Chinese tariffs are taking a toll on Mass. lobster businesses, and lawmakers are speaking up

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…

Representative Ferrante Announces Availability of JOE-4-SUN Solar Credits

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…

$580K in budget earmarked for Cape Ann

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→

Investing in Opportunity

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…

House Unanimously Passes $1.3 Billion for Community Climate Resiliency Projects

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…

Tarr and Ferrante Secure Support For Local Priorities in State Budget

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…

Protecting Cape Ann Workers and Markets

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…

Moulton, Ferrante: Trade war hurting lobstermen

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…