001[Music] hi and welcome back to the Views expressed we have a great great episode coming up for you here um thank you representative Jack Lewis Democrat 7th middle sex for coming on the show thank you Mita for having me I was actually driving here and remembering that it was almost n years ago to the day that we sat in the studio shortly after announcing I was running for State Rep oh my goodness you know that's uh has it been nine years n years uh you even aged at all but uh neither of you no well thank you thank you I uh I remember being told that I uh my face was too shiny and that my shirt and tie didn't work so I'm hoping years later my gray hairs and wrinkles distract folks from those
002realities and mine as well so um it's great to see you uh for folks who don't know representative Lewis does represent Ashlin but also parts of Framingham as part of the seventh and we're gonna we're just going to open up uh there are a lot of things going on on Beacon Hill there are a lot of things going on in ashin there's a lot of things where those things are kind of intersecting we're gonna we're gonna run the Gambit here we're gonna see what happens um so the first thing I'm going to ask you is kind of controversial uh but it's something that uh you I've been seeing on a lot of the other political talk shows and some folks are very curious about back at the election uh we had a balid question around
003uh the auditor well that's all the time we have okay well I do want to get your take on this because um folks are kind of frustrated I think right now um people voted for this ballot measure you know they wanted the auditor to be able to audit you know the the folks up on Beacon Hill um it's about you know folks are saying it's about transparency and then every time you turn on the TV it it appears that there's push back you know like you know we see the speaker uh you know different representatives and they're like well you know this isn't you know this isn't proper this isn't right and people are just like well we asked for the auditor to be able to audit so as you see it what what is
004this issue and and why are we seeing this tension right now between the auditor and uh the house and sent I'll be honest this was a ballot question uh and there were times where I was invited into conversations but when I asked questions around what the intention of the audit was I often didn't get answers back from the yes on the audit campaign when I think of an audit my brain first goes to taxes you want to file your taxes and you really don't want to be audited and so I think there's a financial component of the audit and then the only other kind of audit I know is one of substance uh and so when I think of the idea of the auditor auditing the legislature if it's a financial audit that she is
005after that information exists my salaries public knowledge who pays for the rat traps or mice traps in our offices like those those that information's not Secret in any way uh when it comes to a performance audit I agree with the speaker and the Senate President and the majority of my colleagues that there is a question about what it means for a different branch of government to decide what my performance should look like and how one would audit that and I think there is a separation of powers argument that is going to play itself out in the courts uh the Attorney General approved the language to go on the ballot but she didn't comment on was the language uh constitutional it was can it is it enough to go on the ballot now we're going to
006see how that plays out the house has been committed to if the people want an audit we'll give them an audit and what the house has said is why doesn't the auditor pick an independent auditor and somebody who operates independent of our two branches of government to come in and do that public audit I've known the auditor for eight years I can't wrap my mind around what she thinks she's going to find or what she hopes to find and I don't think we need a political audit I don't think that's appropriate in our official positions and I think we need to leave personalities out of it which is why I think if people are curious how the how things are paid for the information's there but an independent audit might make it more easily available
007and beyond that you are my constituent you get to decide if my performance uh reaches the standards that you set not a different branch of government because it's an election right I get if I'm not happy with your job performance years two years I can let you know that um but but I think I there was a lot there I just want to unpack it a little bit so you know first off like I think I think there's a lot of confusion out there as to like what exactly is this audit right because you're saying that basically all the financial information is is in the public domain already so we know what you all make we also know what you spend in your office offices we all we that's just public information we can go
008get that at any time most of what we spend in our offices we either have to pay for ourselves or come from our campaign fund so like if I buy a book of stamps prior to becoming a chair which we'll talk about maybe a little later that will first six years as a State Rep my stamps came out of my campaign account um I take my staff out to ludge there I don't there is no like state house uh debit card that you're handed when you're elected you have to figure out how that's paid for uh those citation covers yeah that we hand out the piece of paper inside your tax dollar was paid for that citation covers four or five dollars uh that is not paid for by tax dollars and so I I
