Around Town

OP-ED: School, General Government Aid Will Not be Cut

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State Sen. Will Brownsberger

The following piece was provided by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, who represents Watertown, Belmont and parts of Boston:

The legislature and the Governor recently announced a joint commitment to avoid cuts in state aid to municipalities in the current fiscal year despite the state’s own loss of revenues. While critical information from the federal government is still needed in order to finalize a full fiscal year budget for the Commonwealth, the Baker-Polito Administration and the Legislature are committing to no less than the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) level of funding for UGGA and Chapter 70 education aid as a baseline amount for FY21 funding.The FY21 funding commitment also includes Chapter 70 increases for inflation and enrollment that will keep all school districts at foundation, under the law as it existed for FY20, providing an additional $107 million in aid over FY20. This increase comes in addition to approximately $450 million in new federal supports for K-12 schools to assist with educating students during the pandemic.   Division of Local Services Alert, July 30, 2020. This commitment reflects our shared belief that the services municipalities provide are truly essential. As we struggle through the pandemic, now is not the time to reduce support for police, fire, and schools. 

Since COVID-19 arrived in force in March, three fundamental uncertainties have made it impossible for the state to plan its overall budget for the current fiscal year (Fiscal 2021, which began on July 1).   

First, no one knows what the course of the pandemic will be. By now it does seem clear that we are in for a long struggle, but no one knows exactly what that means.   

Second, no one knows how the economy will respond to the epidemic itself and to the shutdown orders issued in response to the epidemic. How many businesses will fail? Will people find employment in newly needed services? 

The state’s available revenue depends very directly on the health of the economy. Most of the state’s major revenue sources – income taxes, sales taxes, corporate profit taxes – go up and down as the economy goes up and down.   Economic recession means state revenue loss. 

Even in good times, states depend heavily on aid from the federal government, especially to support the Medicaid program. With falling revenues for state governments across the country, all eyes are on Washington for relief. The decision from Washington is the third major unanswered question for budget planners. 

We expected an answer by May or June and congressional Democrats did put forward a strong bill in May. The House bill would fully protect Massachusetts and its municipalities from service cuts 2021. As of this writing, negotiations between the Democrats and the White House continue. I hope that as you read this, we will have an interim answer, but the longer-term outlook depends to some extent on the outcome of the fall elections. 

In the absence of a major infusion of federal aid, the total revenue losses for Massachusetts in Fiscal 2021 might approach $6 billion, a big chunk of the $45 billion budget. There is every reason to believe that Fiscal 2022 may also be grim. 

Like me, many legislators have previously served in local government and know the fundamental value of the services provided by municipalities. We also know that local governments function within a very tightly defined financial box: They can only raise the revenues authorized by state law and can only do so within the parameters of Proposition 2.5, the tax limitation law. Additionally, many town governments have a rigid budget planning cycle built around the annual town meeting – it is hard for them to make mid-year course changes. 

Conscious of these factors, legislators are always eager to make a strong commitment to local aid that communities can rely on early in the spring. This year we were unable to do that, first due to COVID-19 and then due to the delays in Washington.   

As July came to an end with no answer from Washington and with schools struggling to make plans for the fall, we decided we had to make a commitment to municipalities and resolve to meet that commitment regardless of the unknowns. We do have a rainy-day fund that now stands at $3.5 billion, although our hope has been not to use it all in the current fiscal year. Jointly, the House, the Senate, and the Governor concluded that we could, perhaps with other sacrifices, avoid cuts for municipalities and that is the announcement that came forward. 

Budget planners in some communities were surprised.  Indeed, for months, we have been warning that aid could be cut. Some planners were suspicious that there might be some hidden catch.  

Our budget leaders are acting after great deliberation and with great appreciation for the work that municipalities do. Local planners should feel safe relying on this commitment for Fiscal 2021. 

Fiscal 2022 is another story. But our actions this year should signal how much we value the work of the police, the firefighters, the teachers, and other municipal public servants. That appreciation will continue to guide our actions in 2022. 

