Spoke 9-4-18 (Sep 04, 2018)

50-50 RAFFLE

Pot Size: $605.00

Winner: Claudia Neidhardt and Randy Burba had the tickets, but there were no winners this week.

CALENDAR RAFFLE

SOLD BY: Rich Eisner

SOLD TO: John Pelletier

VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS

Trisha Christensen was a visitor this week.

Thomas McDonald was a guest of Bill Henning.

Diana Deleo was a guest of Joanne Scott.

FINES AND RECOGNITIONS

Due to the large gathering, President Rinus did not go around the room for fines and recognitions.

Announcements included:

Gratitude to Ray and Adria for helping with Rotary business while Rinus was in the Netherlands.
Welcome back to Jen Bailey
Rinus had a great time in the Netherlands. He stated that the politics are crazy worldwide and touted the effects of cycling on living a long and healthy life.
Rinus encouraged the attendees to vote if they hadn’t—it’s necessary for democracy to function.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CLUB BUSINESS

Rinus invited attendees to meet with him on Friday, September 14th at Adriatic for Dutch drinks.

Please remember to "Like" us and follow Salem, MA Rotary Club on Facebook!!

BIRTHDAYS

Happy birthday to:

Diane Pabich - September 5th

Rich Blazo - September 6th

Dan Martiniello - September 7th

Rinus Oosthoek - September 15th

Jason Consalvo - September 16th

Sandra Heaphy - September 18th

Victoria Davis - September 20th

Jim Robinson - September 25th

SPEAKER OF THE WEEK

This week's speaker was Rep. Paul Tucker.

Rep. Tucker addressed many issues from the legislative session that closed on July 31st, and recognized Sen. Joan Lovely for her hard work for the city, region, and Commonwealth.

Rep. Tucker represents the city of Salem and is on the following committees: Judiciary, Public Safety, Ways and Means, and Education. He was appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Marijuana Policy committee as well.

Over 7,000 bills were filed with the Commonwealth in the last session—some easy and some complicated.

Rep. Tucker reported that while all sides don’t see eye-to-eye, the environment at the state house is collegial. People really work together to get things accomplished for the good of the Commonwealth.

Passed bills:

Crime Bill passed: Will ensure that the state is smarter on crime versus just being tough. It includes language about enforcement, education, and treatment, including medication assisted treatment, increased penalties for sale of death-inducing substances (fentanyl), better data collection to inform decisions, an increase in the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 12, and an increase in the malicious damage threshold from $250 to $1,250.
Grand Bargain: Rep. Tucker stated this was one of the most fragile compromises of the session and addressed the $15/hour minimum wage, a permanent sales tax holiday, and paid FMLA.
Gender Equality Bill: passed
Behavioral Health support: passed
Two buildings transferred to SRA
Extreme Risk Protective Order: passed; addressing gun law reform and regulation.
Automatic Voter Registration: passed

Bills that were not passed:

Major health care reform: Rep. Tucker cited major disagreements between House and Senate.
Education Foundation Budget: not passed
Airbnb Ordinance: provisions changed by the Governor were not agreed on, so this will be reviewed in 2018/2019.
Bee Pollinators Bill: not passed
Safety Immunities Act: not passed

Changes in the political landscape:

55% of voters are unenrolled with a party.
There are major ideological differences within the major parties.
More women are running for office.
Younger people are running for office in response to length of service of some legislators.

Rep. Tucker also recapped the statewide race to watch in today’s primary then participated in a short Q&A.

NEXT WEEK'S SPEAKER