Senator Spilka, Allyson Perron from the American Heart Association, and Rep. Atkins pose after the event.

LAWMAKERS PROMOTE HEART DISEASE AWARENESS: Calling it the nation’s number one killer, more than 40 lawmakers gathered at the State House Wednesday to raise heart disease awareness and promote choices people can make to stay healthy. Women’s Legislative Caucus co-chair Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord) recalled the late Rep. Deborah Blumer of Framingham, who died after suffering a heart attack in 2006, and she she believes men’s heart problems often receive more attention than women. “This movement to call attention to the dangers for women is particularly important,” said Atkins, who joined her colleagues in wearing red clothing as part of “Go Red For Women” awareness activities held with the American Heart Association. Caucus co-chair Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) urged anyone who believes they may be experiencing heart problems to immediately call for help. “Unfortunately,” Spilka said, “so many families, if not all families, have been touched by heart issues.” According to the heart association, Hispanic women are likely to develop heart disease 10 years earlier than other women and more women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined. Also, while eight million women in the United States are living with heart disease only one in six American women believes that heart disease is her greatest health threat. Awareness campaign organizers advise women to take steps to understand the history of heart disease in their own families, adopt or continue healthy eating habits and exercise frequently to avoid developing risks for heart disease. 1:44 P.M.

On Tuesday, January 31 I joined the Speaker, the House Chairman of the Higher Education Committee and other members of the committee at UMass Lowell to learn about the ways research universities like Lowell are helping drive innovation and economic development.  Watch the YouTube video here – UMass Lowell Visit

02/03/2012

By Renae Lias

More than a dozen legislators — mostly members of the Massachusetts Higher Education Committee — recently saw for themselves how UMass Lowell’s research and development helps foster an innovative, growing economy. House Speaker Robert DeLeo joined a group of legislators that the committee’s House chairman, Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, had gathered for the visit.

After an overview from Chancellor Marty Meehan, legislators heard from business representatives — Triton Systems Chief Technology Officer Ken Mahmud and 10 CEOs of start-up medical device companies operating out of the M2D2 incubator — who said UMass Lowell is helping them to develop new products.

In the basement of Ball Hall, plastics engineering student Greg Pigeon explained why he chose UMass Lowell over WPI’s honors program. He said he could learn exactly what he needed to be successful in plastics manufacturing through his co-op job at U.S. Army Natick Research Labs and through his coursework. Nanomanufacturing Center Director Prof. Joey Mead explained how nanomanufacturing research fits hand-in-glove with that classroom and co-op experience.

In the Engineering Building, Prof. Seongkyu Yoon pointed out that small biotech companies access UMass Lowell’s equipment and expertise as they seek to produce new biopharmaceuticals.

A tour of the Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center, which is nearing its final phase of construction, showcased the place where so much of UMass Lowell’s laboratory and industry collaboration will take place in the near future, especially in nanomedicine, personalized pharmaceuticals and medical device research.

YOUTUBE VIDEO:
Occupy Boston Live Citizens United Jan 14, 2012

Representatives Ellen Story, Denise Provost, Denise Andrews, Cory Atkins, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Kay Khan, Alice Wolf, Carolyn Dykema, Carl Sciortino, Jonathan Hecht, Gailanne Cariddi, Jason Lewis - led by Representative Ruth Balser testified today in support of H. 1173, An Act Providing Equitable Coverage in Disability

To: Members of the Joint Committee on Financial Services

From: Representative Cory Atkins

Date: January 24, 2012

Re: H. 1173, An Act Providing Equitable Coverage in Disability Insurance

I write today in support of H. 1173, An Act Providing Equitable Coverage in Disability Insurance.

Since our Commonwealth adopted the 1976 Equal Right Amendment, legislators have worked to ensure all insurance policies are gender neutral including health insurance, automobile insurance, homeowners’ insurance, and annuity policies. In addition, Workers Compensation Insurance is gender neutral.

Today, private disability insurance is still able to use gender as an underwriting criterion which allows these state-regulated disability policies to assign different premiums for men and women with the same job classification.

Furthermore, disability policies that have been filed with the Division of Insurance show women paying up to 75 percent more than men regardless of the insurance company, whether long-term or short-term insurance, the duration of benefits, the occupation class, or the age of the policy holder.

I thank the committee for its time and consideration of these matters, and I ask the members to report this bill favorably out of committee in a timely and efficient manner.

Cory Atkins challenges corporate money in politics

On January 18, a dozen state representatives and state senators came together with citizens to say it is time to end corporate money in politics through a constitutional amendment.

