Thank you to the League of Women Voters

On Saturday morning I attended the League of Women Voters forum at the library where State Senator Mike Barrett and State Representative briefed residents on their recent activities and took questions from the audience.

Senator Barrett spoke first discussing his work in the health and human services area and the need to determine whether some of the recent problems in the news are the result of individual performance issues, systemic failure, or simply insufficient funding.  He also mentioned that tax revenues are up and Chapter 70 local aid funds for Weston are likely to be hundreds of thousands of dollars higher than originally expected.  [Good news for residents: Town Manager Donna VanderClock indicated that any excess local aid funds would be offset by reductions in property tax savings.]  Senator Barrett also spoke of looking for ways to use the tax code to encourage more environmentally sound practices.

Representative Peisch spoke next about her work in the realm of education, noting that pilot testing of the Park test, being developed to replace and raise the standards on MCAS, will be beginning soon.  She also indicated that Chapter 90 funds (state support for roadway projects) was in the works and that the tensions between the Governor and the legislature last year that caused delays, which necessitated cancellation of some planned projects last summer, were not likely to repeat this year.

Thank you to Senator Barrett, Representative Peisch, and to the League of Women Voters for an engaging and information forum.