Today, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts State Senate voted to adopt the Broadband Equity Commission language recommended in the conference committee report.The amendment was originally filed by both Education Committee Chairwoman Alice Peisch of Wellesley and Chairman Jason Lewis of Winchester. The Broadband Equity Commission establishes a special commission to study equity and access to telecommunications services for students and families in Massachusetts. Latinos for Education issued the following statement in response to the amendment:
“We’re thrilled to learn that the conference committee conferees adopted the language for the Broadband Equity Commission, reaffirming their commitment to creating an equitable and accessible telecommunications infrastructure for students. We’d like to formally thank Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Spilka, Chairman Michlewitz, Chairman Rodrigues, the honorable conference committee conferees, Chairwoman Peisch and Chairman Lewis for championing the issue of broadband equity, and for their longstanding commitment to ensuring equity in our state’s education system. We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with all of the stakeholders and the appointees on the Broadband Equity Commission to ensure tech para todos – access to tech devices and broadband access for all children across the Commonwealth. We respectfully urge Governor Baker to swiftly adopt the language for the Broadband Equity Commission in the final budget.”