In this episode, Frank Falvey sits down to talk at length about the ongoing war in Ukraine; Putin's tyranny, negotiations for the future, nuclear weapons the call for all Ukrainian men to fight, and more.
Audio file -> https://player.captivate.fm/episode/de2f7206-c55b-4e83-8959-2f62d178e5fe
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| wfpr.fm: 028 - Franks Musings - Ukraine (audio) |
The Massachusetts State Senate on Thursday (3/24/22) passed a $1.65 billion supplemental budget for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22). The legislation makes investments in the state’s long-term COVID-19 response; addresses staffing shortages in schools; provides support for home and community-based services, assistance and protections for families experiencing housing and energy insecurity; funds winter road improvements; extends outdoor dining services as well as beer, wine and cocktails to-go, and provides for the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in Massachusetts. Notably, the bill also would divest the state pension fund from Russian assets in response to the Russian war in Ukraine.
“Massachusetts has avoided the worst of the financial downside from this pandemic and its effects thanks to a history of careful financial planning and consistent investment in those programs and services which support public health and build resiliency in our communities and our Commonwealth,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “Today’s supplemental budget continues this trend by providing targeted funding to healthcare, housing, education, and transportation needs. Importantly, this budget ensures that Massachusetts can continue to offer sanctuary to refugees fleeing from violence abroad even as war continues in Ukraine. Thanks to an amendment championed by Senator Comerford, we are also investing crucial funding to the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance to continue providing victim services, including children’s advocacy centers and sexual assault programs. I want to thank Chair Rodrigues and his staff, the members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, and my colleagues for their work to ensure that the needs of Massachusetts residents are met.”
“The passage of this supplemental budget today addresses a number of time sensitive needs as we look to simultaneously support our ongoing response to COVID-19, while continuing our Commonwealth’s recovery,” said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “Thanks to Senate President Spilka’s leadership and the overwhelming support of the Senate membership, we made clear with the passage of this supplemental spending plan that we will always prioritize protecting our most vulnerable populations, supporting our health care and education workforce, investing in local infrastructure needs and taking the necessary steps to ensure vital public services will be available and accessible to all who need them across the Commonwealth as we recover from the impacts of the pandemic.”
Responding to COVID-19
To mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and ensure robust preparation in the event of a future variant outbreak, the bill invests $700 million for the state’s COVID-19 response. This funding would ensure the continued no-cost availability of crucial services offered to residents during the pandemic, including on-site testing, vaccinations, and treatment, as well as public health staffing needs resulting from COVID-19.
To further protect families facing housing challenges, the supplemental budget extends through March 2023 several protections for tenants experiencing COVID-19-related financial hardship, including extending the requirement that a court grant a continuance in an eviction case for nonpayment of rent when the tenant has a pending rental assistance application.
The supplemental budget also extends popular pandemic-related provisions including outdoor dining services, and beer, wine and cocktails to-go through April 2023. The legislation also extends COVID-19 related bonuses for members of the Massachusetts National Guard.
Responding to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
The supplemental budget responds to the Russian Federation’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent violence against Ukrainian civilians. An amendment unanimously adopted on the floor of the Senate requires the Commonwealth's Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board to divest any holdings from companies officially sanctioned by the Biden administration or incorporated in Russia. The supplemental budget also allocates $10 million for the Office of Immigrants and Refugees to support the resettlement of international evacuees, including Ukrainian evacuees.
Housing and Energy Assistance
The supplemental budget includes several provisions relating to housing stability and support for individuals currently experiencing or near homelessness. The Senate proposal includes $100 million for the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program which provides eligible families with funds that they can use to keep their housing or obtain new housing. One amendment added to the budget on the Senate floor would increase the cap of the RAFT program to $10,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year. Another amendment clarifies existing law to ensure that in all eviction cases where the only valid reason for the eviction is nonpayment of rent, that the tenant has access to protections. The supplemental budget also dedicates $20 million to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides crucial assistance to families facing high utility bills. To increase oversight, the bill also directs the department of housing and community development to make detailed quarterly reports on the state's eviction diversion initiative.
