President of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area weighs in on voting rights

Suzanne Brock

Guest Columnist

Published Feb. 13, 2022 

The headline of the letter by William Skinner from Venice, Florida, “Voting rights bill a radical piece of legislation” (Feb. 7) certainly got our attention. Mr. Skinner refers to information he got from Imprimis, Hillsdale College newsletter (Oct. 2021, Vol. 50 No. 10). Unfortunately, Mr. Skinner only chose to use some of the information presented, which is what has been happening a lot lately when presenting arguments.

Sometimes what is left out is just as important as what is presented. For instance, Mr. Skinner underpins his argument in favor of Voter IDs with the findings of the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform. This commission came out with its recommendations after only two limited hearings and no call for public comment. Last year, members of this commission, Jimmy Carter among them, came out to disavow that commission’s work.

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to the protection of voting rights. For democracy to work for all, access to fair, unrestricted voting for all citizens is imperative. Imposing burdensome and unnecessary voter identification requirements is a significant assault on voting rights, which disproportionately affect voters of color, young voters, voters with disabilities, as well as veterans serving outside of the US.

The LWV of the Cape Cod Area is especially appreciative that the state of Massachusetts is forward-thinking in its voter laws. Massachusetts only requires voter identification when you vote for the first time or have been an inactive voter.

The discussion encouraging increased voter identification has become more vociferous due to the excessive misinformation about voter fraud that surrounded the 2020 presidential election. Multiple studies and investigations have indicated that there was no significant fraud. The flagrant attempts to limit voting rights for huge segments of the national population suggest that legislation such as the VOTES Act is more necessary than ever.

The League celebrates that the Massachusetts State Legislature is now in the process of hammering out in conference committee the VOTES Act. The final bill will bring strong voting reforms to Massachusetts, including unrestricted voting by mail and expanded early voting. As recommended by our Secretary of the Commonwealth, the LWV is in favor of same-day voter registration, which passed the state Senate but not the House of Representatives. We urge citizens to contact their state representatives and ask them to support same-day voter registration in the conference committee version.

Suzanne Brock is the president of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area.

LINK

We will pass the Green New Deal, and we’re going to keep fighting until we win.

This is a long email about our movement’s fight for decisive climate action, where we’ve been, and where we’re going from here. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read it, and then if you can, make your next $10 contribution to stand with our movement today.

I wanted to take a moment to look back and reflect on where our climate movement has come from:

In 2009, when I was in the House of Representatives, we passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act — also known as Waxman-Markey — the only comprehensive climate legislation to ever pass a chamber of Congress.

Thanks to the big oil and gas companies and their powerful lobbyists, that bill died in the Senate. It never even got a vote. But rather than agonize, the people organized.

In the years that followed, as the science continued to become even more undeniable, the climate action movement grew, mobilizing and organizing from coast-to-coast and around the world. And in 2019, three years ago this week, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I officially introduced the Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal centers justice in all its forms — environmental, racial, social, economic — and has shown people what is possible when we engage on a transformative agenda to save our planet.

In 2020, we proved that the Green New Deal and climate justice were winning issues at the voting booth, electing a new generation of strong progressive allies, up and down the ballot and all across the country.

In 2021, these progressive victories gave us the institutional weight and power to unite, stand up for our values, and say: “No climate, no deal.”

And in 2022, we need to stand together once again, on this issue especially. We cannot allow this moment — with the climate and equity provisions of the Build Back Better agenda hanging in the balance — to be a rerun of 2009.

We need to go into this November’s midterm elections having delivered tangible, meaningful results for the working class of this country, and outline a clear vision for the future. We must remember where we’ve been, and know where we’re going.

Our fight is not about one single election, one campaign cycle, one policy, or one bill. This movement is about building the progressive power that we need if we’re going to take on the entrenched, well-funded special interests who want to see us fail, and address the needs of working people in our country.

Now is not the time for despair or to lose hope. Our democracy and our future simply cannot afford for us to give up. We are on the verge of delivering real results on climate, not just for the people of this country, but for people all over our planet. And we’re going to continue that fight until we win.

