I encourage a vote for Senator Ed Markey in the primary election Sept. 1. Markey has been a U.S. senator since 2013. He champions climate action, consumer protection, universal healthcare, transportation and public works. He co-authored the Green New Deal, and led efforts to strengthen net neutrality laws (ensuring equal access to individuals and small business internet users with large corporations). He was instrumental in passing the Biden era Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, CHIPS Act, and Build Back Better Act.
An Aug. 14 letter to the editor (“Markey deprives hilltowns on broadband internet”), argued that Senator Markey’s votes against a Farm Bill three separate times caused limited broadband internet coverage in the area, advocating for a vote for Seth Moulton. First, Seth Moulton also voted against the Farm Bill this year. Moulton issued a statement in April regarding his vote: “I will continue to vote No on any Farm Bill that fails to restore SNAP and address the needs of our family farmers and working Americans.” Moulton cannot be differentiated from Markey on this issue.
Also, the House of Representatives passed a Farm Bill this year to preempt a Massachusetts law that prohibits in-state sale of products from animals held in extreme and cruel confinement. Markey opposes the inclusion of a provision to preempt state-level animal welfare and agricultural protection laws.
Senator Markey is a strong proponent of universal broadband internet access. In September 2023, Senators Ron Wyden and Markey led 25 of their Senate colleagues in writing to the FCC urging it to reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act and restore net neutrality.
Senator Markey authored the 1996 Telecommunications Act to ensure that the internet belongs to everybody. E-Rate and the Emergency Connectivity Fund alone have put over $1 billion into Massachusetts schools and libraries. The E-Rate program connects millions of library patrons and students nationwide, according to the American Library Association. Half of U.S. public libraries depend on E-Rate discounts to enable young people to do research, job seekers to find work, workers to file taxes, and seniors to attend telehealth appointments.
Markey votes against Trump’s appointments of unqualified people to be ambassadors, cabinet directors, and judges. He voted against Erica Schwartz for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and against Todd Blanche for Attorney General.
Markey sponsors progressive bills such as, this year alone the International Human Rights Defense Act, Artificial Intelligence Civil Rights Act, Naturalization and Oath Ceremony Protection Act, Public Health Nursing Act, Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, Eliminating Bias in Algorithmic Systems Act, ICE Out of Our Faces Act, Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act, Home Modifications for the Climate Crisis Act, No Big Fossil Bailouts on Your Power Bill Act, No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, and Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act.
Markey voted for the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran. He voted against the Medicare Implementation of the “Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model.” This would end the experiment in six states using AI for prior authorizations of services in traditional Medicare. Unfortunately this resolution passed, and the experiment continues even though it is harming healthcare for these Medicare insurees. Republicans are planning to deploy the WISeR program nationwide in the next few years. Senator Markey will continue to fight it.
Ed Markey has cast 231 recorded roll call votes across the 119th Congress and missed only three votes.
For five years after the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, Massachusetts was set to receive $9 billion for road improvements, bridge replacement and repair, enhancing public transit systems like the MBTA, improving water infrastructure, airport infrastructure, promoting broadband access, deploying electric vehicle charging infrastructure, strengthening cybersecurity, and protecting against wildfires.
On Jan 22, 2025 federal agencies were ordered to stop dispersing funds based on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act by a Jan. 20, 2026 Inauguration Day executive order by President Trump.
Trump’s 2025 budget legislation canceled $15.2 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding, designated for renewable energy projects, carbon dioxide removal, and other cleantech. Markey, as a progressive senator will fight to reinstate this funding and to combat climate change, rebuild the competitive edge the U.S. once maintained and to regain our world standing. Vote for Ed Markey in the primary election on Sept. 1.
Judy Franklin lives in Amherst.