THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 Page 15 the Senate was able to pass this important piece of legislation to address many of the Commonwealth’s infrastructure needs,» said Sen. Michael Moore (D-Milbury). “The transportation bond bill is a comprehensive collection of many necessary improvements to our transportation systems from road and bridges to various modes of public transportation. During these increasingly diffi cult fi nancial times it is critical that we continue to make investments in projects such as roads, bridges, sidewalks, and other various restoration projects throughout the commonwealth.” Despite several attempts by Beacon Hill Roll Call, Sen. Joe Boncore (D-Winthrop), the Senate chair of the Transportation Committee, did not respond to requests to comment on the bill. “Section 5 in the bill sets up regional taxation districts where they could change the sales or property taxes by region,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “This is a harmful concept for local businesses and residents. If their region decides to increase sales taxes, potential customers may look beyond these districts to shop for products. We should be working to give relief to our local small businesses during these challenging economic and public health times, not creating an extra barrier to success.” A House-Senate conference committee will attempt to hammer out a compromise version. (A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Joseph Boncore Yes ALLOW CITIES AND TOWNS TO RAISE TAXES FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS (S. 2813) Senate 8-31, rejected a motion to strike from the bill a section that allows cities and towns and regions to raise local taxes to fund transportation projects outside of Proposition 21/2, which limits property tax increases in cities and towns. “Legislating by local tax ballot initiatives hampers our ability to serve our communities in a uniform, progressive, equitable way,” said Sen. Diane DiZoglio (DMethuen), who led the charge to delete the section. “Some of the tax options put forward in this regional tax increase proposal, including the sales tax and property tax components, have nothing to do with transportation but are extremely regressive and would damage our Main Streets. Now, in the middle of a global pandemic, it is astounding to me that we think this is the time to be adding more of a financial burden to our local mom and pop shops.” “It’s clear that more and better public transit is needed across the state, and it is important to give local communities and regions the ability to raise funds when they identify particular needs,” said Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “Improving access to business districts that are not currently accessible by public transit is good for workers, small businesses and the overall economy. We are giving communities this option if the voters choose to use it.” “The attacks on Proposition 21/2 under any guise are relentless, always intent on chipping away at city and town taxpayers’ protection,” said Chip Ford, Executive Director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which created the law overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1980. “Section 5 of the Senate’s transportation bond bill created a new exclusion for the citizens’ referendum law. It especially did not belong secreted into a massive borrowing bill, slipped in at the 11th hour without public notice never mind hearings,” Ford added. “Just business as usual on Beacon Hill. Citizens beware—those are the people you elected to the Senate to allegedly represent your interests.” “This is about regional empowerment,” said Sen. Eric Lesser (DLongmeadow). “This is about acknowledging that a lot of infrastructure development in our communities happens by region. It’s not all about top-down from Beacon Hill or top-down from the Statehouse, and it allows local communities to take some control and some autonomy over projects that are vital to them.” “The Senate is not letting the pandemic slow them down,” said Paul Craney, executive director of the Mass Fiscal Alliance. “They feel they are immune from the economic hurt around them. Creating new taxing authorities is not how we’re going to get our economy running again. This is just a backdoor attempt to try to circumvent the will of the voters and undermine Prop 2 1/2. These senators should be thinking about ways to reduce spending, cut taxes, and help small businesses and workers get back on their feet. In the past four months, countless Massachusetts residents lost their jobs and cannot pay their mortgages. Today’s response by the Senate is tone deaf to the fi nancial hurt being felt around the state.” (Please read carefully what a “Yes” and “No” vote means. A “Yes” vote is in favor of deleting the local tax option and therefore against the option. A “No” vote is to leave the local tax option in the bill and therefore is in favor of the option.) Sen. Joseph Boncore No INSTALL CAMERAS ON SCHOOL BUSES (S. 2813) Senate 14-25, rejected an amendment that would allow any city or town to install and operate live digital video school bus violation detection monitoring systems to enforce violations against the owner of a motor vehicle whose vehicle failed to stop for a school bus when required to do so by law. School buses with the monitoring system installed would post signage indicating the use of that system. “At least 22 states have enacted stop-arm laws to catch