Alice Peisch is the State Representative for the 14th Norfolk District, which currently includes the towns of Wellesley, Weston, and Precinct 4 of Wayland. Prior to her service in the legislature, Representative Peisch was active in Wellesley’s municipal government where she a member of the town’s Advisory (Finance) Committee and the School Committee, and was elected Town Clerk from 2000-2003.
A bill was engrossed by the House in July to improve policing in Massachusetts by establishing a certification process, creating an independent and empowered oversight board, and codifying restrictions on use of force measures. The bill establishes the Massachusetts Police Standards and Training Commission, a seven-person board charged with the responsibility to certify, restrict, and, following due process, revoke and suspend certification for police officers. It also forms the Division of Training and Certification, comprised of 6 police chiefs, the Colonel of the State Police, the Boston Police Commissioner, 2 sheriffs, one police officer appointed by the governor, and one person selected by the Secretary of Public Safety and Security, to devise appropriate training and certification standards for police.
In addition, the bill establishes restrictions on the use of force, sets Massachusetts on a path for reform that includes investigation of the civil service system and structural racism. The legislation also creates commissions and task forces on the following issues: law enforcement body cameras, the status of African Americans, the status of Latinos, statewide law enforcement officer cadet program, and corrections officer training and certification. The bill removes qualified immunity for those police officers who are decertified by the commission after due process and continues to study qualified immunity more broadly. It adds limits to facial recognition, creates a process around the use and training of School Resource Officers and limits on student record sharing by schools. Finally, the bill prohibits officers from having sexual intercourse with a person in custody and creates strong penalties for such conduct, makes it a crime for an officer to submit a false timesheet, and prohibits no-knock warrants.
The Economic Development bill passed by the House will help to aid the state’s economy by legalizing sports gaming, facilitating housing development and providing more than $450 million in state funding to spur growth. The bill pairs initiatives to improve the housing market for buyers while providing protections for tenants. It will establish the Rural Jobs Tax Credit for businesses that make a capital contributions to a rural growth fund, which will be established within the Office of Business Development. The bill initiates a system for legal sports gaming in Massachusetts, enabling the independent Massachusetts Gaming Commission to grant in-person licenses to existing casinos and racing facilities. Mobile applications and casinos are also eligible to receive mobile gaming licenses.
The legislation establishes the criteria in statute that defines environmental justice populations. The bill also increases support for clean energy workforce development programs, improves access to renewable energy and energy efficiency programs for low-income communities and requires the state to increase its use of renewable resources for its electricity needs.
The legislation includes the following provisions.
On August 7th, 2020, Governor Baker signed legislation expanding voter access and ensuring voters have safe voting options for all remaining 2020 elections. For the first time in state history, this bill established vote-by-mail option and early voting periods for the fall primary and general elections. Additionally, the legislation addressed polling place safety for those who choose to vote in-person. Finally, the bill provided tools to assist city and town clerks, and tasks the Secretary of the Commonwealth with creating an online portal and promoting the various voting options.
Engrossed by the House in early July, this bill strengthens the laws ensuring the safety and well-being of the Commonwealth’s youngest and most at-risk residents. Building on the House of Representative’s steadfast commitment to those served by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), this legislation addresses the needs of vulnerable children and families that have also been amplified by the COVID-19 public health crisis and further illuminated through the lens of racial equity. Specifically, this legislation strengthens DCF policies and operations, develops a tool to retain and recruit foster families, holds DCF accountable for timely, accurate and relevant reports, and clarifies communication by the Child Advocate to the Legislature and state officeholders. The legislation compels data to analyze the impacts of remote learning on all children during the COVID-19 crisis with a focus on understanding the disparate educational impacts on children served by DCF. Additionally, the bill calls for a public service campaign to increase awareness of child abuse and neglect. The bill was then sent to the Senate for further action.
The House engrossed legislation authorizing up to $1.8 billion in spending for the improvement of information technology equipment and other capital projects across the Commonwealth. In addition, the bill authorizes funding for food security, law enforcement body cameras, and investments in educational technologies in Massachusetts schools. The capital plan, which includes $794 million for state and local general technology and physical infrastructure, features the following targeted investments:
This legislation creates a special legislative commission to make recommendations that reduce or remove the kind of racial inequities that result in women of color dying of pregnancy-related causes at more than twice the rate of white women. The commission will gather information and raise awareness of this systemic societal problem, in addition to reporting on barriers to equitable maternal care and best practices for remedying inequities. This bill was passed unanimously by the House and was sent to the Senate for further action.
UPDATE on the Allston Multimodal Project. At this time MassDOT and the project development team have narrowed the design options of the project and outlined the potential impacts of the design options. They have released three options, you can find detailed information about them at this link:
At this time, we are years away from this project breaking ground, but I will continue to monitor the development of a final option and advocate at the appropriate time for the interests of those who commute into Boston from this area. I am interested in your reaction to the three proposals and encourage you to share your thoughts with me. Ultimately, there will be a need to ensure that commuting capacity is maintained during the long period of construction, but until the final plan is approved, exactly what will be needed to maintain capacity cannot be known. I have certainly communicated to DOT and Secretary Pollack my concerns regarding the impact on commuters from the Wellesley, Weston, Wayland area and the need to address that.