Beacon Hill 101: Joint Rule 10 Day

If you have read news about the State House or seen advocacy alerts or legislative newsletters recently, you may have heard the term “Joint Rule 10 Day.” This poses a key question: What is Joint Rule 10 anyway?

In the Joint Rules governing the MA House and MA Senate, Rule #10 creates deadlines for committees to take action. By the first Wednesday of December, i.e., tomorrow, every joint committee needs to take action on every bill in its purview. (It wouldn’t be Beacon Hill without exceptions: The Health Care Financing Committee has a later deadline, and committees aren’t held to the deadline for bills filed after January, when there’s an early session filing deadline).

Also new this year: rather than voting as one joint committee, the House and Senate members of the committee will each vote on their own bills.

What happens next?

  • The committee can give a bill a favorable report: that means the committee thinks the bill ought to pass. It then advances to the next stage of its journey from bill to law, typically moving to the Ways & Means Committee.
  • The committee can give the bill an adverse report: that means the committee thinks the bill ought not to pass, and it is done for the session.
  • The committee can send the bill to study: that means the committee does not plan to take further action on the bill. It is, in other words, a polite way to vote the bill down. No “study” results.
  • The committee can give the bill an extension: that means the committee has not yet decided the fate of the bill and wants more time to decide or redraft/combine bills.

There are several ways your legislators can vote in a committee (and with the new rules, you’ll be able to see):

  • Favorable: the bill ought to pass
  • Adverse: the bill ought not to pass
  • Reserve Rights: the bill ought not to pass barring major revisions
  • No Action: the legislator was not present for the vote

Here are a few bills we’re supporting that have already advanced favorably from their first committee in either House or Senate:

  • Same Day Registration: Advanced 5 to 1 from the Senate Committee on Election Laws
  • Delinking the Municipal Census from the Voter Rolls: Advanced 5 to 1 from the Senate Committee on Election Laws
  • Clean Slate (i.e., automatic record sealing: Advanced 6 to 0 from the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
  • Raise the Age (i.e., keeping young people out of the adult prison system): Advanced 5 to 1 from the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
  • Prison Moratorium (i.e, putting a five-year pause on new prison and jail construction): Advanced 8 to 0, with 1 reserving rights and 2 taking no action, from the House Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight
  • Location Shield Act (i.e., banning the sale of cell phone location data): Included in the Senate’s data privacy omnibus bill in September; Included in the House Committee on Advanced IT’s data privacy omnibus bill (favorable report of 9 to 0, with 2 reserving rights)
  • Right to Free Expression (i.e., reining in politically motivated book bans): Passed by the Senate last month; Advanced 11 to 0 from the House Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development

That’s the good news. Unfortunately, at least one of the bills on our priority agenda got sent to study. The Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted 4 to 0 on sending a bundle of bills to study, including Make Polluters Pay (i.e., requiring major oil and gas companies to pay fee on historic emissions). The vote was 4 to 0, with 1 senator reserving rights and 1 registering a dissent in the Senate Journal.

After bills leave their first committee, then legislators can no longer co-sponsor the bills. But there are plenty of other asks to make of your legislators!

Stay tuned for more updates.

This Thursday: Stand up and Speak Out for Immigrants in Massachusetts

Immigrants with work authorization, temporary protected status and other legal permissions—including union members—are being threatened and/or detained, along with other Massachusetts residents, in the federal administration’s vicious campaign of mass deportation.

That’s why we’re joining allies across the Commonwealth for a rally and speakout in support of immigrants’ rights this Thursday at 12:30 pm in Boston City Hall Plaza.

Can’t make it? You can still take action.

Last week, the Legislature held hearings on key bills to protect the civil rights and safety of everyone in the Commonwealth. Help build momentum by writing to your legislators in support of the Protecting Massachusetts Communities Coalition’s three priority protections: (1) Don’t collaborate with ICE, (2) Don’t let police be ICE agents, and (3) Fund legal aid.

Email Your Legislators

If you’ve already emailed recently, take a moment to call. Find your legislators’ phone numbers here. In solidarity,

Testimony: MA Must Stand Up for Our Immigrant Communities

Tuesday, November 25, 2025 

Chair Edwards, Chair Day, 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 S.1122/H.1588: An Act relative to immigration detention and collaboration agreements and S.1127/H.1954: An Act ensuring access to equitable representation in immigration proceedings. 

This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents. 

Since Trump took office in January, ICE has escalated its activities in Massachusetts, terrorizing immigrant communities. ICE arrests have gone up by more than 250% since last year, driven by their targeting of individuals without criminal records. ICE has brutalized children, torn families apart, and engaged in rampant racial profiling. With Congress approving $170 billion to expand deportations, this will only get worse. 

Our immigrant communities are helping to keep our communities healthy, they are innovating and educating, and they are helping us build a better future for all of us. We need to do right by them. 

Immigrants’ rights advocates from across the Commonwealth our aligned on what steps that you can take as a Legislature to protect communities: 

  1. Prohibit new 287(g) agreements

Massachusetts should follow the steps of seven other states and prohibit any new 287(g) agreements. These agreements, in which state and local police are deputized as federal immigration agents, threaten public safety by diminishing trust, overburdening public financial and managerial capacity, distracting from real threats to public safety, and breaking apart communities. 

  1. Prevent partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE

It’s simple: local law enforcement should be focused on keeping communities safe and preventing and investigating crime. Getting involved with immigration raids and arrests diverts time, money, and resources from this goal and undermines the trust on which public safety depends. 

  1. Prohibit local law enforcement from asking about immigration status 

If people fear that interacting with law enforcement could lead to the deportation of them or their loved ones, they will not feel comfortable doing so. This means that incidents of domestic violence, wage theft, and other abuses will go unreported, and communities will be less safe. 

  1. Create a legal aid fund for immigrants at imminent risk of deportation 

Access to counsel matters: detained immigrants with a lawyer are 10 times more likely to win their case than those without. Shockingly, a majority of immigrants with pending cases in MA are navigating their cases without a lawyer.

This bill would remedy that and build into statute an important step that your chambers took in the FY 2026 budget. Similar programs already exist in California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington. 

The Trump administration is creating never-ending, everyday crises for so many of our residents. Communities across the Commonwealth need you to lead. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts 

Testimony: Welcoming Communities Are Safe Communities

Tuesday, November 25, 2025 

Chair Cronin, Chair Cahill, and Members of the Joint Committee on Public Safety: 

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.2580 / S.1681, An Act To Protect The Civil Rights And Safety Of All Massachusetts Residents.

This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents. 

Since Trump took office in January, ICE has escalated its activities in Massachusetts, terrorizing immigrant communities. ICE arrests have gone up by more than 250% since last year, driven by their targeting of individuals without criminal records. ICE has brutalized children, torn families apart, and engaged in rampant racial profiling. With Congress approving $170 billion to expand deportations, this will only get worse. 

Our immigrant communities are helping to keep our communities healthy, they are innovating and educating, and they are helping us build a better future for all of us. We need to do right by them. 

Immigrants’ rights advocates from across the Commonwealth our aligned on what steps that you can take as a Legislature to protect communities: 

  1. Prohibit new 287(g) agreements

Massachusetts should follow the steps of seven other states and prohibit any new 287(g) agreements. These agreements, in which state and local police are deputized as federal immigration agents, threaten public safety by diminishing trust, overburdening public financial and managerial capacity, distracting from real threats to public safety, and breaking apart communities. 

  1. Prevent partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE

It’s simple: local law enforcement should be focused on keeping communities safe and preventing and investigating crime. Getting involved with immigration raids and arrests diverts time, money, and resources from this goal and undermines the trust on which public safety depends. 

  1. Prohibit local law enforcement from asking about immigration status 

If people fear that interacting with law enforcement could lead to the deportation of them or their loved ones, they will not feel comfortable doing so. This means that incidents of domestic violence, wage theft, and other abuses will go unreported, and communities will be less safe. 

The Trump administration is creating never-ending, everyday crises for so many of our residents. Communities across the Commonwealth need you to lead. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts 

ACTION ALERT: This Thanksgiving and Always, Families Belong Together

This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents.

Federal immigration agents have been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts in service of Donald Trump’s xenophobic, hateful agenda. Families are torn apart, workplaces stripped of employees, and documented immigrants have feared their status will be revoked. Massachusetts can and must take action to better protect our communities.

Three key pro-immigrants’ rights bills will have hearings tomorrow:

  • Safe Communities Act (H.2580 / S.1681), which would end the voluntary involvement of our public safety officials in civil immigration matters
  • Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588 / S.1122), which would prohibit sheriffs from voluntarily renting beds to ICE and ban agreements to deputize state and local law enforcement to ICE
  • Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954 / S.1127), which would ensure that immigrants navigating our complex immigration courts have legal representation and make permanent a recent budgetary appropriation

First, take a moment to email your state rep and state senator in support of these bills:

Email Your Legislators

Second, if you’ve already emailed recently, take a moment to call. Find your legislators’ phone numbers here.

And third, join us at the State House tomorrow for a rally and the hearings for these bills.

Protect Massachusetts Communities | Pre-Hearing Rally
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Massachusetts State House | Room 428

The Dignity Not Deportations bill and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will have hearings at 10 am in Room A2. Information here.

The Safe Communities Act will have a hearing at 11:30 am in Gardner Auditorium. Information here.

If you are unable to attend in person, you may log into the livestream of the hearing at the Massachusetts Legislature website.