The supplemental budget allocates $2.8 million for rates at shelters for homeless individuals and also ensures that down payment assistance funds received from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency or the Massachusetts Housing Partnership will not be considered taxable income.
Health Care & Mental Health
The bill allocates $346 million in federal American Rescue Plan funding for Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) resources to ensure that eligible Medicaid users throughout the Commonwealth are able to receive health care and medical services in their own homes or local communities. Alongside this investment, the bill also appropriates $55 million in state resources to support reimbursement rates for human and social service providers that have also been doing crucial work during the pandemic. To address the crisis of mental health care, the bill also dedicates $10 million to suicide prevention and intervention services, focused on staffing and other resources at crisis centers, and the establishment of a statewide 988 suicide prevention hotline.
An amendment adopted to the supplemental budget allocates $24 million of the state’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds specifically for the creation of new behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment beds.
Education
In response to reports of staffing shortages in public schools, the supplemental budget includes a provision authorizing the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education to issue emergency educator licenses until 180 days after the end of the public health emergency. For private special education schools operating under Chapter 766, the budget allocates $140 million to fill immediate staffing needs.
Other funding items of note include:
A version of this legislation having previously passed the House of Representatives, the differences will need to be worked out by the branches before advancing to the Governor’s desk
Download a copy of this news release as a PDF -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JzBjct6Z59qDJYspTuGQ643FW_42zW5A/view?usp=sharing
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| MA Senate Passes $1.65 Billion Supplemental Budget |
If you haven't tried Pokomoto, this could be a good excuse to do so and help the FHS Red Cross Club with their fund raisers on Friday and Saturday. The Winter Farmers Market opens Saturday. The Historical museum has its normal hours on Saturday and Sunday. 67 Degrees is getting lively and has a comedian scheduled for Thursday, Mar 31.
Find the full calendar https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/blog-page.html
If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication: https://forms.gle/oPdi8X3ZbHHyrHzo6
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| Community Calendar |
FM #758 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 758 in the series.
This shares my conversation with Franklin author Chris Woolf. I met Chris when he did the Second Sunday Speaker Series at the Franklin Historical Museum. He talked of his adventurous trip to Afghanistan and we scheduled to get together at the Franklin studio to explore more of his story.
Links to Chris’s web site, the book link, and he and his wife’s voiceover company are included in the show notes.
Let’s listen to my conversation with Chris as we follow his life journey from Britain, via Afghanistan, to the US, and ultimately to Franklin. Our conversation runs about 35 minutes. Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-758-chris-woolf-talks-about-bumbling-through-the-hindu-kush-03-21-22
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Chris Woolf https://chriswoolfbooks.com/
The Voice Depot https://the-voice-depot.com/ (voiceover company)
“Bumbling Through the Hindu Kush - A Memoir of Fear and Kindness in Afghanistan”
https://chriswoolfbooks.com/bumbling-through-the-hindu-kush/
Video link to Historical Museum presentation to be added when available from Franklin.TV
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Chris Woolf, left in 1991, right in 2021 |
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| “Bumbling Through the Hindu Kush - A Memoir of Fear and Kindness in Afghanistan” |
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| Quinn, Padula, Peterson, DiGiorgio, Vinson named Basketball All Stars; Early & O'Leary honorable mention for Hockomock League |
"The State Auditor’s Division of Local Mandates released a report yesterday that identified 29 state statutes passed between 2016 and 2020 that have a significant financial impact on Massachusetts cities and towns without sufficient state funding to offset the costs.
The “Five-Year Statutory Fiscal Impact Report” finds that the state continues to pass laws that often require resources from cities and towns for implementation, and that these measures are largely financed by local property taxes as state aid lags behind increasing local costs. The report also documents that state aid as a share of total municipal revenue decreased between fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2020, while state assessments on cities and towns increased. "
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| “Five-Year Statutory Fiscal Impact Report” |