Issues

Dear Voters:

Welcome to my issues page. I'm honored to have the opportunity to run for our seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

I'm a candidate for the state legislature because I know that the time has come for real positive change at Beacon Hill. I'm running because I will be the reform state representative, with a full understanding that our economy, and the future of our state, is dependent on job creation, cutting taxes and making our government more efficient - and by working in partnership with you, the voters, I know that we can turn Massachusetts around and finally get our priorities straight at Beacon Hill.

And, I'm running for state representative because my family and I have been blessed to live in a great community. We are proud to call Walpole our home, where my wife and children and I enjoy the benefits of a beautiful community and great public schools.

During this campaign you'll hear a lot of proposals from the candidates. I won't pretend that I have all the answers to the many challenges our state and country face at this time. But I do know that I have the energy to fight for your interests; and the commitment to good government so that we can finally make Beacon Hill an institution that works for working class people, and not the special interests.

Articulated below are my proposals regarding some of the key issues facing Massachusetts today. I hope you will provide me with your feedback via this web page, or in person. I've always believed that the best attribute of any public official is that they are willing to listen to the voters and hear their ideas. I'm here to listen to your concerns and work in partnership with you for a better community and a better state.

Thank you,
Attorney Jim Stanton

Job Creation and Reducing State Spending

Massachusetts is in the midst of its deepest financial crises in history, but the politicians on Beacon Hill can not say it happened by accident. State government continues to mismanage our hard-earned tax dollars; just as families are cutting their own personal budgets, drastically so.

As a result of the reckless spending on Beacon Hill, and the long list of inefficiencies, we've been hit hard here at home. Local leaders have seen very serious cuts as a result of the needless waste on Beacon Hill, affecting us directly in Walpole and Norwood.

The $2.4 billion rainy day fund is gone because spending at the state house was out of control even before the economic crisis began.

I believe that we can turn our state around. I will be a reform member of the new legislature next year; and with new leadership we can change the political culture on Beacon Hill.

With accountability, serious pension reform and a broad re-organization of state agencies we can reduce state spending and use the savings for the essential public services, such as our school system.

With your help, we can put Massachusetts back to work and establish common sense governance on Beacon Hill. All we need to do is change the old guard which has not served us well in state government.

The Economy

The recession hitting Massachusetts right now is vicious. We all know people who are out of work and hurting like never before. The new legislature which takes office next year must be committed to an agenda of jobs growth in Massachusetts. That must be priority number one.

Throughout our legislative district, I continually here one, constant message - that it's difficult to do business in our state. Accordingly, I believe it's essential that we change the political culture in Massachusetts so that we are seen as friendly to new business, and not hostile; and that means implementing tax policies which encourage investment and the start up of new, small businesses.

We must also eliminate regulations which have served no purpose except to keep bureaucrats occupied at the state office buildings.

I support new incentives for minority owned business start ups, and I will work hard to reduce energy costs in Massachusetts. The unusually high price of utilities in our state serves as a disincentive for companies to locate here.

Taxation Policies

It was Oliver Wendall Holmes, Jr. who once said, "I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization." Though we may not share the enthusiasm of Holmes, his message of good citizenship is obvious and something I concur with. Without taxes we'd have no fire and police departments, public schools, infrastructure and other essential services - the civilization Holmes speaks of.

But, as a reformer I know that we also have to avoid going backwards in time to the days of Taxachusetts. To that end, I have opposed the twenty-five percent increase in the sales tax. To raise taxes in the middle of a harsh recession was simply not prudent public policy.

I support rolling the sales tax back to where it was before the 2009 increase. However, I do not support the present ballot question initiative which would slash the sales tax to a new figure of three percent. Cutting the state sales tax by such a dramatic amount would result in devastating losses in the local aid we need here at home.

As a new member of the legislature, I will vote to bring the sales tax back to where it was, at five percent.

Supporting Our First Responders, POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS

Bobby Kennedy once said, "Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on."

As your new state representative I will insist on assuring the safety and well being of our citizens because that is the paramount responsibility of our state leaders.

As such, the men and women in blue, who guarantee the quality of life in our community, merit my firm and unwavering commitment to their mission to protect and to serve.

Thus, I fully support and will fully fund the Quinn Bill.

Sadly, we know that there are cynics in the present administration who fail to appreciate that the need for the Quinn Bill is even greater than in years past. The reality of present times is that the challenges to law enforcement have expanded greatly. In the world we live in today, local and state police are not only those who patrol our neighborhoods, but are also the first responders, on call 24/7, should our nation come under attack as it did on that fateful day in 2001.

In the post 9-11 world, it is simply not prudent to reduce the training which is vital to maintain a high level of expertise in the constabulary which we all depend on. It is my belief that law enforcement must have all the tools and resources needed to protect the five million people who call Massachusetts their home - and a key resource is indeed the Quinn Bill.

Supporting our police and firefighters will be one of my top priorities

Pension reform

With an unfunded pension liability of nearly 22 billion dollars, it would be hard to say that state government has done a good job managing the pension system. The problem has been created because those who benefit from the pension system are the same people who have been writing the rules governing that system.

I support the plan which has been put forward by gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker, which would cap pensions at $90,000 and raise the current retirement eligibility age from 55 to that of 60.

Further, we must end the so-called "hack high 3" benefit, whereby a state worker receives their pension benefit based solely on the maximum salary of three years - with no regard to the worker's salary for the history of employment with the Commonwealth. This has led to endless patronage appointments and favoritism so that many public employees receive an inflated pension based on a short term promotion, without regard for what their average salary was during their entire state service career. This is something unique to the public sector, and it's about time government started to work by the rules most us must abide by in the private sector.

By implementing these, and other reforms, we can operate our state pension system with the common sense of a real business.

Education

There is no institution in our society of greater importance than the public schools, and making Massachusetts schools a model for the nation is a task we can approach on a bi-partisan basis. This will be a top priority for me as a state representative.

I believe that teachers play a pivotal role in our society. This is evident when we see how teachers inspire young people to move forward to great endeavors. Barack Obama and John McCain actually have something in common - they both attended public schools.

I believe that Beacon Hill must preserve local aid to our community so that our schools have the resources they need to strive for excellence.

If elected, I will seek appointment to the committee on education and study proposals which can help make our schools more competitive in the global economy, such as establishing new partnerships with the private sector.

For Massachusetts to have a vibrant economy, which can compete in the global market place, business and industry need to have the confidence in our ability to educate the best workforce in the nation.

The linkage between a vibrant public school system and a robust economy is obvious.
We need to strive for the very best in our schools and provide our educators with the support they deserve. Horace Mann once said, "A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated." Massachusetts has the potential to reach greater heights, and by working together we can bring excellence into all the classrooms of the Commonwealth.