Follow-ups to Wednesday’s “MA Fights Back” Forum

Thank you so much for joining Wednesday’s “MA Fights Back” forum on democracy! And if you weren’t able to join us, we missed you!

You can watch the recorded part of the forum here: 

Follow-ups from Justin Lam of the Brennan Center

Folks can sign up for the Brennan Center’s newsletters here or follow them on Instagram, TikTok, etc. @brennancenter. For more on federal interference in elections, here’s a deeper-dive report, and here’s an explainer on the Voting Rights Act and what’s next.  

Follow-ups from David Weinberg of Protect Democracy 

Follow-ups from Shanique Rodriguez of the Massachusetts Voter Table 

Follow-ups from Marisol Santiago of MassVOTE 

PM in the News: Do Millionaire Surtaxes Lead to Millionaire Exodus?

Richard Solomon, “Do Millionaire Surtaxes Lead to Millionaire Exodus?,” People’s Policy Project, November 17, 2025.

“On a political level, passing Fair Share was a Herculean effort that squeaked by at 52% yes-vote, even in deep-blue Massachusetts. This might present a challenge for those seeking to replicate the strategy elsewhere. I spoke with Jonathan Cohn, policy director at Progressive Mass, as well as Enid Eckstein who served on the steering committee for the organization Raise Up that led the fight for Fair Share. According to them, Raise Up created a winning coalition for the amendment, backed by service worker, building, and teacher unions, even the AFL-CIO. The campaign survived a Supreme Court objection by finding a runaround through constitutional convention. Raise Up came out early on TV ads, canvassed nearly a million doors, and had disciplined messaging on earmarking funds and the home-selling issue.”

The wealthy were caught off guard by the amendment’s passage. Cohn told me that right-wing interests, having realized that repealing the millionaire surtax is a losing battle, are now collecting signatures to reduce state income taxes as a whole. According to Eckstein, the task ahead is not just staving off relapse to a more regressive tax structure but extending progressive gains to a corporate fair share tax on excess profits concealed offshore. Finally, as the People’s Policy Project has argued, further inroads against inequality and poverty will require plans to socialize capital income and fund generous welfare states.

Protecting Massachusetts Communities: Rally & Hearing

Federal immigration agents have been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts in service of Donald Trump’s xenophobic, hateful agenda. Families are torn apart, workplaces stripped of employees, and documented immigrants have feared their status will be revoked. Massachusetts can and must take action to better protect our communities.

Three key pro-immigrant bills will have hearings next week:

  • Safe Communities Act (H.2580 / S.1681), which would end the voluntary involvement of our public safety officials in civil immigration matters
  • Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588 / S.1122), which would prohibit sheriffs from voluntarily renting beds to ICE and ban agreements to deputize state and local law enforcement to ICE
  • Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954 / S.1127), which would ensure that immigrants navigating our complex immigration courts have legal representation and make permanent a recent budgetary appropriation

Join us at the State House next Tuesday for a rally and the hearings fo rthese bills.

Protect Massachusetts Communities | Pre-Hearing Rally

Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM

Massachusetts State House | Room 428

The Dignity Not Deportations bill and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will have hearings at 10 am in Room A2. Information here.

The Safe Communities Act will have a hearing at 11:30 am in Gardner Auditorium. Information here.

If you are unable to attend in person, you may log into the livestream of the hearing at the Massachusetts Legislature website.

Legislative Session Update

Today was the last day for the MA House and Senate to take recorded votes before going on recess until the new year.

So far, only 61 bills have become law:

  • 31 of them were home rule petitions about specific cities or towns
  • 15 were personnel matters about specific individuals
  • 8 were budgets or supplemental budgets
  • 2 were bond authorizations
  • 2 were disease awareness days

That leaves only three other bills: a temporary extension of hybrid meeting access (good; make it permanent), setting next year’s state primary as September 1 (terrible for turnout), and updating our shield laws protecting access to abortion care and gender-affirming care (good and necessary).

Clearly, there’s work to do.

New State House Accountability Tool Launched

Two weeks out from the Legislature’s new deadline for committees to report out bills, a new tool — Beacon Hill Compliance Tracker (https://beaconhilltracker.org/) — highlights the extent to which the MA Legislature has yet to follow its own new rules.

In June, the MA House of Representatives and MA Senate agreed to joint rules for the first time since 2019. Following years of activist organizing around greater transparency in the legislative process, Beacon Hill adopted key reforms like public committee votes, public bill summaries, and 10-day notice for hearings. The House also adopted a series of rolling deadlines for reporting out bills from committees, with action required by 60 and, at latest, 90 days following a hearing.

The Beacon Hill Compliance Tracker, an independent, citizen-built tool developed in collaboration with us here at Progressive Mass and with Act on Mass, measures how well the Massachusetts Legislature complies with its own new commitments to transparency.