009joked about the mouse straps yeah I don't pay for those I'm guessing that there's a an official light item in a in an uh spreadsheet somewhere that tax taxpayers pay for those uh but yes that information is available if if there are question about it we can dive deeper she seems to want more and I don't know what that more is and that's the part that I most struggle with okay yeah um I think I think that the one thing I think just as a as a voter you know um that's kind of confusing I mean thank you for the explanation that does clarify a few things but as a voter it's a little perplexing because you know I heard the speaker talk about like oh you know there may be a separation of powers
010so state constitution you know this may be UNC tional why wasn't it don't ballot questions go through that sort of review before people get a chance to vote on them like what is that process about as I understand it the Attorney General's office has to approve the language to go on the ballot okay does it did it meet the minimum standards did it have the signatures required I don't believe the uh Supreme Judicial Court does a preliminary uh look see at them uh I I'll be honest I was hoping there was going to be an aggressive push back on the ballot question I was hoping there would be a no campaign that got organized it didn't uh there were other ballot campaigns it just understand why there wouldn't be an aggressive no campaign the face
011of it I'll be honest I would have happily spent personal time on that I think uh the current Auditors served in the house served in the Senate uh this work is all about relationships uh and for whatever reason she now thinks that it's politically advantageous uh to go after in my opinion the house and the Senate uh and if there was something I thought she could find or that was there to find I would be happy to have that conversation but it seems political uh and I don't have time or patience for that uh but but yeah so now it's we have said you want an audit we'll do an independent audit okay you hire the person doors are open does not uh is not going down that road with us so now we'll wait
012for the Supreme Judicial Court to make a decision ultimately and through all of that though I'm GNA keep responding to constituent emails and keep showing up at the senior center keep passing bills uh and yeah I have nothing to hide so well yeah I mean and I think maybe the the one thing that that could come out of this is actually taking a look at the process by which these questions do get on the ballot you know um should they go through some sort of like more of a fine tooth comb legal review to make sure that you know whatever we're asking the voters because I think for the lay person or someone who you know you got a ballot question vote on it I expect if I pass it then it's going to happen
013no matter what the legality of it is really so that might be a good thing that happens out of this we get a little bit um a a little bit more of a tighter process when we're talking about getting things on the ballot so that you know if they do come through there may be some challenges here and there but we've already sort of had like kind of like a Bare Bones review of like what what's is it legal is it legal is it not you know so so you know greed I'll just say the question of what's constitutional is never set in stone this is true you can always make an argument B and against but yeah but some arguments are stronger than others so I mean and there's some things that are pretty
014pretty they're layups right some things are a little bit more new nuanced you know how much I love this spr I'm hoping this is result sooner rather than later because there are we our country and world are facing some um challenges dirty challenges and uh I I'm happy to talk like I said I talk about this potential a it toing blew in the face uh but well we won't do that no all right we got a lot well we got we got a lot more ground to cover so we can't just stay there because apparently in alluded to this earlier I'm was going to kind of spring it on the people but some things have changed for you up on the Beacon Hill apparently you found yourself as a chairperson The Joint Committee on municipalities
015and Regional government what is that so last session I was a chair for the first time and it was the Federal stimulus and census oversight committee which was great I I becoming a chair for the first time it changes things you have more staff you have more responsibility as you can imagine the last two years there wasn't a lot of federal stimulus money coming uh there was money that had been allotted and making sure that was spent properly uh but it was an interesting time of you is the government going to shut down tomorrow uh so I I was hoping to continue that work but grateful that the speaker in my colleagues saw this new opportunity for me uh the joint committee on municipalities and Regional government uh receives if not the most bills of
016any committee it's the top handful of committees with legislation uh the governor's Bill relating to Municipal empowerment uh bills relating to double polls utility double polls uh uh but it also receives a lot of the home rule petitions so when for for listeners out there what is home rule that's like a too technical no it's true I I try not to use acronyms but yeah home rule is one of the non- acronym uh technical words that just rolls off my tongue uh our constitution is set up where if municipalities want to change certain things the state legislature has to give their approval Ashland used to have a board of selectman they changed the select board I literally had to pass a law in order to allow that to happen uh framy him wanted to put
017a right-hand turn lanane near my house off of it was Central onto edil they were going to use a small plop of land differently we had to pass a home rule just to allow this little section of land to be used ever so slightly differently so home rules can range from uh Board of Selectmen changing its name to when framan became a city like its Charter had to be approved to a home rule uh most of those home rules now will go through my committee and so I'm excited for a whole host of reasons uh one of them being almost every legislator has at least one home rule every session and I love this where for many reasons I love working with my constituents but I love that it's all about relationships on Beacon Hill
