State Budget Hearings – March 24 and April 13 – Can You Testify?

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March 19, 2015



TO:                  Local Association Presidents

MTA Board of Directors

MTA Staff



FROM:             Barbara Madeloni, President



SUBJECT:         State Budget Hearings – March 24 and April 13 – Can You Testify?



As you know, Governor Charlie Baker’s budget proposal for public education, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school, does little to help our schools, colleges and communities address the increasingly difficult job of providing the education that our students deserve.  The governor's budget (H1) is now before the state Legislature.  The House and then the Senate will be coming out with their own budget proposals in the coming weeks.

See information below on how we can make sure our legislators know that we face serious challenges and that we cannot do our jobs without adequate state funding for our schools, colleges and communities.

Please take a moment to read the notice to see if you or other members of your local or chapter can attend one of the hearings, and/or if you can send written testimony.  If you send written testimony to the Ways and Means Committee, please also send a copy to your state representative and senator.

Thanks for your help.

Joint Committee on Ways and Means FY2016 Budget Hearings



Education and Local Aid

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Beginning at 11 a.m.

Greenfield Community College Auditorium

Greenfield, MA



Public Hearing (testimony taken on all budget issues):

Monday, April 13, 2015

Beginning at 10 a.m.

Gardner Auditorium

State House, Boston, MA





Education and Local Aid - March 24 - Greenfield Community College

This hearing will be chaired by House Ways and Means Vice Chair Rep. Steve Kulik (D-Worthington) and Senator Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield).  The committee will hear testimony from the secretary of education, the Department of Early Education and Care, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Board of Higher Education, and the public.  This year, the hearing will open at 11 a.m. with testimony on education and local aid by invited organizations, including the MTA, and then by members of the public.  At 1 p.m. agency testimony will begin.



Hearing on All Budget Issues - April 13 - State House, Boston

This hearing will take only public testimony and will begin at 10 a.m.



Logistics

If you would like to testify at the hearing on March 24 in Greenfield, please plan on arriving no later than 11 a.m.  Bring at least two copies of your written testimony to submit to the committee.  Verbal testimony should be limited to three minutes.



To let us know you are coming, or if you have any questions about the hearings or testimony, please e-mail Julie Johnson at jjohnson@massteacher.org, or call her at 617-878-8315.  If you want to submit written testimony, e-mail your testimony to Julie and she will deliver it to the committee.  Testimony can also be submitted directly to the committee no later than April 13.  E-mail the House chair at Brian.Dempsey@mahouse.gov or mail to Chairman Brian Dempsey, House Ways and Means Committee, State House, Room 243, Boston, MA  02133.



Testimony

Your testimony should be as specific and personal as possible, explaining how the state budget cuts over the past years have affected you, your fellow educators, your students, department or school/college or university.  Have increased class sizes, lack of materials and programs, loss of support personnel, libraries and the arts, affected you?  Explain why increased funding for education is necessary to be able to provide the schools our children deserve.

See the MTA website, www.massteacher.org, for information about the governor’s budget, including:

For K-12, insufficient funding of Chapter 70, the elimination of grants for full-day kindergarten; cuts to the special education circuit breaker and regional school transportation; and the combining and cutting of other important grant programs, such as those that go to our Gateway Cities.

For higher education, insufficient funding for campuses and proposed cuts to the GIC, which would increase health insurance costs for state employees:

http://www.massteacher.org/issues_and_action/education_funding.aspx.

Also, see the Mass Budget & Policy Center's analysis:  http://www.massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=Analyzing_the_Governors_Budget_for_FY_2016.html