Efforts on this final week of the session to keep Paid Sick Days in front of the legislators.

VOTER BALLOTS reflect voters’ positive attitudes toward paid sick days policy according to a recent study by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.  The NORCstudy shows that 75% of the public supports guaranteeing workers a minimum number of paid sick days.  The study also shows that over 3 times as many voters are likely to support a candidate who is in favor of paid sick days legislation than not.

Held on Thursday, State House – Coalition members lead by moms and kids from MomsRising will meet at the Grand Staircase to deliver stories from moms across the Commonwealth who desperately need paid sick days before the school year begins.

Action Required: Please join us at any of these days for these actions.  Please also continue telephone calls to Speaker DeLeo, House Ways and Means Chairman Murphy, and Senate President, Terry Murray.

Senate Concurs with House Foreclosure Bill

Foreclosure Bill passed by both houses.   Senate has concurred with House version
Bill is now off to the Governor.
Congratulations to all who worked hard on this bill.  Great strides for tenants; new education on reverse mortgages; increased time for workouts.

This no-cost proposal will help save resources by preventing the public safety hazards that surround foreclosed properties, stabilizing property values, and preventing the housing instability that unnecessary evictions cause.

Foreclosures are devastating our communities in Massachusetts – The Federal Reserve reports that more than 33,300 Massachusetts homeowners are delinquent on their home loans due to a combination of high unemployment, negative property equity, (where the homeowner owes more than the value of the home) and risky lending.  As of February, 2010, an additional 30,700 Massachusetts homes were already bank-owned or in the foreclosure process.
The Warren Group, an independent publisher of real estate data, said there were 1,283 foreclosure deeds filed in Massachusetts last month, up nearly 120 percent from the previous year. Through the first five months of 2010, the number of completed foreclosures was nearly double last year’s pace.
A Foreclosure Bill (H. 4595) is in the House Ways and Means Committeethat will help tenants and homeowners. It has already passed the Senate unanimously. This no-cost proposal will help save resources by preventing the public safety hazards that surround foreclosed properties, stabilizing property values, and preventing the housing instability that unnecessary evictions cause. The Bill does the following: 1)      Provides eviction protections to tenants in foreclosed properties who are in good standing and continue to pay rent. 2) Establishes a framework for negotiations between lenders and homeowners to work together to create a mutually-acceptable loan modification. Participating in loan modification negotiations would be voluntary but lenders that do not participate will have to wait 150 days to foreclose on the property (up from current 90 day right to cure).  This provision sunsets in 2016. 3)  Creates an abandoned and foreclosed property registry to track distressed properties. 4) Encourages redevelopment of foreclosed properties by providing a local option to exclude nonprofits from property taxes during the term that the nonprofit rehabilitates the home and converts it into affordable housing. 5)  Criminalizes mortgage fraud. 6)  Requires counseling in order to receive a reverse mortgage.  A reverse mortgage is where a senior homeowner receives a loan on their home equity and the loan is paid back when the homeowner sell the home or passes away.

JALSA thanks CHAPA andd MAAPL for their continuing leadership on this legislation.

For more information on the bill, click on Fact Sheet

JALSA urged members of the Legislative Committee on Labor and Commerce today to vote on the pending legislation that would allow all Massachusetts workers the opportunity to earn up to 7 days each year of paid sick leave.     The legislation has the support of the majority of the committee and it is time that the committee vote and send the legislation to the floor.  Almost half of the workers in the state do not have a single day of paid leave in which they can take a family member to the doctor without fear of lost wages and the possibility of being fired.