Onward!

After weeks of dramatically increasing COVID cases, the Baker-Polito Administration finally took action. But public health experts say the steps taken are unlikely to make any significant difference. Data do not support the effectiveness of these steps and some of them have been tried in European countries without success. The Baker-Polito Administration has not released any data-driven plan for how it will respond to the alarming increases in COVID cases. Communicating the metrics that will trigger restrictions (e.g., what numbers of cases per day or what rate of positive test results) and what those restrictions will be on schools, businesses, and other activities is important. This lets people know what to expect and that restrictions are data-driven and not just a political decision. It also gives people an incentive to…

Dear Colleagues, We are approaching a dangerous housing and public health crisis. Governor Baker has decided to END the Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium on October 17. This will enable the 10,000 eviction cases frozen by the April Moratorium to go forward in Court and many thousands of other cases owners will file against tenants who have fallen behind on rent due to unemployment during the pandemic. Unfortunately, many tenants decide to move when they get an Eviction Notice or the Summons to Court because they don't understand their rights, can't afford a lawyer, or are afraid of the courts. ***The last thing we need during a pandemic public health crisis and colder months is thousands of people doubling up with others or going to shelters or the streets. How you can help prevent…

Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) is delighted to announce that our membership has voted to endorse nineteen exciting progressive candidates for the state legislature. Each of these  candidates has been selected on the basis of a careful review of their positions on a wide range of issues and on interviews conducted by PDM to establish their strength as candidates.  And each of them has received the support of an overwhelming majority of PDM’s sustaining members in our endorsement voting process. The nineteen are: Senate RacesAdam Gomez is running against incumbent James Welch in the primary for the Hampden Senate District, which includes Springfield, Chicopee and West Springfield where Welch lives, and where he has focused his attention for years.  Adam is a strategic organizer and leader, adept at building alliances to achieve progressive goals. …

Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) strongly urges you to establish a more inclusive, broad-based Reopening Advisory Commission that should include: Experts in public health, who should play a leadership role, such as:Dr. Ashish Jha, Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, and/or others from the Harvard School of Public HealthDr. Donald BerwickRepresentatives of workers, particularly those in essential, front-line jobs interacting with the public on a routine basis, including nurses and teachers in early care and education, K-12 schools, and higher educationRepresentatives of populations that have been most negatively affected by COVID-19 such as:People of colorPeople from geographic areas with high COVID-19 rates, e.g., ChelseaPeople from densely populated urban areas, e.g., Boston, Lawrence, Holyoke, etc.People in nursing homes, including the Soldiers’ Homes, and other…

On April 20, 2020 Massachusetts put in place a temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, the strongest bill in the country according to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University and Columbia Law School analysts, providing the most protection for renters, owner-occupied buildings of four units or less, and small businesses who cannot pay their rent or mortgages because of lost income due to the COVID-19 crisis  The law stops all eviction actions except in cases that involve criminal acts or a threat to health or safety. Landlords cannot send any eviction notices - they cannot file for eviction, send any notices terminating a lease, including a notice to quit, or demand that tenants leave their unit. Landlords can send notices such as statements of amounts owed, but they cannot ask…

On behalf of the PDM leadership team, we hope that you and yours are safe and well, and are managing through these tumultuous and difficult times. Like us, you’ve no doubt received a barrage of emails from groups with which you’re associated, and we don’t want to further overload your in-boxes and attention.  But we do hope you’ll take a minute to allow us to share a couple of requests: First, PDM is working together with an array of allies, through Raise Up Mass and other coalitions, to identify ways that our government must act to protect our neighbors who are being most severely injured by the pandemic and the responses to it.  With Raise Up, we’re focusing especially on what the state needs to do to help those who…

Dear Members of the Legislature,    In this time of crisis, instability, and fear we look to you for leadership—and the lives of Bay Staters will literally depend on it. We are grateful for the role the legislature has played over the past two weeks, from moving legislative offices to remote function, to encouraging Governor Baker to close schools and daycares statewide, to waiving the 1-week waiting period for unemployment assistance. However, this moment requires more from the legislative branch, and on a rapid timeline.     Even as workplaces across the Commonwealth shutter and paychecks disappear, individuals’ expenses are increasing due to the demands of this emergency. And as we saw vividly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when disasters strike, it is people of limited means who bear the…

PDM is excited to present Ben Grosscup. Ben uses the power of song to amplify and accentuate the ideas and values of the transformative social movements he is part of. Ben plays at rallies, picket lines, conferences, coffee houses, and house concerts, and works tirelessly to enable many other musicians to be heard as well. His mission as an activist folksinger is to make music a vibrant part of social justice-based resistance movements. As a song leader, he helps groups sing as one. In this practice of embodied solidarity, people breathe in unison as they affirm their commitment to struggle together. As a songwriter and song interpreter, he inspires people to question oppressive ideologies and broaden their political imaginations toward greater levels of freedom. Based in Greenfield MA, Ben serves…

America once had a vigorous system of vocational education, apprenticeship, and workforce training, both in and out of schools. Other countries, like Germany, still do, but over recent decades we have disinvested in such programs. Part of the reason is the rise of the “college for all” mantra, reflecting the belief that a college degree is the ticket to success in the contemporary economy.  ~ Robert D. Putnam, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis    VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS  The Need: Our current vocational education program (CTE)* is inadequate both for students and for our economy: Massachusetts lacks the skilled labor necessary for a stable and healthy economy and fails to provide desired educational opportunities for many students. Employers complain of acute labor shortages in the construction trades and in…

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JULY 2, 2019....A new coalition, inspired by the success of groups who advocated for last year's paid family and medical leave law, is working to develop a plan to give Massachusetts families easier access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education and care. In a letter Tuesday to lawmakers on the Education Committee, the coalition made up of community, faith, labor and business groups, plus early educators and parents, said they are working to explore ideas including extended hours for early education and care programs, varying fees based on family income, and boosting pay and training for early educators. While the group works out its details, it is backing "placeholder legislation" filed by Rep. Ken Gordon of Bedford and Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington…