Senator DiDomenico receives the President’s Distinguished Service Award from Bunker Hill Community College President Pam Eddinger

BOSTON- Senator Sal DiDomenico was recently honored by Bunker Hill Community College during their 44th annual commencement ceremony, where he received the prestigious President’s Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented to Senator DiDomenico in recognition of his service to Bunker Hill Community College, his support for higher education, and his work throughout the district.  This distinction is the highest honor given by the school to a member of the community, and past recipients have included Speaker Robert DeLeo, Mayor Marty Walsh, Superintendent Thomas McDonough and Raytheon CEO William Swanson.  During the commencement, the Senator addressed the graduates and offered them some words of advice and congratulations, lauding their perseverance and wishing them luck in future endeavors. “Congratulations to the 2018 Bunker Hill Community College graduates and thank you to President Pam Eddinger for presenting me with the President's Distinguished Service Award,” said Senator DiDomenico. “It was an honor to be recognized by Bunker Hill Community College and have an opportunity to speak to the graduates.  I want to commend them for their perseverance and dedication to their academic success. Best of luck BHCC Class of 2018!”

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BOSTON – Last week, Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) and his Senate colleagues unanimously voted to pass a monumental education reform bill to update the state’s 25-year-old funding formula. Established by the 1993 Education Reform Act, the Foundation Budget formula was designed to ensure every Massachusetts student was provided a quality education. However, in the 25 years since, little has been done to update the formula, hampering districts’ efforts to provide every student with the quality education they deserve.

 “Today, too many of our students are receiving their education in schools that face crushing fiscal challenges,” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “Our teachers and administrators do everything they can to provide their students with the best possible education, to lift them up, and put them on a path to success.  Yet that job has become increasingly difficult, as year after year, schools have been forced to make difficult cuts as a result of state funding that fails to keep up with their needs. I am very proud to support this bill that will help to ensure that all of our students, regardless of their zip code, have access to the high quality education that they deserve.”

 In 2015, a bipartisan commission was convened with the purpose of reviewing the Foundation Budget and making recommendation for potential changes to the formula. Consequently, the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) found that health care and special education costs have far surpassed assumptions built into the original education formula. It also found that the original formula drastically understated the resources necessary to close achievement gaps for low-income and English Language Learner students.

 In all, the bipartisan commission estimated that Massachusetts is currently undervaluing the cost of education by $1-2 billion every year. This has forced deep cuts to classrooms and critical programs, and resulted in one of the worst achievement gaps in the nation. In recent years, schools in the Commonwealth’s Gateway Cities have been especially hit with crushing budget shortfalls, with two of the Senator’s communities— Everett and Chelsea— being some of the school districts that have been most severely impacted.

 The bill passed by the Senate and co-sponsored by Senator DiDomenico, An Act Modernizing the Foundation Budget for the 21st Century (S.2506), would implement the recommendations of the FBRC and begin updating the Chapter 70 education formula to more accurately and equitably distribute state resources to the Commonwealth schools.

 “While Senate Bill 2506 represents a seven-year fix to the Foundation Budget for school districts across our State it also represents far more,” said Mary Bourque, Superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools. “Senate Bill 2506 more importantly represents who we are as a Commonwealth and what we stand for and what we value. The passage of this bill says that children and their education, children and the opportunities we can provide, children and their future are important to us; we prioritize our children and their education. Senate Bill 2506 is about defining and supporting the future of our Commonwealth; but most of all, passage of Senate Bill 2506 is simply the right thing to do!”

 The vote follows months of advocacy by education stakeholders across Massachusetts. More than 50 school committees across the state have passed resolutions supporting the reforms, and Brockton Public Schools announced earlier this year that they are preparing to sue the Commonwealth for failing in its constitutional obligation to properly fulfill its obligations to funding.

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BOSTON – Last week, Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) and his colleagues on the Senate Committee on Ways & Means released their Fiscal Year 2019 budget, which includes funding and language from Senator DiDomenico’s bill to lift the Cap on Kids. 

The Cap on Kids – also called the “family cap” -- denies benefits to children conceived while, or soon after, a family began receiving benefits. As a result of the Cap on Kids, Massachusetts does not provide benefits for nearly 9,000 children living in poverty. Their parents struggle to provide even the most basic essentials for their children, causing everyone in the family to suffer.

“I am thrilled that the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget includes language and funding to lift the Cap on Kids,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “Lifting the Cap on Kids is simply the right thing to do to ensure that families are not denied basic benefits simply because of when their children were born. This is a critical policy change that will help thousands of children and families across the Commonwealth, and I would like to thank Chairwoman Spilka and Senate President Chandler for their partnership and making the repeal of this ineffective policy a priority in the Senate budget.”

The Senate budget proposal says "aid shall be provided for each such child without regard to whether the child was conceived or born after the parent began receiving aid." Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka’s Executive Summary of the Budget describes the current policy as “outdated,” “unjust,” and “failed.” Under the Senate budget, the family cap would be repealed effective January 2019.

“We are grateful to Senate President Chandler, Assistant Majority Leader DiDomenico, and Chairwoman Spilka for taking the next step to Lift the Cap on Kids in Massachusetts,” said Deborah Harris of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a lead member of the Campaign to Lift the Cap on Kids, a coalition of 118 organizations. “Parents shouldn’t have to let a child cry itself to sleep because they can’t afford a clean diaper. They shouldn’t have to send a child to school without a winter coat or boots. With this budget provision, the Senate recognizes the humanity and dignity of every child.”

“The Cap on Kids has been harmful to children and their families, forcing parents to make incredibly difficult decisions about what basic necessities they may not be able to provide for their children,” said Naomi Meyer of Greater Boston Legal Services, a lead member of the Campaign to Lift the Cap on Kids. “We applaud Senate leadership for including family cap repeal in the Senate budget proposal.

The House budget also repealed the family cap, but with a later effective date. Differences will be resolved by the conference committee on the budget. 

Massachusetts is currently one of only 17 states - including Arkansas, Mississippi, and North Carolina – that still have a Cap on Kids. Many states have repealed their family cap policies, and Massachusetts is now set to join them. 

 The House budget also repealed the family cap, but with a later effective date. Differences will be resolved by the conference committee on the budget.

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