Testimony: Our Youth Deserve Second Chances

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Chair Day, Chair Edwards, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary: 

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1923: An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young Adults and H.2051 / S. 1087: An Act to End Lifetime Parole for Juveniles and Emerging Adults. 

A decade ago, Massachusetts raised the age of juvenile court to keep 17-year-olds out of the adult system. Supporters of this reform argued that keeping young people out of the adult criminal system would reduce recidivism. The data is in: they were right. Juvenile crime has declined, and Massachusetts has seen faster declines in violent and property crime rates than the national average. 

It’s time to build on that success by raising the age to 21, as this bill would do. Young people are highly influenced by their environments: it is no surprise then that adult jail and prison environments increase offending behavior. By contrast, in the juvenile system, adolescents have better access to educational and mental health resources that are critical to rehabilitation and successful re-entry, as well as stricter supervision.

Mass incarceration policies have hit communities of color in Massachusetts especially hard. As a criminal sentence too often closes off educational and employment opportunities, our criminal legal system perpetuates racial inequalities. A focus on rehabilitation would give youth a better chance to grow up and contribute in their community and, by doing so, would help reduce intergenerational poverty. When our criminal legal system centers human dignity, rehabilitation, and accountability, rather than punishment and vengeance, we are all safer and healthier in the long run.

As the framing of today’s committee  implies, this bill would mean better access to health care and other supports. However, we want to underscore that merely improving the adult prison system—a task desperately needed and which other bills heard today would do—is not sufficient to address the issues at stake here. Federal and state protections differ, as do long-term legal consequences. 

Similarly advancing these priorities, H.2051 / S. 1087 would address the current situation where youth aged 14 to 21 can face lifetime parole after 15 years in prison. This is costly to the parole system and is ineffective toward achieving stated goals of safety or rehabilitation. We know, through a significant body of research, that most youth will “age out” of offending behavior, and the parole system, which imposes sanctions on parolees for a long list of minor infractions, harms their ability to get back on their feet. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts

Testimony: Our Investments Can Advance Our Values

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 

Chair Feeney, Chair Murphy, and Members of the Joint Committee on FInancial Services: 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I’m the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide, member-based grassroots advocacy organization fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic Commonwealth. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.736/H.1114: An Act to establish a Massachusetts public bank and H.1264/S.767: An Act promoting responsible investment. These bills help ensure that our commonwealth uses our financial resources to align with our values. 

Why a Public Bank (S.736/H.1114)

A Massachusetts public bank would help advance the goal of equitable economic development. Here are a few key ways. 

A Massachusetts public bank would strengthen local economies, especially those in underserved communities. A public bank would not be competing with the existing banking system. It fills in the gaps and creates new opportunities for existing banks. Such a bank would help provide cost-effective financing for small businesses and municipalities, land trusts and cooperatives, and projects for climate change adaptation and mitigation–taking on projects that may have more difficult access to early capital due to lack of connections or higher risks. 

A public bank would be good for our cities and towns. Cities and towns, constrained in how they can raise money, often lack the resources for necessary long-term investments. A public bank would offer cities and towns an affordable and flexible alternative to the bond market for important local infrastructure projects.

A public bank would be good for our small businesses. Although it can seem like a long time ago already, the COVID-19 pandemic was brutal for our small businesses. A public bank would be able to extend loans to small businesses, helping them to weather such difficult times as well as to grow and expand to better serve the community. The bill would specifically target rural communities and underserved neighborhoods, where entrepreneurs often face significant obstacles to securing seed funding for new businesses, and it can help encourage the flourishing of cooperative businesses and worker-owned coops, business models that exemplify shared prosperity.

A public bank would address long-standing economic inequities. We know that women and communities of color have faced longstanding barriers in securing access to capital. A public bank can help to level the playing field.

A public bank would be good for the environment. A public bank could support initiatives to mitigate the dangers of climate change, and it could help local farms adopt and promote sustainable agricultural practices. As the federal government retrenches its support, increased state resources will become critical. 

Responsible Investment (H.1264/S.767)

Our Commonwealth’s investments should align with our values and our priorities. Funding weapons of mass destruction that are causing countless deaths right now and will continue to cause harm into the future. 

Funding these weapons is also antithetical to our state’s environmental and climate commitments: few things are as environmentally destructive as war. 

By divesting our public dollars from these pernicious investments, we can make a strong statement, redirect our resources to creating the better world we want to see, and — also important from a financial perspective — eliminate any liability or entanglement with war crimes committed through our public dollars. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts