Dear Residents of the 14^th Norfolk District:

Thank you for re-electing me as your Representative to the Massachusetts Legislature. I continue to be honored to serve this district and I appreciate all of your support. As the new year approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the 188^thGeneral Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I am proud of the many legislative achievements from this session: we passedmajor legislation pertaining to economic development, education, election laws, gun safety, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
 
The Massachusetts Legislature is intent on creating an environment in Massachusetts where every individual has the opportunity to thrive and this session we approved multiple spending bills that invest in stimulating the Commonwealth’s economy and repairing its infrastructure. The economic development bill contains numerous initiatives that will promote the creation of sustainable jobs for workers of all skill levels and provides the means for training a workforce to meet the needs of employers. The IT bond bill will finance the installation of infrastructure that will allow residents and businesses to keep pace with technology as it advances.
 
As the Chair of the Education Committee, I am proud of the steps that have been taken over the past two years to ensure school safety and the wellbeing of students, so that all students are able to learn. We strengthened the state’s anti-bullying laws and introduced requirements for a statewide framework for safe and supportive schools. Additionally, we continued to focus on ensuring that all students have access to high quality education that will allow them to lead productive lives. While Massachusetts ranks first in the nation on the National Assessment of Education Progress tests and compares favorably with our global peers, if we are to continue to lead in education we must continually improve.
 
As we move towards the start of a new legislative session, I am excited about the opportunity to build on our previous accomplishments. As a Legislature, there is still much to be done to fulfill our promise of ensuring that all students in Massachusetts receive a high quality public education. This upcoming session, I will be working on reviewing the state’s Foundation Budget. Through the formation of a review commission, an examination of components of the current formula will be undertaken and recommendations for updates to the formula should be made by June 30, 2015.
 
I encourage any resident who has a question or concern related to state government to contact me by phone at (617) 722-2070, by e-mail at Alice.Peisch@mahouse.gov, or by mail at State House, Room 473G, Boston, MA 02133.