In the News

Amazon’s search for HQ2 has generated quite a buzz across the continent, attracting nearly every major U.S. city to consider a bid, as the technology giant searches for a second home.

Among the likes of Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto, Billerica might seem a small fish. But, after checking off the prerequisites to apply, the town is moving forward to bid for the second Amazon campus.

State Sen. Cindy Friedman and state Rep. Marc Lombardo support Billerica’s bid, which must be filed by Oct. 19. Amazon is expected to choose its new headquarters location sometime in 2018.

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BOSTON — It’s a deeply personal and sensitive subject that’s divided lawmakers on both sides of the aisle: should a terminally ill patient have the option to end his life medically?

More than 40 lawmakers have signed into the most recent bill, including the late Arlington Sen. Kenneth Donnelly. Sen. Cindy Friedman, his former chief of staff who won a special election for his seat, said a patient’s personal end-of-life decisions are ‘nobody’s business but your own.

“I want to ensure there are safeguards for ensuring that it isn’t misused for people who aren’t able to speak for themselves,” said Friedman, a Democrat who also represents Lexington, Billerica and Burlington. “But in general I think that’s a very personal decision.”

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“WOBURN — Wow! The ‘wow factor’ was much in evidence on Sat­urday as many members of the general public were overwhelmed and had their first look at the new James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club.

President Donaghey was quick to point out, “I want to first and foremost thank Mayor Scott Galvin, Rich Haggerty and the entire City Council who helped us ‘rise from the ashes’ in our ‘darkest days’ when we were go­ing to be ‘essentially homeless for one year.’” Donaghey also exclaimed in a smiling fashion when he thought, “OMG — the city might bill me for all the times I called their cell phones saying ‘Help.’”

The club, he pointed out from a podium in a sun-filled parking lot to attendees, is now “rebuilt and ready to serve the youth of the area. Because of our expanded building we can now easily double the youth we serve.”

He had special praise for other public officials in at­tendance like Senator Cindy Friedman “who is new to her position. She helped Sen Ken Donnnelly (now deceased) secure our temporary home at the old Clapp School.”

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At today’s $11 minimum wage, a full-time worker working 40 hours a week with no vacation would earn just $22,880 annually. When adjusting for the cost of living, the $11 minimum wage is still worth less than the state’s minimum wage in 1968.

“This decline in purchasing power means low-wage families have to work longer hours just to achieve the standard of living that was considered the bare minimum almost half a century ago,” said Friedman. “Giving these working families a raise should not be a controversial decision.”

According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would benefit nearly 1 million workers statewide. Of those affected earners, less than 10 percent are teenagers, over half are women, and almost two-thirds work full time. Additionally, nearly one-third of children in the commonwealth come from a household that would see a raise in their incomes.

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BOSTON — Increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour would give more than a million people across Massachusetts — a third of all workers — a pay increase, state Sen. Cindy Friedman told a legislative committee Tuesday.

Friedman, an Arlington Democrat whose district includes Billerica, Burlington, Woburn and parts of Lexington, testified before the Legislature’s Committee on Labor and Workforce Development on behalf of a minimum wage bill originally sponsored by her predecessor, the late Sen. Kenneth Donnelly, who died in April from brain cancer.

Donnelly’s bill, if passed, would increase the hourly minimum wage by $1 per hour every year, eventually reaching $15 by 2021. The bill would also increase the minimum wage for workers who receive tips outside of their hourly pay.

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Supporters of a statewide $15 hourly minimum wage packed a State House hearing Tuesday afternoon, testifying that a pay hike would not only help workers support their families, but would stimulate the local economy by giving workers more money to spend.

The bills, in the House and Senate, would increase the minimum wage by $1 a year over the course of four years, reaching $15 by 2021, and would also increase the tipped minimum wage, currently $3.75, to the same amount over the course of eight years. After it reaches $15, the minimum wage would be adjusted every year to rise at the cost of living rate.

“Ensuring our workers are able to earn a living wage is good for our economy, good for our businesses, and most importantly, it is the right thing to do for the hard-working residents of the Commonwealth,” said Senator Cindy Friedman.

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STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, SEPT. 19, 2017…..A debate over adequate worker compensation that was waged before a legislative committee Tuesday and could be headed to the ballot next November has pitted two struggling groups against one another.

On one side, workers earning the $11 an hour minimum wage spoke about living in poverty while holding down jobs at successful businesses. On the other side, small business representatives said hiking the minimum wage to $15 over the next four years would be a death knell for retailers already chafing against the high cost of doing business in Massachusetts while competing against tax-free sellers from New Hampshire and the internet.

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On Sept. 12, Sen. Cindy F. Friedman, D-Arlington, testified before the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery in support of S.1091, An Act establishing a restoration center in Middlesex County, an initiative originally filed by the late Senator Donnelly. The bill would direct a large group of public safety and mental health experts to develop a Restoration Center pilot program in Middlesex County to serve as a jail diversion and treatment facility for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

According to data provided by NAMI Massachusetts, an organization that also testified in support of the bill, approximately 25 percent of state correctional inmates and up to 50 percent of county jail and house of correction detainees and inmates are receiving mental health services to some degree Additionally, roughly 14 percent of male and 30 percent of female inmates are believed to have serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.

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BOSTON – Looking for an exit from the “revolving door” of people with mental health disorders going back and forth from emergency rooms to the streets or jail, advocates asked lawmakers on Tuesday to help create a “restoration center” in Middlesex County.

The center would be a facility that provides treatment, including detox and beds, and offers police a place to bring those suffering from mental illness, according to June Binney, director of criminal justice diversion for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Massachusetts.

Advocates testified in favor of legislation (S 1091) that was filed by the late Sen. Kenneth Donnelly that would task a commission with developing a three-year plan to build a restoration center in Middlesex County. The bill has support from Sen. Cindy Friedman, Donnelly’s former aide who was elected to the Senate this summer, and Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian.

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