Atomic Bomb

LETTER: History Author Responds to Discussion of Bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki

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Dear Editor,

I was dismayed to read the responses to the Watertown Citizens’ article about the importance of commemorating the 75th anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bombings. These comments reflected ignorance of history and passion for vengeance. As we know, the refusal to learn from history means that it will be repeated, often in a disguised form. Most important to know is that the A-bombs initially killed approximately200,000 innocent children, women and men, with many more dying from cancer and other radiation diseases in the years that have followed. In time, it will be broadly understood that the Asia-Pacific theaters of WWII were the result of clashing empires: Japanese, U.S. and British.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Group Commemorating Bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki

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Candleboats float on the Charles River in Watertown in memory of those who died in the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice and the Environment is holding a commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Sunday, August 9, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. NEVER AGAIN – NO MORE HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI – NO MORE VICTIMS – ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS

7:30 PM – Silent Vigil – Watertown Square8:00 PM – Music and Testimonials8:30 PM – Launching of the Candle boats on the Charles River

NEVER AGAIN! NO MORE VICTIMS! ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

Elections

LETTER: State Rep. Lawn Thanked for Role in Passing Election Law

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State Rep. John Lawn of Watertown, who represents the 10th Middlesex District. To the Editor,

Massachusetts voters will have many new ways of casting a ballot this fall thanks to an emergency bill passed by the legislature and signed into law a few short weeks ago. The law will help ensure that no Bay Stater has to choose between their right to vote and their health by sending mail ballot applications to all registered voters, providing a safer in-person voting experience by providing PPE and additional early voting options, and streamlining administrative procedures for local elections officials. There are many other changes as well as these toplines, all designed to modernize ourelection system and make it safer and more participatory. It is an outstanding example of moving forward for the benefit of all Bay Staters, and one of the strongest election reforms in the country.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Wants Tree to be Saved, Provides Cooling in Summer

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To whom it may concern:

I’m writing to add my voice in support of preservation of the public shade tree at 142 Forest Street, which by Mass. State law is receiving a public hearing today.  

I’ve heard from multiple concerned Watertown residents about the risk to this tree. All reports indicate that this is a vigorous, healthy pin oak which is providing significant benefits to the neighborhood and if preserved and protected should have decades of healthy service ahead.  

In sweltering hot weather, large-canopy urban trees like this oak play a critical role in cooling city neighborhoods.

Government

OP-ED: Is It Time to Hit the Brakes on Reopening in Mass.?

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State Sen. Will Brownsberger

The following piece was written by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, who represents Watertown, Belmont and parts of Boston:

In order to safely reopen our schools, we may need to hit the brakes on our phased reopening of the economy in Massachusetts. The latest numbers are telling us that we may need to reclose some businesses or find other ways to reduce infection. As we manage the reopening of the economy, we need to think more clearly about the trade-offs we are making and the consequences we are willing to accept. The decision to open optional services like casinos, movie theaters, and health clubs may make it impossible for us to safely reopen our schools. There is some guesswork in estimating how each specific business closure or infection control measure will affect the average rate at which people with COVID-19 transmit it to others.

Letters

OP-ED: Call to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons 75 Years After Atom Bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki

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Candleboats float on the Charles River in Watertown in memory of those who died in the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The following piece was submitted by Jeanne Trubek, Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, Pam Phillips and Sue LaDue of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment:

Seventy-five years ago, the United States opened a new era, the Age of Nuclear Weapons. In August, 1945, the US dropped one atomic bomb on Hiroshima and one atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Those two bombs killed 226,000 people — immediately. In the years that followed, the survivors — in Japanese as “Hibakusha” – suffered cancer and chronic disease as a result of the extreme radiation.

Letters

OP-ED: Watertown Group’s Statement on Policing, Systematic Racism

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The following op-ed was written by Watertown Citizens for Black Lives, a working group of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment:

July 2020

Something about the moment we are in – maybe it’s because COVID-19 has made it impossible to ignore the deadly ways race predicts health outcomes, or because our disrupted routines make it possible for a single event to galvanize our shared attention on a huge scale – something made everyone notice the brutal killing of George Floyd. As sickening as his murder was, it was far from unique. Floyd’s name is one in a very long list of Black people killed by police (or by vigilantes with ties to law enforcement), a list that includes Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, and too, too many others (https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/). Activists campaigning for safe communities have been imploring for years that we reaffirm the individual humanity of each of these lives, and our own, by saying their names, by holding their killers accountable, and by creating conditions such that Black lives are no longer disproportionately the victims of state violence. Since George Floyd’s death, more people, and notably more white people, are finally beginning to reckon with the long history of police brutality against Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC).