By Dave Carnevale

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

Senator Pat Jehlen is touting her dubious successes at events around the district. Including at her fundraiser held this year in Winchester, where she bragged about, “better public transportation for seniors, paid sick days, controlling health care costs,”  (Winchester Star, April 20). The problem is, after nearly six years on Beacon Hill, she hasn’t actually accomplished any of these things or much of anything else.

Additionally, if you go to YouTube and type in Pat Jehlen, a video comes up that is titled “Pat Jehlen Promises Somerville a Greenline. That video is from early 2008. The Green Line project in Somerville hasn’t even broken ground yet and the funds for the project haven’t been secured to date, yet here Senator Jehlen is touting increased public transportation accessibility as one of her accomplishments.

As for paid sick days, Senator Jehlen has twice sponsored legislation that would require employers to pay for seven sick days per year for each employee. She attempted to pass this legislation in 2008 as bill no. 1073 and failed. She again tried in 2010 as bill no. 688 and failed, despite the fact that this is a top priority of hers. Simply put, this proves Senator Jehlen is not an effective legislator and is unable to work with other legislators to get bills passed.

So far, those are two things she says are among her accomplishments, but which really haven’t been completed. A third she is trying to take credit for is controlling health care costs. I don’t see how any member of the Massachusetts legislature can claim that they have successfully controlled healthcare costs.

Healthcare premiums have been increasing by double digits every year in Massachusetts since the healthcare law passed in 2006, which she voted in favor of. Health insurers were slated to raise rates by around 10 percent yet again this year until the Governor intervened to mandate a cap on premium increases.

Furthermore, Senator Jehlen won an award for activism for Single-Payer Health Care. As you may know, single payer healthcare is basically a broader version of the infamous public option.  Single payer healthcare is where the only provider of healthcare is the government, which pays for all of it. The problem is, if the government pays for everyone’s healthcare, taxes will skyrocket and the quality of care will deteriorate.

The dichotomy of what Sen. Jehlen says versus what she does produces two very different truths. The real truth is that the state is facing a serious crisis. We need real leaders who can get things accomplished and Senator Jehlen has proven that she is unable to do so.

David Carnevale is a State Senate Candidate for the 2^nd Middlesex District