Issues

Jobs

Massachusetts is at a serious crossroads. Are we going to be able to revive our economy? Or, are we going to continue to face huge deficits and job loss? Our next State Senator must be the driving force behind the answers to those, and so many other important questions.

For far too long Boston has refused to tackle the issues holding back our economy. We have been in this recession for more than 3 long years now.

The latest unemployment figures hover around 6.8%. Unfortunately, that figure doesn’t account for all of the people who are underemployed. These are individuals who have had to take a lesser job or a job out of their field to make ends meet. Right now, the Commonwealth has an underemployment rate of 8.9%. We are the highest in the nation. When you combine underemployed and unemployed we have an employment problem of 15.7%. To make matters worse, no one on Beacon Hill is acknowledging this problem.

As your next State Senator, Tom Keyes is committed to creating a new and exciting economic development system that, not only helps to encourage businesses to stay and grow in Massachusetts, but also creates an environment in which new businesses and industries will spring up creating new job opportunities.

Restoring Integrity

In a political climate that’s bursting at the seams with fresh scandals and abuses of the public trust, it’s easy to get discouraged. These scandals are holding our state back from reaching its full potential.

As a father, Tom Keyes strongly believes that our children should be taught to respect their elected leaders. Unfortunately, when there are so many scandals, betrayals of trust, and political gamesmanship at the State House, we cannot point to our elected officials as people to admire.

Now the state legislature is facing the probation department scandal. How does our incumbent Senator react? She defends the pay to play scheme by saying it is the way they do business at the State House.

It is time to send an ethics and compliance expert to Beacon Hill. Tom has the right experience to get us real results that end politics as usual at the State House.

As your next Senator, he will work without fail to restore courage to the political process so that we can finally make the necessary changes needed.

Control Government Spending and Lower Our Tax Burden

Our state government needs to go a on Waste-Watchers diet. While the cost of running our state has dramatically increased over the years, has the quality of service improved? If you cannot run a business like that, then why should we allow state government to be operated for more money with no improvement?

As our state faces its greatest global and economic challenges in a century, the people expect leadership over partisan politics. They expect their Senator to make wise choices. They expect fiscal discipline when it comes to their tax dollars.

One of the first reforms Tom wants to pursue is stopping EBT card recipients from being able to use them like ATM cards. He supports much stricter controls to ensure that our tax dollars are not being wasted.

Unlike the incumbent who has pushed through many tax increases, Tom Keyes will fight for you on Beacon Hill so that you can keep more of your paycheck and savings. He has signed the No New Taxes pledge.

Fight Illegal Immigration in Massachusetts

Illegal immigration threatens the fiscal stability of our state and our economy while also risking the safety of our residents. As our next State Senator, Tom Keyes will oppose in-state tuition breaks for illegal immigrants and he will work to implement strict controls so that illegal immigrants cannot access welfare benefits or subsidized housing.

Moreover, Tom supports the Secure Communities program. Unlike the incumbent, he will work to implement this program, established by President Obama, that allows local law enforcement officials access to information in order to verify whether an arrested person is a legal resident or not. Tom believes that our state must participate in the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants or we will become more of a magnet state.