Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution
A progressive organization based in Franklin County, Mass.
Register for the zoom link here: tinyurl.com/MASchoolFunding
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FCCPR is offering an online forum on April 4th at 7 pm focused on school funding.
Massachusetts is a very wealthy state. It has close to eight billion dollars in its rainy day fund. It has so much money on hand that it was required by law to send money back to taxpayers.
And Massachusetts politicians say that they love our children, that children are our future, and that education is the key to unlocking that future.
So why don’t we fully fund our schools? Why are our teachers and instructional assistants working without a contract, our technology outdated, and why is the school district begging the town for more money, which the town does not have? And what can we do about it?
We have the money in Massachusetts, and our children, who are our future, deserve the very best education we can provide for them. Please join us at our education funding forum on April 4th at 7 pm.
School Funding 101 (Greenfield)
Get the zoom link here: tinyurl.com/MASchoolFunding
Please contact Doug Selwyn with any questions you might have: dougselwyn@aol.com
We hope to see you and others you know concerned about local school funding there! Please help us spread the word!
FCCPR is offering an online forum on MARCH 14 at 7 pm focused on school funding.
Massachusetts is a very wealthy state. It has close to eight billion dollars in its rainy day fund. It has so much money on hand that it was required by law to send money back to taxpayers.
And Massachusetts politicians say that they love our children, that children are our future, and that education is the key to unlocking that future.
So why don’t we fully fund our schools? Why are our teachers and instructional assistants working without a contract, our technology outdated, and why is the school district begging the town for more money, which the town does not have? And what can we do about it?
We have the money in Massachusetts, and our children, who are our future, deserve the very best education we can provide for them. Please join us at our education funding forum on March 14 at 7 pm.
School Funding 101 (Greenfield)
Get the zoom link here: tinyurl.com/MASchoolFunding
Please contact Doug Selwyn with any questions you might have: dougselwyn@aol.com
We hope to see you and others you know concerned about local school funding there! Please help us spread the word!
On November 20th we held our General Assembly which was filled with lots of lively discussion. Here are some of the highlights.
Results of ballot questions we worked on.
We had targeted several of the ballot questions for our work. Here are the results.
Question 1 Fair Share -Millionaires Tax Franklin County 21,052 Yes 9,859 No 66% yes
Question 4 Drivers Licenses for All 19451 yes, 11443 No, 61% yes
Question 5 Medicare for All 2nd Franklin State Rep district 9367 yes, 5383 no, 57% yes
Question 5 Medicare for All 7th Hampden State Rep district 9859 yes, 6820 no, 53% yes
Medicare for All passed in all 20 State Rep districts that it appeared on the ballot.
Question 6 Transparency on votes in the Massachusetts House of Representatives:
2nd Franklin district 11623 yes 2977 no, 71% yes
The General Assembly voted to send $500 to the Warnock campaign in Georgia via Movement Voter Project. This has been done.
Discussed the situation of Police and Mayor in Greenfield and agreed to keep having discussions with FCCPR, Racial Justice Rising and Greenfield Peoples budget campaign.
There was a report from the newly formed Reproductive Justice Task Force and people signed up to help with the task force.
It was reported that ballot referendums supporting abortion rights won in all 5 states where they were on the ballot, and suggested that the Democrats did better than usual in the mid-term elections nationally in part because more women and young people turned out to support abortion rights as a way to oppose the SCOTUS Dobbs amendment. One legislative priority of the new RJ task force is MA Medicare for All, since we want to connect reproductive rights with economic and social rights.
What legislation do we want our delegation to propose and strive for in the new session?
There was a very good discussion for what kind of legislation we want our State Reps. and Senators to support. Here are the results. We will be trying to set-up meetings with our Reps to discuss all these issues.
Items in bold considered highest priorities by FCCPR Coordinating Committee
Climate
Housing
Reproductive Justice
Medicare for All
Education
Racial and Social Justice
Transportation (Question 1 funds)
By Ferd Wulkan and Anne Ferguson
We all know we have a housing crisis all across our country. Rents have skyrocketed; there are insufficient numbers of apartments and houses available; many people in our cities are unhoused; rent control is considered too radical; there are few protections against evictions. The American dream has long included home ownership and stable safe neighborhoods. But the dream has become a nightmare as racism and capitalism leave some without homes altogether, and have displaced so many more. Most discouraging, few people see any alternatives to the current system of how housing is allocated and paid for.
