Politics & Government

Senate Candidates Debate Taxes, Casinos and Immigration in Watertown

Four Democrats discussed views with an overflow audience at Tuesday's candidate forum.

The four Democrats running for the Second Suffolk and Middlesex State Senate seat sounded off on issues such as jobs, the economy, taxes and in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants at Tuesday’s candidate forum.

The four senate hopefuls — State Rep. Will Brownsberger of Belmont, State Rep. Jonathan Hecht of Watertown, former state firefighters union president Bob McCarthy and Brighton attorney Tim Schofield — shared their views with a packed house at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Watertown.

Jobs, Taxes and the Economy

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While he opposes fees to parents for their kids to play sports or join the school band, McCarthy said he would support increasing the gas tax by one percent.

“Massachusetts hasn’t increased the gas tax in 20 years,” McCarthy said. “Raising it one penny would bring in about $25 million to $30 million,” McCarthy said. “Thousands need work, and the money could pay for good jobs, construction jobs, craft jobs.”

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Brownsberger said he would support an increase in the gas tax to help pay for the funding gap the state has in public transportation funding.

Schofield favors raising taxes on the wealthiest in Massachusetts and on corporations.

“Corporations and the wealthy need to pay their fair share,” Schofield said. “If they pay their share it can be directed toward things we care about.”

Hecht said the way the state runs the judicial system and health care must be changed to save money.

He said some of the least-dangerous inmates could be released to live in supervised situations, which would cut down the high cost of having them in prison. He would also like to see health care focus more on prevention, rather than the current pay-for-service.

Casinos

McCarthy said he was glad the casino bill passed because it creates construction jobs and work at the casinos, plus he liked the fact that the revenue goes to education.

Brownsberger said he voted against the casino bill. Hecht said it is not a smart way to boost the state’s economy.

“It will not come on line for three years or five years,” Hecht said, adding that you also have to factor in the negative costs of social impact of gambling and impact on the communities where the casinos are built.

Schofield said other states have done better than the 25 percent of the casino revenue that Massachusetts will receive.

The District

The diversity of the district is something all the candidates marveled at during the forum. The Second Suffolk and Middlesex district stretches from Watertown and Belmont, through parts of Cambridge, Brighton and Allston and into the Fenway and a section of the Back Bay.

“You can drive through the district in 10 minutes,” Brownsberger noted, but he has found just how big and varied it is by knocking on resident’s doors.

He represents a very diverse House district, Brownsberger said, and in the Fresh Pond Apartments in Cambridge alone more than 50 languages are spoken.

McCarthy said he is “falling in love with this district” and its diversity.

With a background in international human rights, Hecht has loved overseas in places like China and Vietnam. He said that experience would help him serve the district.

“I have an awareness of the differences in culture, and I am aware that sometimes the desires of these cultures are conflicting.”

He also noted the Charles River ties most of the Second Suffolk and Middlesex together, and he wants to improve the river and the parks that run along it.

Tuition for Undocumented Immigrants

A resident who attended the forum asked what the candidates thought about the state providing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants who want to attend a UMass, campus, state or community college.

Hecht co-sponsored a bill that would allow those who graduate from Massachusetts high schools to get in-state tuition. He said it does give the students money, and would not cost others a spot in the state colleges and universities.

McCarthy said while the U.S. is a nation of immigrants, it is also a nation ruled by the Constitution and the laws upholding it. He said he would support allowing in-state tuition if the student had attended schools in the state from first grade through 12th grade.

Brownsberger said he supports giving some undocumented immigrants the in-state fees.

“If they have a Massachusetts diploma they should be eligible for in-state tuition,” Brownsberger said.

Schofield said he does not want to punish students for something that their parents did, by bringing them to live in the U.S. illegally. He said the economy would be helped, because the students work hard and are likely to stay in Massachusetts.


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