Representative Don Humason



GOV DOESN’T GET IT November 28, 2009 By State Representative Don Humason, Jr. I wasn’t sure I was going to write a column this week. I thought maybe with Thanksgiving I could take a break. I didn’t think many folks would even read the newspaper on Saturday. I figured most people would be spending time with their families, or traveling for the holiday, or be out finding bargains at the start of the Christmas shopping season. Honestly, I thought maybe I would pass on writing the column. I’ve been writing a near-weekly column for seven years. That’s nearly 350 columns, or, put another way, 24,000 words over the years. With Thanksgiving I thought this would be a perfect week to skip. After all, the House and Senate are on holiday recess and there wasn’t much happening at the State House to report or opine on. Then I got the news that Governor Deval Patrick vetoed the funding that Senator Mike Knapik, Representative Mike Kane, and all of us Western Massachusetts legislative delegation got restored in the budget last week before we adjourned for outpatient services for the veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and Chelsea Soldiers’ Home. To rub it in even more, the Governor made his vetoes then jetted off to Washington, DC to attend President Obama’s first state dinner honoring the Prime Minister of India. That struck me as a sort of “Let them eat cake,” in-their-face gesture. Where are his priorities? I was flabbergasted, dumbfounded, aghast, blown away. I just couldn’t believe that the Governor could be so out of touch and so indifferent to the plight of Massachusetts veterans during wartime. Don’t get me wrong, I applaud Governor Patrick’s new-found fiscal conservatism and congratulate him for trying to trim the state government that his administration has done so much to bloat and grow over the past three years. I just couldn’t see why he didn’t get that we in the legislature thought this should be one of those areas in our budget that was protected. Care for our veterans is, and should always be, a priority of this government. I’m a Republican; many others in the House and Senate are Democrats. Yet all of us felt that the Soldiers’ Homes were important enough to fund, despite this struggling economy. Supporting Massachusetts veterans isn’t a partisan issue. I thought we had all sent the Governor a message. He just didn’t get it. When the Patrick Administration holds its annual budget hearings around the Commonwealth in the coming weeks I hope the people of Westfield and Western Mass will turn out to let Governor Patrick know what we think of his misguided priorities. On a happier topic, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Janice and I joined the motoring throngs on the Mass Pike and drove east to her sister’s house in Billerica for the day. We had the chance to go to Blessed Sacrament Church Wednesday night for the community ecumenical Thanksgiving service. It was great to come together as a community to thank God for our many blessings. It’s funny to think that when I was a younger man I looked forward to the night before Thanksgiving as a great time to hit the bars in Westfield to visit with friends and old classmates who were home for the holiday. It was like an informal class reunion every year. I guess I don’t go for the big loud bar crowds so much these days. Hey, has anybody else been beset by swarms of Ladybugs inside their homes this fall, or is it just me? The Ladybug may be the “official” bug of the Commonwealth, but when they descend on my house in droves they really bug me. Thank goodness for the central vacuum! Mondays are going to be real busy over the next few weeks. Next Monday, November 30, at 6:30 PM, will be the 6th annual Lantern Light Parade and Green Lighting ceremony on the Green in downtown Westfield. All are welcome. The Westfield High School Concert Choir will be there and so will Santa Claus! On Monday, December 7, at 10:30 AM American Legion Post 124 will conduct a Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony to observe the 68th anniversary of the sneak attack by the Empire of Japan on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ceremony is open to all and will be held at the corner of Little River Road and Route 20, by the National Guard Way Bridge. The following Monday, December 14, at 6 PM will be the Westfield Evening News Annual Community Carol Sing on the Green, featuring the Westfield High School Brass Band. Stay tuned, there’s more going on in Westfield over the holidays. But as long as you’ve got your calendars out, mark down that I am again sponsoring a FREE ice skating party for the families of Westfield as a way of saying “Thank You” for giving me the privilege of representing my city at the State House in Boston. The date is Saturday, December 19 at 7 PM at Amelia Park Ice Arena. I will provide free refreshments. Bring your skates and one non-perishable canned item that will be donated to the Westfield Food Pantry. Call my Westfield District Office if you have any questions, 568-1366. Spread the word. Hope to see you there! *** Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org
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GOV DOESN’T GET IT

November 28, 2009

By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.

