Senator Lovely began her remarks by sharing that she is a former Salem Rotarian. She had to step away from the Club when she first worked at the State House for Representative Mike Ruane in 2003 when she could no longer make the meetings. She hopes to return to Salem Rotary as a member in the future.

 

Senator Lovely shared the challenges and hurdles the legislature has overcome this past year to get Massachusetts through the pandemic. She feels the response from the state and federal government has been profound, and she was heartened by the greater community’s response to help others in a time of crisis. Much was done virtually, and the government worked long and hard to do their best to get the budget done with minimal cuts and disruptions. She noted how strange and quiet it is in the State House since it is closed to the public. She looks forward to the time when the public will be invited back into what she calls our working museum.

 

The senator reviewed her committee assignments for this session which include: Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, Senate Committee on Reimagining Massachusetts Post-Pandemic Resiliency, Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, and Joint Committee on Housing. She also chairs the Senate and Joint Committees on Rules and is the Vice Chair for the Senate Committee on Bills in the Third Reading. Senator Lovely also co-chairs the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators with Representative Patricia Haddad. Now 62 women strong, the largest group of women serving in the legislature in Massachusetts history, the caucus has three priorities for this session: empowering women in government; the impacts of COVID-19 on women; and health access and racial disparities.

 

Senator Lovely discussed the state budget which is now in conference committee. The goal for the state is to approve the budget by June 30. She shared some of the earmarks from the Senate budget that concern our area: $200,000 for the Frederick E. Berry Institute of Politics at Salem State University to support people who are interested in pursuing public service (now in its second year); $100,000 for a training simulator for the Beverly Police Department; $75,000 for Peabody’s Centennial Park Master Plan; $75,000 for a paid position to assist with Salem’s Race Equity Task Force; $800,000 to support an after school program for homeless children at the YMCA that gives them a place to go after school.

 

Representative Tucker introduced his legislative team, Emi Perez and Rosa Alvarado, who joined us at the meeting. Rep. Tucker noted that Rosa participated in the Rotary Youth Exchange when she was at Salem High and was able to travel to France.

 

Next, Rep. Tucker did a Rotary visit in review, taking us on a journey from all of the times he spoke to us from the podium. Before he began, he noted that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Starting in January 2010, he addressed us as the Salem Police Chief and shared information on the police budget, the need for more personnel, technological changes with equipment for facial recognition, drug trends, and changes in police work. In March 2011, he talked about cases and court decisions of interest to Salem. In March 2016, Rep. Tucker discussed gridlock in Washington, DC, the state budget, which was $39 billion (it is a over $43 billion now), the fair share amendment (millionaire’s tax), housing, opiate epidemic, education, and economic development needs. In November of 2016, he shared information on marijuana, police body cameras, and larger cages for free-range chickens. September of 2018, brought us election predictions, a 600-page crime bill focused on rehabilitation and treatment, medication for addiction, minimum wage, and a permanent tax holiday.

 

This session, Rep. Tucker is serving as the Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government and as a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, Joint Committee on Transportation, and Joint Committee on Ways and Means. He noted that this past year was one of the most important in the legislature’s history, and their response to the pandemic was the lynchpin in getting Massachusetts through it. Rep. Tucker was proud to assist his constituents with an unprecedented number of calls related to unemployment, healthcare, and housing this year. With Salem’s economy largely dependent on tourism and hospitality, he saw many in this industry suffer during the pandemic. He was honored to be able to help those who needed it and will continue to do so as the economy turns around. Rep. Tucker reviewed the earmarks he secured for Salem in the House budget: Salem Common improvements; Essex National Heritage’s Future Leaders Summer Program; and a memory café for the Salem Council on Aging.

 

He closed with some thoughts on policing in Massachusetts and the criticism the legislature has received during police reform discussions. He noted that 45 states in the nation have standards for police training, and Massachusetts will be doing this going forward. He believes we need to move away from the militaristic model of policing and need to educate officers on how to manage situations in addition to response. This can be done with more integration of social workers into the police force to complement the officers’ work. Additionally, he feels we should continue to diversify the police force so that all populations of our community are represented on the force, which provides better trust and understanding.

The conversation with Senator Lovely and Representative Tucker was so good that we ran out of time this week. Stay tuned for Rotarian News the June 22, as next week we will be hosting our scholarship celebration!