AMHERST — Some people told their most personal stories. Others served up heaping doses of policy. There was only one rule: Keep your speech under two minutes.
Whatever their reason, constituents packed a University of Massachusetts ballroom Tuesday, facing roughly a third of the Massachusetts Senate as part of the upper chamber’s “Commonwealth Conversations” tour. Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said the information gathered from the nine stops would help the Senate set its agenda.
“This is not window-dressing,” Rosenberg told the room. “We’re very committed in the Senate to transparency and civic engagement, and this is one of our efforts to engage the public.”
The comments were wide-ranging. Many speakers pushed for a single-payer health care system and bold efforts at climate change action. Lack of broadband in rural areas came up more than a few times, as well as transportation issues in western Massachusetts.
Perhaps the most personal appeal came from one supporter of the single-payer system, under which a public agency would administer health care payments — similar to Medicare, but for everyone.
“I urge you today to fight like hell for single-payer health insurance in Massachusetts,” said Deborah Levenson of Hadley.
About three years ago, she said, her wife was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. Her wife died, but she still faced a stack of bills — and billing errors, she said.
“We learned that in a crisis the best our system has to offer is: Good luck,” Levenson said. “I’m now 65 years old and I’m covered by Medicare. It’s a better deal, and I want it for everyone.”
Another topic that got air time was climate change, especially on the heels of Tuesday’s news that the Trump administration planned to roll back many of the cornerstone environmental regulations of the Obama era.
“It puts the onus on the states,” said Marc Breslow, the lead author of the state’s clean energy and climate plan.
Under the plan, the state is mandated to reduce emissions 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. “There’s virtually worldwide agreement among experts and climate policy that the most effective and cost-effective method of getting to the reductions that are needed is through putting a price on emissions of greenhouse gases,” Breslow said.
Broadband accessBroadband internet access — or the lack thereof — was also an issue constituents brought up in both Amherst and earlier in the day at another stop in Conway.
Linda Dunlavy, Franklin County Regional Council of Governments executive director, outlined the 20-year odyssey of trying to bring broadband to unserved and underserved communities.
The recent bankruptcy of the operator of Massachusetts Broadband Institute’s “middle-mile” network, which she said is “highly underutilized” is an opportunity for Massachusetts to structure a better deal for everyone.
“The state funding is a huge help to all of our towns but will only fund 25 to 33 percent of the cost of the network,” she said. For small towns, owning and operating a broadband network on their own is a “huge task.”
Corinne Fitzgerald, a past president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said in Amherst the No. 1 issue for homeowners and business owners in western Massachusetts is the lack of broadband access.
Because of this, homeowners “can’t sell their homes. They can’t move. Kids can’t get their schoolwork done. People can’t get home health care.”
Other issuesThere were a hodgepodge of other issues raised in Amherst, with the audience clapping when one speaker brought up a the possibility of a high-speed rail line to Boston.
Politics turned national when Matthew Maxwell of Northampton urged the senators to get behind legislation that would require presidential candidates to release their tax returns — something President Donald Trump did not do — before appearing on the ballot.
“If this lack of disclosure is allowed to stand, other politicians will follow President Trump’s lead,” he said. “Fighting for transparency is fighting for democracy.”
Two representatives with Western Mass Animal Rights Advocates urged the Legislature to restrict the sale of puppies at pet store and the use of animals in circus acts.
“It’s very outdated to use wild animals in circuses,” said Sheryl Becker.
At the Conway meeting, Michael Buoniconti, Mohawk Trail Regional School District superintendent, who chairs the Massachusetts Regional Schools Coalition, told the senators that in addition to declining enrollments and “flat” Chapter 70 school aid from the state, rural schools lack the economy of scale that allows absorption of costs.
“I have a class of 20 kids and I lose five kids, I still need a 1.0 teacher. I can’t hire three-quarters of a teacher,” said Buoniconti, calling for some “enabling tools … before we start to lose the qualities of our schools.”
The newly formed rural schools coalition, he added, is “looking for ways to help ourselves … that might not cost money.”
In addition to finding ways to share administrative costs, he said legislation allowing a four-day school week could save schools transportation and operating costs..
Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, said after the Conway stop that the tour was valuable, particularly because some senators from the eastern part of the state had never been exposed to issues of interest out west, particularly lack of broadband access.
“You get so focused on representing the district you represent that you don’t pay attention to (other) districts across the state,” he said. “It speaks to the value of bringing, in this case, a third of the Senate to the district and spelling out very clearly the dynamics that we face and the difference between eastern and western Mass.”
Also among the 16 senators attending were Sen. Donald Humason, R-Westfield, and Sen. Eric Lesser, D-East Longmeadow.
Richie Davis of The Recorder contributed to this report.
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.