018and some of those happen organically some happen around the water cooler now for those handful of colleagues I haven't connected with yet we're going to connect because they're gonna have a bill before my committee uh and it'll give me a chance not only to get to know them but what's actually going on in their communities and it's not just a rubber stamp uh I can tell you that oh when my first home rules I won't get into the Weeds on it I thought it was just going to be like rber stamped my first bill I was celebrating in my head oh no no uh some outside group took offense to one component of it and we had to go back and and tweak it uh but uh but so that'll be my new responsibility on
019Beacon Hill in addition to the 30 plus bills I filed a lot of my responsibility working with my staff will be reviewing these home rules and hopefully bringing the governor and her team in to review the municipal empowerment act something that I know as a select board you all are talking about I can't speak for the select board in that capacity but um I think a lot of folks who are uh active in town uh uh and want to participate in in meetings will take big interest in this mostly because this is one of the things that allows remote participation and you know if that goes away then it's all back in person 100% uh so that's something that that folks need to be aware of so I remember talking to of your colleagues on
020the select board a week ago about this and I was like you know it'll go to its first committee and then by the time it gets to me at the larger house it'll be a role for me to play but it's that first committee little did I know a couple days later I would be that first the chair of that first committee uh and so I'll be talking a whole lot more about the empowerment act uh than I would have had I been assigned a different commity but well like I said that's got a lot of the local interests not just for the electeds but for the volunteers and that particular practice and it's just the numbers of game the need is outweighing the Supply right now um so to be able to get a
021win-win like this in the Commonwealth I think it it's it's great for those Physicians and their families but it's also really great for people who need medical care in top-notch medical care so you know that's that's something I have seen in the media um you know that need so I mean you say was not the Metro us daily news but that my own article it was hisory yes you know I think this is it's a big it's a big public health issue you know and so you know I don't want to diminish it at all um because it's important but um so I'm going to throw you a little curveball um yeah I think uh we alluded to this at the beginning um you know we're we're kind of in an interesting situation we're recording
022this in in the top of March of 2025 and uh there's a lot of uncertainty around uh Federal funding and we know that Federal funding rolls down you know Federal money comes to the state can come through the cities and communities you know I I guess I'm trying to find out you know well we're all trying to figure out like how this is all going to land you know and every day there seems to be another challenge in court you know you have to you have to disperse the funds so you don't have to disperse the funds you know from the executive branch um you know I'm just curious as to what you and your colleagues are are are doing to kind of keep an eye on the situation like you know and what there
023isn't really much you can do about it but I mean you know how can we best posture ourselves for the uncertainty ahead you know just from your view of Beacon Hill I've got a view down on the local level but like you know just from your your standpoint like what what should we be vigilant about what should we be keeping our ears to the ground on what and you know how do you think your colleagues will be able to to to keep an eye on this I am nervous that's not a strong enough word I I we we both watch the same news uh we live in the same reality uh multiple times a day you know today I I started my day by talking to 10 nurses about changes in US Healthcare uh and
024then I went to Worcester and spoke to about 70 social workers uh about meeting High needs the meeting the needs of high need populations and most vulnerable people uh and in both settings I wanted to bring optimism I wanted I I wanted be like it's going to be all right uh and I wasn't able to I I I feared I was just a big wet blanket of of of sadness and despair and I'm gonna try not to bring that same wet blanket can can we but here's but let's be realistic though let's be realistic like I think what are we facing here I think many of us in this part of the country for the last 150 years have shied away from the idea of states rights like fact very good reason very very good
025reasons yes so um the idea of the federal government Massachusetts often leading the way bringing the federal government along and then the federal government you know being forced the desegregation of schools loving V Virginia marriage equalities are not necessarily on the same level but these just examples of we we we lead the fight for equality and justice in Massachusetts it spills over to the region the feds get on board and then the country gets on board we are going backwards and we now have a Fed Federal Administration that is actively trying to take us backwards where I think it's most uncomfortable for a lot of us is not only the pendulum swing but we're having to start talk about states rights that we'll see in court I to quote the uh the governor of main
