Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well and were able to manage the snow and icy roads we dealt with this past week. I want to give a special shoutout to our municipal Department of Works employees who were busy responding to road conditions.
As we all know, the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly through our community and Commonwealth. I know how frustrating this pandemic can be, but we will get through this difficult time. Vaccines, and especially boosters, are extremely effective against the variant and I encourage anyone who is not vaccinated to find vaccine locations at vaxfinder.mass.gov. Testing is also critically important if you have symptoms or a known exposure to COVID-19. I have heard from many about the difficulty in finding testing and will continue to push for more resources from the state however I can. You can find testing sites at mass.gov/covid-19-testing and at-home tests at many pharmacies near you.
I want to congratulate Mayor McCabe, Mayor Garcia, Mayor Sapelli, Mayor Vieau, Mayor LaChapelle, and all our City Councilors and School Committee members who were sworn in this week across our district. While I would’ve loved to attend all the inauguration events taking place, it was great to be able to join the ceremonies in Easthampton and Agawam and I look forward to working alongside all our local officials in the new year.
Last Tuesday I recorded the second episode of my new local cable TV show, “From Beacon Hill to the 413”. I was glad to have Representative Pease join me on the show to discuss the American Rescue Plan Act, Veteran’s legislation, and the importance of bipartisanship. Keep an eye out on your local cable channels for the show or head to my website to find the recording.
Legislatively, this week had a strong focus on Veteran’s affairs. On Wednesday I met with the Mass Military Task Force to update them on the status of the SPEED Act, a bill I filed to support military families that was passed this fall by the Senate. On Thursday I met with some of my Western Mass colleagues to discuss legislation related to reforming the governance structure at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. In addition to the new facility being constructed, it’s critical that we implement oversight reforms for the Home that will support our Veterans. This past Friday I chaired the Joint Committee on Veterans & Federal Affairs public hearing. With the deadline for reporting out bills from committees coming up, it’s important that we hold these hearings to hear testimony on the bills left before the committee. We had over sixty residents testify, and it was great to hear their perspective.
As always, if there is anything I can do to assist you, please never hesitate to reach out to my office. I can be reached at my email: john.velis@masenate.gov or by phone: (413) 572-3920 and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com.
Sincerely,
John C. Velis