But here’s the truth: Nobody — not Ed Markey or anyone else — can do it alone. That’s why I need you to join the thousands of people from our grassroots, people-powered movement and say you’re in, especially today.

Make your next contribution — of $10 or anything you can — to support our movement’s fight for a Green New Deal and our bold progressive agenda for climate justice. This is important.

We have a responsibility to keep organizing and deliver on our promise of a just and livable future for all people. Thank you, as always, for being with me in the fight.

In solidarity,

Ed Markey

 

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Paid for by The Markey Committee

The Markey Committee PO Box 120029 Boston, MA 02112 United States

 

Superbugs are on the rise. What can states do to combat them?

 

Antibiotic Resistance Project

To Fight Superbugs, Hospitals Must Improve Data Sharing How can states help improve antibiotics use, encourage data reporting, and build new strategies to combat superbugs? Massachusetts is strengthening its approach—and seeing promising results. EXPERT Q&A Defensive Tackle Left Defenseless Against Superbug THE HILL Brandon Noble played for the San Francisco 49ers and other NFL teams. Although he was in peak physical condition, an antibiotic-resistant infection nearly cost him his leg. He speaks to the need for action now. FULL STORY QUOTE OF NOTE "If I can be sacked by superbugs, anyone can. We need to work together to prevent another global health crisis." Brandon Noble, former NFL defensive tackle IN THE MEDIA Report Underscores Superbug Risk of Medical Tourism CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY (CIDRAP) Biden Administration Seeks a Legislative Path for Novel Antibiotic Drug Development STAT CDC Launches Networks to Boost Global Response to Antibiotic Resistance CIDRAP We Must Learn From COVID to Avert an Antibiotic Resistance Pandemic POLITICS HOME—THE HOUSE Treatment of COVID With Antibiotics Could Add to the Problem of Drug Resistance THE CONVERSATION

Antibiotics are fundamental to modern medicine, essential for treating everything from routine skin infections to strep throat, and for protecting vulnerable patients receiving chemotherapy or being treated in intensive care units. Pew's antibiotic resistance project is working to ensure both the prudent use of existing drugs and a robust pipeline of new drugs in order to meet current and future patient needs. SaveAntibiotics.org

 

Baker administration changes the rules on offshore wind and clean energy

Doug Fraser Cape Cod Times 

Published Jan 12, 2022 

BOSTON — Testifying before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on behalf of his legislation that commits $750 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to invest in the clean energy industry, Gov. Charlie Baker said it was time for the state to move into a new phase.

"We filed this legislation back in October of 2021 so that we could build on the progress we've made together and ensure that, at this pivotal moment for our economic recovery and our environment, that Massachusetts has the tools it needs to remain on the leading-edge of climate action in the United States," Baker told the joint committee Tuesday.

Translation: Baker has heard the criticism about the state's solicitation process in awarding offshore wind energy contracts that favored low prices over economic benefits. 

While that approach has worked in generating power contracts with offshore wind developers whose power generation prices are far below those in competing states like Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, the Baker administration has been criticized for not creating incentives that would attract offshore wind manufacturing and developers and manufacturers to the state.  

Vineyard Wind:The nation's first utility-scale wind farm is being built off Cape Cod

"We have been dismayed by the level of investment, some 10 years into our effort now, to attract (manufacturing) here," New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell told the joint committee. "What has been missing from the Commonwealth's efforts ... is a set of policies aimed at out-competing other states for industry investment."

Mitchell said New York, for instance, assigns 20% of a bid score to economic development.

"Now that may strike some folks as just overly aggressive, but we've got to do something different. As we watch, the (manufacturing) industry has gone to other states that have governors who have said 'we're going to be the center of offshore wind,'" he said.

Offshore wind touted as economic development engine

Although construction of the wind farms creates far more jobs than manufacturing or operations and maintenance, they are ephemeral. Manufacturing jobs last longer and employ far more people than operations and maintenance. They are considered by experts to be the golden goose of the offshore wind economy.

