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Date: 3/2/2021
EASTHAMPTON – State Rep. Daniel Carey was recently named vice-chair of the new Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, Internet, and Cybersecurity.
Carey is in his second term in office representing Easthampton, Hadley, South Hadley and Granby’s Precinct 2.
He also serves as a member of three other joint legislative committees – the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, the Joint Committee on Election Laws, and the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to help lead a new committee. The issue of the internet and cybersecurity, information technology is so crucial to our daily lives now. I think it is very exciting that we are going to be able to dedicate some direct attention to these issues,” said Carey.
He shared that they will be looking at issues around cybersecurity, cyber threats, telecommunication networks, broadband access, and the pros and cons in ways they can improve those areas for everyone in the commonwealth.
At the beginning of each two-year legislative session, thousands of bills are filed and then sent to committees to review those bills. Carey told Reminder Publishing that as the internet and cybersecurity become more and more important in the daily lives of people in Massachusetts, there is more legislation being proposed, interest, and attention given to those areas. The new cybersecurity committee will be dedicated to viewing those bills and studying the issues.
“We really try to address the issues of the day and so this legislative session that is just beginning is going to be the next two years, 2021 and 2022 and the pandemic will remain the focus through all the work we do,” Carey said.
He added that even when the pandemic ends we will be feeling the repercussion of it for some time to come, whether that means revenues being down or unemployment rates being up.
“I serve on the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery, and I really think we are going to see a lot of mental health issues coming out of this as folks deal with a year plus in isolation with disrupted routines where they may not be able to access the services that they need, but I think that will be a focus that I am working on,” he said.
Carey acknowledged that the pandemic is challenging for everyone and said that as far as committees go, having to shift to remote hearings and sessions was extraordinary.
This was the first time in history that the Massachusetts Legislature met remotely and Carey admitted it was a challenge to figure out how to do it.
“It kind of shows the importance of this new committee. We had to make sure that it was safe and secure to do over the internet, over the phone lines, or however we were going to do it,” Carey said.
Carey added that one of the many challenges they had to overcome was the legality of it all. He shared that the Massachusetts Constitution says that they have to gather so they had to ask themselves does it mean that their meetings have to be in person or could they do it remotely.
He shared that people can submit testimony electronically. While hearings are open to the public, the 2021-2022 hearings have not been scheduled yet.
Visit www.malegislature.gov for updates on hearings as they are planned.