State Senate President Karen Spilka revealed Monday morning that the Senate will introduce a major climate bill before the legislative session comes to a close in a few months.
In addition to proposing education initiatives to pay for students’ school from “cradle to career,” the Ashland Democrat said at a Greater Boston Business Chamber event in the Seaport that the “comprehensive plan” to address the climate crisis will be led by state Senator Michael Barrett, who leads the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, and state Senator Cynthia Creem.
Spilka did not reveal specifics about what to expect in the bill, but said public transportation and emissions-free travel are “just two ways to help combat” climate change.
Barrett and his House counterpart, state Representative Jeffrey Roy, have discussed making another run at changes in state laws governing energy and emissions, but no major proposals have emerged for debate with just over three months left for formal sessions.
The Senate plans to tackle a number of education expansion initiatives in its budget, to be revealed in early May. Spilka confirmed that the Senate Ways and Means budget would include a free community college for all residents, which she had previously teased, as well as a new private-public partnership to create more child care seats through working with employers.
Asked about continuing accountability for students, Spilka took a stance on one of the hottest education topics this year.
She told Boston Chamber President Jim Rooney that she did not support a ballot question to decouple a high school standardized test from graduation requirements. The question that could go before voters in November would not get rid of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, but would remove the requirement that students pass it in 10th grade in order to graduate, and instead allow districts to set graduation requirements based on completion of coursework.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Spilka said. “But accountability is important, as well, so I cannot — and it’s taken a while to process and get to this — but I cannot support totally getting rid of the MCAS as a requirement without some reasonable alternative. We need to make sure that our kids are learning. We’re number one in education right now, I don’t want to lose that.”