[Danielle Balocca]: Hey listeners, this is Danielle. And Shelley. Shelley is a radical Dravidian and racial equity activist.
[Chelli Keshavan]: And Danielle is a community mobilizer and changemaker. And this is the Medford Bites podcast. Every two weeks, we chew on the issues facing Medford and deliver bites of information about the city by lifting the expertise of our guests.
[Danielle Balocca]: Join us in discussion about what you hope for the future of Medford. And as always, tell us where you like to eat. All right, we're here with Christine Barber, state rep from the 34th Middlesex District, Medford and Somerville. So Christine, thanks for joining us. We're going to start with our normal question for everyone, which is what your favorite place to eat is in Medford and what you like to eat there?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Speaking about the question, I admittedly don't go out a lot. I usually grab something at kind of a coffee shop. So I do go to the Danish pastry house on Boston Ave a lot. They have good quiches for lunch, and I've been known to get maybe a croissant or a pastry for lunch. But if I'm going to actually sit down at a restaurant, Semolina is really good. I'm actually having lunch with a friend there early next week. They have great pasta.
[Danielle Balocca]: So good choice.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Love it. Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. So we invited you on today to talk about a question on the ballot and the upcoming, which is new. So we talked to Zach Bares several weeks ago ahead of the primary, and he talked us through the first three questions on the ballot, but a fourth question has been added. So we were hoping that you could give us some context for that.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, so thank you for bringing this up. So question four is new to the ballot, and because of that, it's one that people don't know much about. A yes on question four would preserve a current state law that passed a few months ago. It's called the Work and Family Mobility Act, and that law would let all drivers apply for a driver's license regardless of their immigration status. And what that really means is everyone driving would have insurance, would have a license, and we know, you know, knows the rules of the road. So this was a late-breaking repeal attempt of that law, and it is confusing, but a yes on four preserves the law.
[Danielle Balocca]: So it's sticking with a law that already exists.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah. So it's a law that has been many years in the making. Folks have worked on this law for decades. I came in and worked on it in the last four years. We passed it earlier this spring overwhelmingly in the House and Senate. There was three quarters of support in the House and Senate for this bill. And it's actually really supported by law enforcement. We've worked with police chiefs at the district attorneys and Attorney General Healey on this law. So it is roundly supported. A small group was able to get enough signatures to try to repeal it. And that's what's on the ballot this fall.
[Danielle Balocca]: just so I totally see what this means. So we're voting to keep a law that allows undocumented immigrants to have driver's licenses, which also allows them to or mandates that they have insurance for their car.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Exactly. So it's for undocumented immigrants. There are some people who have TPS and some other immigration statuses where there can be, can be more challenging. And this will be a standard Massachusetts license, which a lot of people have. So, you know, in Massachusetts, we have the, there's two licenses you could get. You can get the real ID, which, which you use to fly, but there's also an option to get a standard mass ID, which I have, a lot of people have. And that's what would be provided. And so no matter your immigration status, you would be able to apply for a driver's license. And just to be clear, because it does come up, people still have to provide ID when they get the driver's license. So you'd have to provide either a passport or a consular ID card, which even though folks are documented, they have lots of this kind of identification and information. So there are documents that, you know, a lot of us have that they are providing to be able to get a driver's license and drive legally in Massachusetts.
[Danielle Balocca]: And are you hearing any opposition to voting to voting as Elizabeth?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: So I have been mostly canvassing in my district, and I'll say there is a lot of support for this. What I'm mostly hearing in my district is people are surprised that it's on the ballot because it's new to the ballot. As people know, it didn't make the book, called the red book, the information for voters that gets sent out from the Secretary of State. It was so late that it's not in that book. So there's just confusion. I'm like, oh, I didn't know this was there. So that's mostly what I'm hearing. So we are, we're doing door-to-door canvassing, we're doing phone banks to try to just get the word out that this is on the ballot. For most people, you also have to flip your ballot over because there are so many questions. So make sure you fill out all of the questions and that it's a yes on four because it is a little confusing. That is a repeal attempt, but it's a yes that preserves the law.
