THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE IS GOING on the road again this year, holding nine so-called Commonwealth Conversations around the state with a special focus on regional transportation needs.
The day-long events will for the second year in a row allow senators to hear directly from people in each region of the state, but one common focus of each gathering will be a 90-minute session on transportation needs and concerns arranged by and paid for by the Barr Foundation.
The transportation sessions, dubbed MassMoves, will feature a presentation on the state of mobility in Massachusetts, which will then segue into a discussion by those in attendance of the specific region’s needs. MassMoves will start January 31 in Somerville and then move on to other areas of the state, concluding on April 11 on the North Shore.
Mary Skelton Roberts, the senior program officer for climate at the Barr Foundation, said she hopes MassMoves will help identify transportation priorities by region while also finding where common ground exists across the state. “It’s really about understanding the values people have about transportation,” she said.
Officials say participants at the MassMoves sessions will be electronically polled on transportation issues by the MassINC Polling Group. The polling group is part of MassINC, which publishes CommonWealth.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg is pushing a constitutional amendment that could be on the ballot in 2018 that would hike taxes on millionaires. The backers of the initiative say they want the money to go for transportation and education.
