KINGSTON (April 30, 2021) – Representative Kathy LaNatra (D – Kingston) announced that the Massachusetts House of Representatives has passed their fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget. The budget, funded at $47.716 billion, continues the State’s strong support of cities and towns in their recoveries from the effects of COVID-19, and includes significant investments in education, supportive services for vulnerable populations, and workforce and economic development, among other priorities. 

 Representative LaNatra worked hard to ensure that the 12th Plymouth District and the South Shore received adequate funding to continue to support its residents through this difficult time, as well as ensure that the district and the region continues to develop its economy, improve public safety, and support children, veterans, and those struggling with homelessness and food insecurity. 

The following amendments were supported by Rep. LaNatra and adopted into the House FY22 budget: 

• $100,000 for the Nathan Hale Veterans Outreach Center

• $25,000 for the Kingston Business Association to provide support to their members through grants 

• $25,000 to the Plymouth Coalition for the Homeless  

• $50,000 to conduct a market feasibility study for economic development in Plymouth County  

• $1,700,000 for the Massachusetts Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs  

• $40,000 for the Duxbury Fire Department for fire safety improvements  

• $25,000 for the Town of Middleboro Police Department to implement measures intended to build positive relationships in the community  

• $2,000,000 to be transferred to the Massachusetts Tourism Trust Fund established under section 13T of Chapter 23A of the General Laws 

• $200,000 for the Massachusetts Partnership for Youth to provide training and workshops that address harmful behaviors for at-risk youth 

• “This budget meets the needs of the 12th Plymouth District, the South Shore and the entire Commonwealth,” said Kathy LaNatra (D – Kingston). “This pandemic has been incredibly difficult, but it has highlighted issues that have impacted families all across Massachusetts for a long time. This budget is a great step towards solving systemic problems such as food insecurity, a lack of affordable housing, and adequate childcare. I want to thank Speaker Mariano and Chairman Michlewitz for their support of the 12th Plymouth District, as well as for so many crucial investments in education, food insecurity, small businesses, veterans, and health care that were made during this House budget debate.” 

• The FY22 House budget reflects the local aid commitment recently made by the House and Senate. It increases Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) by $39.5 million over FY21 for a total of $1.168 billion and Chapter 70 education funding by $219.6 million over FY21 for a total of $5.503 billion, fully funding the first year of a six-year implementation plan of the Student Opportunity Act (SOA). Enacted in 2019 to support equitable funding for our most vulnerable students, the Legislature’s funding schedule ensures the SOA remains on track to be fully implemented over the course of seven years as opposed to the Governor’s budget proposal. 

Additional education funding allocations include: 

• $367 million for Special Education Circuit Breaker; 

• $154 million for Charter School Aid; 

• $82 million for Regional Transportation; and 

• $14 million for Homeless Student Transportation. 

Continuing the House’s commitment to high-quality early education and care (EEC), the FY22 budget includes a $20 million investment in rate increases for child care providers across Massachusetts. 

 Other early education and care funding initiatives include: 

• $15 million for Head Start grants; 

• $12 million for child care resource and referral agencies; 

• $5 million for EEC higher education provider opportunities; and 

• $2.5 million for early childhood mental health grants. 

 Building on Speaker Mariano’s priority to ensure Massachusetts residents from diverse backgrounds have access to meaningful educational opportunities, the House budget invests in higher education allocating $571 million for the University of Massachusetts system, $315 million for community colleges, and $291 million for state universities. The budget also includes a $10 million increase in scholarship funding over last fiscal year for a new total of $130 million, and funds the community colleges SUCCESS Fund at $10.5 million and the STEM Starter Academy at $4.75 million. 

 The budget also includes large investments in labor and economic development, such as the creation of a trust fund dedicated to job training for the offshore wind industry to be administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. This budget makes an initial deposit into this fund of $10 million to establish and grow technical training programs in our public higher education system and vocational-technical institutions. The fund will also prioritize grants and scholarships to adult learning providers, labor organizations, and public educational institutions to provide workers with greater access to these trainings. 

