Moore: Grafton Doing Well in Tough Economy

January 2009 was “one of the worst times” for legislators to begin their career on Beacon Hill, according to State Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, whose district includes Grafton.

After serving as a Millbury selectman since 2001, Moore now had to make tough decisions concerning the state’s fiscal crisis.

“Literally, I got sworn in and one of my first votes was to cut a billion dollars from the state budget,” he said. “It’s hard to help your community in an economy that’s just collapsing.”

Economic woes have persisted throughout the country since 2009 but compared to other towns in the state, “Grafton is doing very well,” Moore said.

Even with less local aid money available to towns this year than last, Grafton is undertaking two major projects. Renovations on the new l have been underway since last November and voters will be asked at Town Meeting to fund an expansion of the

“With the reimbursements, yes, this is definitely an opportunity that communities should be taking,” Moore said. “If you don’t take advantage of these now, they may not be here in five years.”

Moore has been holding ice cream socials () in each of the towns he represents this summer, but there is still business to be done at the Statehouse. Moore touted the recent passage of a bill creating a sales tax holiday weekend on Aug. 13-14 as “an investment in moving our economy forward.”

“If that’s going to bring people out to go to small businesses and make purchases, it’s a small price for us to pay to help those small businesses,” Moore said.

Currently, Moore chairs the Joint Committee of Higher Education and one of the bills the committee is reviewing would allow illegal immigrants to pay the same public school tuition rate as Bay State residents.

One of the many difficulties in passing the bill is fighting the perception that the bill would give free college tuition to illegal immigrants. Rather, he said, it’s about giving children of illegal immigrants who may have spent their whole lives in local schools the same opportunity as their peers.

“It’s a child that could have been right next to your child for 12 years and your child could get the in-state tuition rate and that child wouldn’t,” Moore said.