A new district map could lead to greater diversity

Date: 10/19/2021

Hey kids, what time is it? It’s redistricting time.

Yes, I know, this subject sounds like a dream for people who are hard-core policy wonks – of which I’m proudly a member.

The State House News Service reported last week, “In an increasingly diverse state, House leaders presented a map on [Oct. 12] with new boundaries for all 160 House districts that would increase opportunities for minority candidates to win election to the Legislature by creating four new incumbent-free districts centered in Chelsea, Brockton, Lawrence and Framingham and increasing the number of districts with a majority minority population by 13 beginning with the 2022 elections … The new maps also would mostly avoid pitting incumbents against one another next year, with caveats in place in all four instances of two incumbents being paired in the same district, including one retirement – Rep. Elizabeth Malia – and two examples of House lawmakers awaiting confirmation to federal appointments within the Biden administration .

The reporting also noted, “Other changes proposed around the state include making Rep. Orlando Ramos’ 9th Hampden District in Springfield a majority Hispanic district.”

In an interview I conducted with state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa last week, the Northampton rep noted that redistricting is an effort to group communities together so their voices will be amplified.

And she noted Western Massachusetts needs the loudest voices possible for the folks in Boston to take note.

The idea that a more diverse General Court could come out of this effort is heartening.

Yes, some elected officials might find changes that could alter their political fortunes, but in the long run many areas would benefit from better representation.

A new study about East-West rail

So why am I not surprised that MassDOT may have been less than thorough in its analysis of East-West rail?

Yes, I know many of you don’t believe that creating a high-speed rail line linking Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester and Boston has merits. People have been critical of the amount of money that would be needed to make the service possible.

One of the deciding factors has been projected ridership. So far, the issue has been the faster the service the greater number of riders. Unfortunately the faster the service, the higher the price tag becomes.

The issue here is potential benefits to the environment – which we need – and economic development – which we also need. Worcester grew 20 percent in the period between the last two censuses and at least part of the growth has been attributed to the rail connection it now has with Boston.

State Sen. Eric Lesser had a press conference recently with Luke Bronin, mayor  of Hartford noting a new study shows “that with the inclusion of direct service to the Hartford Line in the East-West Rail forecast, ridership estimates increase by 54 percent. This significant increase in ridership numbers, coupled with the economic impact study results, comes at a pivotal moment as the $1 trillion federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act moves through negotiations in Congress.”

So, link Hartford with the western part of the state and things look a lot better.

Lesser said in a written statement, “East-West Rail is going to do more than link two regions, it’s going to link all of Western New England with all of Eastern New England. MassDOT needs to take this research into account and update their feasibility study to include the economic impact analysis prepared by PVPC [Pioneer Valley Planning Commission] and CRCOG [Capitol Region Council of Governments] as well as this forecast update from AECOM [an infrastructure consulting firm]. Now is the time for East-West Rail and with partners like Mayor Bronin, PVPC, CRCOG, and our federal delegation, I believe that we can get this done to create jobs, address skyrocketing housing costs, and increase economic opportunity for all of our communities.”

With the existing north-south service, riders could use the Springfield station to either go south to Hartford and Connecticut folks could change at Springfield to go either east or west.

Yes, this would be a massive shift in our transportation habits and would cost a lot of money. Would it be worth it? If we saw an increase in population, an improvement in housing costs and an increase in economic development – as evidenced in Worcester –the plunge we would take would be worth it.