Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I’ve been enjoying this beautiful weather while attending events all over the district this week and I have some exciting news to share with you all.
Last week, the State Senate passed our Chapter 90 Transportation Funding bill which will bring over $6.5 million to our district for various transportation projects. The importance of healthy transportation infrastructure cannot be overstated. This funding will help each city and town in the district improve their roads, bridges, public transit, and more.
The Legislature has also recently settled on a date for our state sales tax holiday, which is now officially August 13th-14th! Mark your calendars and shop local!
I was honored this week to help Troop 114 fulfill their First Class requirements by having some wonderful and insightful conversations with them about the importance of government and public service. I am consistently impressed by the passion and intelligence of our youth and I am excited to see what the future holds for this next generation of leaders.
This week I held office hours at the Chicopee Senior Center, where members of my team helped constituents with any issues or questions they might have. We love hearing from members of the community and helping in any way we can, so please feel welcome to stop by out office hours in the future with any questions or concerns, or even just to say hi!
On Wednesday I met with the Agawam Housing Authority and community members. Although there are vacancies in Housing Authorities throughout Massachusetts, many folks still find themselves on waitlists for months because of the massive backlog of applications. This is an issue that I have heard directly from constituents during office hours and that I will be bringing back to Beacon Hill to work on. Simply put, the system must be improved.
I was also welcomed at the Westfield Rotary Club this week to update members on recent news in the state Senate, including the exciting Chapter 90 funding passage, the passage of the Senate Budget, and my continued support to suspend the gas tax so as to relieve some of the burdens of inflation. Thank you to the Westfield Rotary Club for hosting me.
Later this evening I’ll be attending this year’s Holyoke Pride Fest, which will be held in Veterans Park in Holyoke from 12 pm-6 pm. I hope to see some of you there!
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 where you can also sign up for my newsletter!
Sincerely,
John Velis