Dylan A. Fernandes

Affordable Housing

• As your next State Representative, I will:

• Fight to secure state funds for affordable housing in the district, particularly smaller, community-based projects
• Increase homeownership opportunities for working families by investing in new homeownership units and innovative first-time homebuyer programs.
• Work with local officials to rework our zoning laws to encourage more housing creation of all types, particularly downtown. Doing so will create a more vibrant downtown and allow both young people and seniors to enjoy easy access to transportation and shopping.

Clean Energy and Environmental Stewardship

• I support the extension of the solar tax credits. In the Attorney General’s Office Office, I worked with the Environmental Protection Division to put together our solar energy guide.

Quality Public Education from Pre-K through College

• As State Representative I would:

• Increase funding for public school from pre-K to higher education so that every child can get a truly free public education. Period.
• Invest in some of the innovations that have worked at charter schools – longer school days, homework support, smaller class sizes – we can’t just say it works – and then not pay for it.
• Fight to lower the cost of public college. It is a failure of our system that it costs over $100,000 for in-state students to get a degree from UMass Amherst.
• I know that this will all take money – and it’s about time we paid for the things we really care about. That’s why I support the millionaire's tax which increases the tax rate on income over one million dollars and that money goes directly to funding public education and transportation.

Addressing the Opioid Epidemic

• As State Representative, I will also advocate for longer-term treatment to help break the cycles of relapse that many seeking treatment endure.

Fighting for Our Families

• The first – extending family paid medical leave to the nearly one million workers who are excluded under federal law because they work for employers with under 50 people – ensures that both men and women have time to bond with their newborn or adopted child, that children have the opportunity to care for a sick or dying parent, that an unforeseen medical emergency does not bankrupt a family or force an individual to choose between employment and caring for a loved one.
• The program would be overseen by the treasurer and replicate a similar law in place in Rhode Island, New York, and California. I fully support it – as I do pay equity.^[1]