026uh and that is going to be the case uh and I think our attorney general Massachusetts is prepared for it we can't forget who we are we need to to dive deep into those values we need to dig deep uh and we're going to fight like hell to protect who we are as a commonwealth what's scary to me is that protection can only go so far and I don't know what's what's coming next we can't print money in Massachusetts uh we have to pass a balanced budget uh about 25% of our state budget is connected back to the feds uh so we're talking like 15 M billion with a B15 billion Stu there that's 25% yes that's a big number it is a very big number and you cut that by just a couple percentage
027points and vital programs are gutted and I think a lot of us are trying to prepare uh social service agencies prepare ourselves prepare municipalities that this year's budget you it looks okay but we don't know what's coming and there are going to be some very difficult choices that have to be made uh and they're not going to be ones that we're happy about making uh I I'm I'm I'm unapologetically a progressive I'm an optimist but I'm hired to be a realist by my constituents and I'm going to have to make some dis vote around the budget around as I've always done around legislation that aren't going to be the ideal that I wish I could bring about had I had a magic wand or a cupboard of $60 billion uh just just lying around wa
028you should probably check your sofa cushions maybe before you say you don't have the money Jack I'm just saying maybe everybody should my kid supposed to vacuum the couch once a week and I wish I could say he does that and I would know that there's not $60 billion there uh but what I can tell you is as a we're going to do everything we can I think when it comes to basic rights and protections uh the governor has has told schools to we don't need to we don't need to pre-s surrender uh there are plenty of companies out there that that uh have decided to to fold on the values they put out there so many companies that I don't even know where to shop anymore uh our schools and our organizations and our
029social service agencies they don't have to do that uh and if an Edith comes from on high uh we live in a democracy the courts are going to play a role sure uh and what I tell folks is especially those who work with vulnerable populations like I don't know what tomorrow's going to look like but our kids need to be supported they need to be reminded on a regular basis that they're loved uh and it's weird I if you would have told me8 years ago that sometimes I'd get a call from a parent a constituent in the community uh in tears fearful for their kids safety and one of the things I would ask is that they hug their kid tight uh maybe you know this isn't the year to go hang out with a
030racist Uncle for Christmas or Thanksgiving maybe not any year but like we there our kids and people in our Community they're not hearing that they're loved in the same way that they once were by the corporations in our lives they're not hearing it from the federal government and now the the teachers and schools in their lives are wondering what they can say without getting in trouble and that ignores entirely the the trolls on social media uh which seem to to find great joy uh in in upping suicide rates and and scaring and causing people great fear um here's that wet blink it hold on let's um yeah I was going to say hug our kids we're g to hug our kid hug our kids um but I I do I do want to say like
031you know I think I think we are living in unprecedented times uh and to your earlier point you know especially around budget issues and support for many critical programs uh you know we don't have collectively you know it's you know state or in local level we don't have a magical money tree that we can just go and and and and make everything better so it'll be interesting to see how things play out over the next year or two and figure out um you know what we can do but I'll I'll say this you know I think uh folks in the Commonwealth are we're smart we're resilient uh we're creative and I think all of us who care about our communities and care about our neighbors and our friends who may be the same or different
032than us we're going to we're going to pull together I think um and and help each other out um one of the things that might might what might be a shock to people I think is that you know through Times Like These you know this tends to bring people together more so than bring them apart you know it can bring it can bring people from different backgrounds and different you know uh any different political Persuasions even together to make sure that their communities uh their families the people that they care about are safe and are taken care of so I think we're going to see some some surprising results you know you think because in times in scarcity I think people get very frightened and there's the potential for all sorts of things but I
033you know I I I say I believe in America and I believe in Americans and I believe in Bas Staters and you know I believe in all that stuff and I believe in Ashlin folks too in our town that was the answer I meant to give uh before my sorry just rung out your blanket no no it's all right I ring it ring it out I uh I I agree 100 % I think we're going to need to lean on each other none of us know what the future is going to hold uh and government I continue to believe eight years in as an elected representative for ashlin's has an essential role to pay play in people's lives and I think during the pandemic we quickly learned that the decisions we make on Beacon Hill