and punish motorists who pass stopped school buses by allowing local jurisdictions to install cameras on the outside of the bus to record illegal passings,” said the amendment’s sponsor Sen. Diana DiZoglio (DMethuen). “This is a commonsense mechanism that would help to increase driver awareness, prevent injuries and save lives, and the use of cameras for this specifi c purpose has widespread voter support in Massachusetts.” Opponents said that the transportation bill is focused on transportation projects and not general road safety. They said there are some safety provisions in the bill, but those provisions are focused on construction zones which make them related to the transportation bill. They noted the school bus camera idea was already considered by the Senate this past year and was rejected. (A “Yes” vote is for putting cameras on the buses. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Joseph Boncore No HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been fi led. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session. During the week of July 13-17, the House met for a total of 13 hours and 13 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 24 hours and 5 minutes. Mon. July 13 House 11:02 a.m. to 3:33 p.m. Senate 11:24 a.m. to 4:12 a.m. (Tuesday morning) Tues. July 14 No House session No Senate session Wed. July 15 House 11:02 a.m. to 12:33 p.m. No Senate session. Thurs. July 16 House 11:11 a.m. to 6:22 p.m. Senate 11:08 a.m. to 6:25 p.m. Fri. July 17 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Video Calling Solutions for Tech-Challenged Seniors Dear Savvy Senior, Can you recommend some simple devices that can help techchallenged seniors with video calls? My 80-year-old mother has been isolating herself for months now in fear of the coronavirus and I haven’t been able to see her face-to-face in quite a while. Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned, Video chatting is a great way to stay connected and keep tabs on an elder parent when you can’t be there, but it’s even more important now during this pandemic as many isolated seniors are also suff ering from chronic loneliness. To help connect you and your mom virtually, there are various products on the market that offer simple video calling for seniors who have limited ability or experience with technology. Here are four devices to consider. GrandPad: This is a top option for simple video calling, and much more. The GrandPad is an 8-inch tablet specifi cally designed for seniors, ages 75 and older. It comes with a stylus, a charging cradle and 4G LTE builtin so it works anywhere within the Consumer Cellular network – home Wi-Fi is not required. Ready to go right out of the box, GrandPad provides a simplifi ed menu of big icons and large text for only essential features, providing clutter-free, one-touch access to make and receive video calls, send voice emails, view photos and videos, listen to personalized music, check the weather, play games, browse the Internet and more. A GrandPad tablet costs $250 plus $40 monthly service fee and is sold through Consumer Cellular at GrandPad.net or call 888545-1425. Amazon’s Echo Show: With its built-in camera and screen, the voice-command Echo Show also provides a simple way to have face-to-face chats with your mom, but she’ll need home Wi-Fi installed. Echo Shows, which come in three screen sizes – 5-inch ($90), 8-inch ($130) and 10-inch ($230), will let your mom make and receive video calls to those who have their own device, or who have the Alexa app installed on their smartphone or tablet. Once you set up her contacts, to make a call your mom could simply say, “Alexa, call my daughter” And when you call her, she would ask Alexa to answer the call (or ignore it). There’s also a feature called “drop-in” that would let you video call your mom’s device anytime without her having to answer it. Available at Amazon.com, the Echo Show also offers thousands of other features your mom would enjoy like voice-activated access to news, weather, her favorite music and much more. If you decide to order an Echo Show device for mom, be sure your ask Amazon to mark it as a gift so it doesn’t get tied to your Amazon account. For instructions to help your mom set it up, or if she doesn’t have a smartphone, go to Amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html, and type in “Help Loved Ones Set Up Their Echo Show Remotely” in the “fi nd more solutions” bar. ViewClix: This is a smart picture frame specifi cally designed for elderly seniors that lets family members make video calls, send photos and post virtual sticky notes with messages to their loved ones ViewClix from their smartphone, tablet or computer. Seniors, however, cannot initiate video calls from their ViewClix. Home Wi-Fi is also required. Available in two sizes – 10-inch for $199, and 15-inch for $299 – you can learn more about this product at ViewClix.com. Facebook Portal: If your mom is a Facebook user, a voice-command Facebook portal (see portal.facebook.com) is another simple way to stay connected – home Wi-Fi is needed. Portals, which come in three sizes – the original 10-inch Portal ($179), the 8-inch Mini ($129) and the massive 15-and-a-halfinch Portal Plus ($279) – are like Echo Shows, except they connect through Facebook. With a Portal, your mom can video call your smartphone or tablet (and vice versa) using Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
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