But there is an alternative. Two members of Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution (FCCPR) were in Vienna, Austria recently and saw how things could be different. Montague resident Ferd Wulkan was there in September and spent time with several Viennese residents, all of whom proudly talked to him about housing in the city. He visited the Karl-Marx Hof, the largest of the socialized housing developments – it stretches over 1 kilometer and houses 5,000 people. The picture shows a small part of that development.
Leverett resident Ann Ferguson was there a few years earlier and learned how the people in the Karl-Marx Hof complex led the resistance to the Nazis in the early 1930s. She was particularly impressed by the combination of individual kitchens and communal dining services the original complex offered, including dumb waiters to every apartment allowing the food from the communal kitchen to be delivered to each flat, and the communal laundry and child care center.
Between 50 and 60 percent of all Viennese live in permanently affordable, rent-stabilized subsidized dwellings. These include 220,000 city-owned units and 200,000 non-profit co-operative flats built with municipal subsidies. Vienna’s 1,800 municipal housing estates alone are home to close to half a million citizens (out of a population of slightly under two million). All of it together is referred to as “social housing”, which they think sounds better than “public housing”. There has been a conscious effort to integrate the projects such that members of different social classes live next to each other, each paying a similar percentage of their income for rent.
This all started after the devastation of World War I. In under a decade, from 1925 to 1934, more than 60,000 new apartments were built in large developments situated around green courtyards. The Karl-Marx Hof is a good example of this. Forty percent of the building costs came from the Vienna Housing Tax, the rest from the proceeds of a luxury tax and from federal funds. From 1919 to 1933, the city was the only entity building new housing.
While Austria’s national government has been ruled by a variety of parties ranging from right to left over the years, for over 100 years (except for the Nazi period 1938-45) Vienna has mostly been governed by the Social Democrats: indeed, starting in the 1920’s, it was known as “Red Vienna”. The socialists implemented policies to improve public education, healthcare, sanitation and, especially, housing. Stable affordable housing, how the dwellings were managed, and what services were provided, were key to the party’s creation and celebration of a workers’ culture. It was also a way to increase workers’ power by eliminating a major source of economic stress.
It remains true today that with so much of the rental market subsidized and affordable in Vienna, there is downward pressure on rents overall . This means that owners of private apartments have to compete with the socialized sector and are thus limited in the rents they can charge. In other words, the rental market is not subject to the forces of the free market or the ideology of neoliberalism.
Ferd and Ann were also impressed by how apartments are allocated. Starting in 1925, persons with disabilities and other societally vulnerable groups received preference in receiving subsidized apartments. Even today, there continues to be a complicated allocation system so that many of the more desirably located apartments are made available to low-income people.
So what does this mean for us in the US today? We need to acknowledge that housing is a basic human right! The Vienna example shows that where there’s a will there’s a way, but we in the U.S. need a socialist vision that can compete with the dominant capitalist world view. Learning from other places, like Ann and Ferd did in Vienna, can be part of what could get us there.
Sources, and for more information:
City of Vienna, “Social Housing in Vienna”
Miles Howard, “Maybe more of us should live in public housing”, Boston Globe, 3/13/2020
Wikipedia, “Red Vienna” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Vienna
“Red Vienna: Experiment in Working-Class Culture” by Helmut Gruber [1991, Oxford University Press]
This is a long needed amendment to our State Constitution.
This proposed constitutional amendment would establish an additional 4% state income tax on that portion of annual taxable income in excess of $1 million. This income level would be adjusted annually, by the same method used for federal income-tax brackets, to reflect increases in the cost of living. Revenues from this tax would be used, subject to appropriation by the state Legislature, for public education, public colleges and universities; and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation. The proposed amendment would apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023.
