MCAE Alert banner
 Alert #10: FY2017         
5/22/17
ALERT SUMMARY:

1.  PURVIEW:  State (not federal)

2.  LEVEL OF MOBILIZATION:  everyone --  students, staff, volunteers, other supporters 

3.  TIMELINE:  Immediate  
 

URGE YOUR SENATOR TO CO-SPONSOR SENATOR JAMIE ELDRIDGE'S AMENDMENT #137 TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR ABE!

 

- The Senate Ways and Means Committee released their FY18 budget proposal and funded the ABE line item at $30.25 million.

  

 

- Of the proposed $1.45 million increase in the Senate Ways and Means budget, $600,000 would restore the Governor's 9C cuts made in December 2016 and $250,000 is an earmark for Operation ABLE, a workforce training program in Boston.  This would leave a $600,000 increase for ABE programs.

 

-  Since FY2001, the purchasing power of the ABE line item has decreased 30% when adjusted for inflation.  In order to meet the rigors of WIOA and the new requirements of the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, ABE programs need more funding.  

 

- Working with MCAE, Senator Jamie Eldridge (D- Marlborough) filed Amendment #137 to increase funding for ABE line item #7035-0002 to $31.5 million for FY2018.
- To date, 8 senators have signed on as a co-sponsor: 
  • Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough)
  • Senator William Brownsberger (D-Belmont)
  • Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston)
  • Senator Julian Cyr (D-Cape and Islands)
  • Senator John Keenan (D-Quincy)
  • Senator Barbara L'Italien (D-Andover)
  • Senator Jason Lewis (D-Winchester)
  • Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford)
-  We need more senators to sign on to help ensure it will have a better chance when it's debated on the floor. 

 

 


WE NEED YOUR STATE SENATOR TO CO-SPONSOR SENATOR ELDRIDGE'S AMENDMENT! 

-  Please call or email your state senator immediately and urge him/her to sign-on as a co-sponsor to Senator Eldridge's amendment for ABE line item #7035-0002.  

-  Senate budget debate begins tomorrow, May 23, and co-sponsors can sign on up until the amendment comes to the floor for debate.
 
-  Our goal is to have 30 co-sponsors!  The more co-sponsors we have, the better our chance for the amendment to be successful in the budget debate.  

-  If your senator has already signed on, please call to say thank you!

-  To sign-on, your senator should contact Ryan Gelman at Senator Eldridge's office, 617.722.1120 immediately. 
 
-  To find your state senator.

PLEASE ACT NOW AND REPORT BACK!
 
-  Please call your state senator's office now and keep calling until you reach him/her or an aide!

-   Once you've made your call, please contact MCAE Director, Jeff McLynch, to let us know if your senator made a commitment to you to sign onto the amendment as a co-sponsor so we can keep count of our sponsors.
 
Thank you so much for taking
5 minutes to make your call!

 

NEXT MCAE PUBLIC POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING 
  
  May 19, 2017

 

 10 a.m. to 12 noon 

 

World Education
44 Farnsworth St - 7th fl
Boston, MA

via videoconference:
Picknelly Education Center, Holyoke, MA

 

contact George Kohout  for exact room location