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The United
Nations' International Labor Organization has just released a study,
which conclusively shows that workers in the United States are putting
in more hours than anyone else in the industrialized world. We are
working harder, yet our purchasing power is 5% below where it was 30
years ago.
The rising cost
of living is one of the most critical problems facing Massachusetts
today. In my conversations with my neighbors in the Middlesex,
Suffolk, and Essex Senate district, I frequently hear that working
families are being priced out of neighborhoods in which their families
have lived and worked for generations. While a higher cost of living
will always be a natural side effect of a growing economy, it is vital
that we ensure that community economic growth doesn't outpace—or
outprice—the very residents who give these communities their history
and character.
As your state
senator, I will work to ease the burden on working and middle-class
families. While the state's 2006 health care reform bill was a step
in the right direction, health care is still too costly for many
Massachusetts residents, and the current law does not provide enough
incentives for businesses to provide health coverage to their
employees. We need bold solutions for our state's problems, not
band-aids. For this reason I would increase penalties for businesses
that fail to provide insurance, and push hard for a cost-effective
single-payer healthcare system.
If elected I
will continue my years of work as a strong advocate for employee
rights. I will work to ensure that future minimum wage increases are
indexed to the rate of inflation, sponsor legislation to strengthen a
worker's fundamental right to organize, increase unemployment
benefits, and fully restore workers compensation to its original
purpose. Furthermore, I will sponsor legislation to guarantee that all
employees receive at least seven paid sick days per year.
I believe that
a strong foundation in education is vital to continued economic
growth. As the number of manufacturing jobs continues to decline in
our state and country, we need to adapt to the new global economy.
That is why I will push for science and technology education
initiatives and promote adult education programs so our workforce
continues to succeed as economic realities change.
I will also
ensure that corporations are required to pay their fair share of the
tax burden. In 1968, corporate taxes made up 16% of taxes collected in
Massachusetts. Today, that number is only 7%. As your state senator I
will increase state and local funds by closing tax loopholes that
corporations have been active exploited for decades even as working
families have suffered the resulting higher tax burdens that this
irresponsibility creates.
As Senator for
the Middlesex, Suffolk, and Essex district, my central priority will
be to guarantee that middle- and working-class families can continue
to afford and prosper in the communities we have called home for so
long.
Jeff Ross |
