• As we well know, House Speaker Sal DiMasi has supported the proposal to increase state employees' health insurance premium contribution rates. Thanks to Representative Marty Walsh and 106 other representatives who have signed on to his opposition letter to this proposal, the MCCC is optimistic that this revenue option will be defeated during House Budget debates in the week ahead.
• As recommended by the Joint Committee on Revenue, the Speaker has also proposed the closing of corporate tax loopholes and a decrease in the excise tax rate for all corporations statewide.
• Should this latter proposal pass, the combined tax cut and tax loophole closure for corporations will provide no new income for state coffers in the years ahead. The corporate excise tax cut is expected to wipe away any revenues gained. If this proposal is supported, the opportunity to get corporations to pay their fair share and thereby increase revenues needed for our structurally deficient state treasury will certainly be lost.

• Contact your representative. First, thank him or her for his/her support, if warranted, for opposition to raising revenues by increasing state employee health insurance costs. You should know where your representative stands on this proposal from previous contacts with representatives and previous emails on this initiative.
• Secondly, ask your representative to support the closure of tax loopholes, but to oppose the decrease in the corporate excise tax rate. Corporations should share the state's tax burden. Essential funding for public higher education, human services, healthcare and infrastructure needs should not be further eroded.
• If you live out of state, contact a state representative who serves your college campus. Every chapter president along with support from every chapter SAC representative should email or phone his/her own representative and be sure that all state representatives who serve your particular campus are contacted by chapter leadership.

• The majority of businesses would not be affected by the closing of corporate tax loopholes. Mass Budget & Policy Center research reveals that only a few of the larger corporate entities receive the unintended benefits from tax avoidance/tax loophole strategies. Many local businesses support closing corporate tax loopholes as these monies would be used to support the communities where these businesses reside.
• A key concern related to the corporate excise tax cut is that this tax reduction would be increased over the next two years resulting in the corporate excise tax rate being slashed by 25 percent, with a net loss to the state of $466 million. Our state cannot afford to give big business such a big break.
• The loss in revenues will affect the ability of the state to fund public higher education and other needed programs adequately. Our colleges and campuses are already severely under-funded. That nearly $400 million gap in operational funding needs still exists.
• Tax breaks to corporations should not be supported at this time. The state is plagued by decreased revenues, a longstanding structural budget deficit problem, and a recession climate that imposes an increased and disproportionate economic burden on every community, every student, and every resident statewide.
• Expecting corporations to pay their fair share is not anti-business. Business and communities benefit from taxes that would support an educated and healthy workforce as well as a safe and effective infrastructure.

• Call or email your representative or one or more of the representatives who serve your school on Monday, April 7th. This revenue proposal will be debated on the House floor on Tuesday, the 8th. Emailing early Tuesday morning (April 8) would be appropriate if you are unable to make this contact the day before.

• Phone numbers and email addresses for representatives can be accessed at http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm

• If you don't know who your Massachusetts representative is, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com and enter your address.

Thank you for your support on this important revenue issue. We all know the state's Public Higher Education system and other community programs and services cannot afford any more cuts. Speak out now to protect our colleges, our students, and our professional lives.

In solidarity,

Donnie McGee

Diana (Donnie) McGee
MCCC Vice President & SAC Chair

Email: 

• What has happened to date
• How  this political battle might play out
• What you might do to help the Rep. Marty Walsh initiative prevail

• SAC Steering Team lobbyist, Brooks Smith, and I have been up at the State House weekly - sometimes 2 or 3times per week, for the last month to fight the inclusion of these increase in the House Budget. We have met formally and/or informally with at least 27 Representatives and/or their aides, concentrating on those who had not yet committed to oppose these increases. Most of these were Committee Chairs or Vice-Chairs or others in House leadership.
• SAC Steering Team members, Roberta Albano and Carole Dupont, and I hand-delivered 100 MCCC letters at the State House, to communicate our thanks to all the Representatives who had signed on to the Rep. Marty Walsh letter to date. MCCC letters outlining how these increases would affect our faculty and professional staff  were also distributed to many of those who had not yet signed this letter - to urge their support.
• A special MCCC letter of thanks was delivered to Rep. Marty Walsh for his tremendous efforts on behalf of this state employee insurance rate fight. SAC team members met with his office and his chief aide at least 3 times to get updates on the progress of his initiative and to let him know our union would work hard to get every representative to support his opposition letter. Walsh's Director of Constituent Services thanked me personally for all the work MCCC has done to support this..
• SAC Chapter representatives and Chapter leaders have been hard at work urging members
• to seek support from uncommitted representatives and
• to thank those representative who have signed on to the Walsh letter.

