by the staff of the Harvard Press ·
Friday, November 1, 2024
Harvard’s delegates to the Legislature, Rep. Dan Sena and Sen. Jamie Eldridge, are unopposed in this year’s state election. Nevertheless, the Press invited them to respond to seven questions on the minds of Harvard residents. Here are the questions asked and their responses.
Representative Dan Sena represents the town of Harvard in Worcester County as well as Ayer, Boxborough, and Shirley, and parts of Acton and Groton, all in Middlesex County. He was first elected in 2020 after serving as Sen. Jamie Eldridge’s district director for six years, and was reelected in 2022. Sena is a graduate of Acton-Boxborough Regional High School. He attended Middlesex Community College before transferring to UMass Amherst where he earned a degree in political science. He is the first Brazilian-American elected to a U.S state legislature. He is unopposed in this year’s election.
Q:
The Legislature has been criticized by the state auditor and others as the least transparent in the country and by one Globe columnist as “a disgrace of inaction.” Do you agree, and if so, what actions will you take in the 194th session to improve transparency and timely attention to legislation that matters to your constituents.
I believe that increased transparency is certainly needed on Beacon Hill. Our government must be easily accessible, and our constituents should be able to view our votes. Just as I did this session, I plan to support measures that will bring more transparency to the legislature.
Q:
What is your position on Ballot Question 2, which proposes to eliminate the MCAS as a graduation requirement? If the question passes, what action will you take to support the legislation needed to enact its provisions?
I believe that the MCAS is harmful to students and educators, and I support eliminating it as a graduation requirement. I believe that the MCAS is an outdated model that neglects the varied needs of students. Next session, I will support measures in the Legislature that ensure our students receive an education that prepares them for future careers instead of one that prepares them for a standardized test. The Legislature must prioritize legislation that supports our students and our educators.
Q:
What is your position on Ballot Question 5, which would require employers to pay the state’s minimum wage to tipped workers? If the question passes, what action will you take to support the legislation needed to enact its provisions?
I believe that our tipped-wage workers deserve a livable wage. No matter if this question passes or not, I plan to support legislation that uplifts our tipped workers and ensures they can support themselves and their families.
Q:
Do you support the removal of the housing cap and construction of additional housing at Devens? What should be the role of the towns—Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley—in that decision?
I support lifting the housing cap in Devens in the long run, but I think the jurisdiction question must be answered. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road. If we want to build more housing in Devens, we must also ensure that we are creating a plan for future governance. I believe the way to do this is through working collaboratively with the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, as well as MassDevelopment, to build a plan that meets the needs of the people of Devens and the surrounding communities. The role of the residents of Devens and the towns must be front and center in discussions about the future of the region.
Q:
What are you doing to shore up the region’s health care system in the wake of Nashoba Valley Medical Center’s closing?
I continue to advocate for a solution that reopens the Nashoba Valley Medical Center. In my role on the Nashoba Valley Working Group, I advocate for state support of our local first responders and residents of the region. I support legislation that would prevent this from happening in the future, such as an act preserving essential services in our hospitals. However, preventing a future closure doesn’t help all of us who are currently affected. I believe that we must continue looking for a qualified bidder that could reopen our hospital.
Q:
What is your top legislative priority for the 194th session? What specific actions will you take to achieve it and how would its passage benefit the towns that you represent?
Legislatively, my top priority is passing an act promoting drinking water quality for all. I filed this bill to improve drinking water quality through the regulation of private wells. It specifically establishes testing requirements for contaminants and mandates disclosure of water quality information during real estate transactions. Additionally, it will open certain funding opportunities for those with contaminated wells to improve the water quality. Our region is home to a large number of private wells, and unfortunately, many of these wells are polluted by chemicals like PFAS and arsenic. This bill will ensure that our neighbors with private wells can trust that their water is free of dangerous pollutants.
Q:
What is your proudest achievement in the 193rd session and how has it directly benefited the residents of Harvard?
I’m proud of helping to pass the Affordable Homes Act, which brought $5.6 billion in spending authorizations and numerous policies to bring down housing prices in Massachusetts. Harvard residents who are looking to buy a home will see programs that will help with first-time buyers and low to middle-income buyers, and opportunities to help build sustainable housing stock in Massachusetts. Additionally, I am proud of our budget wins over the past two years. We secured hundreds of thousands for local communities, including Harvard, and local residents will directly see the impacts of this funding.
