ON OUR ECONOMY

It’s time to get aggressive about making Massachusetts an affordable and livable state.  Our residents are suffering and the good, working-class people that have traditionally been the backbone of our state’s culture and economy are leaving.  This ‘Mass exodus’ is not just a symptom of the skyrocketing cost of living - in some ways, it is the cause of a second set of problems.  Without a young, stable workforce Massachusetts will have a difficult time in attracting new employers.  Those individuals that choose to remain in the state are forced to pay higher taxes in order to support the services that retirees rightfully expect.  

In the coming two years, I will propose and support a package of bills that I believe will lead to stability and growth.  All of the ideas that I support are ultimately aimed to do one thing: lower the living costs of Massachusetts residents.  I believe that our legislature needs to be doing more to alleviate the present financial burdens faced by our state agencies, local towns, schools and - of course - our residents and families.  Sadly, so many of our current financial problems (such as high energy and healthcare costs - two of the primary factors that have led to such massive increases in our property tax burdens) might have been avoided if only our leaders had had the will and the initiative to develop real solutions to these chronic problems years ago.  I support smart, forward-thinking measures that go to the root causes of our high cost of living and that once enacted will lead to a gradual decrease in financial burdens faced by all of our citizens.

1. Tom supports incentives to spark Green Industry in Massachusetts.
   

1. Tom supports continued reforms to our corporate tax code
   

I support initiatives that close down tax loopholes for multi-state corporations looking to ‘beat the system’ and initiatives aimed at updating our grossly exploited Telecom laws.  Through simple reforms of our reporting process, the state stands to gain millions in fairly earned revenue.  Additionally, while I do stand in favor of certain industry-specific incentive programs like those mentioned above, I do not presently support either the Governor’s or the Speaker’s current proposal calling for large corporate tax cuts across the board in the coming years.   Such initiatives have never been proven to really stimulate an economy - and I doubt highly that we’ll ever be able to lower the cost of doing business in Massachusetts to the level that, say, North Carolina or certain sun belt states might.   Instead, I propose tax incentive schemes only to specific sectors (like bio, info and green tech that hold real promise for growth and revenue and job creation in the coming decades. These are sectors that like working here in Massachusetts; here, we have the trained and educated workforce that companies in these sectors look for.  Let’s use our money wisely and our talents wisely.  By using the remaining corporate taxes to repair and modernize our transportation infrastructure, we can keep Massachusetts a ‘working-friendly’ environment for commuters and thereby employers while easing the burdens of transportation for both our citizens and our tourists.

1. Tom supports ‘cutting the fat’
   

A lot has been said of the many ways in which the state can cut back on unnecessary expenditures.  I support nearly all of these measures - particularly now, we need to be more proactive about moving towards electronic record keeping and trimming the budget in the short term.   I am particularly supportive of initiatives to retrofit our aged and costly government buildings with modern insulation, lighting and heating/cooling instruments.  These simple steps will help to provide long term relief from the drain that these buildings place on our budget and our tax payers.   Additionally, I stand with many school district heads in demanding a full audit of state expenditures - particularly of the sizable amount of ‘unbudgeted’ state spending - so that we can finally be clear with taxpayers about the true cost of government, stop with the ‘nickel-and-diming’ and put in place a real plan to deal with those costs.

1. Tom supports expanding the bottle bill and the $1 cigarette excise tax
   

Our health, our environment and our economy are all interconnected.  By expanding our bottle bill, we can simultaneously protect our environment and generate between ten and twenty million dollars in yearly revenue for the state.  The $1 cigarette tax creates an incentive for our fellow citizens to find a path to a healthier, longer life.  Such a measure will also help to support our state healthcare programs patronized by those that go on to develop an expensive chronic health condition later in life.

1. It is both right and smart to help Seniors remain in their homes
   

1. Local communities deserve control over their own fate
   

I stand to support Norfolk and other communities looking to create their own local economic development council.  With our property taxes placing a continued demand on residents while the equity in our homes continues to drop, towns need to be free to do everything in their power to generate new revenue and support their schools and their people.

One key part of this is the ability for towns to ‘call their own shots’ when providing affordable housing.   From 2000-2008, 14% of our young workforce left the state.  This alarming trend will mean that there will be far fewer workers supporting the aging population as it retires, threatening all state services and increasing our taxes.  Part of the reason for the “Mass exodus” is the lack of affordable housing - we need to get very aggressive in pushing forward legislation that ensures towns are meeting at least a 10% quota in this regard.  However, they need to be able to do it in their own way. 

Currently, we have on the books a law that basically gives developers the ability to bypass local zoning and planning boards should they promise to build a certain percentage of affordable units.  Although the law (“40B”) is well-intentioned, it has yielded poor results.  Nearly 3 out of 4 units produced by this law over the course of its thirty-year existence are not affordable - in fact, more often the units are near-luxury condominiums. 

We need to get serious about 40B.  If we want to grow our economy, workers will need a place to live.  I stand for placing both the responsibility and the power back into the hands of local communities by removing this law that chiefly benefits contractors and replacing it with a clear system of housing goals and penalties that local town administrators and boards can meet on their own terms.

ON EDUCATION

1. Education is everything
   

I am fiercely committed to fighting hard for local schools and truly delivering on the promise of a world class education for all of our children.  Success starts with education - we simply owe our children every opportunity.  Additionally, education is the single best investment we can make with our tax dollars.  Educated young people are far more likely to find stable jobs and contribute to our economy, thus bolstering the state’s long-term growth.  I support expanding pre-K offerings throughout the state, finding the funding for state-mandated programs and stand ready to work with our local educators and parents to find the resources needed to help our children compete with their counterparts around the world. 

