Lucas Schaber's 2020 Democratic State Committee questionnaire responses.
1. Do you think the processes by which all members of the State Committee are selected are sufficiently democratic? If not, what specific actions would you take as a State Committee member to advance more democratic party governance?
I do not believe that the State Committee is sufficiently democratic. One of the main issues are the 20 year members. These members do not have answer to any constituents and are not democratically elected. I spoken with members of the committee about this and many have tried extensively to remove these members from the committee or at the very least, limit their power. I want to work with this members to continue on their work.
I also think the committee needs to do a better job at getting the message out there that it even exists and what it does. If elected, I would try to encourage more people to run for these seats. The DSC should be in touch with Democrat college clubs, city and town committees, parents groups, groups around certain issues, and training organizations like Run For Something and Emerge. I would also push to have meetings include child care, translators, and more weeknight meetings so that those with jobs on Saturdays and Sundays would be more likely to attend.
2. When the State Committee next holds elections for its officers, what criteria will you use to evaluate candidates for party leadership? How would you rate the current officers on those same criteria?
When evaluating the officers, I would use the Massachusetts Democrat's own statement of values to evaluate the current officers (https://massdems.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017-Platform-Massachusetts-Democratic-Party.pdf). Although this is not as progressive as I would like to see, I think it would be fair to critique leadership using this document. Gus Bickford should be disqualified from being chair of the party due to him unilaterally voting against the DNC Climate Debate. The parties own platform states "Aggressive action to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change and protect our environment." There have been other examples of Gus trying to ignore the base of the party at conventions as well. The Massachusetts Democratic Party, like many state apparatuses, is controlled from the top down. Replacing him with someone more willing to push change and listen to the base would have a real effect at all levels of the party throughout the state.
3. Even though Democrats have super-majority control of both houses of the Massachusetts legislature, many policy priorities that the rank-and-file members of the Democratic Party voted to include in the party’s platform have languished for years without even being brought up for a vote in the State House of Representatives. What specific actions would you take as a member of the State Committee to help ensure greater transparency and accountability of elected Democrats in Massachusetts?
This is a difficult question for me with my experience in the State House. I am certainly not hopeless, but I do think change at the state level will be a slow grind that would take years. They claim "The Democratic State Committee helps elect Democrats up and down the ballot" (https://www.facebook.com/MassDems/videos/402996510593454/?v=402996510593454). The DSC should endorse specific legislation that reflects the values from their platform document including, but not limited to, housing for all, a woman's right to chose, and a progressive taxation system that taxes the rich. The second step would be a transparency pledge from all elected officials to report how they vote in committee for every bill voted on. Often times leadership allows them to co-sponsor a bill as long as they vote it down in a private poll later in the year.
If the legislators are not willing to publish how they voted, the DSC should look into a process of withholding voter information, funds or access to VoteBuilder. I do not think the process would be easy or smooth, but now more than ever, I think the public and especially the Democratic Party base is looking into why government does not work for them and how this can be changed. I would look to many of the same allies that would work in reforming the DSC to remove 20 year members in helping to create a public pressure campaign promoting transparency.
4. What substantive policy priorities would you seek to advance as a member of the State Committee, and how would you advance them?
There are a few pieces of legislation that grassroots groups have been working for years to push through the State House including the Roe Act, the Safe Communities Act, and an Environmental Justice Bill. The Somerville Democrats often have different organizations promoting these and other progressive ideas come city meetings and speak to the group at large. The party should promote these types of education information sessions and provide funds to do so. The party should also provide funds to have town and city committees call and write their representatives to push these ideas forward. I would look into how the DSC allocates money and how we can change this in the future so that true grassroots organizing is promoted by the party.
The State House will not change due to public pressure alone. We need to have a larger bench of young people, women, and people of color ready to primary those who stifle progress in our Commonwealth. In its current state, I do not believe the DSC would be the best way to help these challengers, but many of my aspersions, stated above, would help them in the coming years. I also think getting a more diverse group of people to run for the DSC is a great way to get their foot in the door, make allies and friends that can help them, and create a snowball effect to push these ideas through more quickly. In the mean time, I plan on helping Jordan Meehan, Nichole Mossalam, and others who want to see progress at the State House.
Once more true progressives are in the both the House and Senate, I would like to see bills such as transfer fee, tenant right to purchase, tenant protection act, ranked choice voting, same day voter registration, the 2050 environmental road map, drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, Medicare for all, fulling funding and expanding the MBTA, progressive taxation, and many others.
I know many of my ideas are ambitious and would take time and hard-work to implement, but as I have said many times, these ideas are not new. That means that many people before me have advocated for these changes. I would try to follow in their footsteps and work to expand upon the foundation that they have laid. In 2020, the Democratic Party has a chance to truly change for the first time in decades. I think the time is right to usher in that change not only at the federal level, but especially at the state and local level. I think I am the right person to help push that change in the Democratic State Committee.
