Getting Results For Burlington and Bedford
In his five terms in the legislature, Rep. Ken Gordon has shown a keen ability to get results for Bedford, Burlington, and for our Commonwealth. He looks forward to partnering with Rep. Ciccolo to help Lexington through his representation of Precinct 6. This session, he has worked hard to support the district’s residents and small businesses emerge from the Covid crisis. He obtained $225,000 in state-administered federal funding to support small businesses through the Burlington and Bedford Chambers of Commerce. He brought back $200,000 to be divided equally between the Bedford Food Pantry and People Helping People, Burlington’s social service organization addressing food insecurity. He directed $75,000 for Bedford’s efforts to expand Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in municipal government, $75,000 for Burlington’s new pocket park in Town Center, and another $75,000 for the Burlington Council of Aging to address IT infrastructure needs.
While working for the district’s economic development and food security needs, Ken Gordon is best known in Bedford for convincing Mass Department of Transportation to re-locate a planned salt shed from an area near a Bedford neighborhood to its current site in Billerica, and previously for convincing the Administration to bring down the number of otherwise homeless families at the Bedford Plaza Hotel while ensuring every family assigned there was kept safe and respected. In Burlington he guided municipal officials in obtaining grants that assisted in reducing the strain on its town water and sewer infrastructure, allowing the town to take steps to join the MWRA. He led the effort to widen Route 128 at the Middlesex Turnpike exit to create room for an additional marked lane, which eased the traffic stress going into Burlington and reduced traffic on our town roads.
Getting Results For Massachusetts
Ken is proud to have filed, co-authored, and led the debate on the House bill calling for Paid Family and Medical Leave for the 3.1 million workers in the Commonwealth. His bill was passed into law as part of the Grand Bargain. Beginning in January 2021, working parents could replace the income they would otherwise lose so they can choose to be with a new baby (by adoption or natural birth) or to stay beside a hospitalized child or other family member. This bill drew the attention of the Obama White House, which invited Ken to D.C. on several occasions, including an opportunity to attend a Holiday Reception in 2016 (photo with Breena above). Since then, Ken researched and co-authored the bill on Sports Betting that formed the basis of the bill that was passed by the House and is awaiting resolution with Senate negotiations. Leading up to that, Ken teamed with Sen. Mike Barrett to ensure that Bedford continues to receive reimbursement for the education of military students living at Hanscom AFB.
This session, Ken teamed with Boston’s Adrian Madaro in filing the House version of the Common Start Bill, which will provide near-universal access to early education and childcare for our youngest children. The principles and many of the particulars of this bill were adopted by the Joint Committee on Education to form the basis of the consolidated bill it released favorably to the House membership.
As House Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Service, Ken has taken an active role in addressing challenges to the Civil Service laws. Ken chairs a Special Legislative Commission tasked with increasing access for a diverse workforce among police and fire departments, while at the same time protecting the rights of veterans.
An Accomplished Lawyer
For the past 22 years as an attorney, Ken has specialized in representing the rights of employees who suffer discrimination or wrongful termination at the work place. He has been a practicing attorney for 32 years, all of which in the courtrooms of Massachusetts. Before he was a lawyer, Ken spent time as a professional sports writer, covering pro, college, and high school sports for the Palm Beach Post and Evening Times, and he was affiliated with The Boston Globe and The Sporting News among other publications.
