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As the former State Representative for Chelmsford, Littleton and Westford, I could no longer remain silent when I recently received a second negative mailing from the organization know as the Mass Fiscal Alliance. It is truly beneath this so-called non-profit, non-partisan group to make allegations against the current Representative that are clearly not true and a twisting of the actual facts on the issues they raised. The claim that Representative Arciero was against veterans and for illegal immigrants, against increased local aid and supported the recent gas tax increase.
The Mass Fiscal Alliance is wrong on each and every on of these charges. First, MFL claimed Arciero voted for illegal immigrants over veterans. This is simply preposterous. Arciero has an excelled record on issues affecting our veterans, serves on the Beterans Affairs Committee, and comes from a family with tow members who have served our nation with multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. MFL is simply wrong on this matter in referencing a vote on an amendment to take up an issue that was not related to the matter being debated. Arciero has passed both the VALOR 1 and VALOR 2 Acts during his time in office, giving our Massachusetts veterans the most generous benefits for them and their families in the entire United States.
The claims that Arciero voted against increased local aid was ridiculous. During his tenure in office, Arciero has always made increased local aid his highest priority and he has delivered. This year’s budget contained the highest local aid amount ever given in the history of the Commonwealth. MFL references again a vote to debate local aid after the Legislature had already determined the local aid numbers for municipalities after cities and towns had asked for an early determination of the numbers in order that they might plan their won local budgets.
Finally, the gas tax issue. Arciero voted for an amendment to strip the gas tax provision from the Transportation Bill, and then voted against the entire bill when the gas tax was included in the final version of the bill. MFL references the vote on the state budget bill which contained no gas tax.
As a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 18 years, I know politics and know the legislative process pretty well. I also know dirty politics when I see it, as similar charges have been leveled against me in the past. In fact, ten years ago during my election, a similar group also distorted my votes and record in the legislature. Not surprisingly, the person running against me then is the same person running against Arciero now.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance is nothing more than a shadowy, partisan organization created to do the dirty work and dirty politics of individuals no willing to do it themselves. They operate without accountability, making allegations which are false, all with unlimited funding from Washington D.C. lobbyists who do not reveal the sources of their funding or their agenda. They deal exclusively with negative push polls and negative mailings which are not only misleading, but contain outright lies. The voters of Chemlsford, Littleton and Westford deserve better than this. Representative Arciero, who has an excellent record on veteran’s issues, local aid, and taxes, also deserves better than this.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey D. Hall
State Representative for Chelmsford, Littleton and Westford from 1991-2009
