In a “People’s Town Hall” that attracted over 300 attendees from 25 cities and towns across the region, state Sen. Jo Comerford reminded her “bosses” — the people — that they are the force behind democracy and to make their voices heard as the country heads into another term under President-elect Donald Trump.

“In our view about government, you are the most powerful, and we’re going to need that power as we go into this next two years; it is going to be a hard two years,” Comerford said.

During the virtual event last Thursday, the senator — who will wrap up her third term representing the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester district at the end of the year — gave an overview of her biggest achievements for the western half of the state, specifically in disaster relief, climate mitigation and health care.

She then outlined a clear direction for her fourth term, which involves defending and protecting the rights established in the region and commonwealth, continuing to build momentum from past work, and finding innovative solutions to existing challenges.

“This session, going forward, I’m inviting you to be organizers with me,” Comerford told those who attended the town hall. “This is going to be really important for the things that we want to accomplish.”

While Comerford touched on nine priorities for the commonwealth, three rose to the top of the list: housing, increasing education funding to rural communities, and protecting natural and working lands.

Many residents asked Comerford about the security of reproductive rights and immigrants under Trump’s incoming administration, and while Comerford acknowledged that neither she, nor anyone on Beacon Hill, can be certain of what will happen, the state is committed to protecting and upholding these rights.

“I got into state service in the second two years of the Trump administration,” said Comerford, referring to her first term that stated in January 2019. “Why I wanted to run was I believe states can do great things. I’ll show you what we’ve done in these last years to make our commonwealth more equitable, safer, more secure for the greatest possible diversity of people.”

Accomplishments

Comerford began the Town Hall with a progress report. Over the past term, she has filed 71 bills, 19 of which were signed into law and implemented by Gov. Maura Healey’s administration. Some of these bills include establishing a permanent disaster relief resiliency fund in the wake of devastating floods to many farms in the communities she represents; creating a gender “X” option on all state documents; and requiring solar siting to look at the built environment or disturbed land before installing solar on forested and agricultural lands.

“I’m proud of these, right?” Comerford said. “I’m proud of, for example, in 2022 we passed legislation to protect providers offering and individuals seeking reproductive health care and gender-affirming care.”

In addition, two bond bills were passed during the term, including a housing bond bill and the recent $4 billion economic development bond bill, the latter of which was signed into law late last week.

In terms of state funding, Comerford helped secure over $2.36 million in budget earmarks and over $44 million in bonding earmarks, but she admits that there is no way to track how much of that funding goes to western Massachusetts. She filed a bill to require the state government to publish how much state funding is distributed to each town and region, so legislators can ensure equitable funding in the commonwealth.

“I want to see it every which way, because I want to make sure that we’re getting a fair shake of public tax dollars,” Comerford said.

Education, municipal funding

Piggybacking on equitable funding, Comerford said that public education money is among her top priorities, especially for districts with very small or declining enrollments. Along with state Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, Comerford filed an Act to Provide a Sustainable Future for Rural Schools to help guide and drive funding and transportation for smaller districts in Massachusetts.

However, the real problem, Comerford said, won’t be solved with legislation because the issue lies in education funding formulas. Neither the state education formula or the municipal local aid formula have been reviewed in at least 10 years, which is why she promises to push hard for such a review. 

“We must open these formulas. They are not working for us. We can make them work, and it will be game-changers for our communities,” she said.

An additional legislative priority, Comerford said, is the formation of an independent state municipal and public safety building authority, which would provide financial support for cities and towns to update aging infrastructure. 

Attendees at the virtual hearing pointed to Northfield as an example, as the rural town still needs a new fire station after voters rejected plans for a $14.4 million public safety complex last year. Comerford said that municipalities not only need space to operate, but buildings to establish public safety and community.

“We’ve met with the Legislature on this, we’ve met with lieutenant governor on this and we are going to push it. It’s a priority bill of the Massachusetts Municipal Association,” Comerford said.

Immigration, reproductive rights

Many attendees tuned into the town hall to learn more about the state’s position on federal policies that Trump has endorsed, including the mass deportation of immigrants and the dissolution of the U.S. Department of Education. 

“The Department of Education was an act of Congress, so as much as Mr. Trump may think that he can abolish it very quickly, there are many people who would tell him differently,” Comerford said.

Currently, the state has codified the right of both providers and residents to supply and seek gender-affirming and reproductive health care, Comerford said.

The Safer Communities Act, which would prohibit local police cooperation with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, is coming back to the Legislature this session, and she encourages residents to write into their representatives to support the bill.

Yet even with the state taking a stand to protect these rights, Comerford said she’s proactively organizing and listening to grassroots organizations that lead advocacy for these social services, such as Reproductive Equity Now, ACLU, the MIRA Coalition, and the Truth School. She’s planning a “know-your-rights” event for education constituents about their state civil rights.

“We have demonstrated a willingness, both a financial and a policy willingness, to protect and defend and care for our people.’ Comerford said.

Environmental protection

Taking care of commonwealth residents also applies to the land Comerford’s constituents live on. Specifically, Comerford tells the story of solar siting in Wendell, where a solar company sent a 700-page document to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board to get around Wendell’s bylaws. Without the money or expertise to tease apart the large document, the municipality couldn’t intervene.

“I think we want the green revolution here,” Comerford said. “I just don’t think we want to be steamrolled by multinational corporations, and I don’t think we want to cut trees or take natural or working lands when we don’t have to.”

Both the Massachusetts Municipal Association and Comerford previously raised concerns about municipalities loosing control over solar siting under the provisions of the climate bill Healey signed into law on Nov. 21. However, Comerford pointed out some aspects of the law that empower municipalities, such as funding for local governments to intervene on state solar siting and permitting processes.

Rural towns with populations under 7,500 receive this funding automatically. Solar siting has been streamlined into one application, but feedback from every municipal government department is included on the single permit.

“Our communities are stewarding this land, and it’s beautiful and we’re proud of it, but it means they can’t develop this land,” she said. “Some are worried about how they’re going to pay a firefighter or a teacher, so we have to really transition and change the pilot formula, and we need to codify this, the value of this land.”

Housing

In addition to funneling millions of dollars into climate mitigation and public transit, the state continued to fund housing development with the housing bond bill. Comerford said she met with Housing Secretary Edward Augustus about the upcoming Five Year Housing Plan and the available funds for building housing in western Massachusetts.

“The secretary has offered to bring all of the quasi-agencies to western Massachusetts to meet with our municipalities and help break down the barriers of communication to meet with our developers,” Comerford said.

While Comerford said she would not overstep municipal jurisdiction on housing, she is working to provide local governments with the tools and resources to build a mixture of market-rate and affordable units.

At the end of every question, Comerford rattled off local and statewide organizations that are advocating for these causes. She finished the virtual event by asking attendees to attend hearings on Beacon Hill, in person or virtually, and get western Massachusetts voices heard. Comerford has observed how testimony from her constituents creates change, and how Boston is beginning to listen.

“I love this job, I love doing it, I love the people I represent, I am in awe of you every day,” Comerford said. “Our democracy is really fragile right now, and we need you to believe in our government and make us work.”