[Danielle Balocca]: That does sound confusing. And so the benefit of having more people insured, more people able to drive with a legal license, that means like I get in an accident with somebody now who doesn't have a license, doesn't have insurance, I'm like on the hook for like whatever damages are caused to my own vehicle, right? And this would change or this does change that already.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, this would change that, though, that everyone driving would have a license and then, yes, would have insurance. So this is actually not a new thing. So 16 other states have already passed this law. So it's actually good because we have data on what happens. So in California and Connecticut, when they passed, each passed this law, they did studies and actually the cost of insurance for other drivers went down a little bit because you're not paying the costs of uninsured motorist. And that's true. You have more security that you know if you're in an accident, the other person's likely to have insurance.
[Danielle Balocca]: Are there any benefits for folks that are able to now get these licenses other than being able to drive legally?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, the benefit that I've heard from working with folks on this is really there is greater fear in just getting behind the wheel, you know, take your child to the doctor to get groceries, to go to work, and just a lot of fear of driving without a license and what that could mean. Yeah. This is something that provides security for people to feel, you know, less, less fear in their day to day, really basic activity. But I also think about this as, you know, for all of us on the roads, it really makes all of us safer and safer when our kids are driving or when we're on the roads that we know everyone actually has a license and, and has, you know, we all have to go through a driver's test, knows the rules of the road and that we all have more security.
[Chelli Keshavan]: I think I'm just thinking about how access to state ID might just support the process of sort of pushing immigration and maybe just make that easier.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, a lot of people, I think, talk about this as an immigration issue, but one of the interesting things, and I think, you know, when I look at the other 16 states that did this, even though It's some of our neighboring states like Connecticut, New York, Vermont. There are also states like Utah that have passed this, so more red states, and that it isn't really, you know, we can't, I mean, as a state legislator, I can't do anything about the challenges of immigration reform or what I think should happen. with immigration reform at the federal level, but driving and who has a license is a solidly state issue, right? Like that is something the state controls. So while I feel like I don't have control over what we do about immigration, but I do, we do have some say over, okay, so you're here. do you have a license? Do you even have the option of having a license? And that is a, so it's a state responsibility and something that we can and we did do at the state level, like under our own purview. And I do think that's why states you see that aren't necessarily like quote unquote blue states have done this is because they're, they know they're immigrants in their community and it's really about It's about driving and what are the state rules there.
[Chelli Keshavan]: What does this mean for minors? I'm thinking about maybe high school drivers, kids who might be driving for older parents and transporting siblings.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, that's a great question. So it doesn't change a lot for minors and for the test process for what you're for getting a license. Really what it does is it just changes for people who are waiting or applying for a license that you can use your passport as a different form of ID. So yeah, it doesn't change the ages or anything.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, I imagine just access to a car does a lot for families, like economically, they can get to work, they can get their kids to school more easily. Like it seems like there are some non-safety like sort of advantages to those folks at this impact as well.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: And there's also an economic, there is a real economic benefit. So a group called Mass Budget Policy Center, they do economic analyses for the state and they looked at other states too who had done this and they found that some of the money is from, comes to the states, state revenues and things like you have to pay money to get a license and to get a registration, right? Like, we all pay for that. That will bring in, I think it's about $5 million a year. But then there's also the economic cost of maybe getting insurance, the other things that aren't as big. Now you have to get insurance, you may be buying a car, and then you'll be working and probably contributing to the economy in a different way. Paying extra. So, yeah, it's about, yeah, exactly. It's about, I think, around $10 million a year in economic benefit in allowing this as well. So there is some other ancillary benefits. And then the part about, you know, for all of our insurance, it can make us all safer and hopefully bring your car insurance down a little bit, which would be good.
[Danielle Balocca]: I know I lived in Boston before I moved to Medford and like parked my car on the street and our insurance went up when we moved to Medford and I was like very surprised.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, definitely. It depends on where you live and then what the accidents rates are.
