麻州州長候選人 Maura Healey 批評對手 Geoff Diehl 用人不當

“Corey Lewandowski 在 Geoff Diehl 競選陣營中的新角色，告訴了我們關於他會成為什麼樣州長的所有我們需要知道的事。 有了Corey Lewandowski 在他的陣營，讓我們更清楚 Geoff Diehl 要做的事會更加的由仇恨和分裂來推波助瀾，會讓我們在氣候、平等、種族正義和經濟增長方面向後倒退。 這次選舉事關重大，我致力於成為一位能夠團結人們，而不是進一步分裂，能為我們的州帶來正面變化的州長。這對比再明顯不過了。”

AG HEALEY STATEMENT ON COREY LEWANDOWSKI'S ROLE IN DIEHL CAMPAIGN

“Corey Lewandowski’s new role in Geoff Diehl’s campaign tells us all we need to know about the kind of Governor he would be. With Corey Lewandowski in the fold, it is even clearer that Mr. Diehl’s agenda is fueled by hate and division, and will take us backwards on climate, equality, racial justice, and economic growth. There is much at stake in this election, and I am committed to being a Governor who brings people together instead of further dividing us, and ushers in positive change for our state. The contrast could not be more stark.”

 

麻州州長候選人Danielle Allen 提議毒癮除罪化

https://twitter.com/dsallentess

Danielle Allen Announces Historic Commitment to Expand Substance Use Recovery Support, Reclassify Nonviolent Drug Offenses To End Criminalization of Addiction

Boston, MA — In every single community in Massachusetts, families are struggling to help loved ones dealing with substance use. In recent years, Massachusetts’ opioid-related death rate hit more than twice the national average — with five people dying of opioid overdoses every day under the Baker-Polito administration. But across our Commonwealth, instead of help, people who need treatment and support for substance use issues of all kinds are getting jail time.

Today, during a press conference held outside the State House, Danielle Allen announced her plan to change that. Making Massachusetts gubernatorial history, Allen announced that as governor, she will extensively build out resources and support for substance use recovery — and will reclassify nonviolent drug offenses as a civil offense in order to end the criminalization that has exacerbated the overdose crisis.

“People in every single Massachusetts community are dealing with substance use issues, or have loved ones struggling with these issues. Too many of us have lost loved ones to the overdose crisis,” said Danielle Allen, Democratic candidate for governor. “Our families know that if you need treatment and support, you should not be getting jail time instead. We need to stop treating addiction as a crime and start treating it as the public health crisis it is. This is how we save lives and help people recover.”

 

An Allen administration will save lives, support communities, and help people recover by building out extensive resources to support people dealing with substance use — and by reclassifying personal-use drug violations as a civil, not criminal, offense to end the criminalization of addiction. An Allen administration will:

• Take Oregon’s work as a model and work with lawmakers to implement a harm reduction approach to substance use, as well as to eliminate criminal penalties for personal-use drug possession to make this approach possible.

• Expand support and treatment resources so that we’re meaningfully replacing a criminalization system with better access to low-barrier treatment and supportive housing, destigmatization, and broader support for health and recovery — as outlined in our Health Agenda.

• Create a better foundation for recovery by focusing on health equity and the social determinants of health, as outlined in our Health and Housing Agendas.

• Refuse to use a strike system approach — so that personal-use drug possession is never a jailable offense.

• Develop these policies in partnership with people in the recovery community, harm reduction advocates, behavioral health practitioners and experts, state and local lawmakers, and police partners like the PAARI network.

• Support innovative approaches to justice and health at the municipal level, like overdose prevention centers and alternative 911 dispatches. 

• Expunge criminal records for nonviolent, personal-use drug offenses to make it easier for people who have been incarcerated to find good jobs and rebuild their lives.

The announcement follows a recent gallup poll which found that one in three Americans say their family has been impacted by substance use. Allen affirmed that a criminalization approach to substance use has been a failure — perpetuating the stigma that prevents many people from getting help, and driving the mass incarceration that has ravaged Black and Brown communities. Allen’s championing of public health solutions to the overdose crisis falls in line with the work of the harm reduction community, and builds on legislation proposed by State Reps. Mike Connolly and Liz Miranda in 2021.

FAMILY DOLLAR CITED $1.5 MILLION FOR THOUSANDS OF MEAL BREAK VIOLATIONS AT MASSACHUSETTS LOCATIONS

 FAMILY DOLLAR CITED $1.5 MILLION FOR THOUSANDS OF MEAL BREAK VIOLATIONS AT MASSACHUSETTS LOCATIONS

Company Prevented More Than 600 Employees from Taking Meal Breaks Because of Short Staffing at Stores

 

            BOSTON – Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. d/b/a Family Dollar has been cited $1.5 million in penalties for more than 3,900 violations of the state’s meal break laws, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.

 

            Family Dollar was issued two citations by the AG’s Office for failing to provide employees who worked for more than six hours in one day at least 30 minutes for a meal break, affecting 620 employees across 100 locations throughout Massachusetts – the majority of which are in low-income neighborhoods. Family Dollar, a Virginia-based company, employs more than 900 people at its Massachusetts stores and operates more than 15,000 stores across the country.

 

“Workers give us their time, energy, and efforts to keep businesses running and our economy afloat,” said AG Healey. “These citations should send a message to all companies that they need to do right by their employees and provide meal breaks consistent with the law.”

 

            The AG’s Fair Labor Division began investigating Family Dollar after receiving multiple complaints that employees were not given proper meal breaks because of persistent staffing shortages. Investigators were able to determine that from 2018 to 2019, the company routinely cut the necessary payroll hours, leaving stores under-staffed. This resulted in hundreds of employees being unable to leave their stores or take meal breaks.

 

Employees were routinely required to remain on store premises, even when they were able to punch out for meal breaks. Massachusetts’ breaks and time off laws provide workers with a right to at least a 30-minute meal break for each six hours worked in a calendar day. During this meal break, workers must be relieved of their duties and be permitted to leave the workplace. Any requirement to remain on store premises is considered working time, and a violation of the law.

 

  Workers who believe their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/wagetheft. For information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the Office’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights website www.mass.gov/fairlabor for materials in multiple languages.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Amy Goyer and Supervising Investigator Jen Pak, both of the AG’s Fair Labor Division.

波士頓市長吳弭祝您虎年快樂

 

吳弭和Daily Table 合作 SNAP/ EBT持有者現可網購

說明會進行時，有2位市民大聲嚷嚷的陳情，經吳弭和在場的波士頓市議員 Tania Fernandes Anderson  一起安撫了他們。(周菊子攝) 波士頓市長吳弭(Michelle Wu, 右起) 「每日桌」營運長Michael  Malmberg，洛士百利店 經理Rose Marsan 一起說明SNAP Online的網購及運送服務。(周菊子攝)            (Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓綜合報導) 波士頓市長吳弭 (Michelle Wu)今 (1)日親自到洛士百利 (Roxbury)的「每日桌（Daily Table）」採買，藉以宣傳波士頓市府斥資9萬3000元，支持該機構第一個在麻州推出的食物券網購及運送服務（SNAP Online），希望幫助更多人更容易的獲取食物。              吳弭指出，新冠病毒大流行加上大風雪，增加了許多居民，尤其是行動不便人士出門採買食物的困難，「每日桌」上星期開始辦理，讓使用「補充營養援助計畫（SNAP）」卡或 「電子福利轉帳卡（EBT）」的人，也可以向亞馬遜(Amazon)等大型超商的客戶一樣，享受到網購及送貨上門的便利。              持用SNAP或EBT卡者，還可經由波士頓市的「食物錢加倍（Double up Food Bucks）」計畫，以半價購買新鮮蔬菜及水果。              「每日桌」指出，  凡是住在店鋪２英里方圓之內的人，都可以在網購之外，同時享有免費運送服務，其他人士可以網購。波士頓華埠大同村，堡壘村及公路村就位於「每日桌」洛士百利店的2英里之內距離。 波士頓市長吳弭 (Michelle Wu)現在不論到哪兒，都有抗議人士跟著。(周菊子攝)              「每日桌」是北美留學生戲稱為「缺德舊（Trader Joe）」的創辦人Doug Rauch所辦的非牟利連鎖雜貨店，經營理念是為社區中有需要者提供新鮮，有營養食品。由於新冠病毒大流行以來，店鋪所在附近顧客大受打擊，失業率陡增，進店使用SNAP或EBT卡人數大幅度增加，因此推出這網購及運送服務，希望這些顧客也能更方便的以廉宜價格獲得所需要的有營養食物。 Daily Table  的營運主任Jon Huntley。(周菊子攝)                     「每日桌」從2015年在多徹斯特(Dorchester)的柯德門廣場（Codman Square）創辦第一家以來，2018年在洛士百利的Nubian廣場， 2021在劍橋市中央廣場，又陸續開了2家。該機構營運主任 Jon Huntley透露，他們正緊鑼密鼓，要在波士頓市麥特潘（Mattpan），麻州郊區塞冷鎮（Salem）再開２家新店。洛士百利分店內至少有600多種食品及雜貨，一個月約有7500人光顧。                                   「每日桌」食物券網購活動的經費，主要來自美國援救計畫行動(ARPA)經由「食物主權及社區補助計畫」撥給麻州34個地方非牟利組織的220萬元。                標榜以比其他超市價格廉宜30%的「每日桌」網址為https://dailytable.org/，可下載到手機上使用的應用程式網址https://apps.apple.com/us/app/daily-table/id1523959497。查詢詳情可洽波士頓市長的取得食物途徑辦公室（Office of Food Access），https://www.boston.gov/departments/food-access/boston-double-food-bucks。 MAYOR WU ANNOUNCES NEW ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING ACCESS FOR SNAP PARTICIPANTS  Residents using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can order through Daily Table, a local grocery store chain