I wasn’t sure I was going to write a column this week. I thought maybe with Thanksgiving I could take a break. I didn’t think many folks would even read the newspaper on Saturday. I figured most people would be spending time with their families, or traveling for the holiday, or be out finding bargains at the start of the Christmas shopping season.

Honestly, I thought maybe I would pass on writing the column. I’ve been writing a near-weekly column for seven years. That’s nearly 350 columns, or, put another way, 24,000 words over the years.

With Thanksgiving I thought this would be a perfect week to skip. After all, the House and Senate are on holiday recess and there wasn’t much happening at the State House to report or opine on.

Then I got the news that Governor Deval Patrick vetoed the funding that Senator Mike Knapik, Representative Mike Kane, and all of us Western Massachusetts legislative delegation got restored in the budget last week before we adjourned for outpatient services for the veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and Chelsea Soldiers’ Home.

To rub it in even more, the Governor made his vetoes then jetted off to Washington, DC to attend President Obama’s first state dinner honoring the Prime Minister of India. That struck me as a sort of “Let them eat cake,” in-their-face gesture. Where are his priorities?

I was flabbergasted, dumbfounded, aghast, blown away. I just couldn’t believe that the Governor could be so out of touch and so indifferent to the plight of Massachusetts veterans during wartime.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud Governor Patrick’s new-found fiscal conservatism and congratulate him for trying to trim the state government that his administration has done so much to bloat and grow over the past three years. I just couldn’t see why he didn’t get that we in the legislature thought this should be one of those areas in our budget that was protected. Care for our veterans is, and should always be, a priority of this government.

I’m a Republican; many others in the House and Senate are Democrats. Yet all of us felt that the Soldiers’ Homes were important enough to fund, despite this struggling economy. Supporting Massachusetts veterans isn’t a partisan issue. I thought we had all sent the Governor a message. He just didn’t get it.

When the Patrick Administration holds its annual budget hearings around the Commonwealth in the coming weeks I hope the people of Westfield and Western Mass will turn out to let Governor Patrick know what we think of his misguided priorities.

On a happier topic, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Janice and I joined the motoring throngs on the Mass Pike and drove east to her sister’s house in Billerica for the day. We had the chance to go to Blessed Sacrament Church Wednesday night for the community ecumenical Thanksgiving service. It was great to come together as a community to thank God for our many blessings.

It’s funny to think that when I was a younger man I looked forward to the night before Thanksgiving as a great time to hit the bars in Westfield to visit with friends and old classmates who were home for the holiday. It was like an informal class reunion every year. I guess I don’t go for the big loud bar crowds so much these days.

Hey, has anybody else been beset by swarms of Ladybugs inside their homes this fall, or is it just me? The Ladybug may be the “official” bug of the Commonwealth, but when they descend on my house in droves they really bug me. Thank goodness for the central vacuum!

Mondays are going to be real busy over the next few weeks. Next Monday, November 30, at 6:30 PM, will be the 6th annual Lantern Light Parade and Green Lighting ceremony on the Green in downtown Westfield. All are welcome. The Westfield High School Concert Choir will be there and so will Santa Claus!

On Monday, December 7, at 10:30 AM American Legion Post 124 will conduct a Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony to observe the 68th anniversary of the sneak attack by the Empire of Japan on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ceremony is open to all and will be held at the corner of Little River Road and Route 20, by the National Guard Way Bridge.

The following Monday, December 14, at 6 PM will be the Westfield Evening News Annual Community Carol Sing on the Green, featuring the Westfield High School Brass Band.

Stay tuned, there’s more going on in Westfield over the holidays. But as long as you’ve got your calendars out, mark down that I am again sponsoring a FREE ice skating party for the families of Westfield as a way of saying “Thank You” for giving me the privilege of representing my city at the State House in Boston.

The date is Saturday, December 19 at 7 PM at Amelia Park Ice Arena. I will provide free refreshments. Bring your skates and one non-perishable canned item that will be donated to the Westfield Food Pantry. Call my Westfield District Office if you have any questions, 568-1366. Spread the word. Hope to see you there!

***

Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org

This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group