For more information please go to https://www.fairsharema.com/why-fair-share
This proposed law would direct the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance to approve or disapprove the rates of dental benefit plans and would require that a dental insurance carrier spend at least 83 percent of the premiums on actual dental coverage rather then administrative costs. If a carrier’s annual spending on dental coverage is less than 83 percent, the carrier would be required to refund the excess premiums to its covered individuals and groups. The proposed law would allow the Commissioner to waive or adjust the refunds only if it is determined that issuing refunds would result in financial impairment for the carrier.
For more information please go to https://voteyeson2fordental.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInbis26nx-gIVdwOzAB0HGA9EEAAYASAAEgJP6vD_BwE
The Republican candidate for governor is looking to use anti-immigrant and racist actions to bolster his campaign. This is an attempt to overturn a law that was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature.
This law allows Massachusetts residents who cannot provide proof of lawful presence in the United States to obtain a standard driver’s license or learner’s permit if they meet all the other qualifications for a standard license or learner’s permit, including a road test and insurance, and provide proof of their identity, date of birth, and residency. The law provides that, when processing an application for such a license or learner’s permit or motor vehicle registration, the registrar of motor vehicles may not ask about or create a record of the citizenship or immigration status of the applicant, except as otherwise required by law. This law does not allow people who cannot provide proof of lawful presence in the United States to obtain a REAL ID.
For more information please go to https://masspeaceaction.org/vote-yes-on-ballot-questions-1-and-4/
Instruct your Representative to vote in favor of Massachusetts establishing a single-payer health care plan, also know as Improved Medicare for All
This will be on the ballot in the new 2nd Franklin district which comprises Greenfield Precincts 1,2,3,4, and 9, Athol, Erving, Gill, Northfield, Orange, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, Winchendon Precinct 1
This will also be on the ballot in the new 7th Hampden District which includes Belchertown.
Ludlow, New Salem, Pelham, Petersham, Shutesbury, Wendell
In 2018 all of Franklin County voted overwhelmingly for this ballot question. Both our State Reps., Natalie Blais and Paul Mark endorsed the legislation. Now with the change in the State Rep. districts it is on the ballot in the new 2nd Franklin District. We are hoping that Rep. Susanah Whipps if elected will also ensdorse the legislation.
“Shall the representative for this district be instructed to vote for legislation to create a single payer system of universal health care that provides all Massachusetts residents with comprehensive health care coverage including the freedom to choose doctors and other health care professionals, facilities, and services, and eliminates the role of insurance companies in health care by creating an insurance trust fund that is publicly administered?”
For more information please go to https://masscare.org/
(The number of this question may vary from town to town)
Shall the representative from this district be instructed to introduce and vote for legislation that puts a fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels to compensate for their environmental damage and returns most of the proceeds in equitable ways to individuals as a cash-back dividend?
Another partial solution to a big problem but it is a good step in the right direction.
This will be on the ballot in the First Franklin District which is comprised on Greenfield Precincts 5,6,7,8, Ashfield, Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Hawley, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, Monroe, Montague, Rowe, Shelburne, Sunderland, Whately
For more information please go to :https://www.gazettenet.com/Voters-in-1st-Franklin-1st-Hampshire-districts-asked-to-weigh-in-on-carbon-tax-48395589?utm_source=pocket_mylist
(The number of this question may vary from town to town)
Shall the representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of changes to the applicable House of Representative rules to make each Legislator’s vote in that body’s Legislative committees publicly available on the Legislature’s website.
This will be on the ballot in the new 2nd Franklin district which comprises Greenfield Precincts 1,2,3,4, and 9, Athol, Erving, Gill, Northfield, Orange, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, Winchendon
Precinct 1
It seems to us this is a simple ask, have votes by our elected Representatives made public. That’s basic democracy.
For more information please go to https://actonmass.org/the-campaign
Our last recommendation is that people vote for Tara Jacobs in the governors council race. This vote is often overlooked, but the Governors council provides advice to the Governor on selecting Judges and on parole issues. Recently our current Governor appointed an anti-choice person to a judgeship. We believe Tara Jacobs will not work to appoint right wing judges.
Are you upset by Mayor Wedergartner’s unilateral decision to give Chief Haigh his job back, with zero regard to his illegal, racist conduct and his enabling of serious misconduct in the Greenfield Police Department?
You’re not alone!
