Will, When the current Massachusetts nickle Bottle Bill was enacted into law in 1982 the smallest bottled water container was probably one gallon. Today our playgrounds, parks, and roadways are littered with pint-size water bottles and 1982’s nickle is probably worth a penny or two. An update of the Bottle Bill is long overdue. …
Earth Days film screening in Watertown
Join us at First Parish of Watertown for the film, ‘Earth Days’ Saturday, April 21, 2012 @ 7:30 pm The film will be preceded by a potluck supper at 6:30p.m. Come see the story of the birth of the modern environmental movement on the big screen, and enjoy good food and fellowship! 35 Church Street, …
Thousand Home Challenge
In 2010, we did a deep energy retrofit on our home in Belmont. We tracked energy use in 2011 and found that we were 85% below the New England per person average. In so doing, we helped meet the “Thousand Home Challenge.” Check out the Thousand Home Challenge website and read about the challenge and …
Basing Aid on the 2006 Reform
The 2006 education aid reform was designed to allocate aid based on a better model of community ability to pay. It was intended that the new model would be phased in over 5 years. Since 2009 (Fiscal 2010), as a response to the financial crunch, we have made formula modifications that have tended to preserve …
Citizen’s United amendment
Dear Will, I searched the site but didn’t see your support for the Constitutional amendment resolution to overturn Citizen’s United. Just wanted to make sure you are supporting this and to be aware of the Judiciary committee vote. Is there any concern that this may not pass out of the committee? I have spoken with …
The 2006 Education Aid Reform
Starting in Fiscal 2002, the state moved away from reliance on the statutory Chapter 70 formula, distributing education aid based on annually changing formulas written into outside Section 3 of the annual general appropriations act. It was increasingly recognized that, although Chapter 70 had been fairly successful in reducing disparities in education spending, it was …