 Additional investments include: 

• $50 million for adult education; 

• $24 million for Youthworks Summer Jobs; 

• $5 million for Small Business Technical Assistance; 

• $5 million for Community Action Agency Operating and Outreach Support; 

• $5 million investment in Local Tourism Recovery Marketing;  

• $2.5 million for Urban Agenda Grants; and 

• $2 million investment in Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. 

The Commonwealth’s commitment to MassHealth remains one of the largest drivers of the budget. In FY22 the House provides $18.969 billion to fully fund its caseload, which has increased as more residents became eligible during the pandemic.

The House’s FY22 budget accurately reflects this enrollment growth, showing the necessary increase in spending beyond what was included in the Governor’s budget proposal, while also factoring in the increased Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) reimbursement levels. 

 Many of the House FY22 budget’s most significant increases represent essential services and programs that serve Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents, including $771.1 million for the Department of Transitional Assistance to maintain support to families, at-risk parents, victims of intergenerational trauma, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Other notable health and human services investments include $30 million for Emergency Food Assistance, $13 million for Healthy Incentives Program, and $500,000 for a public awareness campaign on the contraceptive ACCESS Law. 

 The House’s FY22 budget also includes funding for housing and homelessness prevention, investing $22 million in direct appropriations for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) Program to promote housing stability and combat the threat of evictions. The budget also includes $148 million for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) and $84 million for public housing subsidies. 

 Additional investments for individuals and youth include: 

$56.4 million for Homeless Individuals Shelters; 

$12.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP);  

$12 million for Rental Subsidies for eligible DMH Clients; and 

$8 million for Unaccompanied Homeless Youth. 

 The budget funds the Department of Developmental Services at $2.29 billion, aimed to support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. It includes $219.9 million for Day and Work programs; $84.9 million for Respite Family Supports; a $55.4 million increase for DDS’ Turning 22 class; a $7 million investment in transportation services; and $23.4 million for head injury treatment services. 

Reflecting the Legislature’s strong commitment to providing access to care and treatment for individuals with a substance use disorder, the budget allocates $160 million for the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, including support for the MA-Access to Recovery program and targeted investments in five additional recovery centers. The budget also provides funding for low-threshold housing for people experiencing homelessness, mental health disorders and at risk for HIV; outpatient and mobile services for persons with disabilities; and treatment at correctional facilities. 

In an effort to ensure every resident has equal access to the criminal justice system, the House’s FY22 budget includes a $775 million investment in the Trial Court; $35 million for the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation,; and increases for Prisoners’ Legal Services and Mental Health Legal Advisors. The budget also renews commitments made by the state’s criminal justice reform, such as $11.1 million for community-based re-entry programs, and $4 million in pre- and post-release services. 

The budget also continues the House’s focus on environmental and climate protection by including $312.6 million in funding for environmental services, which includes increases for state parks, environmental protection, and the endangered species programs. Additional investments include millions for hazardous waste site cleanups, river ways protection and access, and Clean Water Trust contract assistance. 

The House budget makes the MEFA college savings tax deduction permanent, creates a commission to develop recommendations and best practices for responses to mental health emergencies, and creates a new program to approve rural growth funds that would invest in small businesses in rural communities. It also eliminates the sunset on the Film Tax Credit and increases the Conservation Land Tax Credit. 

The House Ways & Means Committee, which Rep. LaNatra sits on, introduced their FY22 budget on April 14, 2021, following a review of the Governor’s proposal and a series of budget hearings.

After a three days of debate and over a thousand proposed amendments, the budget passed by the House of Representatives 160-0 and now goes to the Senate. 

Plympton Police Chief Matthew Clancy has announced that Eversource Gas Division will be replacing a 100-year-old natural gas main along Grove Street in Plympton.

The construction will tentatively begin on Wednesday April 28, 2021 and stretches from the Halifax/Plympton town line to the Kingston/Plympton town line. The project is expected to take 4-5 weeks to complete.

Grove Street, a popular cut through road near Silver Lake Regional High School and Middle School, will be closed to through traffic during daytime hours while construction is active.

Grove Street residents will have access under the direction of police details. School bus access will also be maintained.

The road will reopen to through traffic during evenings and over the weekends.

Those who are not residents of Grove Street are encouraged to seek an alternate route while this project is ongoing.

