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07-28-2006

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 4 months ago

July 28, 2006

GOVERNOR ROMNEY SIGNS MERCURY REDUCTION BILL

Governor Mitt Romney today signed legislation reducing mercury pollution in the Commonwealth.

 

“This bill is a logical step in addressing the health and environmental impacts resulting from mercury in our environment,” said Romney. “This bill will lead to further progress in reducing neurological damage to children and pregnant woman and making fish from the Commonwealth safe to eat.”

 

Currently, the total emissions in the state are approximately 2,400 pounds per year. The greatest source of mercury now in the waste stream is from products containing mercury. Through breakage and incineration, the mercury contained in these products vaporizes and is released into the atmosphere.

 

The Mercury Management Bill sets clear targets that will have real environmental benefits, including a 90 percent capture rate for mercury containing automobile switches and a 70 percent recycling rate for fluorescent lamps. These benefits are reached by providing a phased-in approach with flexible implementation options for the affected industries. The bill also prohibits products containing mercury from being sold in the Commonwealth when effective non-mercury options exist, such as thermometers.

 

“This bill will have an enormous impact on reducing toxic emissions and will minimize the number of products containing mercury from entering the state,” said Environmental Affairs Secretary Stephen Pritchard. “I look forward to working with the business community to ensure this happens.”


 

July 28, 2006

ROMNEY FILES AMENDMENTS TO WELFARE BILL

Looks to lift people out of poverty through work

 

Seeking to help impoverished families move up the economic ladder, Governor Mitt Romney today decried the welfare bill passed by the Legislature with minimal debate last week and filed amendments to strengthen it.

 

“Exempting thousands of welfare recipients from a work requirement and loosely defining what constitutes work for others moves Massachusetts backwards from our commitment to help people attain self-sufficiency,” said Romney.

 

Fewer than 13,000 of the state’s 45,600 welfare recipients are currently required to work. The Governor’s plan would raise that to approximately 25,600 individuals while the bill passed by the Legislature imposes a work requirement on only about 16,100. Also, the Legislature’s definition of work reverts to 1996 federal standards and ignores stricter federal guidelines that take effect in October.

 

“My amendments will help families in need of assistance and will move Massachusetts closer to federal standards,” said Romney.

 

Among the populations exempted from work in the Legislature’s bill are 5,000 “disabled” welfare recipients who aren’t recognized as disabled by the federal government, but meet looser state definitions.

 

“Massachusetts needs to continue the progress that has been made in getting more people off welfare and into the workforce,” said Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. “The Legislature is not doing them any favors by establishing blanket exemptions.”

 

Helping families enter the workforce is an essential element to ending their poverty. A family of three receiving welfare and food stamp benefits receives about $12,336 per year, only 74 percent of the federal poverty level, from the government. That same family with an adult working 20 hours per week at only minimum wage and taking advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit would see annual earnings boosted to $18,958, or 114 percent of the federal poverty level.

 

Romney is also proposing to continue the current Massachusetts law of progressive discipline against welfare recipients who refuse to work, a gradual process that takes more than three months and can ultimately result in elimination of all cash benefits. The Legislature’s bill eliminates current law and only allows a minimal sanction of $100 per month.

 

“Over a decade ago the Commonwealth and federal government embarked on a path to end ‘welfare-as-we-know-it,’ ” said Romney. “We must be careful not to revert back to ‘welfare-as-we-used-to-know-it,’ a failed social policy that perpetuates poverty.”


  • “I have no problem voting for a person who is not of my faith as long as he or she stands with me on the moral and social issues. Mitt Romney may be a candidate for president. He’s a Mormon. If he’s pro-life, pro-family, I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting the support of evangelical Christians.”

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