Opinion: Rep Candidate Comments On Recent State House Votes

TEWKSBURY, MA -- The following commentary was submitted by Erin Buckley, one of eight candidates running for state representative representing Wilmington and Tewksbury. Buckley, of Tewksbury, is one of two Republicans in the race. You can read more about Buckley in Patch's candidate profile.

It is with great concern and confusion that I look at not only the votes that have taken place -- but at this entire political end run. Stated without shame nor irony, our elected representatives are looking for a pat on the back for keeping the issues of state sales tax, tax-free weekends, family/medical leave, and minimum wage off of the ballot come November.

The people will not have their say – but in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do we ever? The labor groups certainly have their say, loud and clear. However, small businesses don’t seem to have a voice that makes its way past Main Street to Beacon Street. Rest assured, the State House echo chamber is standing and reverberating proudly.

It is now going to be possible to take 26 weeks off in a year (25 to be paid) and still have your job guaranteed to be there when you return; these benefits, of course, are to be paid for by the very employers who are being strong-armed into this arrangement. And those jobs? They are going to be moving quickly towards a full $15/hr. (And tipped workers are set to get their own narrow-restaurant- margin-erasing bump.)

This is how you kill a local economy.

The bone thrown to the consumers and business owners? An established, annual sales tax holiday every August. (Our inflated sales tax remains the same.) I can hear the pages flipping at Merriam-Webster as they hurry to erase and rewrite the definition of a Pyrrhic victory.

They say that progress is inevitable -- but Progressives needn’t be. We need to elect representatives who want to make Massachusetts strong, who want to take a stand, and who will demand that we stop calling capitulation “progress”. The national economy is booming and a rising tide lifts all boats – just remember who thinks that their job is to drill holes in the hull.

Erin Buckley

Tewksbury, MA

Are you running to represent Tewksbury and Wilmington in the state legislature? Contact Dave Copeland at dave.copeland@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Patch.

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Photo by Erin Buckley.