By State Rep. Jennifer Benson

A little over a year ago, I took an oath of office to represent the people of the 37th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In the last twelve months, I have seen the impacts of a global economic crisis, helped pass numerous pieces of landmark legislation, advocated for the communities in my district, and met many of you as I attended meetings and events in all six towns I represent. 
 

As I begin my second year working as your state representative, I wanted to reflect with you on some of our challenges and successes so far.

Economy

In the last year, our biggest challenge has been dealing with impacts of the global economic crisis. Like families across the Commonwealth, the state government has seen an increase in unemployment and a significant decrease in our revenue. This has caused us to reevaluate every program receiving state funding, making hard decisions about where and how much to cut back.  

We have had to ask our citizens to give more of themselves in order to maintain a basic level of services that thousands of residents depend upon. As the Governor, the House and the Senate all presented budget ideas, I loudly and strongly advocated for the best interests of my constituents. I pushed to keep Chapter 70 and local aid level funded and to mitigate cuts to regional transportation and programs for the elderly and disabled. While many of these ideas were included in the legislature’s final proposal in June, I ultimately voted against the majority and declined to support the budget. 

As a former local official, I felt that the cuts to local aid were too much for the small towns in my district to absorb. The budget did pass and our towns admirably faced the cuts, using creative solutions to maintain the high quality of town services.

Legislation

Over the past several months, the House and Senate have passed three landmark reform bills, a bill aimed at closing the achievement gap, legislation to hold our utility companies accountable and many smaller, but equally important bills. At the beginning of the session, the House tackled pension, transportation and ethics reform. Within a few months we sent a bill to the Governor overhauling the state’s transportation system, combining agencies into the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation and bringing all transportation employees under the same health plan.

These changes will create efficiencies and save the Commonwealth hundreds of millions of dollars. We followed up on this reform by passing legislation closing many of the pension loopholes that have frustrated voters for years. Part of this bill included the creation of a Blue Ribbon Commission which examined broader issues with the pension system.

Our third reform package overhauled the ethics system, strengthening lobbyist regulations and campaign finance laws.

As we worked on reform legislation, I consistently pressed for a bill responding to the experience of our communities during the December 2008 ice storm. Having just been elected to office, I saw and lived through the storm’s devastation and Unitil’s negligent response. I brought these experiences to the House and, after being assigned to the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, worked with the local delegation to push for a utility accountability bill. After almost a year, the Governor came to Lunenburg, one of the worst hit towns, to sign a bill holding utility companies accountable for their actions and strengthening the state's ability to protect communities during disasters like the ice storm.

In the last month, we also passed a law aimed at closing the achievement gap among our state’s students.

The bill strengthens the state’s application for federal Race to the Top Funds, expands intervention authority for administrators and the state and raises the cap on charter schools in the most severely underperforming districts. It also limits cuts to the regional transportation fund and increases the reimbursement rate for districts sending students to charter schools. This innovative legislation allows the state to experiment with new ways of bringing all our students up to our high standards.

This last year has also seen the House pass laws expanding assistance for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting affordable housing units at risk of becoming market rate and regulating the sport of mixed martial arts.

I continue to push for bills I filed to reform special education funding, reduce consumption of plastic grocery bags, exempt child car seats from the sales tax, and create a Lyme Disease research institute at the University of Massachusetts. I have also ushered through local bills on behalf of Lunenburg and Harvard. 

District

In the last year, I have enjoyed meeting many of my constituents and touring a number of businesses and organizations. I have been to numerous Eagle Scout ceremonies to congratulate ambitious young men, met with public safety officials to discuss their needs and dined with seniors at each town’s council on aging. I have also toured Devens, the Souza-Baranowski Correctional facility in Shirley, Cisco Systems in Boxborough, and Evergreen Solar and Bionostics in Devens. I brought the Chairman of the Revenue Committee to Harvard for a discussion on revenue reform and the Chairwoman of the Education Committee to Acton. 

I continue to hold open office hours the first Monday of every month in Acton and also invite constituents to visit my district office in Lunenburg, which is open every Monday from 9-4.

I would also like to congratulate the towns in my district for applying for and receiving numerous grants. Everything from water conservation grants for Acton and Lunenburg public housing authorities, to funds for solar photovoltaic installations at the Bromfield School and Carlson Orchards in Harvard, stimulus funds to keep police and firefighters in Shirley and Lancaster, and fire awareness education money for Acton, Boxborough, Harvard and Lancaster.

While I think our state and towns have accomplished a lot in the past year, I hope to build on these efforts and continue working with you to help the 37th Middlesex district prosper.