majority of residents have "aged in place" and need support services to continue living in their own homes. My proposed budget amendment is for $375,000, which would be divided into three chunks of $125k for each of the JF&CS programs in Brookline, Malden and Framingham. To put into perspective how cost-effective these programs are, a single senior who breaks a hip can cost the Commonwealth up to $100k in healthcare costs. This $375k allocation serves over 300 seniors, helping keep them safe and healthy in their own homes.
  
  Metropolitan Mediation Services
  MMS, a program of the Brookline Community Mental Health Center, administers mediation programs (small claims, landlord/tenant/CHINS) in metropolitan Boston courts (Brookline, Brighton, Dorchester, Newton, Stoughton, Boston Juvenile, Norfolk and Middlesex Juvenile), as well as student mediation programs in five Boston schools where adult mediators mentor students. MMS has received $65,000 for the past two years but needs an increase of $15,000 to hire additional staff due to program growth both in the schools and in the Brookline and West Roxbury Courts. This is the sort of program that relieves the burden on our courts, while helping residents avoid costly litigation battles. In addition, MMS' work in very challenging school situations has proved quite successful, and I am pleased to be offering a budget amendment on the program's behalf.
  
  Parent-Child Home Program
  The Parent-Child Home Program is a research validated home visiting program for families with two- and three-year olds challenged by poverty, limited educational opportunities, literacy and language barriers, and geographic isolation. It is a powerful tool for preventing the achievement gap. I am requesting that the House earmark an additional $1,000,000 over the amount suggested by the Governor in his budget in order to restore previous cuts in service and expand the number of families served. In Brookline, this program is highly effective and has picked up increased duties since both of our two local Head Start programs closed down.