SAUGUS — Selectman Corinne Riley is celebrating what she considers to be a win for the Saugus community after a home rule petition allowing the town to establish an emergency relief fund passed the Massachusetts Legislature on January 6.
Headed by Riley with the support of the Board of Selectmen, and sponsored by Republican State Rep. Donald Wong and Democratic State Sen. Brendan Crighton, the legislation will allow the town to place a box enabling residents to indicate on their municipal tax bills, excise tax bills, or other tax bills that they would like to voluntarily donate money to the Saugus Emergency Relief Fund.
“I’m just so happy,” Riley said. “This bill is something that’s going to help the citizens of Saugus. It’s for them.”
Funds collected from the effort will support residents in need of immediate assistance during any future state of emergency as declared by the Commonwealth, and may be used for rent, food, prescriptions, utilities, transportation, and help with the cost of heating and oil.
“This pandemic has created both a public health and an economic crisis,” Crighton said earlier this month. “Through this home rule petition, the town of Saugus has stepped up to help those in need during these unprecedented and difficult times.”
Riley said she was first inspired to pursue such a funding source after she discovered similar bills had already been passed in other Massachusetts communities, including neighboring Wakefield.
After seeking advice from town counsel, she approached several nonprofit organizations to request using their nonprofit status as a way to collect funds, but all told her they wouldn’t be able to handle the added nonprofit status due to their mission statements.
Discouraged, Riley thought it was the end of the road.
“I was truly disappointed that I couldn’t get this going,” she said.
However, Riley said close friend and Saugus historical expert Beverly Milward was able to find a provision for a welfare board in the Saugus town charter, which was established several years ago to help citizens in need.
Riley proceeded to write a Town Meeting article based on the same verbiage as the Saugus Veterans Relief Fund — previously passed by Wong — that was then submitted by the Board of Selectmen to Town Meeting, where it passed unanimously.
Finally, the paperwork was submitted to Wong, who gave the bill traction at the Statehouse.
After several months of waiting — literally down “to the very last minute,” Riley said — Wong stayed at the Statehouse until 4:30 a.m. on the last day of session to make sure the bill went back to the House for a vote and to be signed by Gov. Charlie Baker.
“If it’s a House bill, it has to be approved by the House, and then we send it to the Senate, and the Senate has to approve it,” Wong said. “If they change even one word, it comes back to us and we have to vote on it all over again.”
He made sure Riley received text updates on the bill’s progress until she finally headed to bed at 1 a.m.
“I was afraid we had run out of time and it would need to be submitted all over again with the next legislative session,” Riley said. “But I got a phone call early the next morning and found it had passed both the House and the Senate (and) gone to the governor’s desk.
“I know it may sound silly, but having an idea and following it through to becoming law is something I will forever be proud of. Now, the next step is to work with the town manager to get it into our tax bills, where people can actually make a donation and reestablish a committee to oversee the funds and create guidelines to follow on how to distribute to those in need.
“I’m very grateful for Representative Wong’s support, and this shows what we can accomplish when we all work together,” Riley said.
Wong later praised Riley — who was able to keep the pen Baker used to sign the bill as a keepsake — for her dedication to seeing the bill through.
He also echoed her sentiment on the importance of teamwork.
“I want to thank Corinne Riley for taking the lead on this, and the Board of Selectmen for voting positively for it,” he said. “I’m just happy to see when the state government and local government can work together to bring something to the residents. That’s what’s important.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
