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Dear Neighbors,
Here are a few things I thought you might be interested in. Still working on newsletters on transportation, revenue, and the shelter crisis. Hard to keep up!
Dear Neighbor,
RULES REFORM AND TRANSPARENCY
Many of you have written in support of increased transparency and rules reform. The House and Senate have passed their versions of rules reform. Each chamber has made changes in its own rules, and a conference committee will resolve the differences for joint rules.
I can't do better than Progressive Mass' summary of the changes. For example, many people have asked that committee votes and testimony (except for sensitive information) be public, and they will.
Dear Neighbor,
RESPONSES TO FEDERAL ACTIONS
Tomorrow, Tuesday March 4, prior to President Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, 50501 Massachusetts will hold a rally at the Boston Common to speak about the state of our Union today and the need for nonviolent resistance to protect our democracy. It's part of the "50 States 50 Protests One Movement." Speakers start at 4:30.
Medford Democrats will host a tea time at Medford City Hall on Saturday, March 8th at 12PM in the Council Chambers. RSVP on Facebook.
The purpose is to have informal conversations with like-minded people, create a space for discussions about local organizing, mingle, and reinvigorate in-person political communities in these uncertain times. You can also join with Google Meet or phone 1-317-743-0515 PIN 364048387
Senator Markey invites people to a town hall in Malden on Saturday, March 8 at 2 pm. Doors open at 1; getting a free ticket in advance may be wise. He's also having an organizing call at 6:30pm this Wednesday, March 5 about taking on the Trump-Musk administration with grassroots activists.
Dear Neighbors,
Coup-o-meter Update
The coup-o-meter is now updating every day with Trump/Musk actions, reactions, retractions and more.
One of my constituents visited the office with a pin he had made of the coup-o-meter.
Not Necessarily the News
Last week was school vacation week and the Senate wasn't in formal session, so I went to visit my sister Carolyn at her rented condo on St. Simon Island, Georgia. I thought I'd share a few things I learned there, some relevant to Black History Month.
Dear Neighbor,
It's overwhelming, trying to keep up with the hourly avalanche of news: the actions, reactions, and retractions of the Trump/Musk administration and the rising resistance. And that's the point.
In 2019, Steve Bannon proposed this "muzzle velocity" strategy, as reported in Ezra Klein's excellent piece. "The opposition party is the media. And the media can only, because they’re dumb and they’re lazy, they can only focus on one thing at a time. …
All we have to do is flood the zone. Every day we hit them with three things. They’ll bite on one, and we’ll get all of our stuff done. Bang, bang, bang. These guys will never — will never be able to recover. But we’ve got to start with muzzle velocity."
Klein says Trump's unilateral orders project strength but actually show weakness; he can't get all of them through legal, legislative means. "Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president." He won the popular vote by 1.5%, has a low approval rating, and has thin margins in the House and Senate.
Dear Neighbor,
A lot has happened this fall, even while we haven't usually had formal sessions except for one to pass the climate and economic development bills. (You can read my notes on some highlights here, along with "what's next.")
I don't usually include stories or pictures from events in newsletters. But I have a lot of photos and thought I'd share some to give you glimpses of where I've been this fall.
https://mailchi.mp/electpatjehlen/gallery-7227454?e=2a1a9beef5
Dear Neighbor,
I am Senate chair of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee and the Committee on Elder Affairs. Each of those committees produced a major bill this session which passed the legislature and was signed, or is about to be signed, into law.
In an earlier newsletter, I wrote about the Labor Committee's wage transparency law.
The second bill, about long-term care facilities for older people and people with disabilities, hadn’t passed by the time formal sessions ended on July 31. In the informal sessions that continue after that, any one legislator could object and stop the bill. Despite that, I am happy and relieved to be able to report that the long-term care bill passed the legislature last Thursday.
Dear Neighbor,
WHAT DOES LABOR WANT?
Samuel Gompers was the first president of the AFL-CIO, serving for almost 40 years.
He once gave a very long speech about "What Does Labor Want?" but he also gave a short summary:
"What does labor want? We want more school houses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more constant work and less crime; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures."
A broad view of the labor movement's goals! It reminds me of Bread and Roses!
Dear Neighbor,
THE LAST NIGHT OF FORMAL SESSIONS
You have certainly seen numerous accounts of the last night of formal sessions for this year, which ended at 10 am the next morning, after suspending the rules to go past midnight. Many important bills were left on the table.
had been appointed on nine major bills but had not yet reported, while one was awaiting appointment of members. Conference committees of 3 members from each house are supposed to work out differences between the versions passed by the House and Senate.
After July 31 in even years, bills can only pass with unanimous consent. Theoretically, only bills that authorize bonding require roll calls, and therefore can't be passed in informal sessions.
Like many of you, I was extremely frustrated by the logjam at the end of formal sessions.
Dear Neighbors,
Probably the most urgent issue in our state is the cost of housing. It's a big part of the reason shelters are full and the state is limiting access. I'll write about lots of end-of-session news soon.
NEW OVERFLOW SHELTER POLICY
Thursday I joined people protesting the eviction of people from the overflow shelters starting today. The Globe, Herald, and WGBH were among media outlets covering the vigil. Speakers included Kelly Turley, of Somerville, Associate Director of Mass. Coalition for the Homeless; and Dr. Lara Jimanus of Medford, who brought a letter from health professionals and others about the dangers to children.