In a quickly changing world, I support measures that would provide our children greater access to life-skills programs including personal finance training - let’s teach our children the truth about fiscal responsibility before they fall prey to creditors.  Education is, of course, expensive; to help alleviate the local tax burden, I support initiatives that would provide stronger tax incentives to skilled, committed local residents who contribute their money or volunteer their skills to our schools.

Although I agree with many of our local teachers and administrators and am happy to have a standardized test system that brings greater accountability to our education system, the MCAS needs dramatic reform.  Too many young children - particularly elementary school children - are taking tests when they should be learning.  Successful schools and departments should not be forced to submit to as many testing cycles and should simply be allowed to teach.  I find it cruel and not at all productive or helpful to hold our special needs children to the same standards as standard students.  Lastly, the test needs to be adapted to gauge a wider variety of skills and learning styles so that we can truly ascertain how prepared our children are to adapt and face the challenges ahead. 

ON HEALTHCARE

1. Not just healthcare - health
   

I support smart measures that drive down our ballooning healthcare costs by focusing on preventive care.  While the rest of country seems bogged down in endless debate, our state has taken bold steps to provide its people with near-universal healthcare coverage.  However, now that the state is ‘locked in’ to this initiative, we must take quick action and make smart choices.  Widely available, state-sponsored healthcare can only be cost effective if it takes the initiative today to prevent the chronic care diseases that may drag it down tomorrow.  Here in Massachusetts, our people live in the most expensive healthcare market in the country and see some of the worst returns on that investment - largely due to the high cost of treating some ten chronic care diseases and the cost of end-of-life care. 

I support measures that will focus the research funding made available through the recent ‘life sciences’ bill towards corporations working to tackle those expensive conditions.  It’s unfortunate the law has been watered down by bureaucratic earmarks; given the critical importance of this initiative to the health of our people and our economy, I’m alarmed that any of our representatives could be playing politics-as-usual on such a critical measure.  I also support incentives aimed at drawing badly needed primary care physicians to our state so that we can detect these conditions early, treat them in a cost effective manner and put our children on a healthy path that will save us money in the long term.  Recently, the House killed a provision in a healthcare bill that would prevent lobbyists from pharmaceutical companies from having direct access to doctors (a practice that has been proven to lead to higher prescription costs for regular people.)  I plan to bring that provision forward again in a very public manner.  Lastly, I plan to work hard with practitioners, academics and fellow lawmakers around the state so as to uncover the reasons why Massachusetts end-of-life care is so many times more expensive than in nearly every other state and many other countries around the world.  I look forwarded to proposing legislation that results from my findings. 

ON OUR ENVIRONMENT

(see above for alternative technology initiative, bottle bill expansion support)

ON OUR POLITICS

1. Honest, transparent government...really.
   

I believe that we live in a moment of real opportunity.  The challenges we face ahead as a community are both great in number and in size - our education system, our economy, our environment, our healthcare system, our energy dependence are all large, complicated problems that will require two important things: 1) a full-time, fully dedicated representative familiar with creative ‘the third way’ thinking, 2) you.  Today, it’s no longer enough to play politics as usual - as a representative, I am committed to hearing out every good idea we have through the creation of the monthly Mini Town Hall Initiative.  Some of the smartest, hardest working people in the world call the Norfolk 9th their home - I can only humbly say, we need your ideas.  Each month, I will host a local Mini Town Hall featuring a number of guest speakers - be they knowledgeable local residents or experts from around the state - that will help us all to understand how the big issues that affect our everyday lives and make good choices. 

There is absolutely no place for special interest groups in my campaign or in my decision making process.  My vote can’t be bought because I’ve seen time and again how the actions of powerful lobby groups lead to unfair and higher costs for all of us.  Clean politics saves us money.

ON VETERANS ISSUES

1. We can never do enough to honor their service
   

With family members and friends in and retired from the Armed Services - and having worked in a war zone myself - I am well aware of the physical and mental toll that military service can take on our young men and women and on our families.  I am committed to using the power of the state to ensure our Veterans receive the proper, ongoing care and support they need long after they return home to us. 

LOCAL ISSUES

1. Walpole Power Plant
   

Although I understand the arguments for bringing the plant to Walpole, I am ultimately opposed to the plan and support legislative action to prevent its construction.  

Like so many towns across the state, it would be helpful in this time of economic downturn for Walpole to be able to expand its commercial tax base.  The plant would also bring some twenty-five or so jobs and water infrastructure.  And given that we're going to be closing three power plants in the state in the coming year, it’s difficult not to view the construction of a new plant in a properly zoned area as a good thing for a lot of parties in the short term.  

But it strikes me that the long-term costs would soundly outweigh the short term gains: the risk of asthma to our children, the addition of yet another structure that could lower property values in the town and (most alarmingly) the threat that such plant could impose upon our water supply.  In the coming couple of years, we're going to see water become an increasingly scarce resource in Massachusetts.  Already, if you head out to towns as close as Bellingham, you can see how dried up the Charles has become due to the demands placed on the river by development.   Part of why I'm running is due to my frustration with what I would consider to be a simple lack of foresight on behalf of our current leadership.  And as much as we'll need that power, we have other (and I think better) options that we should be exploring first and with far greater political vigor.  Why it is that Walpole should have to absorb a gas-fired plant when we should be installing clean wind turbines in other suitable spots in the state? 

Connect

...these are only a few of the many important issues we face as a community.  To give your ideas on solutions to these or other issues we face, write Tom at ideas@jointom.net.  Should you need clarification on any of what Tom has written or wish to hear his views on other pertinent topics, write to inquire@jointom.net.  Should you want to talk with Tom about helping him build his campaign, write to participate@jointom.net.

 Let’s move forward.  Together.