Energy boost:Massachusetts doubles offshore wind in power pipeline with new projects

A few years ago, Connecticut partnered with Bay State Wind to invest $93 million to develop a state pier in New London into a facility similar to one the state developed on New Bedford's Marine Commerce Terminal. Last August, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities awarded over 3,700 megawatts to two companies contingent upon them building new manufacturing facilities at what is called the New Jersey Wind Port.

New York has invested $644 million in port and infrastructure upgrades and a year ago, the city of Albany partnered with the Norwegian wind development company Equinor, which is building the Empire Wind Farm off Long Island. The state also partnered with two Danish and U.S. companies to manufacture wind towers at a factory in Bethlehem, New York, that will create 500 jobs in the construction phase and employ 300 at the factory.

Virginia's Dominion Energy unveiled plans in October to team up with the Spanish blade manufacturer Siemens Gamesa to spend $200 million to build the first U.S. offshore wind turbine factory as part of their plan to install 180 turbines off the Virginia coastline.

Speaking to the committee Tuesday, Massachusetts Secretary for Energy and the Environment Kathleen Theoharides said Baker's legislation would remove the price cap from future energy contract bids in the hope it would encourage wind developers to submit bids that included plans for local manufacturing and other job creation. 

Citing competition among developers and technology advances that promise to open up deepwater areas and build more efficient turbines, Theoharides said the offshore wind industry has demonstrated it can produce power at low cost.

Baker pointed out the price cap was removed on the state's second round of bids, and they received bids that were lower than the first round.

"We feel now is the right time to adjust our procurement process so we can capture important additional benefits for Massachusetts ratepayers," Theoharides said. 

The Baker legislation creates a new Clean Energy Innovation and Investment fund administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center that would provide research and development money to universities, community colleges, vocational schools and other entities for new clean energy technologies and workforce development.

Baker said the bill also transfers the authority to award energy contracts from the Department of Public Utilities to the Department of Energy Resources, which critics had said was needed to focus the offshore wind industry on economic development in the state.

Barrett: Keep price caps

Committee co-chair Sen. Michael Barrett was critical of removing the price cap. Barrett felt that with only two bidders in the last round in which both received contracts, and just a handful of developers on the East Coast, there was too little competition to ensure a lower price without a cap. 

"We are stuck in a situation where we're going to have to deal with a very small universe of potential players," said Barrett, who noted that with no price limit on their bids, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey energy contracts were 43%, 68%, and 100% higher, respectively, than what Massachusetts obtained with an upper limit on pricing.

Barrett was also critical of a process in which the economic package proposed by a developer is kept secret until the contract is signed, making it hard for the public, media and legislators to determine if there was benefit. 

Theoharides said the administration would work with the legislature on improving that aspect of the process.

Mitchell told the panel that the offshore wind industry and the state investments in infrastructure needed to benefit so-called Gateway Cities like New Bedford, which suffered as once-thriving industries faded or located elsewhere.

"It would be consistent with state economic development policy, after all, to provide some preference for Gateway Cities," he said.     

Probe of corrections finding big gaps, lack of understanding of inmate services amid rising budgets

Chris Lisinski

State House News Service

Published Jan 14, 2022 

When a panel of lawmakers, experts and corrections officials combed through data from county sheriffs in Massachusetts, they found rates of mental health issues among inmates ranging from 14 percent all the way up to 90 percent.

And in the eyes of commission co-chair Sen. William Brownsberger, that 76 percentage point gap must be incorrect — a microcosm of a larger problem the panel is poised to flag in a report to the Legislature.

"You're telling me it's that much worse in some counties than others? No way," Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, said Thursday, Jan. 13, at a meeting of the Special Commission on Correctional Funding.

Without a uniform set of reporting standards, commissioners said, lawmakers face a tall task in determining how much money the state's prisons and jails need to provide necessary services and programs.

For years, the state's incarcerated population has been in decline. From 2012 to 2021, the count of inmates under Department of Correction jurisdiction dropped 42 percent to 6,848 from 11,723. Correctional spending in Massachusetts has increased over that span, though, as several speakers noted at a previous meeting of the special commission.

Rep. Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat who co-chairs the panel with Brownsberger, said at Thursday's hearing that the state is "now providing a lot more services" for its smaller population of inmates, driving up costs.