BOSTON - Tuesday, February 1, 2022 - Mayor Michelle Wu today announced SNAP participants can now use their EBT cards to make online grocery orders and receive grocery delivery from the Daily Table, a nonprofit food store with locations in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Cambridge. The Mayor’s Office of Food Access (OFA) provided Daily Table with $93,000 using American Rescue Plan funds to support the SNAP online initiative. The Mayor made the announcement while visiting Daily Table’s Roxbury store, interacting with customers and helping to fill online orders. In a program that began last week, SNAP participants can now use their EBT cards to order groceries online for in-store pickup or delivery via Daily Table’s website or app. This service is ideal for those with mobility challenges, or families who prefer not to shop in-person during the ongoing pandemic. The delivery program is aligned with Mayor Wu's Food Justice Agenda to increase Boston residents' access to fresh, nutritious, affordable, and culturally relevant food. “Expanding food access requires meeting residents where they are and making it easier for busy families to get nutritious, affordable meals,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and winter storms, not everyone has the ability to go into a store. I’m grateful to Daily Table for their partnership in ensuring that Boston’s residents, especially our seniors and those with health concerns, can use their SNAP benefits from the comfort of their own homes to access culturally appropriate food.” “Our mission is to provide fresh, tasty, and nutritious food to communities most in need,” said Doug Rauch, Daily Table Founder and President. “Over the last two years, the communities we serve have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID pandemic with higher rates of unemployment and skyrocketing food insecurity. SNAP redemption levels in our stores have nearly doubled since the pandemic started. Enabling our customers using SNAP benefits to order free grocery delivery at the same low prices as in our stores democratizes access and empowers customers to get the healthy, affordable food they need and deserve.”   Daily Table is one of the first grocery stores in Massachusetts to offer online SNAP benefits, and the only locally-owned, non-profit grocer in the program. All Daily Table customers, including those purchasing groceries with SNAP benefits, who live within a two-mile radius of any Daily Table location are eligible for free delivery. Anyone can shop at Daily Table, but the small business’ focus is on helping end food insecurity. SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the largest federal nutrition assistance program. SNAP provides benefits to eligible low-income individuals and families via an Electronic Benefits Transfer card. Massachusetts first launched the SNAP online purchasing program in 2020. A full list of businesses in Massachusetts affiliated with the SNAP Online Purchasing Program can be found on the Commonwealth’s website.  “The Office of Food Access is thrilled to work with Daily Table on ensuring all Boston's residents have access to healthy, nutritious foods,” said Hae-In Kim, Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Food Access. “This initiative as a whole will further the goals of the Community Grants Program - making healthy food more affordable and accessible to communities most impacted by food insecurity.” Daily Table is 1 of 34 organizations that received American Rescue Plan funding through OFA as part of the Community Grants Program. The nonprofit grocery chain was awarded $93,000 for this online SNAP delivery program. The funding covers the following: A portion of staff time to implement and manage SNAP online Underwriting the costs of providing free ordering and delivery services to SNAP online customers  Supporting creation and translation of SNAP online marketing materials, advertising, as well as photography/video costs Connecting with community organizations who work with SNAP recipients This program builds on the City’s efforts to expand food options for families using SNAP benefits. Boston’s Double Up Food Bucks program provides SNAP recipients with 50 percent off all fresh fruits and vegetables with their EBT card. Double Up Food Bucks incentivizes SNAP customers to purchase nutritious, locally-sourced items while supporting Boston’s small businesses. A list of participating grocery stores and other food justice initiatives can be found on OFA’s website. SNAP online does not pair with the Double Up Food Bucks program.