KINGSTON – Kingston’s annual town election will be held Saturday, April 24.  All precincts, 1-4, will vote at the Kingston Elementary School, 150 Main St., Kingston, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

On the ballot:  Select Board for three years, two candidates for re-election, Kimberly Emberg and Sheila Marie Vaughan.  (Vote for two)

Assessor for three years: Scott J. DeSantis.  (Vote for one)

Collector of Taxes for one year:  Jessica M Kramer and Kenneth G. Moalli.  (Vote for one)

Planning Board for five years: Jonathan Jacob Barnett, Sr., candidate for re-election. (Vote for one)

Silver Lake Regional School Committee for two years: Emily R. Davis and Emma Rose Morgan.  (Vote for one)

Silver Lake Regional School Committee for three years:  Leslieann S. Magee, candidate for re-election. (Vote for one)

Kingston Elementary School Committee for three years: Katina Bedard and Megan G. Cannon.  (Vote for one)

Water Commissioner for three years: Richard Wilson Loring, Jr., candidate for re-election.  (Vote for one)

Board of Health for two years: Dennis N. Randall.  (Vote for one)

Board of Health for three years: Janet D. Wade, candidate for re-election and Norman P. Harbinson, Jr. (Vote for one)

Library Trustees for three years: Emily Flight Curtin, candidate for re-election, Shannon J. Gauthier, and Christine Maiorano. (Vote for not more than two)

Recreation for three years: Melissa A. Bateman and Daniel P. Shropshire, both candidates for re-election.  (Vote for not more than two)

Sewer Commissioner for three years: Thomas W. Taylor II, candidate for re-election.  (Vote for one)

Senator Michael Brady (D-Brockton) announced today, as a member of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, that the House and Senate have reached an agreement to pursue an increase to local aid in the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget.

The agreement funds the first year of the Student Opportunity Act and places the commonwealth on track to full implementation by 2027. Signed into law in 2019, the Student Opportunity Act is a landmark achievement for equitable education and constitutes the largest investment in Chapter 70 aid in over twenty years.

“The rapid outbreak of the pandemic caused many important commitments to be delayed,” said Senator Michael D. Brady, “We are working closely with our partners in the House, local school districts, and education stakeholders to ensure we can get the state back on track to ensure all students can receive a high-quality education.”

The local aid agreement includes the following parameters:

• Funds Chapter 70 at its highest level ever at $5.503 billion, an increase of $219.6 million over FY 2021, which fully funds 1/6th implementation of SOA rates;

• Creates a $40 million enrollment reserve fund targeted to stabilize school districts adversely impacted by pandemic-related enrollment changes; and

• Funds Unrestricted General Government Aid (UGGA) at $1.16 billion, an increase of $39.5 million over FY 2021, providing additional local aid support to our cities and towns

WESTWOOD – Dr. Jacob Conca, Head of School at Xaverian Brothers High School, is pleased to announce that 600 students from 75 cities and towns have been named to the honor roll for the second marking period of the 2020-2021 school year.

The Xaverian Brothers High School honor roll has three designation levels:

• Ryken Honors indicates all marks are A- or above

• First Honors indicates all marks are B or above

• Second Honors indicates all marks are B- or above

Local students are:

Halifax

Panayioti Haseotes, Ryken Honors, 8

 Hanson 

Michael Bulger, Ryken Honors, 10

Whitman 

Michael Kanaan, Ryken Honors, 10

Xaverian Brothers High School is a Catholic, college-prep day school for boys in grades 7-12. For more than 50 years, Xaverian has been at the forefront of Catholic education, challenging young men to become their best; not just as students but as leaders of strong faith and character. For more information visit www.xbhs.com.

Events in Boulder, CO – Until March 27, 2021

Please be advised that as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on March 22, 2021 in Boulder, Colorado, and in accordance with the Presidential proclamation, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, has ordered that the United States of America flag and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts flag shall be flown at half-staff at all state buildings beginning immediately until sunset on Saturday, March 27, 2021.