"What we need to understand in the commonwealth and certainly in the Legislature is: what are those services, what value are they delivering, where are the gaps in the different facilities, some of which are necessitated by the facilities themselves and others are determined on a policy level, and how do we as a commission and a Legislature figure out what should be funded and what shouldn't be funded?" Day said.

"We don't have uniform reporting standards, uniform definitions of what constitutes mental illness, what constitutes programs, what constitutes health services," he added.

Several commissioners agreed that the state needs to take additional steps to standardize correctional facility reporting as a component of budgetary reforms. "Across the board, we could do better on that front," said MassINC Research Director Ben Forman.

Brownsberger suggested that the most viable option may be to stand up a new state agency or impose requirements on an existing office to assess inmate needs and ensure sheriffs and the DOC are funded accordingly.

Information the special commission has compiled to date about programming in correctional facilities, he said, "is all over the map."

"There is no way, from all the data we've assembled, for this commission to have an opinion at all whether inmates are getting the programming they need in any facility," Brownsberger said, calling for an "empowered agency" to address the needs. "Let's make sure we have an agency that's going to identify those needs for each inmate and then have some kind of process for assessing whether those needs are being met."

Rep. Timothy Whelan, a Brewster Republican who is running for Barnstable County sheriff, said law enforcement officials are "willing to take on that task" so long as state government provides sufficient resources.

"What you're describing, I think, sounds excellent as an idea and a general principle," Whelan, himself a former correction officer and former State Police trooper, said. "But it's going to cost money, and I just want to make sure that as we approach this, we're not going to start walking down the road of unfunded mandates on the Department of Correction or our sheriffs."

"I would fully agree with that. We're not going to pass this legislation without 10 million bucks behind it," Brownsberger replied.

The push for more standardized data reporting and centralized budget oversight will feature as one of the panel's main recommendations, and others continue to take shape.

Former Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe pitched fellow commissioners on a seven-point outline to define correctional funding allocation in Massachusetts. Those include providing engagement rather than "warehousing" during incarceration; ensuring security staff are appropriately sized for inmate populations; offering evidence-based programs to address root causes of criminal behavior; and beginning inmate release and reentry planning on day one.

At one point, Ashe suggested the Legislature convene a second commission that will continue to explore the complex web of correctional budgeting.

"My fear is that this is going to be the end, and boy, we don't want to be here 10 years from now looking back and saying what a mistake we made not building on the great work that's being done," Ashe said.

Lawmakers originally created the commission in the fiscal 2020 state budget and gave it a deadline of Sept. 1, 2020, to submit a report and recommendations concerning "the appropriate level of funding for the department of correction and each sheriff's department." After two extensions, the panel now faces a Jan. 31, 2022, deadline.

Brownsberger said chairs intend to complete a draft report "over the next eight or nine days" and circulate it to commissioners. The panel will then meet again Jan. 24 to discuss the draft.

LINK

 

 

YOUR TURN: Right to vote a cornerstone of democracy

Suzanne Brock, guest columnist

Published Jan 8, 2022

Around the Cape, the state and the country, people stood out in silent vigil or hosted online vigils in order to recall the horrific event that took place at our nation’s Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. 

What happened then was tragic; however, what is more tragic is that there has been little meaningful action by our elected officials both at the state and especially at the national level to collectively and adamantly assert that violence will not be tolerated and to secure equal, safe and unrestricted voting for all American citizens. 

It appears that many of our legislators are quick with a sound bite, but when it comes to actually putting themselves on the line to stand up for the principles that our Democracy stands for, they are missing in action. Massachusetts legislators have yet to pass the VOTES Act. This is pretty amazing — and disappointing — given that Massachusetts appears to be progressive in so many other ways. 

The larger failure is evident at the national level ,as some legislators stood silent and others voiced their denial that the actions that took place on Jan. 6, 2021 posed a threat. Additionally, if our collective Congressional body was acting to “support and defend” the Constitution of the United States,” there would be a more unified voice with little argument about passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. 

