Tony immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 14 years old. His parents, Manuel and Victoria, wanted their children to have greater opportunities and a better life in America. They spoke no English and didn’t have money or connections in the United States, but instilled in their children the value of education, hard-work, and civic responsibility.
H.552 An Act relative to the training, assessment, and assignment of qualified school interpreters in educational settings.
This bill would direct the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to create standards and competencies for the training, hiring and use of interpreters in educational settings in order to provide limited English proficient (LEP) students and parents with competent interpretation services, as required by federal and state law.
H.551 An Act relative to transparency and accountability in charter school finance.
In this bill, the expense of Charter School Tuition Payments would be split between a local share, capped at the statewide average, and the state, subject to yearly appropriation, thereby decoupling a portion of charter school funding from district school funding.
H.2425 An Act to require seat belts on school buses.
This bill would update the current law in Massachusetts to require the use of seatbelts on school busses transporting to or from a public, charter or vocational school.
H.1477 An Act relative to enforcing federal law.
This bill restricts the use of MA state tax resources from being spent on 287g agreements, in which local sheriff departments are deputized as ICE agents. The federal government leaves the cost of these contracts upon the state.
In the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget, a budget amendment was passed mandating sheriffs departments to account for how much they’ve spent.
H.1478 An Act for the youth restorative just fund.
Currently, drug forfeiture funds are split evenly between police departments and District Attorney Offices to use at their discretion with few reporting requirements. This amendment would create a Youth Restorative Justice Fund by committing 34% of drug forfeiture funding to support and expand Youth Courts and restorative justice-based juvenile diversion programs in Massachusetts through a grant program administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security. It would also require District Attorneys and police departments to publicly report drug forfeiture fund expenditures.
H.1475 An Act limiting the use of prison labor.
This bill would ensure that inmate labor programs must only be performed in the boundaries of the Commonwealth.
H.2139 An Act to establish a commission to study the distribution of unrestricted local aid.
This bill would establish a commission to study the ongoing equity problems with local aid distribution.
H.1938 An Act relative to time and a half wages.
This bill would increase the premium employees are paid when they work on Sunday from one and four-tenths to one and one half.
H.2834 Primary Sponsor An Act to reduce graduate student loan debt.
This bill would provide an income tax deduction for interest paid on certain graduate student loans.
H.2835 An Act to promote development through the historic rehabilitation tax credit program.
This bill would provide tax credits for the rehab of historic properties for mixed commercial and residential uses.
H.3266 An Act relative to offshore wind.
This bill would increases the amount of megawatts produced by offshore wind from 1,600 to 4,800 by 2025. It would also establish that 15% of an offshore wind proposal’s score must create and foster employment and economic development in the Commonwealth.
H.505 An Act to promote inclusive entrepreneurship and economic justice.
This bill would require the administration’s 4-year strategic economic development policy and plan include an assessment of racial and ethnic disparities in employment and business ownership and analyze how the economic development initiatives contained in the plan contribute to reducing these disparities. It would also create a competitive grant program that provides matching grants to establish or strengthen business districts that serve communities of color, in addition to, smaller grants for any business district in the state to help entrepreneurs of color in their community expand their market. Finally, it would require all public boards and commission in the Commonwealth adopt policies and practices to increase racial and ethnic diversity of their membership.
H.281 An Act relative to neighborhood stabilization and economic development.
This bill would raise the MA Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) annual cap from $10 million to $30 million. It would include ‘neighborhood stabilization’ as a consideration under the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s enabling statute when designing and building schools. It would establish a “spot blight rehabilitation program” to streamline small-scale residential projects on problem properties. Finally, it would establish a commission to study how to best improve the housing stock in weak markets, as it relates to safety, accessibility, resiliency, and regional equity.
Read Tony’s full plan for the fishing industry here.