An Update from Representative Dykema
Most significantly, I joined my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass a groundbreaking healthcare cost control bill that is expected to generate savings for consumers and businesses. We also passed a balanced budget with bi-partisan support that maximizes aid to our towns, including increased funding for senior centers, for special education in our schools, and for the Community Preservation Act, all initiatives that I advocated for on our behalf.
Concerns that many of you raised about delayed response to long power outages earlier this year were addressed in comprehensive utility storm response legislation.
The bill includes an amendment that I co-sponsored, that changed the employer "fair share" contribution formula so that it's easier and less costly for small businesses to comply with requirements related to offering health insurance to employees.
Other provisions of the bill can be found here.
The roundtable format encourages sharing of ideas and allows local veterans to air concerns and challenges directly with legislators and advocates. Several areas of interest have already been identified, including the need to improve transportation to the VA and the need to better understand the challenges and needs of reservists and guardsmen and women who are playing a greater role in our military than ever before.
If you or a family member is an active member of the military or a veteran, and you have thoughts you would like to share with the Consortium or if you need assistance, please contact the office at 617-722-2210.
Sincerely,
Finally, Carolyn's veterans roundtable was well-received by veterans here, but it's only the latest initiative she has taken to maintain Massachusetts's number one ranking in veterans' services.
Kelly Roney | 2012-08-26 01:51:15
Our friend and neighbor, Rep. Dykema, was on the committee that wrote the bill. Your skepticism is based, as usual, on ignorance and assumptions. I know Acton -- where you live well outside the district Carolyn represents so conscientiously -- permits newspapers. Why don't you read them?
Kelly Roney | 2012-08-26 01:49:30
Forgive my skepticism Mz Dykema,...BUT: Did you actually READ this bill before you voted on it? I ask because I'm told it was only in print form for about 24 hours before the vote - and it is some 350 pages. I believe it contains ANOTHER NEW STATE AGENCY - requiring the hiring of MORE POLITICIAN'S RELATIVES. WHO will PAY for this new agency? [PLEASE don't insult us by saying it will be 'self-funding' from 'the savings'. We KNOW government doesn't work that way.] Finally, you 'held a roundtable'? How cute. Frankly Ma'am, you don't have a clue! Did Bob DeLeo tell you to hold a roundtable?
Iron Mike | 2012-08-23 08:31:39
Forgive me, Mr Hatherley, but you are not correct in your assertions regarding Carolyn and her voting record, nor are you on topic in completely ignoring the substance of Carolyn's posting here. The latter is because you don't have a leg to stand on with respect to the content - which reflects a strongly bipartisan approach to her work, by the way. I see this assertion (voting in lockstep with the speaker) posited by yourself and others - endlessly - mostly on the Patch website. It has all the "truthiness", urgency and importance of the "deregulate sparkers" issue, with none of the fun.
Patrick Bolger | 2012-08-22 08:40:36
Carolyn, I had read a comment on another one of your articles here on the HR. It stated that we have 5 police chiefs on the payroll and maybe another one. Coupling that with the latest State police captain to retire at 58 years old with a pension of $160,000, Don't you think we need some kind of reform? This in my opinion is very troubling. Could you please comment on your views of pension reform.
Just wondering | 2012-08-21 18:04:24
Forgive me, but until there is a better balance of Republicans to Democrats on Beacon Hill - especially in Districts whose interests are better reflected by the Republican Party, we are going to get the same old/same old every time. The easiest job in Massachusetts is to be a Democrat Rep right now. The Speaker tells you how he will be voting and then you vote the same way. We deserve more and better. This is a District that supported Scott Brown and we need the same representation on Beacon Hill, not another Democrat me-too-er.
jim Hatherley | 2012-08-21 11:10:18
Carolyn - Thank you for taking a leadership position on health care reform. This is one of the defining issues of our generation, and how we deal with it says volumes about who we are as a country. We should be proud that our state leads the nation in health care insurance coverage. We should be doubly proud that our state will now lead on the next front - improving the delivery and financial models of health care, and thus improving outcomes as well as controlling costs.
Patrick Bolger | 2012-08-20 07:05:58
This healthcare bill creates $40 million in new government bureaucracy. Thanks Carolyn - for NOTHING!!
sjohnson | 2012-08-19 20:56:44