If these potential laws need adjusting, then our legislators should be working around the clock to come to a compromise agreement, bring them to a vote and get the job done.  This is the way Congress is supposed to work. Instead, nothing is moving. 

Some think that our legislators are no longer working for the good of the people, but only for the good of their re-election or their political influence. When keeping the job becomes more important than doing the job, American democracy becomes imperiled.  It is incredible that some Congressional legislators, both in the House and Senate, regard themselves as so important that they need to control the process. It has become “my way or no way.” This behavior is unacceptable and unsustainable.

We all need to take some responsibility for the changes that have taken place within our country. Voters often choose candidates based on single issues that align with what they want. In order for a society to move forward, it may be important for voters to consider what is good for the majority. We all have needs and sometimes compromise is the way forward. 

The ultimate responsibility for a competent government lies with the voters. If we do not exercise our vote and eliminate those who cannot or will not do their job, the status quo will remain. Voting is the ultimate way to indicate approval or displeasure of the job being done. This is why the right to vote is so crucial for all citizens. 

For those of you who wish to remember Jan. 6, 2021, please do so by reaching out to those in office. Let them hear once more that the right to vote for all is a cornerstone of democracy. Ask your state legislators to support Massachusetts’ VOTES Act and your Congressional representatives to push for the two national voting rights bills.

Let them also know that if they are not willing to work for voting rights and open, fair and just elections, then they are not doing their jobs and we will hold them accountable.  After all that, I think I will add to my vigil a re-reading of the U.S. Constitution and a Prayer for Peace.

Suzanne Brock is president of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area.

LINK

Insurance claims for tornadoes hit $140m 2011

 

TORNADO CLAIMS are expensive. Just a reminder that MASSACHUSETTS is not immune.

Insurance claims for tornadoes hit $140m

By Vivian Yee

Globe Correspondent / June 18, 2011

Insurance claims filed by victims of this month’s tornadoes have risen to $140 million, according to state officials, dwarfing previous estimates and reflecting the devastation after the storms tore through Western Massachusetts June 1.

Victims have come forward with 8,200 claims, Joseph Murphy, commissioner of the Division of Insurance, said Thursday. The damage estimates are expected to swell as nine Federal Emergency Management Agency-operated recovery centers open in the next few days to help residents apply for federal aid.

Initial reports from June 7, more than a week after tornadoes ravaged 19 communities and left three people dead, estimated claims at $90 million just for destruction to homes. Thursday’s figure includes $5 million in commercial property claims and $15 million in auto insurance filings on top of an additional $30 million for residential damage.

Despite the new figures, officials say the extent of the disaster is proving hard to measure. When inspectors first fanned out across the tornado-stricken area, they picked through some 1,400 substantially damaged homes and estimated damage at about $25 million, enough to qualify for federal relief.

“But we know there’s much more than that,’’ said Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency spokesman Peter Judge.

Authorities may never be able to tally the exact total because some residents may not ask for FEMA funds, relying on insurance claims, he added.

“People ask me, ‘How big is the disaster?’ ’’ Judge said. “I’ll tell you when everybody stops registering.’’

Starting today, officials expect hundreds of tornado victims in Springfield and West Springfield, two of the hardest-hit communities, to flood two federal disaster recovery centers in search of assistance from FEMA and Small Business Administration representatives. Seven more centers are slated to open over the next few days in Westfield, Agawam, Wilbraham, Brimfield, Southbridge, Monson, and Sturbridge.

Local residents can also go to the centers for help from various state agencies, including the Department of Transitional Assistance and the Division of Unemployment, Judge said.

A trip to the centers is not necessary to receive aid, which can take several forms, including funding for temporary housing or repairs, cash for emergency clothing and food, or loans for rebuilding homes. Claimants can register for relief online at www.disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-3362.

There is no cap on the number of communities, businesses, or individuals that can collect federal relief, Judge said. But there are restrictions: For example, people will only receive enough to pay for what their insurance does not cover.

Most people who file claims should be able to schedule appointments to have their property inspected for damage within days, Judge said, though he cautioned that FEMA inspectors may be scarce due to the disasters in other parts of the country. After inspections, people can generally expect to receive aid within days, he said.

Businesses and residents in tornado-devastated areas became eligible for federal assistance after President Obama declared Wednesday that the storms were a major federal disaster. Federal aid will also cover at least 75 percent of local authorities’ cleanup costs, including overtime pay for policemen and firefighters, repairing bridges and roads, and clearing debris.

Clearing debris is now the main concern for Monson recovery workers, and officials expect it will take several weeks to remove fallen trees and other vegetation, said Gretchen Neggers, town administrator. But roads are open, and utilities have been restored. All residents who lost their homes have left the local shelter to stay with family and friends, on campgrounds, or in other temporary housing.

The shelter has emptied in Brimfield, said Carol DelNegro, assistant to Brimfield’s board of selectmen. Though roadside cleanup is ongoing, the roads are passable. Schools reopened Monday.

Recovery efforts are proceeding more slowly in Springfield, where 228 people were still sheltering in the MassMutual Center by yesterday morning, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. Firefighters are still going door to door to distribute information, tarps, and water. Still, most roads are open, and some business owners and homeowners have begun to rebuild, Sarno said.

“We’re moving out of stabilization and into the rebuilding phase,’’ he said.

Even if authorities eventually quantify the total cost of the tornado damage, Judge said, that may not be the point.

“If your house got destroyed, that’s a big disaster,’’ he said.

LINK

 

40-year-old Bottle Bill needs an update to reduce trash

Sarah Becker and Andrew Gottlieb

Guest Columnists

Published Dec 6, 2021 

We need to stop kicking the can down the road. 

Since its passage nearly 40 years ago, the Bottle Bill has been Massachusetts’ most successful recycling program. But time is catching up to the law, and it needs updating to deliver the best results.

A lot has changed in Massachusetts since the original Bottle Bill was established in 1983. First of all, our waste problem has grown worse. According to the new Trash in America report released by MASSPIRG and other regional public interest groups, the average American throws out nearly 1,800 pounds of trash each year. That’s a massive increase from the 1,300 pounds of trash the average American threw away in 1980. And Massachusetts is not immune to this wastefulness. We produce nearly 6 million tons of waste in the Commonwealth annually. Most of this trash consists of goods we use for a matter of minutes before throwing away — such as beverage containers. 

Second, the beverage market has changed dramatically. In 2015, the Bottle Bill kept over 1.2 billion beverage containers out of our trash, but there were also over 6 billion beverage containers sold in Massachusetts that same year and most of those containers didn’t, and still don’t, have a deposit under the current law. That’s because many of the drinks on grocery shelves today — water bottles, sports drinks, iced teas, and more — did not exist when the law passed in 1982. These new containers are the ones currently littering our parks, cluttering our waterways and filling up our landfills. 

And third, the devaluation of the nickel since the law took effect has hurt the effectiveness of the 5-cent deposit. There is less incentive for consumers to redeem their beverage containers than there once was. While the Commonwealth’s redemption rate peaked at 71% in 2010, it fell to 43% in 2020, the lowest of any Bottle Bill state. At the other end of that spectrum, with the highest redemption rates, are states such as Michigan, Oregon and Maine that have 10 cents or mixed deposits and whose redemption rates average around 85%. 

With these changes in Massachusetts over the past 40 years, it’s time we help the Bottle Bill catch up. When we and other advocates tried to update the law at the ballot box in 2014, the bottling and beverage industries spent more than $9 million dollars opposing the change, promising “better ways” to recycle, and ultimately the initiative was defeated. Since then, no promised “better way” has appeared. Recycling in Massachusetts has stalled. 

Meanwhile, around the country and the world, new container deposit laws have been enacted for more than 350 million people, and still, others have modernized their laws with great success. When Oregon updated its Bottle Bill in 2017 to include more types of beverage containers and a 10-cent deposit, the redemption rate jumped from 64% to 86% over the span of two years. Likewise, since updating its extensive container deposit law in 1990, Michigan has seen the redemption rate rise to 89% and its waste stream reduced by 6 to 8% each year.

In response to growing piles of litter and waste in the commonwealth, state Rep. Marjorie Decker and state Sen. Cynthia Creem have filed an updated Bottle Bill (H3289/S2149) which will cover nips, water bottles, and more container sizes and types of beverages, and increase the deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents. With this bigger, better Bottle Bill, we could more effectively clean up our roadsides, reduce plastic in our rivers and waterways, and stop burying or burning our beverage containers in landfills and incinerators. 

Updating the Bottle Bill is one of many steps we must take to move away from our throwaway, single-use culture. The facts show that deposits on containers reduce waste and litter, and improve our communities. As with any big problem, there's no one silver bullet. But with an updated Bottle Bill, we don’t need to start from scratch or build anything new. We just need to double down on what already works: the tried-and-true recycling success of the Bottle Bill. 

Sarah Becker, Zero Waste Policy Associate, MASSPIRG. Andrew Gottlieb, executive director, Association to Preserve Cape Cod.

 

Letter to the Editor: Extended bottle bill is not a tax

Cape Cod Times 

Published Dec. 22, 2021 

Bottle deposit hike shouldn't be labeled a tax

Given that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts produces about six million tons of waste annually, I find it difficult to sympathize with Donald Sandefer's concern for the alleged impact an extended bottle bill would have on the "wealthy and upper-middle-class income residents." (Letters, Bottle Bill Expansion Just Another State Tax, Dec. 18)

Yes, former Gov. Patrick correctly asserts that such a bill would increase Massachusetts revenues but how can Mr. Sandefer label it a "tax?"

 It is not imposed by the state. We, as citizens, can choose whether or not to purchase any of the wide array of beverages included in the bill. Furthermore if you don't want to pay such a "tax," redeem your containers.

 Personally, I would rather see the state benefit from unredeemed containers than see them littering the landscape and endangering wildlife. Apparently, some value wealth and privilege more than they do those citizens who would benefit from increased state revenues that would fund education, social services and conservation programs.

Dana Franchitto, Wellfleet

There’s something really wrong with some of my colleagues

 

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I suppose there are some people who'd argue that it's impolite to directly call out my fellow members of Congress when they do awful things. I've seen emails dancing around the obvious, trying to gloss over the appalling behavior of some House Republicans.

This isn't one of those emails. Because I don't think we're doing ourselves any favors by pretending the collapse of basic decency is normal.

There's something very wrong with too many Republicans serving Congress today, and the only responsible thing to do is to face it head-on.

But first, the obvious conclusion: we need to ensure that Republicans don't take back Congress. Your grassroots support is how we do that.

In just the last few weeks:

Paul Gosar of Arizona tweeted out an animated scene where someone literally kills our colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Literally. She dies in the animation. After the House censured Gosar for the video, he retweeted it.

Are there any other workplaces in America where you can openly fantasize (twice) about murdering a coworker?

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has paid more than $50,000 in fines for refusing to wear a mask in Congress during a pandemic. That's how much she hates science.

Florida's Matt Gaetz went on Steve Bannon's War Room so the two of them could discuss "raising an army of patriots," with 4,000 "shock troops" to purge the government when Trump wins in 2024.

He can't wait to deploy "shock troops" against Americans. This is a sitting member of the Congress of the United States.

We've also recently learned that, in the days leading up to January 6, several of our newer members, including Colorado's Lauren Boebert and North Carolina's Madison Cawthorn, gave guidance and direct support to the extremists who planned that day's riot.

Sitting members of Congress helped insurrectionists plan an attack on our nation's Capitol.

Congressional Republicans cannot be allowed to take back control of the House in 2022. Donate today.

Even writing this email feels ridiculous. Congressional Republicans have become so used to running on spite and ignorance that they've completely forgotten the basics of living in a functioning society.

Enough. More than enough. This is what we have to look forward to if Republicans take back Congress. And this is why we can't let them.

Donate today. We must hold our progressive majority in 2022.

Jim

Paid for and authorized by the Re-Elect McGovern Committee.
	This email was sent by Jim McGovern Jim McGovern for Congress PO Box 60405 Worcester, MA 01606 United States