Please come out on Wednesday, September 7 at 5pm in front of Greenfield City Hall to let the mayor know that we are paying attention and this is NOT OK! (Bring signs!)
RACISM HARMS ALL OF US, and it is the responsibility of each one of us to speak out and to hold one another accountable for harmful, racist actions, particularly actions by elected and taxpayer-funded city officials. The reinstatement of Chief Haigh is a stain on the City of Greenfield, and we must not stand by silently.
For a full account of all the reasons why Haigh should not be our police chief, see this Greenfield People’s Budget’s blog post.
Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution (FCCPR) believes our government should be protecting the rights to freedom and equality for all, regardless of gender, race or class. We are outraged at the recent Supreme Court decision that eliminates the 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion in the US. State abortion bans violate the doctrine of the separation of church and state (the first amendment right to freedom of religion) based on the narrow religious view that the fetus is a person whose rights overrule the mother’s bodily autonomy rights.
FCCPR demands that our government’s policies support reproductive justice. This means measures that guarantee the rights of all, regardless of race or income, to parent or not to parent in economic and social conditions that allow for the raising of healthy children, as well as respect for women’s rights to bodily autonomy. The SCOTUS Dobbs decision allows state abortion bans to create forced births and income crises for families. They harm the women and pregnant people forced to undergo them, negatively impact their other children and their families’ future well-being, and disproportionately harm communities of color.
Abortion bans worsen gender injustice as well as economic and racial injustice. They will criminalize many pregnant women and those who help them. They force people in abortion-ban states to lose jobs when they must travel long distances to states where abortion is legal or to deal with aftereffects of dangerous self-induced procedures. More than half of US states are now poised to pass near-total abortion bans.
Most abortion-ban states lack social supports for medical care and have few welfare benefits for poor families. These states also deny workers’ rights to unionize through right to work laws and undermine voter rights by gerrymandering and other policies. Many of them permit the concealed carrying of guns, which can be used to promote vigilantism. They endanger abortion providers and those seeking abortions, LGBTIQ people and those promoting sex education and access to contraception. They also endanger those who promote fair, democratic elections.
We demand that the Democratic Party unequivocally implement our demands to protect our rights, our safety, and well-being, and promote gender, racial and economic justice. It must immediately:
1. Implement measures to rein in the present Supreme Court of the United States, which has made politicized, reactionary, and unconstitutional decisions on abortion rights, gun regulation, voting rights, and environmental protection. Policies and laws should include:
· Restraint of Judicial Review (restrict certain types of bills from being considered by SCOTUS). Article 3 of the Constitution gives Congress the right to limit judicial review on particular bills.
· Expansion of the Supreme Court per Sen. Markey’s Judiciary Action Bill of 2021. The Supreme Court has been expanded and contracted many times before, including by President Lincoln.
2. Overturn the Senate filibuster that requires a supermajority to pass a bill. A simple majority of the Senate can then pass laws protecting the rights of women and others.
3. Pass into law the Constitutional right to abortion and abortion access as well as previous SCOTUS decisions that guarantee the right to contraception (Griswold), gay sex (Lawrence), gay marriage (Obergefell), gay sex (Lawrence), and interracial marriage (Loving).
4. Repeal the Hyde Amendment which bans the federal government from supporting the costs of abortions for low-income people.
5. Place abortion and family planning clinics on federal lands in all states.
6.Expand education and access to Plan C (abortion through pill medication).]
7. Pass laws and policies at the state level that outmaneuver unjust Supreme Court rulings.
In a recent FCCPR meeting, members enthusiastically supported four actions that our organization can undertake: first, to work on getting the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to co-sponsor the Markey bill to expand the Supreme Court; second, to boycott corporations funding right wing politicians; third, to work with Massachusetts legislators to craft and pass laws supporting reproductive justice; and finally to sponsor postcard writing, phone banking, and texting to get out the vote for progressive electoral candidates. We also created a new Reproductive Justice Task Force to spearhead these campaigns. We urge those who support reproductive justice to join us, or to do these actions on your own. To get involved, write to Anne Ferguson at ferguson3638@gmail.com or Sharon Tracy at tracy.sharon@gmail.com.