85 Representatives sign letter to Speaker DiMasi
In January 2008 the Massachusetts Senate passed the Safer Alternatives Bill unanimously.
The bill is now before the House Committee on Ways and Means. For the bill to be passed in the House, gaining the suport of Speaker Sal DiMasi is essential. To show the speaker the widespread support for the bill, three Representatives, Jaime Eldridge (D-Acton), Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington), and Thomas Conroy (D-Wayland) led 85 of their colleagues in the House in signing a letter of support for the Safer Alternatives Bill that was delivered to Speaker DiMasi in June 2008.
Below you can read the text of the letter and see the list of Representatives who signed it.
Text of the letter:
Speaker Salvatore DiMasi
The State House
Room 356
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Mr. Speaker,
We are writing to you in strong support of the Safer Alternatives Bill (S.2481, An Act to Promote Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals), legislation co-sponsored by over half of our colleagues in the House. The bill aims to reduce exposure to toxic chemicals linked to many serious health problems by replacing them with safer alternatives when feasible. The legislation, engrossed in the Senate on January 29th and currently in the House Ways and Means Committee, is the top priority of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow, a coalition of environmental, health affected, faith and labor groups, which delivered 25,000 cards from constituents across Massachusetts last year to legislators and the Governor in support of this bill.
This legislation is modeled after the highly successful Toxics Use Reduction Act. The Safer Alternatives Bill sets up an ongoing program whereby toxic chemicals used in manufacturing, products and services that are linked to serious health conditions such as cancer, developmental disabilities, reproductive problems and others will be researched to establish whether there are safer alternatives available for the different uses of the chemical. If an economically feasible safer alternative is found, for a particular use, and the chemical presents a high hazard to Massachusetts residents and workers, the program will assist businesses in making a transition to the safer alternative. In an effort to protect the people of Massachusetts from unnecessarily high rates of disease while ensuring that our businesses continue to enjoy economic stability and prosperity, this legislation is both practical and flexible in its approach.
One of the most important outcomes of this legislation will be to assist Massachusetts businesses to meet the more health protective standards found in many other countries and states, as well as in some international corporations that are moving rapidly away from the use of toxic chemicals. For example, California, Washington, and Maine have all taken action recently to ban products containing some of the same toxic chemicals that may be addressed by this bill. In contrast to other chemical bans, the Safer Alternatives bill takes the approach of requiring substitution only when a feasible safer alternative is available, supporting Massachusetts businesses with research and technical assistance and providing financial support for business transitions where needed.
We respectfully request, along with our colleagues who join us in signing this letter below, that a vote on this bill be scheduled swiftly and in a timely manner to accommodate the subsequent steps to ensure passage of the Safer Alternatives Bill this session.
Sincerely,
Representatives who signed:
Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton)
Willie Mae Allen (D-Boston)
Cory Atkins (D-Concord)
Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy)
Ruth B. Balser (D-Newton)
John Binienda (D-Worcester)
Garrett Bradley (D-Cohasset)
William Brownsberger (D-Belmont)
Anthony Cabral (D-New Bedford)
Jennifer Callahan (D-Sutton)
Linda Dean Campbell (D-Methuen)
Christine Canavan (D-Brockton)
Stephen Canessa (D-New Bedford)
Paul Casey (D-Winchester)
Katherine Clark (D-Melrose)
Cheryl Coakley-Rivera (D-Springfield)
Thomas Conroy (D-Wayland)
Michael Costello (D-Newburyport)
Geraldine Creedon (D-Brockton)
Steve D'Amico (D-Seekonk)
Stephen DiNatale (D-Fitchburg)
Paul Donato (D-Medford)
Christopher Donelan (D-Greenfield)
Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead)
Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton)
James Fagan (D-Taunton)
Mark Falzone (D-Saugus)
Barry Finegold (D-Andover)
Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Dorchester)
Gloria Fox (D-Boston)
John Fresolo (D-Worcester)
William Galvin (D-Canton)
Sean Garballey (D-Arlington)
Anne Gobi (D-Ware)
Thomas Golden (D-Lowell)
Mary Grant (D-Beverly)
William Greene (D-Billerica)
Geoffrey Hall (D-Westford)
Lida Harkins (D-Needham)
Bradford Hill (R-Ipswich)
Kevin Honan (D-Brighton)
Frank Hynes (D-Marshfield)
Louis Kafka (D-Stoughton)
Kay Khan (D-Newton)
Peter Kocot (D-Florence)
Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham)
Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington)
William Lantigua (D-Lawrence)
Barbara L'Italien (D-Andover)
David Linsky (D-Natick)
Liz Malia (D-Jamaica Plain)
James Miceli (D-Wilmington)
Kevin Murphy (D-Lowell)
Robert Nyman (D-Hanover)
Jim O'Day (D-Worcester)
Matthew Patrick (D-Falmouth)
Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown)
Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley)
Denise Provost (D-Somerville)
Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield)
John Quinn (D-Dartmouth)
Kathy-Anne Reinstein (D-Revere)
Pam Richardson (D-Framingham)
Richard Ross (R-Wrentham)
Michael Rush (D-Boston)
Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Brookline)
Tom Sannicandro (D-Ashland)
John Scibak (D-South Hadley)
Carl Sciortino (D-Medford)
Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers)
Robert Spellane (D-Worcester)
Joyce Spiliotis (D-Peabody)
Tom Stanley (D-West Newbury)
Ellen Story (D-Amherst)
David Sullivan (D-Fall River)
Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield)
Walter Timilty (D-Milton)
Timothy Toomey (D-Cambridge)
Cleon Turner (D-East Dennis)
Anthony Verga (D-Gloucester)
Brian Wallace (D-Boston)
Martin Walsh (D-Boston)
Steven Walsh (D-Lynn)
Martha Walz (D-Boston)
Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge)
