Issue Position: Jobs/Economy
Issue Position
Massachusetts' recovery from the Great Recession has been aided by its position as a leader in healthcare, life sciences and technology. However, we live in a rapidly changing economy and will continue to have intense competition both within the United States and globally.
We must be committed to enhancing our economic competitiveness to support emerging industries and attract and keep good businesses and high quality jobs. I support regulatory changes and innovative programs that will create an atmosphere where entrepreneurship and job creation can thrive.
I believe a fair day's pay for a fair day's work is both a moral obligation and good for our economy. While worker productivity has undergone sizable increases for many years, our minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. Massachusetts' minimum wage is the lowest it has ever been (in terms of real dollars adjusted for inflation) and no longer covers basic life necessities for workers and their families. This is not only an issue of fairness. It is good economics. Minimum wage earners help stimulate local business when they spend their wages in the community.
With regard to creating quality jobs, I support:
Raising the minimum wage to a minimum of $11.00 an hour. This raise will improve the quality of life for thousands of Massachusetts families. For example, single mothers who earn the new minimum wage and their children will no longer live in poverty.
Linking future increases in the minimum wage to the rising cost of living
Raising the minimum wage for tipped workers
Paid sick time
Focusing on workforce development with more coordination between the skill needs of the business community and the curriculum of vocational-tech schools, community colleges, and our state universities
When Tea Party Republicans in Congress refused to extend federal unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, more than 68,000 Massachusetts residents lost a vital economic lifeline on December 28, 2013. Cutting unemployment insurance benefits even further or making it harder to get benefits is too high a price for state legislation boosting the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is vital for Massachusetts workers but it should not be done at the expense of the unemployed.
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