Dear Friend ,

In this important election year, it is crucial that activists and volunteers are prepared with information on policy matters that will be talked by voters on the campaign trail.

To help you be prepared, our Public Policy Committee will be hosting a policy forum bringing together experts on government, taxes, jobs and healthcare — some of the issues sure to be on the voters’ minds.

We want to make sure you have accurate information to talk to your friends, family and neighbors. Please join other Democratic activists at this exciting opportunity.

Hope to see you there,

John

John Walsh, Chair
Massachusetts Democratic Party

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A Policy Forum

Hosted by the Massachusetts Democratic Party Public Policy Committee

March 10th, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Framingham State University
Dwight Performing Arts Center
100 State Street, Framingham

To RSVP, please email policy@massdems.org or call 617-939-0800

Panelists (with still more to come) will include:

• Barry Bluestone is the Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy, founding Director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, and the founding Dean of the School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. Mr. Bluestone has worked extensively in the field of Political Economics and local economic development. Prior to working at Northeastern, Mr. Bluestone spent 12 years as Professor of Political Economy at the University of Massachusetts Boston, as well as has taught economics at Boston College, where he served as director of the University’s Social Welfare Research Institute position. Through his research, Bluestone has become a leading figure in the field of political economy focusing his publications in the area of income distribution, business and industrial policy, labor-management relations, higher education finance, and urban and regional economic development.

• Jay Kaufman has served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since January 1995 and chaires the legislature’s Committee on Revenue. He is leading the committee through a comprehensive review of state and local taxes with an eye to a major simplification and modernization initiative. He had, for four years before this, chaired the Committee on Public Service and led the effort to develop and pass major pension reform. His monthly “OPEN HOUSE” public policy series, now in its seventeenth season, has been recognized with the prestigious Beacon Award as the nation’s best televised government relations series. Jay was appointed founding director of Northeastern University’s Center for Leadership and Public Life where he now teaches and leads leadership development workshops for those in or aspiring to public life.

• Joan Fitzgerald is the Director of Law and Public Policy at Northeastern specializing in urban economic development, urban sustainability planning, workforce development, green economic development. Fitzgerald has authored the book Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development which examines how cities in the United States as well as Western European cities are responding to issues of global warming, energy dependency, and the potential for green economic development.

• Steven Tolman is the president of AFL-CIO and was elected into office on October 6, 2011. Prior to this, Tolman has served as an American labor union leader, as well as an state legislator representing the 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex district from 1999-2011 in the State Senate, and in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1994-1998.

• Jim Roosevelt has served as the President and CEO of the Tufts Health Plan since 2005, and has been involved in Tufts Health Plan since 1999 when he was hired as senior vice president and general counsel. In addition, Mr. Roosevelt serves as the co-chair of the Rules and By-laws Committee of the Democratic National Committee, and has served as chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

• Mayor Lisa Wong has served as Mayor of the city of Fitchburg since 2007. Among her successes, Mayor Wong has strengthened the city stabilization fund, and consistently balanced the budget. Additionally, Mayor Wong has succeeded at lowering the crime rate, and attracting private investment to Fitchburg. Mayor Wong has gained recognition throughout the state as an effective leader in economic reconstruction, environmental affairs, and redevelopment projects.

• Senator James B. Eldridge State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), Middlesex & Worcester district, Senate sponsor of S. 772, A Resolution Calling for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

• President Dana Mohler-Faria is serving as the eleventh president at Bridgewater State University. Bridgewater State University has benefited greatly since President Mohler-Faria became president in 2002 with an increase in enrollment by 27 percent, and a 50 percent improvement in the number of degrees conferred. Furthermore, the retention rates for freshman-sophomores, for students of color and low-income are all well above 80 percent as a result of the leadership of President Mohler-Faria.  Dan Mohler-Faria also served as the interim Secretary of Education under Governor Deval Patrick when he first took office in 2007.