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Date: 11/11/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – The 6th Hampden District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives will once again belong to Rep. Michael Finn for the upcoming two-year term.
The Democratic representative, who has served West Springfield and parts of Chicopee and Springfield since 2011, ran unopposed during the Nov. 3 general election.
In a conversation with Reminder Publishing, Finn spoke about the goals and challenges he, and the aforementioned communities face, as budgetary and COVID-19 concerns continue to dominate the statewide conversation.
“The biggest challenge facing any elected official is the financial outlook for the Commonwealth, and what that means for the state budget,” said Finn. “The pandemic has caused incredible strain on the Massachusetts economy.”
As state and local governments head into 2021, Finn believes that the best course of action with regards to local budgeting is staying conservative. He said he thinks it’s best that people do not anticipate any federal assistance with regards to stimulus checks.
“I think a lot of state legislators had thought that the federal government was going to offer another round of stimulus that would have alleviated a lot of the gaps that we’re currently seeing,” said Finn. “But that didn’t happen, and that’s really unfortunate.”
A great percentage of municipal budgets are made up of local salaries such as fire departments, school teachers, police departments, etc. Finn said that if there isn’t enough money to go around, then certain communities will start to see significant cuts to local budgets.
“We’ve committed to funding Chapter 70 [local education money at 2020 levels], which is important,” said Finn. “And we also have a commitment to our Mass. health line items, and the health insurance that the Commonwealth pays. Those are things that we can’t just not fund.”
One of the biggest concerns for Finn heading into the next term is how COVID-19 will affect local businesses as we head into a second phase of the virus. There has been money set aside from the statewide CARES Act, but more budgetary conversations still need to be conducted for a clearer picture of what may happen.
“I get calls from constituents that run small businesses, and they’re overwhelmingly concerned about whether they’re going to be able to serve [in] their restaurants,” said Finn. “And those are real concerns for me, because in many instances, I know these people, and they’ve spent their lives building these businesses.”
As a father of three, Finn believes that it is very important to monitor the safety of the state over the coming months, particularly in schools. So far, Finn thinks that Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision-making over the past year has been “fairly good.”
“If you believe what you see in the news, this fall and this winter is going to be really bad when it comes to COVID infections,” said Finn. “I think that stringent measures are necessary; I just hope that whatever additional measures that come out of the administration, are based on science.”
Finn also emphasized the concerns surrounding people’s complacency with the virus, and how some are just simply fed up with the restrictions.
“I think you’re seeing a lot of people who are tired of the restrictions,” said Finn. “They may not believe that COVID is as dangerous as it’s been hyped in the media, and that’s a real concern for me, both as a representative and as a parent.”
Part of this safety plan involves safety for students, especially following Baker’s decision to keep schools open.
“I’ve been working with the school departments to understand what the different color codes mean, and what we fall within that,” said Finn. “And I also get quite a bit from the union side, because they’re worried about their well-being … so there’s always room to learn more.”
Finn also briefly spoke on equality and police reform, and specifically referred to the bill that the House passed in July, which seeks to certify all law enforcement officers in the state, and curb the use of force tactics by police.
“I think that the House bill is more realistic,” said Finn, comparing it to the Senate bill, which would ban chokeholds, and limit the use of tear gas, among other measures. “We’re talking about getting at the issue of the bad apples, and getting out and making sure that communities of color are protected and not being targeted.”
To his knowledge, Finn believes that the West Springfield Police Department is “very good,” and he highlighted the fact that there’s been very few cases of injustice in Western Massachusetts.
“I know that a lot of people are concerned about it, and there are reasons to be concerned,” Finn said. “But personally, I haven’t seen a lot of that injustice in Western Massachusetts. I know that there’s issues in the Springfield Police Department, and I know they’re making strides to make improvements there.”
Finn also believes that every request offered within the House’s police reform bill is reasonable and legitimate.
“The measures that were offered in the House police reform bill are things that should be done,” said Finn. “Certifying officers, making sure that there’s a uniform training policy, making sure that there’s a way for civilians to be able to get their day in court if they feel like they’ve been treated unfairly. Those are legitimate, fair, and reasonable requests.”
While communities wait to see how these challenges pan out in the future, Finn wants people to know that they can reach out to his office any time they need help with something, whether it be unemployment fraud, Mass Health, COVID issues, or anything else with regards to the Commonwealth.
“Through this pandemic, one of the things I’ve found is the importance of constituent services, and letting people know that they can reach out to my office for help,” Finn said. “We get back to everybody pretty quickly, and we’re more than happy to help, and want to help.