Month: May 2022

On Friday May 20th State Senator Ed Kennedy; Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development, along with Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council Michael J. Bobbitt, toured two culturally significant sites in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The first stop on the tour was to the Whistler House Museum of Art, where they were joined by President and Executive Director Sara Mezian Bogosian, Mass Cultural Facilities Fund Program Director Jay Paget, and Chair of the Lowell Cultural Council Joe Pyne for a tour of the facility and discussion of their new art center construction project. The Whistler House Museum of Art is the oldest incorporated art association the United States and has featured prominently in the history and culture of the City of Lowell. Located in the Acre neighborhood, the Whistler House Museum of Art provides services to a diverse population of varying socio-economic backgrounds and is an internationally known attraction for visitors from the city, region, and abroad.

The next site they visited was the St. Jean Baptiste Church where Senator Kennedy and Executive Director Bobbitt met with Jack Kerouac Foundation Secretary Steve Edington, Foundation Executive Board member Dave Ouellette and Foundation Executive Director Sylvia Cunha. The Jack Kerouac Estate recently announced the formation of the Jack Kerouac Foundation which is intended to further the creative legacy of the world-renowned American writer and artist. The Foundation’s first initiative will be to pursue funding for the establishment of a Jack Kerouac Museum and Performance Center in the magnificent former St Jean Baptiste Church, which was constructed in 1896 to serve Lowell’s Little Canada neighborhood. The church was the parish for most of the city’s large French-Canadian population. It was also the site of Jack Kerouac’s funeral Mass in 1969.

The Dracut Water Supply District (DWSD) recently broke ground at the site of their planned water treatment plant (WTP) in Tyngsborough. The new water treatment plant will include a 2.65 million gallons per day biological pressure filtration treatment system to be used for the removal of iron and manganese from the existing public water supply wells in the Tyngsborough wellfield. The water treatment facility will include a biological filtration process with the ability for future expansion for PFAS treatment.

The Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development visited several tourist attractions in the City of Fall River on Friday, May 13. The tour included stops at the Narrows Center for the Arts, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the City Pier, the Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Portugalia Market Place. The tour concluded at the Quequechan River Rail Trail where we were joined by Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan. At the rail trail Portugalia Market Place owner, Michael Benevides provided the Joint Committee with an overview of the third annual FABRIC Art Festival, which opened on Thursday evening in Fall River.

The Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development and staff listen to Narrows Executive Director Patrick Norton as he leads a tour of the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River. Narrows Center for the Arts opened in 1995. The complex is situated in a mill building and consists of a performance theatre, two visual art galleries, several visual art studios, and rental space that is suitable for events and meetings. The performance theatre has a seating capacity of 450 and hosts about 120 shows every year. 

Yesterday, State Senator Ed Kennedy joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts State Senate in passing An Act Relative to Work and Family Mobility. This important piece of legislation allows Massachusetts residents who lack federal immigration status to apply for a Massachusetts standard driver’s license, which does not include a REAL ID.

The bill has received widespread support from members of the law enforcement community, advocacy groups, and members of the immigrant community. It proposes strict identity documentation criteria, asking for applicants to present two valid, unexpired identity documents. It makes no change to existing law requiring that all driver’s license applicants prove that they live in the Commonwealth. The bill passed by the Senate is nearly identical to the version that previously passed the House of Representatives earlier this year.

A version of this legislation having previously passed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the legislation moves back to the House for further consideration.

Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump was a recent guest on Beacon Hill Buzz. Beacon Hill Buzz is Senator Kennedy’s bi-monthly 30-minute television show on LTC. The purpose is to bring state government to the district through interviews with those involved in issues facing the Commonwealth and in the day-to-day process on Beacon Hill. Previous guests have included state-wide office holders as well as Secretaries and Commissioners of various state agencies and departments.

Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump is in the final year of her third term as State Auditor. She is the first woman to be elected State Auditor in the history of the Commonwealth, Suzanne Bump is a former state representative who also served as the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development under Governor Deval Patrick. During her eleven-year tenure as State Auditor, Suzanne Bump has initiated several reforms and improvements to the State Auditor’s Office.

You can watch the full episode of Beacon Hill Buzz here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgc2ztTRSNM.

On Thursday, April 28^th, State Senator Ed Kennedy joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts State Senate in passing S.2844 An Act regulating sports wagering. This legislation would legalize commercial sports betting in Massachusetts, allowing for both for in-person and online sports betting, and generating an estimated $35 million annually in tax revenue. Additionally, this bill includes a number of consumer safeguards and address gambling addiction and recovery.

In addition to sports wagering being offered at existing casinos, the bill contemplates six licenses to be awarded through a competitive process to companies which promote job-growth, responsible gambling, diversity, equity and inclusion, and which have community support. Those six licenses would be permitted to operate both in-person at a retail facility and online wagering. Wagering would not be permitted on electronic sports, amateur sports or athletic events including high school and youth sports, Olympic-related competitions, or collegiate sports. All leading Massachusetts Division 1 universities had previously weighed in against college sports betting.

Mindful of the harmful impacts of compulsive gambling and risks of addiction, the Senate proposal is intentional in its efforts to promote responsible gambling and takes steps to protect consumers. To that end, the bill would prohibit the use of a credit card to place a sports wager and would require the Department of Public Health (DPH) to establish a compulsive gambling direct assistance program.

Additionally, companies licensed to offer sports betting would be required to train employees to identify problem gambling and create plans to address instances of problem gambling, which would be submitted to the state’s Gaming Commission. In addition, the bill would ensure that consumers could cash out and permanently close accounts for any reason or create self-imposed limits on wagers.

To further protect consumers, this legislation would include limitations on advertising for sports betting. The bill would prohibit unsolicited pop-up advertisements and certain promotional items, and institute a whistle-to-whistle ban on television advertising during live sporting events. Like the state’s cannabis law, the bill would limit advertising on television and online where less than 85% of the audience is 21 or older.

With legislation relative to sports betting having passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives, a conference committee will be established to reconcile differences between the two bills.