By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Last Thursday, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley held a Coffee with the Congresswoman event at Somerville High School. The event was co-hosted by Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, where Pressley answered questions from constituents and gave updates on her work in Congress.

A crowd gathered at the Somerville High School cafeteria on Thursday night, with Ward 5 Councilor Beatriz Gómez-Mouakad in attendance as well.

Mayor Ballantyne gave opening remarks to the crowd about her long-term relationship with the congresswoman.

“As mayor, my top priority is creating a city here in Somerville that is inclusive, equitable, where we can all thrive together,” Ballantyne said. “I know that the congresswoman shares that vision and I was delighted to support her in her bid to Congress, and now I’m delighted to work together with my values partner, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.”

— Photo by Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Pressley has been a member of Congress since 2019 and her district includes parts of Boston, Cambridge, Milton, Chelsea, Everett, Randolph, and Somerville.

When talking about the different funds brought to Somerville through Pressley’s advocacy in Congress, ARPA funds were brought up in the form of housing projects across Somerville. As previously reported by The Somerville Times, some of these funds would be used to fund various nonprofits tackling homelessness in the city.

Talking about her work in Washington, Pressley also made sure to highlight the different stances she believes the Republican party stands for.

“Since the Republicans took control of the House they have shown time and again that they are anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-science, anti-immigrant, and given their ongoing perpetuation of the big lie, anti-democratic,” Pressley said.

Following her prepared remarks, Pressley fielded questions from the audience, some of these focused on college debt forgiveness and the current status of the program.

“President Biden has the authority; I continue to appeal and organize and mobilize on the steps of the Supreme Court that they hear us and they simply apply the law and not play politics with people’s lives,” Pressley said.

The program discussed by Pressley would forgive up to $20,000 of college debt to college graduates and is currently being deliberated in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pressley answered other questions from constituents about the current state of the economy following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and talked about her continued contact with the Federal Reserve regarding this situation.

For more information on future town halls hosted by Rep. Ayanna Pressley or to reach out to her office, visit: https://pressley.house.gov/.

A video of the event is available for viewing on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGgoAnLtPiY