Massachusetts politics

U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Barbara Lee probed the “State of Black America” during the Congressional Black Caucus’s first-ever visit to Massachusetts. Both representatives spoke with the Banner last Friday about Pressley’s decarceration initiative — the People’s Justice Guarantee — and advocated for the Ending PUSHOUT Act, legislation focused on keeping black girls in school and reducing unjust expulsions.

A bill that would outlaw use of hand-held phones while driving in Massachusetts remains stalled due to legislators’ concerns about increased racial profiling that could stem from increased enforcement.

The Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee has proposed increased funding for education in its fiscal year 2020 budget proposal, but with few new revenue sources, advocacy groups are questioning whether it goes far enough.

Legislation currently under consideration in the Massachusetts State House would provide new overtime protections or strengthen current protections for 435,000 salaried workers across the state, approximately 330,000 more than similar federal legislation proposed by the Trump administration, according to a report released last week by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

An amendment to the state constitution that would create an additional tax on Massachusetts’ highest incomes received wide support from activists, legislators and the public at a State House hearing last week.

Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots organization, held its annual lobbying day April 3 at the State House, where more than 100 activists discussed their priorities for the state’s 191st legislative session.

The Massachusetts Latino population is projected to reach 1.5 million in 2035, up from 757,000 in 2015, according to a study released last week by the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy. By 2035, Latinos are expected to account for 15 percent of the state’s population.

At a public meeting hosted by the MBTA last week, elected officials and commuters slammed the transportation agency’s recent proposal of a 6.3 percent increase in fares starting July 1, 2019.

In Boston, and undoubtedly elsewhere, blacks have been hampered from joining the police force. Even today there are only a few black members of the state police. It was not until the 1950s that Samuel M. Range became the first black trooper and he remained until retirement. At Range’s recent funeral, he was honored for his service in breaking down racial barriers.

One month after unveiling her extensive education finance reform bill, the PROMISE Act, Massachusetts state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz has been removed as chair of the state’s Education Committee, a post she has held for eight years, as well as from the committee itself.

More than 300 teens marched from the Boston Common through Downtown Crossing to the State House last Thursday in a demonstration calling for more funding for summer jobs and an increase in the age at which criminal defendants can be charged as adults.

After the Safe Communities Act died in the last legislative session, several progressive candidates made the immigration reform legislation a plank in their platforms as they sought seats in last year’s Democratic primaries.