This gubernatorial order applies to:

1.  The main or administration building of each public institution of the Commonwealth, e.g. town and city halls

2.  Other state-owned or state-controlled buildings

3.  All state military installations

By Kathleen LaNatra

The cranberry industry is one of the true gems of our Massachusetts economy, and has been for over 200 years. The cranberry is our state’s leading agricultural product, and Massachusetts is home to more than 30% of the total cranberry-growing acreage in the entire United States. Much of that acreage is right here in our district. In good times, the crop value of cranberries has reached $100 million annually. Without question the cranberry industry is a significant business for us all.

Yet, it’s an industry facing very serious challenges. I have had the opportunity to get to know many of the cranberry farmers and industry leaders throughout the region and have learned firsthand of the struggles they face.

Several of their biggest challenges have included a significant price drop over the last decade, coupled with fallout from trade wars.

In 2008, a barrel of cranberries was worth about $58 a barrel. Ten years later, though, the price had dropped to $25. The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association estimates the cost of producing one barrel of cranberries at approximately $35.

Industry leaders attribute the price drop to crop surpluses, along with a decline in demand for some of the industry’s most important products, including cranberry juice.

Then there are the recent trade wars. Over the last few years, for example, Chinese tariffs on dried cranberries increased from 15% to 40%.

The American cranberry industry had been working to open a Chinese market for cranberries, and had enjoyed some success. Between 2013 and 2018, American exports of cranberries had increased by 1,000%. But in the first half of 2019, after an increase in tariffs, sales were 45% lower than the previous year.

For this particular struggle, we hope to work closely with our federal legislators and the Biden Administration  to improve the export market for our cranberry growers.

Closer to home, cranberry farmers continue to seek solutions to their challenges. Some have considered leasing portions of their bogs to solar companies; others contemplate dumping a significant part of their supply and turning it into fertilizer or compost. Some hope that in so doing the decrease in supply could lead to driving up the prices.

Certainly everyone will be better off if the industry can continue to produce robust quantities of cranberries and find a receptive market.

There has been some effort to address the challenges the industry faces. A few years ago, the Massachusetts Cranberry Revitalization Task Force identified strategies to support the state’s cranberry industry, including funds to renovate and upgrade local grower bogs, implementing additional conservation efforts, and considering incentives to preserve retired bogs as open and protected space.

It’s unlikely that any single solution will be the remedy for all the issues that the farmers and industry leaders face. But we all need to try. As consumers, we should be proud of this unique industry and we can support it at the grassroots level by buying their products. Legislatively, in my role as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Export Development, it will be my priority to do everything I can to support our cranberry farmers and help them promote their product on a national and international stage.

The cranberry industry is an important part of our past, and present. I will do everything I can to assure that it remains that way in the future.

With a bang.

That is the best way to describe how the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake High girls’ hockey co-op finished off their season last week.

The co-op known as WHSL had their final game of the season on Sunday, Feb. 21 against the Marshfield Rams. They won the game 7-2. It was not only their highest-scoring game of the season, but it tied their largest margin of victory on the year. They also won by five goals on February 8: 6-1 against the East Bridgewater/West Bridgewater co-op.

Ellie Grady led the scoring effort for WHSL in the win, putting up a team-high three goals. In addition to her hat trick, the team got one goal apiece from: Shea Kelleher, Kira Peterson, Bridget Cardarelli, and captain Emily McDonald.

The game marked the team’s second straight win against Marshfield. Two days prior, they also faced off against Marshfield and won the game 5-4.

WSHL ended their season with a record of 4-5-2 in 11 games played. They scored just as many goals as they allowed: 33 for and 33 against. That’s an average of 3.0 goals for and against per game.

Next season, WHSL will have a younger team. They are set to lose nine seniors to graduation this spring. It’s unclear if the team will play a full slate of games next year after a shortened season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The roster for WHSL this season included: senior forward Ellie Grady, sophomore forward Shea Kelleher, sophomore defender Macie Fitzgerald, sophomore forward Bridget Cardarelli, freshman defender Jocelyn Moore, senior forward Molly Duff, junior forward Lily Ulvila, sophomore forward Cassandra Martin, senior forward Neve Corkery, senior forward Emily McDonald, freshman defender Caitlin Dilley, junior forward Abby Powers, senior forward Caleigh Tompkins, senior forward Kira Peterson, senior forward Caity Collins-Hazley, sophomore defender Kendyl Peterson, and senior goalies Kat Gilbert and Rylee Moran.