Democratic Senate candidate Andrea Harrington says she’s urging the state Legislature to restore funding cuts by Gov. Charlie Baker recently in the new state budget.
The Richmond attorney, one of three Democratic hopefuls vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, said “I am deeply troubled as several of the Governor’s vetoes will be harmful to the people and businesses in the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Senate District. The governor’s vetoes cut funding for drug treatment programs, early education, local health care infrastructure and the further expansion of the area’s creative economy.”
She said Baker’s $7.7 million in cuts from the Massachusetts Cultural Commission “will have a negative impact on the arts and cultural economy in our region, and added that the governor “reneged on his promise to adequately fund salary increases for nursing home workers and home health aides. These are the people who are on the front line every day, yet are among the lowest paid employees.
“At the same time the governor vetoed their pay raises,” she said, “he gave massive pay increases to some members of his leadership team. Priorities have to change, and as state senator, I will fight to make sure that we are investing in programs and services that create jobs for our region. It is no wonder that people have lost faith in government when they see double standards such as this.”
Rinaldo Del Gallo, one of three Democratic candidates for state senator for the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden District, has created a website of some of the newspaper columns he has written over the past 15 years.
“I have an unusual background for candidate for state senate in that I have been writing columns for newspapers for 15 years, often on progressive columns,” wrote Del Gallo in a press statement this week. “Here, voters can view numerous columns I have written over the years — the columns on the website are by no means exhaustive of my entire works.”
The Senate district includes Monroe, Rowe, Charlemont, Heath, Hawley, Ashfield Buckland, Conway and Shelburne in Franklin County, The site is www.delgallocolumns.wordpress.com