Page 22 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023 BEACON | FROM Page 18 minimum wage for tipped workers from $6.75 to $12 by 2027 and then set it at 60 percent of the full minimum wage in future years. “Increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour has had a tremendously positive impact on hundreds of thousands of working individuals and families in the commonwealth who have seen their take-home pay increase and improve their standard of living,” said Senate sponsor Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester). “However, due to high infl ation, the buying power of $15 has been significantly eroded, and it is estimated by the MIT Living Wage Calculator that a single person living in the Greater Boston area would need to earn more than $22 per hour just to cover the basic necessities of life --and far more to support a family. This is why we need to start phasing in another increase to the minimum wage in Massachusetts.” “We know that working families and individuals are under enormous fi nancial stress with rising infl ation and increased costs of housing and living,” said House sponsor Rep. Tram Nguyen (DAndover). ”As workers are struggling to meet their basic needs and provide for their families, I am glad to [fi le] this bill to provide fair wages in our commonwealth.” UNBIASED SUMMARIES IN CHILD REMOVAL CASES (H 182) - The Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities held a hearing on a proposal that would require the Department of Children and Families (DCF), when considering a child’s removal from his or her family, to establish a case review team that produces summaries that do not include demographic and identifying information such as gender, race, ethnicity, disability, geographic location and socioeconomic status. Sponsor Rep. Joan Meschino (D-Hull) said the bill is designed - LEGAL NOTICE - D To all interested persons: A petition for of requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that: of be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve on the bond in to prevent discrimination in the child removal processes. “The goal is for DCF to provide a biasfree summary of a child’s situation that takes into account safety and risk factors, the family’s strengths and opportunities for supportive interventions before removing a child from their home,” said Meschino. ALLOW CITIES AND TOWNS TO IMPOSE A NEW 2 PERCENT ALCOHOL TAX (S 1773) – The Revenue Committee held a hearing on a bill that would allow cities and towns to impose a local sales tax of up to two percent on alcoholic beverages sold at retail, bars or at restaurants. Municipalities that choose to impose the local tax would be required to use the revenue generated for substance abuse prevention and for protecting the public health. “There is tremendous unmet need for substance use disorder treatment in every community in Massachusetts,” said Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “This bill would enable interested cities and towns to expand their addiction and public health programming to meet that need.” $4 MILLION FOR SECURITY AT FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS - The Healey administration announced that more than $4 million in federal funds have been awarded to address priority security needs at faith-based and community service organizations at heightened risk of a hate crime or terror attack in the Bay State. “Communities rely on nonprofit and faith-based organizations for essential social services, spiritual support and guidance,” said Gov. Healey. “Our administration is deeply committed to ensuring these vital organizations have the tools and resources needed to create safe, inclusive and protected environments. These federal funds provide critical support to our nonprofi t and faith communities while strengthening Massachusetts’ ability to uphold our values and celebrate our diversity.” $5.2 MILLION FOR RECYCLING, COMPOSTING AND WASTE REDUCTION - The Healey Administration announced nearly $5.2 million in grant funding to 283 municipalities to bolster their recycling, composting and waste reduction programs. “Residents partner with their communities to help protect the environment by recycling and reusing as much as possible,” said REVERETV | FROM Page 21 weeks. Videos will play on RevereTV in the order of the names of candidates on the ballot. These candidate statements will soon be playing on RTV GOV and in specifi c new playlists on YouTube to be viewed and shared. A new month brings a new cycle of local government meetLt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “This important funding will help municipalities implement innovative programs and policies that are proven to maximize reuse, recycling and waste reduction.” QUOTABLE QUOTES “The Green Communities program helps our cities and towns make important investments at the local level to achieve their own climate goals and lower carbon emissions. This moves us forward on our clean energy path and lessens our reliance on volatile fossil fuels, lowering costs and risks for our communities and their residents and businesses.” --- Energy and Environmental Aff airs Secretary Rebecca Tepper announcing the awarding of $3.3 million in Green Communities competitive grants to 27 municipalities across Massachusetts to fund clean energy projects. “We have taken meaningful strides in recent years to increase the sustainability and resilience of our state’s public transit system. From securing grants to fund environmental initiatives to reducing emissions through fl eet electrifi cation, the MBTA is fi rmly committed to building a greener, more climate-ready transit network.” --- MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng announcing the establishment of a new Climate and Resiliency Policy and Planning team as part of the Policy and Strategic Planning Division that will be tasked with decreasing the T’s and the commonwealth’s environmental footprint and increasing the resilience of the MBTA system. “The data is clear – based on state testing results we know there is lead in most of the taps tested at schools and childcare centers across the state and we know children are the most impacted from exposure to lead. We need policies that get the lead out of faucets and fountains in our schools and pre-schools.” --- Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director state urging lawmakers to pass a bill to get the lead out of drinking water at Massachusetts schools and childcare centers. “I was proud to fi le and testify in support of … [a bill] preventing false confessions, a necessary piece of legislation to prevent law enforcement from knowingly or recklessly engaging in deception in order to coerce a confesings. The latest from the City Council Chambers – now replaying on RTV GOV – are the License Commission, Traffic Commission, Revere City Council, Zoning Board of Appeals, Parking Advisory Committee, Conservation Commission and Human Rights Commission. There was a special community presentation about the Route 1A Riverfront Roadway InfraMon. Sept. 25 House 11:02 a.m. to 11:49 a.m. Senate 11:09 a.m. to 11:53 a.m. Tues. Sept. 26 No House session No Senate session Wed. Sept. 27 House 11:01 a.m. to 5:16 p.m. No Senate session Thurs. Sept. 28 House 11:03 a.m. to 12:24 p.m. Senate 11:22 a.m. to 1:31 p.m. Fri. Sept. 29 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Bob founded Beacon Hill Roll Call in 1975 and was inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) Hall of Fame in 2019. structure Improvement Project, which is also replaying on RTV. This presentation included explanations from the developers and visuals to show the changes to be made to the roadways and traffi c fl ow in that neighborhood. You can watch all government meetings live on RevereTV’s YouTube page and RTV GOV, which is channel 9 on Comcast and 13/613 on RCN. sion. Signifi cant research demonstrates that deception can cause suspects to waive their rights and make false confessions. This leads to wrongful convictions and the incarceration of innocent persons, the denial of justice to victims and ongoing risks to public safety. It is time to end a practice that undermines the eff ectiveness of our criminal justice system.” ---Sponsor Rep. Kate LipperGarabedian (D-Melrose) testifying before the Judiciary Committee on legislation that would prevent false confessions in Massachusetts by ending the use of deceptive interrogation tactics. 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. During the week of September 25-29, the House met for a total of eight hours and 23 minutes while the Senate met for a total of two hours and 53 minutes.
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