Blog: Randolph Open House/ Recent Votes

Statement

Randolph Open House

In order to better serve our constituents, we have opened a satellite district office in Randolph. We invite you to stop by for an open house on Monday May 13th from 5:00 -- 7:00 PM. The office is located at 6 South Main Street in historic Stetson Hall, Room 124. It will be open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Hope to see you Monday.

Recent Votes

This week the House considered H.R. 1406: The Working Families Flexibility Act. The title is misleading. This bill gives employers the ability to provide workers with comp time instead of overtime pay. It may not sound controversial at first glance, and mutually agreed upon flextime was a benefit I was happy to offer as Mayor of Somerville, but with H.R. 1406, the employer is given an advantage at the expense of the employee. An employer can make overtime available only to those who are willing to accept comp time in return and deny overtime hours to employees who choose additional wages. Furthermore, the flexibility really lies with the employer because they control when their employees can use the comp time. I voted NO. H.R. 1406 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

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The House also considered H.R. 807: The Full Faith and Credit Act. Democratic Leadership has dubbed this bill the "Pay China First Act" and here's why. A few months ago, Congress voted to temporarily suspend the debt limit. That suspension ends on May 19th. If action is not taken, the federal government will once again be approaching a situation where there isn't enough money to pay bills that have already been incurred. H.R. 807 requires that payments to creditors (i.e. China and other foreign countries) be prioritized over other obligations such as veterans' benefits, military pay for active duty personnel and the Medicare Trust Fund. It gives the U.S. Treasury the ability to continue borrowing once the debt limit is reached, but only to pay interest on the debt and for the Social Security Trust Fund. This is an irresponsible way to manage our nation's finances and the Treasury Department has said it is an unworkable solution. I voted NO. H.R. 807 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

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What's Up Next Week

Next votes will take place on Tuesday May 14th. The House is expected to consider the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act as well as legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That vote will mark the 37th time House Republicans have chosen to take up the time of the House with an attempt to repeal all or part of the ACA.

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