Latest news with #Velis
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Local Council of Scouting America honors Velis, other local leaders
HOLYOKE — The Western Massachusetts Council of Scouting America hosted its annual Distinguished Citizen Dinner on June 4 at the Log Cabin as a pioneering astronaut, a decorated state senator, a university president and a leading attorney were all highlighted for their career work. State Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield) was the main honoree of the night as he was named recipient of the Sherrif Michael J. Ashe Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award for his steadfast commitment to public service, veterans' issues and youth empowerment across the region. 'Never underestimate your ability to have a difference, to make an impact on a fellow human being. You can make a difference on a daily basis. A lot of people don't think they can so they don't, but you can make a difference,' Velis said. 'Be mindful of how you treat people when you are on the way up, because that is how they are going to treat you on the way down.' For over a century, scouting has helped young people become responsible citizens and leaders through service, kindness and a commitment to helping others. In today's fast-paced, digital world, these values remain as important as ever as a reminder of the power of community, character and face-to-face connection. 'Throughout his public service career, Sen. John Velis has consistently exemplified these values and the principle of servant leadership, which is a cornerstone of the scouting program,' said John Willemain, president and board chairman of the Western Mass. Council of Scouting America. 'As a veteran, legislator and dedicated advocate for the well-being of all residents in Western Mass., Sen. Velis has worked tirelessly to promote mental health services, support veterans and military families, and strengthen our communities through thoughtful and compassionate leadership. We are honored to present Sen. John Velis with the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award.' Speaking prior to Velis accepting his honor was special guest Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi who shared what Velis means to him as a friend and leader among the community. 'We thank Sen. John Velis for his steadfast support of the Hampden County Sherriff's Office in our mission to serve and protect and rehabilitate,' said Cocchi. 'Sen. Velis has been a tireless advocate for our world, particularly in the areas of mental health, substance use recovery and reentry support.' Also honored during the night through two new awards to the ceremony were Frank Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Law and Westfield State University President Dr. Linda Thompson. Willemain said both honorees reflect the same core values they strive to instill in every scout. Fitzgerald was honored with the Distinguished Citizen in Business Award for his integrity, civic engagement and leadership in the legal community. As founder of Fitzgerald Law, PC, 30 years ago Fitzgerald's practice focuses on corporate law, finance, business succession planning, banking law, and mergers and acquisitions. 'As I thought about my remarks tonight, I thought how does this happen. Upon reflection, clearly it does not happen without the foundation of support from the people in your life,' Fitzgerald said. 'With the scouts here tonight, know that your actions matter. Your service projects, your community involvement, the example you set, it all matters. You're not just leaders of tomorrow, you are the leaders of today. Keep leaning into your values, keep standing up for what's right and keep serving even when no one is watching.' Fitzgerald has also been active through several local and national charitable organizations including the Ronald McDonald House, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Aspergers Association, Down Syndrome Foundation and the American Cancer Society. Thompson was presented the Distinguished Citizen in Education honor in recognition of her commitment to educational excellence and student success. Thompson is the 21st president of Westfield State University and was the dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston prior to her current role. Thompson also had leadership positions in public policy. In Baltimore City, Maryland, she served as director of occupational medicine and safety and developed programs and policies to promote the health of the city workforce, including the implementation of policies for HIV prevention and substance use and abuse. 'Running a university requires the input of many voices. It takes meaningful collaboration, teamwork and a selfless sense of pride to make all systems smoothly work. I share this award in recognition with the individuals who I work with every day. Our faculty, our staff, our librarians and of course every student on our campus,' Thompson said. 'One of the tenants and values of scouting is the focus on honest, fair, dependable and compassionate leadership. At Westfield State University, we share those values and like scouting, we do our best to guide our students to realize leadership skills and make improvements within their community. Like scouting, we believe leadership skills are critical to the advancement of our neighborhoods, businesses, government, healthcare and our families, just to name a few.' Delivering the keynote address for the event was Catherine 'Cady' Coleman, a retired NASA astronaut, scientist and U.S. Air Force colonel who spoke about her lifetime achievements and reflected briefly on when she was young and in scouting. While speaking she had a slideshow presentation playing simultaneously showing images and videos of her time spent in space. Coleman has more than 180 days spent in space, accumulated during two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station as the lead robotics and lead science officer. Coleman had a simple message for the scouts and families in the room: dream big. 'Troops have to find a way to work together, and I think what keeps us together is the mission. The mission that you're a part of. What you're all about — I've heard the scouting pledge. You're about helping each other learn how to be those people,' Coleman said. 'Even when you're trying to focus on the mission, you still really have to connect with each other to do that.' Coleman now is a popular public speaker and media consultant while also serving as a research affiliate to MIT's Media Lab. Her book, 'Sharing Space: An Astronaut's Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change,' focuses on her NASA experiences and the insights she gained as an astronaut and is available in book stores and online. 'This year's event celebrates bold leadership — from the halls of government and academia to the edges of space,' said Craig Sims, scout executive of the Western Massachusetts Council. 'We are especially proud to welcome Cady Coleman, whose extraordinary life and career reflect the courage, curiosity and commitment we strive to instill in every scout.' Proceeds from the night will support scouting programs throughout Western Mass., providing youth with hands-on opportunities to build character, leadership and a lifelong dedication to service. The Western Massachusetts Council serves youth in the region through scouting programs that foster leadership, citizenship and outdoor adventure. The council is committed to preparing youth for life through character-building experiences and community engagement. Read the original article on MassLive.