Sen. Jamie Eldridge represents the city of Marlborough, the towns of Acton, Ayer, Boxborough, Hudson, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, and Wayland in Middlesex County; and the towns of Harvard and Southborough in Worcester County. Eldridge has served as state senator for the District of Middlesex and Worcester since January 2009. Previously, he was state representative for the 37th Middlesex District, elected in November 2002.
Eldridge is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Boston College Law School, where he served as president of the Public Interest Law Foundation. Prior to his election as state representative, Eldridge worked as a public interest attorney with Merrimack Valley Legal Services in Lowell, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal services to the poor and the elderly.
Q:
The Legislature has been criticized by the state auditor and others as the least transparent in the country and by one Globe columnist as “a disgrace of inaction.” Do you agree, and if so, what actions will you take in the 194th session to improve transparency and timely attention to legislation that matters to your constituents.
I share the frustration of State Auditor DiZoglio, advocates and the general public about the lack of transparency of the Massachusetts Legislature. On the Senate side, I have successfully fought for roll call votes to be posted online within 24 hours, for a week’s notice for Senate committees on the public hearings of bills, and recorded votes by Senate committees. For the next session, I will be refiling my bill, the Sunlight Act, to make all joint committee votes be public, for a one-week notice on the hearings of all bills, and for the executive branch to be subject to the open records law.
Q:
What is your position on Ballot Question 2, which proposes to eliminate the MCAS as a graduation requirement? If the question passes, what action will you take to support the legislation needed to enact its provisions?
I am voting yes on Question 2. I do not believe the MCAS is an accurate assessment of what and how students learn, and believe that high-stakes standardized tests hurt the education of all children in our K-12 public schools. If Question 2 passes, I strongly believe it should be fully and quickly implemented, and I am interested to discuss how all education stakeholders, including teachers, school administrators, students, and parents, can be involved in an inclusive process to determine how Massachusetts properly assesses student learning.
Q:
What is your position on Ballot Question 5, which proposes to require employers to pay the state’s minimum wage to tipped workers? If the question passes, what action will you take to support the legislation needed to enact its provisions?
I support Question 5. I do not think a subminimum wage is good for workers, and am concerned that there are too many wait staff who are dependent on tips to earn a living wage, especially in the Metrowest-Central Mass. region.
Q:
Do you support the removal of the housing cap and construction of additional housing at Devens? What should be the role of the towns—Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley—in that decision?
Yes, I am proud to be the lead sponsor of the amendment eliminating both the housing and commercial development caps at Devens in the pending Economic Development bill. Given the robust economic growth at Devens, and the growing housing crisis including in the Nashoba Valley, I believe Devens needs to do its part to build more housing, especially as more companies move to Devens. I believe that Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley should continue to engage in discussions around the future of Vicksburg Square, and the future disposition of Devens, for which I was pleased the Healey-Driscoll administration just provided a $300,000 grant for the three towns, Devens, and the DEC to hire a consultant.
Q:
What are you doing to shore up the region’s health care system in the wake of Nashoba Valley Medical Center’s closing?
While legislators including myself continue to reach out to find another hospital operator to bring back the hospital to Ayer, I serve on the Nashoba Valley Working Group that Governor Healey created to better understand health care gaps in the region. There is a lot of work to do.
Q:
What is your top legislative priority for the 194th session? What specific actions will you take to achieve it and how would its passage benefit the towns that you represent?
My top priority is reducing inequality in Massachusetts, which I believe can be accomplished through multipronged action on raising wages, providing more affordable housing, reducing health care costs, improving public transportation, expanding education opportunities, and addressing racial and gender inequality.
Q:
What is your proudest achievement in the 193rd session and how has it directly benefited the residents of Harvard?
I am proud of what the Legislature has accomplished in the 193rd session, and we continue to pass key legislation. I do believe we should be passing more legislation, and throughout the two-year session. My proudest achievement is the establishment of debt-free community college, as the senator sponsor to make all public higher education institutions free for all residents. Not only is that helping families across Massachusetts, but it lifts up one of my core beliefs, that public goods such as education should be universal, and fully accessible.