Lewis Town Hall Draws Child Care, Gun Bill, and School Construction Questions

STONEHAM -- October 24, 2023, State Senator Jason Lewis held his first hybrid town hall in Stoneham on October 24, drawing questions on child care funding, firearms legislation, school construction, and taxes. Lewis, chair of the Senate Education Committee, outlined uses of Fair Share Amendment revenue in the roughly $50 billion fiscal year 2024 state budget, including permanent universal free school meals for approximately one million public school students and a 50 percent increase in Chapter 90 local road funds. Three family child care providers, including Gina Hamilton, who administers a network of nearly 900 providers statewide, warned that a proposal in House Bill 489 to limit C3 stabilization grants to subsidy-only providers would force 12 percent of private-pay providers to close and 74 percent to raise tuition, based on a poll of 250 providers. On guns, Lewis said he was "not thrilled" with the House's process of bypassing the Public Safety Committee and said the Senate would hold its own hearings, focusing primarily on ghost guns. On the disputed Northeast Metro Tech Vocational School construction project in Wakefield, Lewis acknowledged MSBA transparency problems but said the project will proceed, citing proposed legislation to create a special study commission on school facility oversight statewide.