Rosenberg: Government must get Millenials engaged

Feb. 18, 2016 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD – The president of the Massachusetts Senate readily admitted there is a disconnect between state government and the Millennial generation.

Stanley Rosenberg told a group of young people assembled by state Sen. Eric Lesser on Feb. 12 for a discussion about the issue “We know we’ve got to get you guys engaged,” he said.

State Sen. Donald Humason Jr. and Mayor Domenic Sarno also attended the event as well as Springfield City Councilors Adam Gomez and Marcus Williams.

The meeting was the first of a series around the state.

Lesser noted that certain issues affect the group of people born from 1975 through 1990 including student loans and debt as well as arts and education funding. He asked people to consider how much change has taken place in American life since 1985 and then added, “one sector has not differed for better or worse is government.”

He believes the way state government works is “fueling a frustration,” which in turn causes young people to move elsewhere to start their lives.

“Millennials are a hot commodity,” Lesser said. “Cities want Millennials and Millennials want to be in cities.”

The young people who discussed a variety of issues ranged from 15 to 31 years of age.

Delcie Bean, the CEO of Paragus Strategic IT, believes one way to address the student debt issue is to pay students for “outcomes and not for efforts.”

He explained instead of receiving a Pell Grant at the start of a college education, students could receive assistance based on “measured outcomes.” Working with employers, the state could form partnerships with employers to recognize students who have shown excellence in college.

Attorney Talia Gee spoke about the need for state representatives and senators to reach out for the community informing people of what kind of services their offices can provide for them.

Gee also spoke of the student loan crisis. She said that between undergraduate, graduate and law school she is $250,000 in debt. The Catch 22 is that while young people acquire huge debt by going to college, if they don’t go they miss out on the opportunity a degree can give them, she explained.

Lesser called the student debt problem “arguably the most important issue facing the generation.”

Morgan Drewniany, the director of the Springfield Cultural District, said that engaging Millennials through art and culture could lead to economic development.

Liz Rappaport, the property manager at Century Investment Company, spoke about the rising costs of healthcare and how it affects businesses and young people. Her company pays for 70 percent of a health plan, but the cost is becoming “exorbitant.”

Meghan Rothschild, co-founder of chikmedia and a spokesperson for The Melanoma Foundation of New England, said that while she believes “any challenge is surmountable,” Millennials need “more specific action items.”

Lesser said Millennials are “programmed to think if you have a good idea, it’s going to work overnight, but that’s not how government works.”

Lesser urged Millennials to serve on municipal boards and commissions to solve a diversity problems is this “strikingly obvious.”

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