​Jim Hawkins is your candidate for re-election to State Representative in the Second Bristol District of Attleboro. He is a graduate of Colby College with an MBA from Providence College. He has been a homeowner in Attleboro for over 35 years. Jim has been an eager and supportive advocate for local businesses and has earned a glowing reputation as a steadfast and effectual champion for public education.
After a decade of weak funding administration has been cut, secretarial support has been cut, adjustment councilors, guidance councilors, nurses, and resource officers have been cut, books and supplies have been cut some years eliminated, and now teachers and valuable programs have been cut. The legislature has not accepted the Foundation Budget Commissions recommendations on Special Education expenses and health care expenses has not been adopted because there is not adequate revenue to support them. The Fair Share amendment will provide the much needed revenue. It is a surcharge on incomes over a million dollars. So it has no effect on working people. And if a person earns a million dollars it is taxed the same as everyone else. If they earn a million and ten dollars the surcharge is only on that ten dollars. So it’s impact on millionaires is minimal. Massachusetts is one of the few states with a flat tax. A flat tax is a regressive tax and thus places a greater burden on working people. But that is how the constitutional is written. The Fair Share tax is a constitutional amendment and that is why it is such a long process with both ballot questions and legislative approval.
MCAS turns our schools upside down. As a tenth grade math teacher just the math portion of MCAS was an 8 hour test And these are 15 year old and that is only the math portion! Because of the high stakes we have to “teach to the test” more than follow needed curriculum. And if a student isn’t good at a stressful test like this they can be kept from graduating. Attleboro is part of the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment. Together teachers and administrators are developing a performance based alternative to high stakes testing. This would be less stressful on students. It would be a fairer evaluation of student success. And it would avoid the $30 million we spend on outside test prep for MCAS. It should be a welcome breath of fresh air in education yet the Republicans on the legislature opposed funding it…even though it would ultimately save money!
I have owned and managed small family owned businesses and even taught small business management at Roger Williams University. My opponent is retired from a military career with no experience in private industry yet she claims to understand the needs of business owners.
We all agree that Opioid addiction has reached crisis proportions. But it is not enough to just throw money at the problem. Addiction is a disease and must be treated that way. We must make treatment and recovery options available to people who need them. If a near death experience is not enough to make a person want to do the hard work to recover then mandatory confinement will not help either. Penalties for drug dealers may sound nice but it has nothing to do with recovery which is where we must focus our efforts.
The highways are clogged and MBTA is unreliable and overcrowded. For Attleboro to grow we need easier access to high paying jobs closer to Boston. Regional Transportation is needed for low income workers who need to get to work and shopping yet that has been level funded. Even though the millionaire’s tax would provide relief for our transportation and infrastructure, my opponent is stated she is against it.
The proposed gas compressor station behind the Poncin Hewitt fields is a disaster waiting to happen. They are proposing adding pressure to a pipeline that was built decades ago. These pipelines have a scary safety record already, but this one is right in the middle of Attleboro neighborhoods and schools. They are transporting fracked gas which is the most poisonous of all gasses. And it is primarily for export and would not benefit our local utility costs. The Republican Governor supports the compressor station and my opponent has been reluctant to go against party line and pay attention to the needs of Attleboro residents.