Politico
23-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Investors Are Sending a Warning to Congress. Will Washington Listen?
As Republicans haggled this week over a tax bill that would add trillions to federal deficits, the long-term cost of financing the national debt surged. That wasn't a coincidence — it was a warning. And it was as gently as the bond market is going to warn the U.S. that the path of the national debt is a problem. In conversations with investors this week, I heard a new level of focus on the sheer volume of debt that Washington is set to pump out and, in some cases, real concern about how it will play out in markets. It was a shift from the perennial elite conversation, where the consensus has generally been that the debt is a worry, but not an immediate one. 'For the first time in my professional life, we're seeing a shift, with investors looking askance at Treasury debt,' said John Velis, Americas macro strategist at BNY Mellon, a bank responsible for safekeeping $53 trillion in assets. Congress is not known for heeding gentle warnings. The proximate cause of the market response, beyond the congressional debate itself, was a downgrade by credit ratings firm Moody's of the U.S. government's status as a borrower — a move they warned was possible back in 2023. It's not that the Moody's decision told bond investors something they didn't already know. But 'the downgrade focused minds,' Velis said. Investors are absorbing the details about how much new debt the U.S. is going to be issuing — as well as considering the high volume of debt that's going to come from other governments across the world — and they're saying they need a more attractive return to lend to the U.S. Treasury. That means a larger proportion of tax dollars will be swallowed by interest payments on federal debt rather than something more productive. Yields on 20-year and 30-year government bonds closed out Wednesday and Thursday above 5 percent. That's high, but not frightening — yet. Still, if lawmakers don't react to more benign signals, they likely won't act until something more painful happens — a more pronounced jump in yields, a default, a failed auction of U.S. debt, etc. When will that happen? Who knows? It could be months, or it could be decades. But there might not be a big warning beforehand. A lot of investors lose money when Congress abruptly changes course after a sell-off; nobody wants to sell low and then buy high. That leads to a weird game theory calculation that can have the effect of restraining a disapproving market reaction: If traders think lawmakers will respond to their negative reaction by reversing the policy, they might hold off — until there's a horrifying plunge. Josh Frost, who oversaw debt management under President Joe Biden as assistant Treasury secretary for financial markets, called it an 'unstable equilibrium.' 'Markets have generally been burned by policy U-turns,' Frost told me, adding: 'It's awfully hard to sell out of a position only to buy it back a day later.' At least a few important lawmakers in Washington are already watching this dynamic closely. Before the run-up in yields this week, House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told me the bond market would be the ultimate arbiter of what is an acceptable tax-and-spend package. 'If the bond markets don't think we're serious,' he said, 'I'm not sure it will matter what we do, because they're going to dictate the terms.' So far, it's unclear whether the market reaction this week will be enough to actually shift the trajectory of the 'big, beautiful bill.' The legislation has cleared the House but now faces the Senate GOP gauntlet, where Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has called for steep cuts to return the U.S. to pre-pandemic levels of spending. The hard-fought compromise among Republicans in the House was delicate enough that any changes could snarl the bill. Johnson told me at a recent POLITICO event that the initial response to his hawkish push was dismissive — Johnson summed it up as: 'That ship has sailed' — though he now says there are enough votes to block the bill absent more spending reductions. Still, when in doubt, Congress typically chooses to tax less and spend more. There are good reasons to stay calm about all this. Financial institutions hold U.S. government debt for all sorts of reasons, many of which are unlikely to change. The angst in the market this week is far from universally shared. 'There's a certain inertia behind the behavior of bond markets, in which 65 to 70 percent of holders can't really sell all that materially,' said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Capital Management. 'We can sit here and gnash our teeth about fiscal unsustainability, but none of us are doing anything about it.' To put markets at ease, Washington would not need to start balancing the budget. Despite political rhetoric suggesting otherwise, the government's finances are not like a household's — unless your family happens to issue its own currency and that currency is treated as a global reserve asset. Much of world trade is conducted in dollars, and companies and foreign governments have savings in the U.S. currency, so it is convenient for them to also own U.S. debt. Because demand for the dollar is strong, the U.S. federal government can run higher deficits than other countries. The problem, economists say, is that the debt is growing faster than the economy, driven by mandatory spending programs like Social Security and Medicare. To put this in context, all of discretionary spending — the stuff Congress fights about in funding bills — was $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2024. The size of the deficit? $1.8 trillion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he would like to see a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 3 percent, down from its current rate above 6 percent, which is quite high by global standards. Lazard CEO Peter Orszag, who previously led the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, channeled the new mood of debt-focused dismay at the Milken Institute's Global Conference earlier this month. Previously, Orszag said, he had tended to filter out 'all the Chicken Little, kind of, 'the sky is falling' fiscal stuff, because all of the dire predictions were not happening.' 'But if you compare where we are now to where we were a decade ago, it's a lot different. The deficit is twice as high. Interest rates are dramatically higher,' Orszag argued, adding: 'I think it's time to worry again about this trajectory.' Few leaders in Washington are acting like they share that view. Let's be clear: The debate about fiscal responsibility in Washington this week was about how much worse to make the situation, not how to make it better. By extending trillions of dollars in tax cuts, and adding on some more that are politically popular without also making politically painful spending cuts, Congress is starving itself of revenue that could help pay for the programs it continues to authorize. In other words, they're giving us all back money they still want to spend. And bond investors know this.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate adopts Senator Velis' amendment to fund mental health training for hate crime victims
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday adopted an amendment filed by Senator John C. Velis that would allocate funding for the development of specialized mental health training to support victims of hate and bias. The amendment, part of the Senate's Fiscal Year 2026 Budget deliberations, directs the Department of Public Health to establish a competitive grant program for training clinicians and counselors in trauma-informed care tailored to individuals impacted by specific forms of hate. Audit shows migrant crisis mismanagement Velis, who co-chairs the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism, emphasized the need for culturally competent support systems during remarks on the Senate floor. 'It has become evident in talking with victims of hate who have come forward to the Commission, including children, that there is a real gap when it comes to providers who are trained to understand, address, and treat these unique forms of trauma,' Senator Velis said. 'Hate manifests in different ways for different groups, and it is essential that clinicians have access to training that is culturally sensitive and considers the historical prejudice the group has faced.' The measure calls for the training to be tailored to address various forms of hate rather than using a uniform approach, reflecting the differing impacts and cultural contexts of hate-based trauma. Velis' amendment comes amid a documented increase in hate crimes across Massachusetts. The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security reported 557 hate crime incidents in 2023, a 26% increase from 2022 and a sharp rise from 351 incidents recorded in 2018. The report noted particularly alarming spikes in incidents targeting Jewish, LGBTQ, and Arabic communities. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hotel shelter closures impact western Mass. towns
WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The release of the audit comes as the state plans to close its remaining motel and hotel shelters this summer, including the remaining few in our area. Dozens of families are still being housed in hotels in our area, including in West Springfield. On Tuesday, 22News spoke with the city's mayor about how closing those shelters will impact the community. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced on Monday that all hotel and motel shelters will close six months ahead of the original schedule. Western Massachusetts population drops as state numbers rise Massachusetts is the only state to have a 'Right to Shelter' law, meaning families with children and pregnant women have access to temporary housing when they are experiencing homelessness. While the law may have temporarily helped with the migrant crisis, many were not in favor of the hotel shelters, including State Senator John Velis, who voted against it multiple times. 'We just do not have the money,' Velis said. 'We didn't have the money three years ago, we didn't have the money two years ago. Right now, with all the uncertainty at the federal government, we most certainly do not have the money.' There were once as many as 100 hotel and motel shelters across the state in the summer of 2023. Now, as of April 30 this year, only 32 remain. One of the remaining shelters is located at the old Clarion Hotel in West Springfield. Mayor Will Reichelt told 22News it has been difficult for the town. 'Schools have really the largest impact, because it is the students that are coming and building up classroom capacity,' Reichelt said. 'So that'll certainly be better for our school districts as a whole.' He said not only will it be a relief for the school district, but also a step in the right direction for the families in the shelter. 'The Clarion is a hotel. It is not built as a shelter, it is not meant to be long-term housing,' Reichelt said. 'So, I think this is a win-win for both sides, for the town and its resources, and also for the folks that were living there to get into real, actual housing.' All of the shelters have been ordered to close by the end of the summer. The state spent about $1 billion annually on the system for the past two years. Senator Velis said there has been English language education and job training to support families moving out of the shelters, so he's optimistic that means more people are going to be joining the workforce. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Commission on combating antisemitism addresses hate crimes
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism held a hearing on Monday about the concerning rise of antisemitism and extremism in the Bay State. This group was established following the October 7 attacks in 2023 and the following rise in violence against Jewish Massachusetts residents. Western Massachusetts Senator John Velis heads up the commission and opened the meeting, acknowledging extremism on both sides of the aisle. 'This special commission will not hesitate to follow and confront antisemitism wherever it rears its vile and repugnant head, whether it's from the left or the right,' said Velis. A researcher from the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism presented an analysis of hate group trends and led a discussion on the tactics extremists are using to gain explained how right-wing extremist groups are co-opting language in the news to normalize antisemitism. 'They saw criticism of Israel as a way of maybe bringing in people who might not necessarily be as antisemitic as they are by swapping out the term 'Jew' for 'Zionist,'' said researcher Ben Popp. Notably, valid criticism of Zionism can exist separately from antisemitism, and the ADL's research is meant to make people aware of hate groups' tactics. This commission regularly accepts public comment, and 22News will keep you posted on the steps this commission takes to reduce hate incidents. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
