Jake Oliveira is the great-grandson of immigrants from Portugal and Poland, who settled in Ludlow, Springfield and Palmer. They worked in the Ludlow Mills and put down strong roots in Western Massachusetts. Jake’s grandfather Bolac Bastek helped to build the Quabbin reservoir.
I fought for oversight of long term care and veteran’s health facilities to ensure quality care and safety. I’ll secure funds for transitional services and mental health support for veterans, and in-home care and recreational activities for seniors.
COVID-19 has devastated small businesses and led to many workers losing their life savings. I’ve led the way on loosening unnecessary regulations on small businesses, and will work to create local, good-paying jobs in green energy and education.
I fought to lift the ban on state support for school buses, provided tens of millions of dollars for public higher education, and prioritized vocational education. I’ll continue to ensure we get our fair share of school dollars from Boston.
Transit and road investments create jobs and will save you money. I’ll work to make the West East Rail a reality, expand PVTA bus routes, and upgrade service. I’ll prioritize timely road, sidewalk, and bridge repair to improve our quality of life.
I have heard from many residents struggling to access testing and vaccines. I’ll work to create affordable, local health care, and shorten ER wait times. We need to upgrade schools and senior centers with new ventilation systems to ensure safety.
I’ll protect and beautify our parks, rivers, and open spaces, like Forest Park, Swift River, and the Quabbin. We need to invest in clean energy, like solar and wind power, and stop air, noise, and water pollution caused by big outside corporations.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has changed the way our economy functions. Access to wide-spread testing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is crucial to the reopening of the economy. Support for our working families and front-line workers will need to be strengthened long after we begin our recovery.
We must focus on modernizing our economy with new ideas so it works for all, particularly for the residents of Western Massachusetts. Telecommuting, or working from home, has proven to be a viable alternative for certain professions. Massachusetts should embrace this concept with policies that encourage telecommuting but establish the proper protections for workers to ensure that a work/life balance is honored.
Moving to more telecommuting has the potential to attract more young people to Western Massachusetts because of our lower property costs. The end result would produce less traffic on the roads creating a more environmentally stable and cost-effective way for our economy to operate. With less time and money spent on commuting, working families could patronize local businesses within their communities. With that local demand, Western Mass has the potential to attract entrepreneurs that could provide services that young families desire.
Supporting our economy in Western Massachusetts should have a local and regional focus:
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Locally – Public/private partnerships like the continued development of the Ludlow Mills and the Belchertown State School properties are both major priorities as they allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to grow in both communities, and also cut through some red tape to allow new business to establish themselves and grow in these spaces.
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Regionally - Policy makers in Boston must recognize the fact that the Western Massachusetts economy is a regional economy, less reliant on Boston, with a greater connection to the economies north and south of the Pioneer Valley. There are far greater high-skilled manufacturing jobs within Western Massachusetts than in the Boston area. A regional approach to economic development with a focus on the green economy will help to reduce our carbon footprint while building upon our strong manufacturing base.
Workers across the state are losing jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Respecting and fighting for protections, hazard pay for front-line workers (including long-term care employees), access to employment, affordable educational opportunities, and training for the workforce of Western Massachusetts is a major public policy priority. With a strong skilled manufacturing base, support for worker training programs to further develop the skills of these workers to meet the needs of our modern economy is imperative. Incentivizing and allowing the green economy to flourish would compliment the skill set of Western Massachusetts.
A well-educated workforce is critical to success of our Commonwealth and region. Our Commonwealth must invest in each level of education – early childhood, K-12, career/technical, and public higher education.
Massachusetts is home to the best public K-12 schools in the nation; however, there is more work that our state should be doing to support educators, eliminate funding inequities, and provide essential wrap-around services to support the social and emotional needs of students. In 2016, as President of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, I partnered with school committee members, teachers, parents, and local leaders to help defeat Question 2 which would have expanded charter schools in Massachusetts. While I fought hard to update, modernize, and fully fund our outdated funding formula, further revisions must be made in the coming years to help needy districts that will only see small increases in funding.
A successful re-opening of our economy will depend on access to affordable and high-quality early childhood education. I will support funding to allow school districts and local pre-K providers to ensure universal pre-kindergarten access. Interventions at the earliest stages of a child’s life helps to eliminate disparities as they move through elementary school.
A majority of new jobs created require some education beyond high school. Students looking to obtain a college education should not be saddled with crippling debt that delays the start of their lives. That is why debt free college, through investments in our public higher education system, should be prioritized. Investments in our community colleges, state universities, and the University of Massachusetts system have the greatest impact on Massachusetts residents as their graduates stay, work, live, and start families in Massachusetts. A college education doesn’t mean solely four-year college, but also certificate and job training programs.
As a board member of the collaborative that oversees career and technical education to Ludlow students, I have fought to expand opportunities for these types of programs with the technology and equipment that enables students to succeed. It will continue to be a focus of mine in the legislature. We must incentivize and support for skilled professionals to become career and technical educators, and expand apprentice programs with area business that will lead to future employment. Training workers for the technical fields will help to retain our talent locally.
Western Massachusetts Requires Investment
We must rebuild our aging infrastructure. Any transportation plan discussed by the legislature should prioritize Western Massachusetts’ needs. Our Commonwealth needs to invest in Chapter 90 aid to cities and towns, which provides state funding for the repairs to roads and bridges within our communities. Investments in public transportation are important, but not just for the MBTA, which is rarely utilized west of Worcester, but for regional transportation entities and high-speed rail.
Infrastructure does not mean simply roads, bridges, and public transportation systems, but information highways. Access to affordable high-speed internet in every community is essential for Western Mass to reap the benefits of a revitalized economy that includes more telecommuting.
Our public spaces like state parks are being utilized now more than ever before. We must invest in these spaces to ensure the public has greater access. Grants to our local cities and towns, as through the Community Preservation Act, are important vehicles to help communities invest in their own infrastructure.
Public/private partnerships like the Ludlow Mills and the development of the Belchertown State School must receive greater state support for their infrastructure to attract business and entrepreneurs.