Coronavirus, college costs hot topics at Moulton town hall in Rockport

ROCKPORT – Congressman Seth Moulton sounded off on the coronavirus COVID-19, public transportation and education at a Cape Ann town hall event Friday morning.

Before opening the floor to questions, the Salem Democrat told the crowd of around 40 constituents about what his office is doing to address the virus that is quickly spreading across the world. Currently, there is one reported case in Massachusetts. Sixty-four other Americans are reportedly infected as well, and as of Saturday night, only one had died from the virus. The coronavirus COVID-19 has infected nearly 85,900 worldwide, mostly in mainland China, and has killed at least 2,938 people.

“I’m going to briefings and getting the highest level of information I can on this disease,” Moulton said, “and making sure we’re sharing it with our constituents and that we’re prepared.”

In the meantime, he urged attendees, “don’t spend time worrying, just be prepared,” and to “make sure you’re just doing basic things like wash your hands. It’s amazing how much that makes a difference.”

Moulton also encouraged attendees to register for the 2020 Census, as municipalities could stand to lose up to $2,500 per unaccounted person in federal funding. Census workers manned a sign-up booth directly outside of the auditorium.

“We all know that the president has been trying to discourage people from registering for the census ... by instituting these fears with immigration roundups and whatever else,” he continued. “If everyone is not accounted for, we loose that money.”

Moulton then took questions from the audience.

The first came from Jan Isaiah of Rockport, who asked about the high costs of education.

“There is literally no single better investment in the future of this country than in our education system,” Moulton said. “If you look at the economic returns, you’ll see that investing early makes a huge difference. So, I think it’s a huge mistake right now that we don’t have universal pre-K (kindergarten) in America, and frankly we should have that right here in Massachusetts before the rest of the country.”

When Elizabeth Martin of Rockport asked about student college student debt, Moulton said he believed universal pre-K should come first, then improving technical high schools because “as much as it is a problem, its still a problem for the relatively affluent compared to an awful a lot of Americans who don’t even get the opportunity to have college student debt. ... Some politicians are simply going to get up here and pander and say ‘Oh, I’m going to forgive all your loans.’ A., that’s not going to happen because it’s not going to get through Congress and B., I don’t think it’s going to be the best use of federal dollars.”

Mary Riotte of Rockport said she has used the MBTA for the past 25 years, and asked if there are any ways to improve public transit.

“Massachusetts now has the worst traffic in the nation,” Moulton explained. “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re not going to get there by adding lanes to highways like the governor has proposed. ... We need to invest in a modern regional rail system. ... Our commuter rail system is seen as a back-up to driving. It should be a preferred alternative.”

With a high-speed electric public transit system, Moulton argued, Massachusetts residents will have more freedom to work and live where they please. This, in turn, would help with the state’s ongoing need for affordable housing.

“That’s what I’m fighting for," he said, "and it will make a world of a difference to communities like Rockport.”

During the meeting, Moulton reiterated his stance on ending gerrymandering, eliminating the Electoral College and fighting back against the Trump administration's economic penalties for sanctuary cities.

At the very end of the meeting, Emily Richard of Gloucester, an advocate for sex trafficking victims, asked for his opinion on the Nordic model for prostitution policy. Richard said she wrote her thesis on the policy, which decriminalizes the selling of sex while keeping the purchase of sex criminalized. Although Moulton said his office didn’t have a strong public position as of yet, he was interested to work more with Richard and learn about her research on the topic.