The fiscal year 2020 budget also includes $580,000 in amendments authored by Tarr and state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, to fund Cape Ann initiatives in public safety, water quality, economic development, marine genomics research, the Blue Economy, as well as community celebrations in Gloucester and Essex. Read more on the Gloucester Daily Times website→
This week, I joined my colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to pass a balanced fiscal year 2020 budget that invests heavily in education, economic development, and local aid, strengthens Cape Ann’s local economy and celebrates its history. The funding in this year’s budget for Cape Ann is reflective of our area’s people, our…
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) joined her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to unanimously pass legislation investing $1.3 billion to help cities and towns across Massachusetts fund infrastructure projects aimed at fighting climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation establishes a $1 billion, 10-year grant program – known as GreenWorks – to…
Gloucester lawmakers Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante have secured a significant amount of state support for innovative and important initiatives serving Cape Ann communities in the state’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget bill now on the desk of Governor Charlie Baker. The lawmakers authored, proposed, and successfully championed, amendments which will aid in public safety, water…
Arts and culture are important aspects of Cape Ann’s character and economy. Our history is full of artists capturing the spirit of Cape Ann: its natural beauty, our fishing traditions, and more. World-renowned artists such as Fitz Henry Lane, Winslow Homer, Paul Manship, and Walker Hancock have called Cape Ann “home” and captured its history…
Last week, I sent a letter requesting that the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Export Development hold a hearing on Cape Ann to determine the effects of the Trump Administration trade war with China on the Massachusetts lobster industry. I am concerned that two prominent Cape Ann seafood businesses, National Fish & Seafood and Pigeon Cove Whole Foods have recently shuttered…
In Boston, state Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante of Gloucester pushed for a hearing in Gloucester by a joint committee of the Massachusetts Legislature on the Trump administration’s trade policies with China “and its effects on the Massachusetts lobster industry and corresponding ports.” In a letter to the leadership of the Joint Committee on Export Development, Ferrante…
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) along with her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to pass legislation to protect public sector employees’ rights following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCM) ruling. The bill enables Massachusetts employee organizations to charge non-members the reasonable costs associated with…
Last month, Governor Baker brought his cabinet to Cape Ann, giving our communities the opportunity to showcase local initiatives, highlight areas of concern, and discuss state investments. Senator Bruce Tarr and I started off the day by joining Secretary of Education James Peyser and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Rosalin Acosta at Gloucester High School to have…
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) and her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives have passed legislation to ban drivers from using hand-held electronic devices in vehicles unless they are in hands-free mode. “Distracted driving is a factor in too many dangerous and fatal motor vehicle accidents, and the House is proud to take this step…