• With such strong support - atleast 100 representatives openly oppose the health insurance contributionincreases, there is a good chance that the proposal to increase employees' healthinsurance will not appear in the first draft of the HouseBudget.
• Were it to appear in a first draft, anamendment would be put forth to exclude it. The amendment should certainly pass - given the pledged support.
• The House Budget will be drafted inthe next weeks and is typically voted on in mid-April, so we should know more in thecoming weeks how this will play out.
• If the House does not include thisproposal in its budget, the Senate cannot introduce it as a revenue source in itsbudget. That being said, several key Senators in leadership have indicated theywould totally oppose such increases were they to seem them proposed inthe House budget.

• Review the attached list to see where your representative stands.
• If s/he has not committed toopposing these increases, please contact this representative, if you havenot already, and urge his/her support.
• If s/he is one of the 100 or so who have pledged to join us in this fight, please thank him/her if you have not already. Calling, emailing, or a short personal note would all be appropriate,but certainly the latter is most meaningful.

• If you don't know who your representative is, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com and enter your address. 

• Phone and email contact information for these reps is included on the attached lists. If you want to send a short hand-written note, simply include the name of your representative and room number on the State House address below:

Representative __________________________

State House, Room_____________

Boston, MA 02133

• Stay tuned for any unusual twist in events and or need for future political action.

• For more information on the Governor's proposal  and how this would affect your salary, go to the MCCC website: http://mccc-union.org/TD/EmployeePremiumIssue.html <>  
• For contact information on Representatives, go to  http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm 
• If you do not know who your Representative is, go  to http://www.wheredoivotema.com

• On February 12, please join colleagues at the  State House for the COLA Lobby Day. 
• If you can't make it to Boston, send an email to  your legislators during the COLA Lobby Days (February 5 - 12). 
• For more information, go to the MTA website: http://www.massteacher.org/news/headlines/headlines_2008-01-09.cfm 

• The Public Higher Education Network of  Massachusetts is planning its major spring campaign with the slogan:  Public Higher Education: We Need to Fix It!  Fund It!   Afford It! 
• Attached please find a flier to encourage students, staff, faculty,  alumni, friends and family to come to the State House with PHENOM on  February 14.  You can post this flier, pass it out  at meetings and classes, table with it, give it to your friends, or email  it to all interested/affected parties. 
• The  program will include higher ed-themed  Valentine's Day candy, speakers, a lobbying training, visits with members of  the Ways and Means committees, and more. 
• Carpool with a colleague and/or students to participate in this  important work. If you cannot attend this event, please reserve Wednesday,  April 16, when PHENOM will have a much bigger rally at the State  House. At that time all of the stakeholders will lobby to preserve access,  affordability and the overall integrity of public higher  education in this state.

• As  many of you know, I attended a House Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing in  Washington, DC, on Jan. 16 to discuss issues related to the current Social  Security law. A key focus of this hearing was the repeal of the current  Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP)  statutes that unfairly affect those who have Social Security earnings but will  also collect a state pension in this and 14 other states. 
• Representative Howard Berman, NEA President Reggie Weaver, and  others gave strong testimony in support of this repeal. 
• MTA  colleagues Nancy Mickunas and Peggy Kane joined me in lobbying our  Massachusetts delegation. We distributed MCCC testimony in support of the  GPO/WEP repeal and shared the MCCC collection of stories that  communicated the unfairness and the true impact these provisions will  have on many of our colleagues. 
• When  some of the more pressing SAC work is behind us, the MCCC SAC steering and  statewide teams will be targeting MCCC members from every Congressional  district in this state to visit with their Congressional leaders to keep the  pressure on to repeal the GPO/WEP. A change of administration will be key to  pushing this legislation forward - as will our continued action. In the  meantime, please help us help you and let us know if you are willing to visit  with your US Representative. We plan to do this lobbying in small groups of  three or four MCCC members at most.

• To contact  your Senator, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenus.htm
• To identify your Senator,  go to: http://www.wheredoivotema.com
• To  identify and contact Senate Ways and Means Committee members, go to: http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/s30.htm

• A  statewide SAC meeting will be held on February 20 or 21 to organize and  plan our union's strategic action in the months ahead. Please  attend this meeting (or send someone in your place) if you are a current SAC  representative. If your college has no SAC representative, please recruit  someone to attend this meeting to represent your chapter. It is  important that our 15 community colleges are represented.  SAC representatives and Chapter Presidents from non-SAC chapters were all  sent a memo today regarding the suggested meeting times. 
• An  ORP Ad Hoc Committee meeting will be held in the last week in February or the  first week in March, depending on what is most convenient for a majority of  members.This meeting announcement will be sent out tomorrow.