THE MALDEN ADVOCATE - Friday, February 2, 2018
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Ultrino, House Approve Funds For State Housing tate Representative Steve Ultrino (D-Malden) joined his colleagues in the House of Representatives this week to approve a major funding bill for building and maintaining public housing programs. The bill, H.4134, includes a record $600 million for public housing mod-
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ernization and preservation, funding that could help upgrade and maintain existing public housing developments in Malden. “Investing in public housing is a statement of inclusiveness and support in our community,” said Representative Ultrino. “This bill
ensures that public housing can be properly maintained so that seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income residents can live here with dignity and continue to be a part of our community.” The housing bond bill invests a total of $1.7 billion over sever-
al years into a number of public housing programs, including a home modification loan program that assists elderly or disabled homeowners make renovations that allow them to stay in their homes. The bill direct funds to local housing authorities to support existing public housing
units, reauthorizes a tax credit for cleaning up polluted properties, and extends a state affordable housing tax credit that will help fill a void created by recent changes to federal tax law. The bill passed the House 150–1 and now moves to the Senate.
WELCOME | FROM PAGE 1 munities across the country joined the fight, Warren told the crowd. She described the powerful effect of protesters who brought their message to the steps of the Capitol. “Moms who had babies with special needs brought breathing equipment and feeding tubes so they could show senators this is the face of Medicaid,” she said. “We beat them back and we saved health care coverage.” Warren said that type of broad-based activism is key to resisting Trump’s attacks on institutions and values. “We have to ratchet up democracy even harder and fight back,” she said. She called Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA policy, a broken promise to 800,000 young people who were brought into the country as children. Warren vowed to make good on the country’s promise to open the doors to schools, jobs and the military to DACA recipients, or dreamers, and to offer them the chance to be “woven fully into the life of America.”“We will fix this,” she said, adding that the dreamers belong to America and “We will keep them here in the only country they’ve ever known.” Warren described the tax reform bill passed late last year as loopholes and giveaways to the richest and most pow-
Senator Elizabeth Warren is shown with Steffan and Karen Hacker.
Senator Elizabeth Warren is shown with Greg Lucey.
erful people in the country. “It’s staggering, the impact on working people,” she said, adding that the only way to fix it is at the ballot box. “We have our voices, we have our votes and there’s a whole lot more of us than them,” she said. That line, and almost every line in Warren’s speech, was punctuated by loud cheers and applause. Several times, the crowd shot up and responded to Warren with standing ovations. Malden is deep-blue territory and the city’s enthusiasm for Warren is no surprise. Still, the city has a strong conservative element, and Republicans, who were noticeably absent on Sunday, passed on the chance to listen to her and see what they are up against. The only sign of opposition came at the start of the event: campaign crews in front of Malden High School hand-
Republican state rep and early Trump supporter, has criticized Warren for building a na-
Senator Elizabeth Warren is shown with Adam and Tina Weldai.
ing out flyers for two candidates challenging Warren for her senate seat. Geoff Diehl, a
Senator shakes hands with Maya Colón Hayes while Congresswoman Katherine Clark looks on.
Senator Elizabeth Warren is shown with Miss Massachusetts Allissa Latham.
Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks with Mayor Gary Christenson at Malden High School.
tional profile and neglecting her Massachusetts constituents. Shiva Ayyadurai, a scientist and technology entrepreneur, is running for Warren’s seat as an independent candidate. Ayyadurai has focused much of his campaign on Warren’s unsubstantiated claim of Native American ancestry, something Democratic Party strategists have recently said could be a problem if she decides to enter the 2020 presidential race. But Warren didn’t mention the 2020 race or her own campaign for reelection. Much of her message to Malden centered on the role residents can play in a new political climate. “We are reinventing democracy by telephone, Twitter and by sending email,” she said. “And it works, not all the time, but it does work.” She urged everyone in the crowd to get involved and join a group. And if they belong to a group, she encouraged them to join a second group. She called for more conversation about issues, not with people who share similar opinions but with those who hold opposing views. She asked those in the crowd to make a commitment to do something small every day to reach out and bridge the country’s stark political divide. And she invited all those who are willing to jump into the political fray. “No matter how scary, no matter how crazy it looks, get up and run for office,” she said, adding that those who can’t run can volunteer for someone who is. “We need an army ready to fight for our values,” she said. “And that fight takes place at the ballot box in November.”