034or in DC have not only an effect on people's lives but people live and die based on some of the decisions we make and I'm I'm not that we shouldn't have difficult conversations about where we put our money but I am as somebody who every year through the state budget goes line by line through the budget and has to reflect on you yes it's $30 million and it's a number that means nothing to anyone else but that $30 million doesn't just employ people depending on what the fund is it make sure people have food in their bellies or a place to go uh and those are the those are the stories that I'm most concerned about uh if things go south but I like I like your your optimism well I have to be you
035have to be and I I need to find that and you need to help me Kindle but so well we we can all well we all we'll lean on each other yes I'm we all going to lean on each other for that CU you know we we all have our own kind of dark days as well but that's what we're here for that's what this this community is here for you know that's what we're here for so any who um wow we have really gone around the world here and and talked about everything from the state local Federal um I guess one more question for you representative um representative so yes I know obious who doesn't know me very well okay okay Jack um one more question Jack you know uh we were just talking
036about the humanity uh that we see in our constituents the humanity that we see U you know as public servants like you know you're constantly helping people um this is this is uh challenging work and I know folks it's it's very easy I think for folks to forget that elected officials are actually people too um because we're like all humans um but you know especially during these times like how how how are you going to find a way to recharge and reenter yourself um because I think it's good to share these sort of things all of us can learn from each other about how to kind of stay centered I selfcare has not been my journey uh and so I I put it off uh indefinitely uh but but as we had talked about before
037I I I'm married I have I have two kids that are still at home uh they they ground me uh uh and it doesn't a lot of this work is behind the scenes there's very little is glamorous uh there's no there's actually no aspects of the job thatter clamorous I love every minute of it though uh but there are times where you're like oh she called me representative uh and then I go home and it'll be food's late where where you're late food's late uh I failed my tests why were it's like oh okay this is why I got into this work uh when we first met 9 years ago we just adopted our first kid uh from foster care so he Josiah we met him when he was four he was five when we
038went down this road of running for office and everyone who becomes a parent there's one day they're not a parent and then the next day they are uh for us he was semi-formed four-year-old and so things just came came fast uh but it was meeting his his classmates at preschool it was imagining his future that really lit the fire under me of you know I liked being a minister in a church I liked running a nonprofit but he only got one childhood uh and he needed I felt like I could do more than just the things I was doing uh I do you know I miss delivering sermons uh but I was like you know I bet I could fight and change some of the law and maybe also do some public speaking on the
039side uh what I haven't figured out is how to sort of Honor that relationship with him uh I work I work a lot uh which is something I you know now my kids are older the two that still have home 12 and 15 so they don't they want to make sure there's food and they want to know that there's support there from a distance uh but if I could go back in time and find that uh sweet spot of work and home balance uh I would have done it but it would have been like seven years ago when my kids still wanted me at home all the time uh but yeah as my um now 15y old well my 15-year-old when he was eight said something along the lines of I didn't tell you the
040story but I'm going to tell you anyways Jack because when my kids met me I was just Jack and we were Jack and Bren so which is why I love my first name being used uh Jack I hope you find a balance between the job we all know you love and the family you actually have before we grow up give you grandkids and you have to not try to mess up with them did we go to Disney within weeks of that like dagger to the heart yes we did yeah uh and so my advice to new reps is strike that balance early on with your kids and uh things like vacation you I can't always get away from my phone uh but I find that sometimes I can put my phone down for a couple
041hours with my family and the world has not ended yet uh but uh yeah I I love the job and it's a job where there is always so much more to do uh and I've never worked a 9 to-5 job so uh I need to take care of myself so I can keep doing the work and so that my kids don't um yeah don't put me in my place so easily uh but um but I love them and you probably haven't seen them in a while because they don't go grocery shopping with me anymore because as you will find out or probably already finding out as people know you as the select board member yeah well you know I you know people I can see people like doing that with different uh you know different
042different kinds of situations but I think that your advice uh around um you know making sure you take time to spend time with the people that care about you the most is fantastic advice not just for new reps but for all the hardworking people out there trying to you know do that it's not even a nino5 most of us don't even work 95 anymore we all work you know crazy hours and also your community commitments as well commitments and all these things but everybody has those challenges so that's just incredible advice and I think we're going to leave it there so Jack Lewis thank you so much for joining us on the views expressed it was lovely to have you thank you so much for having me right and thank you everybody for joining us
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