[Danielle Balocca]: Some precarious rotaries for sure.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. Well, I was wondering if there was any other else about the November ballot that you wanted to bring.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, there's definitely some other good questions. But before we went to that, I did want to just also mention that on the question four, one thing to keep in mind is that that law enforcement also really supports this. And I think that's something not everyone knows, but so locally Chief Buckley and other local police chiefs in this area support it. And it's actually something that we've worked on with law enforcement. And even though that might seem like a weird alliance, there was concern about how to make sure we're keeping people safe and how to make sure that, honestly, police have the information they need when they're doing their job. And we work together really well, including, you know, immigrant activists who work directly with some police leaders and it actually has been a place where we found a lot of common ground. So you may see we're trying to get a question for, there is a question for Ed, we're trying to raise enough money to get it on TV, which is really expensive, but actually the police chief from Lawrence is the main spokesperson and he has been really great in helping us shape the law. So just for folks to know that, you know, including, you know, more heelies, of course, running for governor, but as attorney general, she's done some of this work and worked on us with a lot, too. So along those lines, really.
[Danielle Balocca]: It makes me actually think about, like, is there any risk to folks who are undocumented, maybe have temporary status, that is there any risk to having a license?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Sure. So this is something that worked on a lot. So Laura Rotolo, Medford resident, who I know you've had on your show, she is a ACLU lawyer. And we worked with a number of privacy lawyers on this very closely because we wanted to make sure when information is collected, it's protected. So we wrote the law that's on the books in a way where it cannot be pulled by either the federal government or by kind of a rogue employee who is handing out information that legally that it is protected. We do know there's a, there is, you know, in the age of hacking and there's always a slight chance that people's information will be shared. And in working with immigrant communities, there is this, there's an acknowledgement of that and that, you know, there's, there are people who say we'll take the risk to be able to drive and you know, participate in our community fully. So it's good to kind of have that information out, but the people most affected know about that and have that as a kind of calculated risk. And we have done everything we can and a lot to try to protect people's information. So other, your question was on other things on the ballot. So, so I've actually, I am excited about the Democratic ticket as a whole. There are, I think, five women running for constitutional officers. So statewide office, which has never happened. So I'm really excited to, I've done a lot of work to try to get women to run and to be able to vote for that many women statewide is really exciting. And they're all of course, amazing candidates and really qualified. And it's just, it's great that. we're going to have so many women on, that we have so many women on the ballot. There are a lot of ballot questions. The other one that I've been also talking about is question one, which I think there's more knowledge about, but this is the fair share amendment. And it's actually something I voted for four times now, because to get it on the ballot, we have to vote on it in successive legislatures. Once you get this on the ballot, because we have to change the constitution to change our tax policy in the state than how our tax policy is done. And folks may already know about this, but this is really the millionaire's tax. So if on only your income you get your first million dollars, you should be free. And above that, you would have a 4% increase on your taxes.
[Danielle Balocca]: Any dollar above. A million dollars is taxed at this different rate.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: And importantly, that money would go to, and it's protected in the Constitution, go to transportation and education. And I think we all know schools can use more support all across the board. We're trying to invest more money in early education, public higher ed. And then transportation is on fire. We need a lot more investment in not in public transit, but also in our roads and bridges. There's a lot more that we can do there. So Massachusetts right now has a flat tax, which ends up being regressive. So this would be a progressive taxation for the first time.
[Danielle Balocca]: Regressive meaning the less money you make, like the sort of proportionally more taxes you pay.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, because it's a flat tax. So if we all, we all pay the same percentage, you know, your percentage when you're barely making ends meet is a lot harder to make. Wealthy have more, it's a bigger income. So this would be a way to invest in our education and transportation systems and create a progressive tax in Massachusetts.
