Growing up near Albany, New York, this son of a public school teacher first became politically active in high school, where he advocated for increased school budgets and progressive school board candidates. A longtime activist and leader, he spent twelve years as the chair of the Watertown Democratic Town Committee. In 2016 he was elected to the Democratic State Committee, where he helped the party enact reforms to increase voter participation.
Massachusetts’s coastal New England location makes it particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including more severe storms and rising sea levels. That makes it all the more important to seek a Green New Deal for Massachusetts that includes a transition away from fossil fuels and towards 100% clean and renewable energy.
The Commonwealth took a major step forward when, in March 2021 it passed the Next-Generation Climate Roadmap. This landmark legislation sets a net-zero target of 2050, strengthens building codes, increases access to renewable energy, invests millions of dollars annually in energy efficiency, and for the first time, defines and promotes Environmental Justice. (The Metropolitan Area Planning Council has an excellent summary of the bill.)
Representative Owens serves on the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, which is working to implement green technologies like wind and solar power and high-capacity battery storage, as well as the House Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change.
Additionally, by making critical investments in transportation and infrastructure, the state can empower labor unions and workers by creating good, high-paying jobs building green facilities, retrofitting the state’s existing housing stock, and encouraging the installation of solar panels on residential and commercial buildings.
It is equally crucial that this initiative pursue environmental justice in order to counteract the effects of both climate change and pollution that have disproportionately affected low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
Representative Owens is applying his expertise as a longtime transportation analyst to deliver a public transit system that reduces traffic congestion, improves the state's carbon footprint, and benefits marginalized communities.
The MBTA needs state support in order to enhance service and tackle its extensive backlog of repairs, but it also needs to be held accountable to the citizens who both support and rely on it.
â— Increase service frequency. This will make the service more accessible and improve social distancing during the pandemic.
â— Make buses free. Buses account for only 15% of the MBTA’s fare revenue. Eliminating bus fares will speed up service, benefit high-poverty communities, and relieve drivers of their responsibility for fare enforcement.
â— Electrify bus and commuter rail lines. These capital projects will create good, green jobs while also reducing pollution and helping combat climate change.
â— Increase municipal bus and bicycle lanes. Buses run faster when they don’t need to compete with cars for the road.
As the son of a public school teacher and the parent of two students currently in the Watertown Public Schools, Representative Owens has had a lifelong personal connection and commitment to furthering educational opportunities for all students, regardless of ZIP code.
Since entering the State House, Representative Owens has worked to expand access to education, safe environments, healthy meals, and support for students with disabilities across the Commonwealth.
The Covid-19 pandemic, with its lengthy school closures and remote learning, has underscored the need for the state to invest equitably in technology. It also has produced a unique set of challenges as reflected in the most recent MCAS scores. Massachusetts must return its students to their position as the top academic performers in the country.
At the same time, the state must correct historical education inequities in low-income and majority-minority communities. This means not only less reliance on local property taxes, but also a more diverse teaching staff and a curriculum that teaches respect for all, regardless of race, religion, or sexuality.
A major step toward the latter goal came in December 2021 when the State mandated Holocaust and genocide education in all public schools. Representative Owens continues to advocate for education legislation that promotes mutual respect and tolerance from an early age.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts must combat systemic racism in order to right historical wrongs. This includes taking steps to reduce violence and institutional discrimination, and expanding access to quality health care, affordable housing, decent schools, and accessible transportation for communities of color.
Now is also the time to rethink public safety more generally. Police response is appropriate and necessary to prevent and respond to violent crime. But for years, police departments have served as overburdened first responders for every type of conflict, from domestic disputes to arguments over unleashed dogs in public parks.
Cambridge and Watertown have spearheaded common-sense criminal justice reforms, like implementing non-jail diversion programs and having police officers work side-by-side with social workers and mental health professionals.
Real public safety should focus on social intervention and smart, effective solutions that allow police to combat crime while ensuring that society respects the dignity of all its citizens, rather than spending the state’s valuable resources furthering a destructive culture of incarceration.
Massachusetts continues to be one of the most desirable places to live, work, play, and study in the country. But due to its coastal location, it also has a limited supply of housing stock. That combination has sent prices soaring in recent years and put housing out of reach of many of the most vulnerable residents.
State government has a responsibility to promote inclusive communities, so residents can afford to live close to family and work. Representative Owens supports legislation that helps protect residents who have not yet benefited from the booming economy so they can continue to remain in and contribute to their communities.
â— Continue the eviction and foreclosure moratorium, as well as offer financial assistance to individuals who missed payments due to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis.
â— Promote the construction of affordable housing.
â— Work to undo decades of racist, exclusionary zoning policies that have created segregated neighborhoods and substandard public housing.
â— Seal eviction records after three years so tenants can escape the stigma of eviction.
Massachusetts has a proud history of working to ensure the right to health care among all its citizens. Its first-of-a-kind health insurance guarantee paved the way for the national Affordable Care Act.
Now is the time for Massachusetts to again lead the way. Representative Owens strongly supports House Bill 1267, which would establish a single-payer “Medicare for All” system to provide equitable, cost-effective, efficient access to health care for all residents of the Commonwealth. Specifically, the new legislation will:
â— Replace the current mixture of public and private health insurance plans with a uniform and comprehensive health care plan available to every Massachusetts resident.
â— Eliminate co-insurance, co-payments, deductibles, and any other form of patient cost sharing.
â— Ensure that all residents have access to dental care, behavioral health, eyeglasses, hearing aids, home health care, nursing home care, and other important needs.
â— Work to reduce health care costs for residents, municipalities, and businesses.
â— Reduce administrative cost and inefficiencies and use savings to expand covered health care services, contain health care cost increases, promote innovation, and expand primary and preventative health care.
Representative Owens is also a strong supporter of reproductive health care, and of protecting the right to abortion services. He is a cosponsor of several measures currently under consideration in the State House that will ensure the rights of women in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts has a long history of welcoming immigrants from around the world, educating them, and allowing them to succeed and thrive. We must further that tradition.
To that end, Representative Owens is a cosponsor of the long-overdue Safe Communities Act, which allows undocumented immigrants to contact, assist, and seek the protection of law enforcement without fear of retribution for their legal status. This in turn protects all residents of the Commonwealth by helping law enforcement take violent criminals off the streets.
Representative Owens is also a supporter of the Work and Family Mobility Act, which ensures equal access to driver’s licenses, regardless of immigration status, so families can travel to school and doctor’s appointments without fear of arrest or separation. By ensuring that these drivers meet Massachusetts’s driving standards, the Act will make roads safer for everyone.
Our budget is a reflection of our priorities. Therefore our spending and investments should reflect our values.
Monetary return is not the only bottom line for our pension fund. What about our climate bottom line? What about our justice bottom line? What about sustainability? We should be directing our public investments to reflect our public priorities, and the more we reward companies that are doing the right thing, the more companies will do the right thing. As a public entity, we are investing for the long term. If we ignore the planet, no other bottom line will matter.
The Commonwealth also has the power to influence decisions at the national level. We must use this influence to pressure Congress to pass a People’s Budget that accurately reflects our national priorities. Almost 90% of nurses in one survey from May reported that they had to reuse disposable respirators or masks around a patient with Covid and almost ¾ reported they had exposed skin while interacting with Covid patients due to PPE shortages. Our communities value frontline healthcare workers, and if our spending does not support their safety, we must not support our current spending.