“Occupy Courts”: Movement Targets Supreme Court’s Citizens United Decision

In the landmark 2010 Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission case, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions could spend unlimited money on political speech. The 5-4 decision struck down part of the McCain-Feingold campaign law, which according to the court, limited the first-amendment rights of independent organizations, unions and corporations. Nearly two years after this decision, a new movement dubbed “Occupy the Courts” has emerged, vowing to overturn Citizens United. A dozen U.S. states have introduced legislation that would effectively amend the Constitution, the only way to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling. Most recently, two lawmakers from Massachusetts introduced “The People’s Rights Resolution” that calls on Congress to “pass and send to the states for ratification a Constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.”

The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel wrote in a recent editorial that many local governments are taking action to end undisclosed corporate money in elections. City councils that have passed resolutions opposing Citizens United include Los Angeles, Oakland, New York, Albany, Duluth and Boulder. There are also Congressional members seeking a Constitutional remedy, including Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards; Senator Tom Udall and Representative Betty Sutton; Representative Ted Deutsch and Senator Bernie Sanders; Representative Jim McGovern; Representative John Yarmuth and Republican Representative Walter Jones and Representative Keith Ellison.

The state that has taken a firm stance against excessive corporate spending is Montana. Its Supreme Court upheld 100-year-old election spending limits last December, essentially rebuffing Citizens United. If the decision is appealed, and it is widely expected to be, the case could be the first challenge to the controversial Citizens United decision.

Montana Justice James C. Nelson dissented in the 5-2 decision but opined: “Corporations are not persons. Human beings are persons, and it is an affront to the inviolable dignity of our species that courts have created a legal fiction which forces people — human beings — to share fundamental, natural rights with soulless creatures of government. Worse still, while corporations and human beings share many of the same rights under the law, they clearly are not bound equally to the same codes of good conduct, decency and morality, and they are not held equally accountable for their sins. Indeed, it is truly ironic that the death penalty and hell are reserved only to natural persons.”

The fury behind the Citizens United Case stems, in part, from the creation of the “Super PAC” — a political action organization that can spend unlimited funds to elect or defeat a candidate. Their rise has altered the campaign trail, as the influence of corporate (and partisan) donors, who usually remain anonymous, grows. Americans are allowed to donate a maximum of $2,500 per candidate, but Super PACs provide a way to circumvent campaign finance law, accepting checks of any amount from an individual, union or corporation.

The one limitation: Super PACs cannot directly engage with a specific candidate, though many are seen as a “virtual extension” of a particular campaign. Karl Rove’s American Crossroads Super PAC has raised $33.3 million, the Americans for Prosperity Super PAC, run by the Koch brothers, has pledged to spend $200 million in 2012, and it’s estimated that 250 Super PACs will spend a combined $600 million to $1 billion during the 2012 election cycle. (For more on Super PACs see: It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s — It’s Well Complicated)

In the above video, the Center for Public Integrity’s John Dunbar tells The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task that little can be done to change this new era of money in politics.

“It’s a speed bump,” Dunbar says about state action to overturn Citizens United. “There’s no higher authority of free speech” than the Supreme Court.

As a result of Citizens United and its Super PAC spawn, “Americans will have to work really hard” to determine who’s telling them who to vote for, he says.

It’s time Massachusetts took a stand against corporate dominance in our democracy. The State Legislature should pass Resolution S772 to send a message to Congress that we, the people of Massachusetts, believe that free speech belongs to people, not corporations.

S772 declares that “the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hereby calls upon the United States Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to restore the first amendment and fair elections to the people.”

Sign the petition today.

http://action.massvote.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9251

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

SUPER PAC SPENDING, SCOTUS DECISION RIPPED AT PRESSER: Advocates for voter participation joined eight lawmakers Wednesday to call for an end to a “corporate takeover of the First Amendment,” which they say has been fueled by a two-year-old Supreme Court decision that paved the way for unlimited corporate and union spending to influence elections, often anonymously. Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton) decried the influence of corporate spending on Massachusetts policies. He described opposition to a bottle recycling law, “real health care reform,” and “fair taxation” as examples of policies that have faced corporate resistance, even before the Supreme Court decision, known as Citizens United. “Corporations are not people,” said Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord). “They have no allegiance to our country.” The Supreme Court decision, issued in 2010, concluded that corporations and organized labor could spend unlimited funds as independent expenditures intended to influence an election without specifically endorsing or coordinating with a candidate. The 5-4 decision has led to the rise of so-called Super PACS, vehicles for corporate political spending with few disclosure requirements, which have already shown an ability to inundate TV stations in Republican presidential primary states. Although Super PACS are forbidden from coordinating directly with the candidates they support, Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield) argued that there is little doubt candidates collaborate with supportive entities. “It’s a complete farce,” she said. The lawmakers, joined by officials from MassVote, Common Cause, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the League of Women Voters and Free Speech for People, called for the passage of S 772, a bill that would call on Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to “restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.” The bill’s preamble describes the Citizens United decision as “extreme” and argues that it will “unleash a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in United States history,” which “presents a serious and direct threat to our democracy.” In its ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that corporate speech can’t be restricted because of First Amendment free speech rights. “Because speech is an essential mechanism of democracy – it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people – political speech must prevail against laws that would suppress it by design or inadvertence,” according to the ruling, authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who joined the court’s four conservative justices in support of the ruling. “The Government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether.” Proponents of a constitutional amendment pointed to a May 2010 Suffolk University poll showing that 82 percent of Massachusetts residents disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling. 2:40 p.m.

Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Common Cause Massachusetts, Corporate Accountability International, Free Speech for People, Greater Boston Coffee Party, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Nurses Association, Mass VOTE,

Public Citizen

For Immediate Release: Jan. 18, 2012

Contact: Trevor FitzGibbon, 202-506-7162 or 202-406-0646, trevor@fitzgibbonmedia.com

Mark Hays, 508-414-1722, mhays@citizen.org * Pam Wilmot, 617-962-0034, phwilmot@gmail.com *Avi Green, 617-542-8683, agreen@massvote.org

Massachusetts Lawmakers and Activists Call for the End of Corporate Political Spending

On Anniversary of Citizens United Decision, Massachusetts Pushes For a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn It

BOSTON – In the days leading up to the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Massachusetts lawmakers joined state and national organizations and activists today at the state Capitol to support a state legislative resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to overturn the ruling and restore fair elections and constitutional rights to the people.

S. 722, “The People’s Rights Resolution,” introduced by State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and State Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord), decries the court’s ruling as a “serious and direct threat to our democracy.” If passed, the resolution would have the Massachusetts Legislature call upon the U.S. Congress to “pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to restore the First Amendment and fair elections to the people.”

“The Citizens United decision dramatically dilutes the voice of every American who does not control a large corporate treasury,” said Eldridge. “The health of our democracy and the integrity of our political system are at stake, and the only effective, long-term solution is to pass a constitutional amendment that will overturn this misguided, destructive decision.”

The assembled lawmakers and organizations also urged the Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee to advance this resolution by scheduling a hearing next month as well as a vote to bring the resolution to the floor.

“Our democracy is at risk,” said Representative Atkins. “The Citizens United decision opened the floodgates, allowing unlimited corporate money to flow into politics. We must pass a constitutional amendment stating that people, not corporations, have a right to free speech. Only by preserving the voice of individual citizens can we protect our democracy.”

In the wake of the Citizens United decision, campaign spending by outside groups has skyrocketed. In the 2010 election cycle, the first since the Supreme Court decision, outside groups spent nearly $300 million.

“The fundamental question facing the nation today is whether people or corporations shall govern in America,” said John Bonifaz, the co-founder and director of Free Speech For People, a national campaign launched on the day of the Citizens United ruling to press for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to overturn the ruling and make clear that corporations are not people with constitutional rights. Free Speech For People has targeted Massachusetts as one of the first states to pass a state legislative resolution in support of such a constitutional amendment. “With the passage of this resolution, Massachusetts can help lead the way in restoring American democracy to the people,” Bonifaz said.

Super PACs have emerged as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, amassing huge amounts of money used for attack ads, such as those aired recently leading up to the Iowa caucuses. Super PACs are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the 2012 elections. All of this corporate money promises to help make this election record-setting.

“Big corporations aren’t run by the 99 percent – or even by the 1 percent. Rather, they are run by a super-wealthy 0.01 percent,” said Avi Green, Executive Director of Mass VOTE. “Politics should be for all of us – not just the super-wealthy and the big corporations they control.”

The press conference is part of a nationwide week of action calling for the Citizens United decision to be overturned. From Massachusetts to California, events are planned to highlight the need for the federal government to take action to protect our democracy from corporate dominance.

“The groundswell of national grassroots activity in support of a constitutional amendment we’re seeing is tremendous,” said Mark Hays, campaign coordinator for Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People Campaign. “With this sort of momentum, we’re ready to write the next chapter of our campaign to ensure that democracy is for people, not corporations.”

Cities across the nation have voted to rid elections of corporate cash. In Massachusetts, local groups are planning actions across the state around the anniversary – including rallies and educational events on Jan. 20 and 21 – and are advancing local resolutions similar to S. 772 to build support for its passage.

“We need short-term responses to this disastrous decision, such as increased disclosure,” said Pam Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “But we can only reverse it and reduce money in politics with a constitutional amendment. Passing S. 772 will put Massachusetts on the forefront of that critical effort, which, as the cradle of liberty, is where we should be.”

To learn more, visit: www.FreeSpeechForPeople.org, www.DemocracyIsForPeople.org and www.United4thePeople.org.

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