[Danielle Balocca]: And that so that I understand like this has been the fair share amendment or something similar has been like tried that you've tried to get on the ballot before. And was that change in the Constitution to like allocate that money to those things? Is that new?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: So this that's a good question. And actually, before my time in the legislature, that there's been attempts over many years to try to change our tax policy in the state. But it's true that tying it to probably some of the most important things in people's lives, like education and transportation and making sure that we have to spend it on those is more popular, right? So no one, you know, it's hard to make a case for paying taxes, but if it's, you're sure that it's going to important things like education, transportation, if it's- And we are sure about that because of the, because what you're saying, the adjustment to the constitution. So it's in the constitution that there would be trust funds for education and transportation.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, some of the questions that I've got when I've talked about this is like, well, how do we know it's going to be spent right? But it's good to know.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: And honestly, education and transportation are two of the biggest things that we spend in the state government. So I think, so we have to, at the state level, we have our budget. It is around 40 billion. We have to balance our budget every year. And we don't, you know, when you think about the state budget, it's different than the federal budget. We don't have defense spending, things like that. So the big outlays are education and transportation are two of the biggest things, especially since we passed Student Opportunity Act a few years ago to really put more investments in education. So to meet those needs of where our schools need to be, we have to be able to put more and more in education in the next couple of years.
[Danielle Balocca]: And how is that filtered to the city? So we've, in Medford, you know, we've had a big year with budgets and education and, you know, Bruins and everything. How do you, how would the fair share money for, or like revenue from the fair share of the MISH, how would that be allocated to Medford?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: That's a great question. I don't, there's not, it's a complicated answer. So right now, education funding to Medford, we have, there's a formula for how much Medford gets based on really Medford's income and how much property tax Medford's already putting in. So some communities get more, some get less. And then there's also challenges with things going into that, like money that's going out the door to charter schools and other things where money gets piped off. But an increase in education funding will help raise Medford too. And the other place is, I think, for early education, which is a place that Medford could build more, is figuring out how to supplement what we're doing for education and figure out for you know, for early ed and for, you know, going to helping support younger families. How do we increase that amount? It is, are public colleges included? Yeah, so it includes public higher ed too. And even though we don't have one right here in town, something I've been working on is just addressing the cost for families of public higher ed has gotten really expensive in the state. We have a lot of great colleges, universities, community colleges, and it's just getting, we're out of reach. So how do we invest more so families can actually go there and be debt-free or, you know, be able to work a job and actually pay for school in that way.
[Danielle Balocca]: I did just fill out an application for Joe Biden's, what is it?
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: The relief grant. Yes. There's the, well, yeah, there's the public service relief if you're in and out of Iowa. It is, but they've redone the application where it's, It's supposed to be easier. So there's a new version out there that we're trying to promote, but you have to, the goal is to do it by the end of October is that everyone should do that. Yeah. And then of course the new benefit for everyone who has student loans that has a longer re-enrollment period of life.
[Danielle Balocca]: And teach less than a minute, honestly. Yes. We'll do it if you can.
[jsdIPdqDPt8_SPEAKER_12]: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So more to come there, hopefully on, on. at least for public higher ed, making them more accessible for people. Good to know. Any other points about the bell that you want to make? I think that's it. Yes on four, yes on one. Anything else you're working on that you want to bring up? There's a lot of things happening. I guess I would say one of, of course, the questions I get a lot is about the T. And there is a lot to do to both invest more money in the T and hopefully manage it better in the new administration. So, you know, vote for Maura Healey. She has a plan. And but one of the things that just to do a plug for for Medford is one of the things that he has been doing is they're rerouting all their bus buses. You've heard about this, but when they came out with their proposal, there was a big hole in Medford Hillside in particular and in some of other routes that went to Medford Square and the express bus. So I just went on a briefing. They're going to they're going to next week announce the changes to their routes. And when I went to the briefing, they said they heard them. They did like a list of where they heard the most comments. And by far, they heard the most from Unford Hillside area, which across the whole state. That was very important. And then the second was Somerville, which made me proud. It's my district where they heard from most people. But I think people will be happy with some of the changes they're making back. to the roots and we've really been fighting for that. So stay tuned on that. But it's really the result of people's organizing and really making a big deal about this issue. So we're trying to get better T access and get the T to run on time, which is a big challenge, but one that I'm continuing to work on.
[Danielle Balocca]: Well, thank you. Well, thank you so much for having me. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. The Medford Bites podcast is produced and moderated by Danielle Balacca and Shelly Keshaman. Music is made by Hendrik Idonis. We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast. You can reach out to us by email at medfordpod at gmail.com, or you can rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Never Bites!