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Democratic 2022 Representative In General Court

Carmine Lawrence Gentile

Raised in Watertown, Massachusetts, Carmine was the first in his family to graduate college. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and his juris doctor from Suffolk University Law School. For the past 30 years, Carmine has represented children, parents and small businesses and has regularly provided free legal services for adults and children in need through his law firm in Framingham. While he has largely curtailed his practice to focus on his work as a legislator, his career as a lawyer has given Carmine an understanding of the wide variety of challenges faced by residents and businesses in the MetroWest.

JOBS AND ECONOMY

Massachusetts’ recovery from the Great Recession has been aided by its position as a leader in healthcare, life sciences and technology. However, we live in a rapidly changing economy and will continue to have intense competition both within the United States and globally.

We must be committed to enhancing our economic competitiveness to support emerging industries and attract and keep good businesses and high quality jobs. I support regulatory changes and innovative programs that will create an atmosphere where entrepreneurship and job creation can thrive.

I believe a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is both a moral obligation and good for our economy. While worker productivity has undergone sizable increases for many years, our minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. Massachusetts’ minimum wage is the lowest it has ever been (in terms of real dollars adjusted for inflation) and no longer covers basic life necessities for workers and their families. This is not only an issue of fairness. It is good economics. Minimum wage earners help stimulate local business when they spend their wages in the community.

With regard to creating quality jobs, I support:

  • Raising the minimum wage to a minimum of $11.00 an hour. This raise will improve the quality of life for thousands of Massachusetts families. For example, single mothers who earn the new minimum wage and their children will no longer live in poverty.
  • Linking future increases in the minimum wage to the rising cost of living
  • Raising the minimum wage for tipped workers
  • Paid sick time
  • Focusing on workforce development with more coordination between the skill needs of the business community and the curriculum of vocational-tech schools, community colleges, and our state universities

When Tea Party Republicans in Congress refused to extend federal unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, more than 68,000 Massachusetts residents lost a vital economic lifeline on December 28, 2013. Cutting unemployment insurance benefits even further or making it harder to get benefits is too high a price for state legislation boosting the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is vital for Massachusetts workers but it should not be done at the expense of the unemployed.