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Michael Bettencourt

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Michael Bettencourt
Image of Michael Bettencourt

Democratic Party

Education

Bachelor's

Wheaton College

Law

Suffolk University

Personal
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Personal website

Michael Bettencourt was a 2014 Democratic candidate for the Thirty-first Middlesex District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.[1]

Campaign themes

2014

Bettencourt's website highlighted the following campaign themes:

“ Strengthening Schools

Because our state-funded education system is drastically underfunded, towns like Winchester and Stoneham struggle to meet the rising costs of public education. Mike will fight to bring resources to the District through a review of Chapter 70 funding, and will advocate to cap investment in charter schools. Mike will dedicate himself to increasing funding for special education and to increasing investment in teaching, science, technology, and the arts. Mike will advocate for new programs and funding for all- day kindergarten and foreign language study. Mike knows that a strong commitment to our children’s future is not complete without hiring the best teachers.

Post-secondary education costs prohibit many families from gaining access to higher education. Higher education offers the opportunity for our kids to learn the necessary skills to compete in an ever-changing job market. We must reduce interest rates, refinance the $1.2 trillion in college loan debt that 40 million students face, and fight to control the rising rates of tuition.

Building Our Local Economy
Small businesses are the engine that drives our economy, creating jobs and opportunities for our families. As our local economy has recovered from the recent recession, we must make sure to maintain low unemployment levels and growth for small businesses. Providing tax credits for local businesses is an investment in the future of our community. Mike will advocate for state investment in local infrastructure and transportation, both of which are crucial needs for the District. Mike believes that we can work with labor unions to bring strong workforce development to the region. Mike will advocate for smart business growth in our communities by bringing local resources to the District and working with the community to plan for a more economically vibrant future.

Protecting Our Environment
Mike is a strong advocate for protecting our environment and the valuable natural resources in our region. Mike will fight for common-sense investment in renewable energy to reduce our carbon footprint and promote conservation. As a member of Sustainable Winchester, the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club, Mike will continue to fight for cutting-edge, economically responsible solutions that protect our environment.

Achieving Justice through Equal Pay
Women currently earn about 77% of what men earn for the same job. This means that women have to work almost three additional months each year to earn the same amount as men. We cannot grow our economy on a foundation of inequality. Mike will be a voice for equal pay for all.

Fighting for Veterans and Seniors
As we face the demands of an aging populace, we must respond to the needs of seniors in our communities. We must provide affordable housing and care so that seniors can stay in the community they call home, remaining connected to friends and family. We must bring state resources to the District for meal delivery programs and energy efficiency initiatives, so that we can serve seniors who are struggling to make ends meet.

Mike believes that we must keep our promise to our veterans, and provide them with the care and resources they need to thrive. Increasing energy costs are an enormous burden on seniors and veterans at a time when they are living on fixed incomes. Further, we must support initiatives like the Spousal Caregiver Bill that allows spouses compensation through Medicaid for providing home care for their spouse. Currently, spouses are exempt from this benefit, when it is often the spouse who is responsible for home medical care. We must offer union protection for home care nurses so that seniors and veterans receive the best care possible from skilled workers. Investing in senior centers and veterans programs offers a better quality of life and opportunity for community engagement.

Reforming Our Prison Systems
Governor Patrick has estimated that over the next seven years, our state will spend $2 billion dollars building new prisons, and will spend an additional $150 million per year filling them. As we struggle to find funding for education, infrastructure, care for an aging population and pensions, we can no longer afford to perpetuate this cycle of imprisonment. We must invest in education and employment training for non-violent prisoners. Recidivism rates hover near 60% and force our State to warehouse prisoners, because we have no plan to divert them from crime, and have no plan to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenses. Our growing prison system is a threat to our economy and to the sustained growth of our communities.

Preventing Gun Violence
We must be aggressive in our efforts to curb gun violence in our communities. Without infringing on Second Amendment rights, we can limit the amount of assault weapons and illegal guns that are flooding our communities and killing our children. We must enforce existing gun laws, and further our commitment to background checks and safety requirements. While we have seen a steady increase in tragic events in schools from gun violence, we have also seen a rise in accidental injury to children from guns in the home. Further, studies have shown that family violence is much more likely to be lethal in homes that have guns. In fact, children younger than fifteen are nine times more likely to die by gun accidents than the rest of the developed world. Suicide deaths by children age five to fourteen in the U.S are ten times more likely in homes that have guns. It is time for some common-sense action to protect our kids.

Funding Pensions and Healthcare
Many do not see pensions as an education issue. However, because of the vast underfunding of pensions and healthcare costs for municipal employees in Massachusetts, the system is strained to honor its commitment to employees and retirees. Cities and towns are burdened by high costs that reduce their ability to compensate for underfunded and increasing educational demands. Further, because of recent cuts to pensions and health care benefits that would have seemed impossible years ago, employees are working longer. The impact of this will be felt everywhere in our community. We must maintain our commitment to municipal employees by fully funding pensions and health care costs.

Building Affordable Housing
Mike believes that we must make a commitment to building affordable housing in our communities. Too many hard working families with multiple earners are not able to get ahead because they are not paid fairly, and the majority of their income is spent on housing. Most communities are not near the 10% affordability goal for our housing market. Not surprisingly, many veterans return from combat with no prospect of affording housing and living independently. We need to work with our local planning boards to create affordable housing opportunities that are near public transportation and need to allocate resources to attract quality, community-minded developers.[2][3]

”

Elections

2014

See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Massachusetts House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on September 9, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. Michael Day defeated Michael Bettencourt in the Democratic primary. Caroline Colarusso was unopposed in the Republican primary. Day defeated Colarusso in the general election.[4]

Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirty-first Middlesex District General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngMichael Day 51.4% 9,270
     Republican Caroline Colarusso 48.6% 8,759
Total Votes 18,029
Massachusetts House of Representatives, Thirty-first Middlesex District Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngMichael Day 56.9% 2,941
Michael Bettencourt 43.1% 2,226
Total Votes 5,167

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Michael + Bettencourt + Massachusetts + House"

Michael Bettencourt News Feed

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 Democratic Primary Candidates," accessed June 28, 2014
  2. ↑ Committee to Elect Michael Bettencourt, "The Issues," accessed August 21, 2014
  3. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "2014 State Primary Candidates," accessed September 9, 2014


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