Conway Selectboard Chair John O’Rourke, Greenfield Mayor William Martin and Senate President Stan Rosenberg (l-r) attend a Legislative Breakfast
Funding levels for public education and road repairs, along with the state’s new commercial marijuana law and updated public records law, were the hot topics as more than 200 legislators and local officials gathered in six communities across the Commonwealth in recent weeks for MMA Legislative Breakfast Meetings.
The MMA holds the meetings every spring and fall as a way for local officials to have face-to-face discussions with their state legislators about issues that concern cities and towns.
The recent meetings were held in Ipswich and New Bedford on Feb. 24, Greenfield and Leominster on March 3, and Brookline and Lenox on March 10.
Each meeting began with a legislative update from the MMA, where staff spoke with and answered questions from local officials on the status of Gov. Charlie Baker’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal and the state revenue gaps of fiscal 2016 and 2017, the Chapter 90 local road program, the commercial marijuana law, and recent changes to the public records law.
In Greenfield, Senate President Stan Rosenberg spoke with attendees at length about his priorities for the new legislative session, including Chapter 70 education funding and the state budget. He was joined by Reps. Peter Kocot, Stephen Kulik, Paul Mark and Solomon Goldstein-Rose.
Other breakfasts were attended by Sens. Adam Hinds and Bruce Tarr, as well as Reps. Jennifer Benson, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Natalie Higgins, Bradford Hill, James Kelcourse, Robert Koczera, Paul McMurtry, Leonard Mirra, Alice Peisch and Tom Walsh.
Chapter 70 was a popular topic of discussion among legislators and local officials. Local officials also expressed concerns about the underfunding of charter school reimbursements and the special education circuit breaker line item. The MMA will be urging legislators to support increased minimum aid amounts and implementation of the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission.
To date, the MMA has hosted 180 breakfast meetings in 165 communities since 2007. Local officials in communities that would like to host a legislative breakfast and have not done so may contact Vanessa Calaban at vcalaban@mma.org or (617) 426-7272, ext. 121.
