Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin Addresses a Myriad of Important Issues at the April COPE Political Roundtable

Bob Bower, Political Director of the Mass. AFL-CIO opened up the Roundtable on Thursday April 15th by giving a brief overview of the developing landscape of the 2010 elections, updating attendees on the results of Tuesday April 13th two special state senate elections, and urging people who are going to this year’s Democratic State Convention to complete the Labor Delegate ID forms, and attend the convention as a Labor Delegate.

Tim Sullivan, Legislative and Communications Director of the Mass. AFL-CIO, spoke briefly about the expanded gaming legislation that passed the House on Wednesday April 14th. He said “It's just Game 1 of the World Series. It passed the House, but we also need the Senate, Conference Committee, and Governor all by July 31st.” He went on to say how the House voted in favor of it this year by much more than they voted it down by in 2008, showing how influential the position of Speaker of the House is as the Speaker in 2008 was against expanded gaming, and the present Speaker DeLeo is championing it.

The special guest at the Political Roundtable was Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, who spoke about current affairs and issues ranging from the upcoming 2010 elections and campaign finance, the 2010 Census, implementation of the new lobbying laws that went into effect on January 1st, the impact of the supreme court decision Citizens United v. FEC, to the Financial Reform being debated in Washington D.C., and others. Secretary Galvin, a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dozens of issues that affect working families, provided an extremely informative hour that was followed up by a thoughtful question and answer session. Click here to see pictures of this month’s Roundtable.

The next Mass. AFL-CIO C.O.P.E. Political Roundtable will be held on Thursday May 20 at 1:30 PM and will feature candidates for state auditor, including Suzanne Bump, Michael Lake, Guy Glodis, and possibly others.

To view pictures from this months C.O.P.E. Political Roundtable click here.