麻州州長候選人 Danielle Allen 已募得近50萬元

Danielle Allen Reports Highest Fundraising Haul Yet, Nearly Double Best Raise Of 2021

Boston, MA — Gubernatorial candidate Danielle Allen issued the following statement announcing her January fundraising totals:

“I’m excited to announce that as we close the books on January, our campaign is reporting our highest monthly fundraising numbers yet. Team Allen contributed more than $200,000 this month — nearly double our highest monthly record from 2021, and a clear sign that our momentum is growing fast. This brings our total cash on hand to $493,000. We’ve been a scrappy, insurgent, people-powered campaign from the start, and over the last year, we’ve built the resources to stay the course. Now, with election year officially underway, we’re hitting the ground running — and we’re ready to invest in ramping up our grassroots operation and sharing our message with voters all across the Commonwealth. I’m so grateful to everyone who powered our campaign to this strong start to election year. Massachusetts is ready for a fresh perspective to meet the moment and help us find the path forward together, and I’m more ready than ever to deliver that as we head into caucus season.”

AG HEALEY: GUN MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM STATE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS

AG HEALEY: GUN MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM STATE CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS  

Leads Multistate Brief in Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Smith & Wesson Brands Arguing that Federal Law Does not Shield Gun Manufacturers and Dealers from Consumer Laws Governing the Marketing and Sale of Firearms 

 

BOSTON – Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing a brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts arguing that a federal law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), does not shield gun manufacturers and dealers from consumer laws governing the marketing and sale of firearms. 

 

“It is unacceptable for gun manufacturers and distributors to knowingly market their products in in a way that facilitates the illegal trafficking of weapons into the hands of dangerous individuals,” AG Healey said. “We urge the Court to recognize that gun dealers, manufacturers, and distributors may be held accountable under state laws for how they market and sell their products.” 

 

The brief, filed Monday in Estados Unidos Mexicanos v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. et al., supports the government of Mexico in a lawsuit brought against seven U.S.-based gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, and Ruger, as well as a Massachusetts-based gun distributor, Interstate Arms. Mexico’s complaint alleges the defendants design, market, distribute, and sell guns in a way they know appeals to drug cartels and violent gangs in Mexico. The coalition’s brief argues against the defendants’ contentions that, through PLCAA, Congress “erected an insurmountable barrier to traditional state law forms of accountability.”  

 

The brief argues that PLCAA should be narrowly interpreted and that federal statutes may not be read to displace traditional areas of state authority, including state consumer protection laws.  

 

“While Congress intended PLCAA to bar lawsuits seeking to hold gun manufacturers and sellers liable for harms committed by third parties, it also preserved remedies for harms committed by manufacturers and sellers themselves, as when they violate consumer protection laws applicable to the sale and marketing of guns,” the coalition wrote in the brief. “Mexico’s lawsuit alleges the defendants themselves knowingly violated common law duties and statutes applicable to the sale or marketing of firearms. PLCAA is not, accordingly, a valid defense to Mexico’s lawsuit.”  

 

Mexico’s complaint alleges a number of claims against the gun manufacturers and distributor, including claims under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, the state’s Chapter 93A, and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA). According to the brief, PLCAA preserves the right of the plaintiffs to bring actions against gun manufacturers and dealers for knowingly violating these laws. The brief points out that both Connecticut and Massachusetts courts have affirmed that, as a matter of state law, both CUTPA and Chapter 93A apply to the sale or marketing of firearms. 

 

The brief was led by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and joined by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia. 

昆士市慶祝農曆新年 市長柯奇親掛虎年布旗

(圖片來自昆士市政府臉書)