This week, the House of Representatives advanced and finalized several pieces of important legislation, covering the topics of education, nutrition, public safety, and children’s health before breaking for the holidays. As formal sessions end for the remainder of the year, I’m pleased we advanced these critical pieces of legislation, sending several to the Governor’s desk…
Last week, the House of Representatives unianimously passed the Student Opportunity Act to update the education funding formula for our K-12 schools. This historic legislation invests $1.4 billion in the Commonwealth’s public education system, including a projected $3.4 million in new Chapter 70 funding for Cape Ann’s schools once fully implemented.
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) announced Julie LaFontaine as the recipient of the third annual Jeremiah J. Healy Service Award. Established by Ferrante in 2017, the award is given to an individual who best epitomizes the social gospel of Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me…
As fall begins and our formal sessions resume at the State House, I want to update you on some of the important work that is happening on Beacon Hill and around Cape Ann! First, some exciting news on education. The Joint Committee on Education released an education funding reform bill last week that fully implements…
State Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante, D-Gloucester, said the trade wars are hurting not just lobstermen but other sectors of the seafood industry connected to it, such as processors, wholesalers, supermarkets and restaurants. “The lobster is commodity that feeds a chain of industries,” she said. “You’re talking about a supply chain of about five industries that…
Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, of Gloucester, said in a June letter that the state’s lobstering industry “has become collateral damage in the Trump Administration’s trade war with China.” Ferrante has proposed a bill that would require state officials to prepare an annual strategic report for the state’s commercial fishing and shellfish industry. The evaluation would come…
State Rep. Ann Margaret-Ferrante, D-Gloucester, a cosponsor of the legislation, told Statehouse reporter Christian Wade: “We’re living in a time where I think most people would agree that there’s more of a chance of a fetus being exposed to opioids than alcohol. We really need to have a discussion about what is happening to these…
State Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) today announced the availability of $300 in annual household electricity savings through JOE-4-SUN, the state’s largest Low-Income Community Shared Solar program. The initiative from Boston-based Citizens Energy Corporation, launched earlier this month, offers discount solar credits to about 2,000 low-income Massachusetts families each year. “This is a terrific new program…
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…
