MA Senate Passes Strong Data Privacy Protections

Earlier today, the MA Senate voted 40 to 0 to pass the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, which would — among other steps — ban the sale of sensitive data (including location data) and impose meaningful data minimization on companies harvesting our personal information. You can read the MA Senate’s fact sheet here.

During debate, the Senate passed two amendments that we, along with groups in the Location Shield Act, had advocated for:

  • Amendment 4, which extends the ban on sales of geolocation data to cover anyone who visits Massachusetts for any reason, including travel to the state to pursue personal health care.
  • Amendment 52, which ensures that businesses cannot sell sensitive data, regardless of whether they are otherwise exempt under the act.

The bill now moves to the House. 99 state representatives have co-sponsored the bill, but pressure will be needed to get past the Legislature’s characteristic inertia.

Progressive Massachusetts Stands in Solidarity with Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj

Councilor Haxhiaj is fighting every day on the ground with and for her constituents. She has been a champion of housing justice, climate justice, and immigrants’ rights–a leader who speaks with moral clarity and backs it up with action. 

We condemn the retaliation against her for defending her constituent against a brutal and unnecessary abduction. Communities are under attack daily by lawless, violent ICE agents, and local elected leaders are best positioned to intervene to protect their constituents and to make clear that our communities do not support President Trump’s harmful, xenophobic agenda. City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj stands up for her constituents, and we stand with her. 

Overdose Prevention Centers Work. Let’s Embrace Them.

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Dear Chair Velis, Chair Domb, and Members of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery:

I am writing today on behalf of Progressive Massachusetts, 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.2196/S.1393: An Act relative to preventing overdose deaths and increasing access to treatment.

Overdose prevention centers are a proven harm reduction strategy that should be part of our state and local response to the opioid crisis.

This success at reducing overdose deaths should come as no surprise: by providing a safe, stigma-free space, OPCs create an opportunity for individuals suffering from addiction to connect with health care providers and begin their road to recovery. They also benefit the surrounding communities by moving drug use indoors and decreasing public disturbances. By contrast, the criminalization of addiction and poverty has repeatedly made communities less safe and less healthy

Communities in Massachusetts are learning from other states and other countries that have legalized overdose prevention centers, but they need a clear regulatory framework to move forward. These bills would allow the Department of Public Health to regulate these centers and offer legal protections for staff, clients, and operators of DPH approved programs.

Our neighbors in New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont have already embraced OPCs as a part of a comprehensive response to the opioid crisis. Let’s join them.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Raising the Age is Good for Safety, Good for the Economy, and Good for Our Future

Tuesday, September 23, 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.1061: An Act to Promote Public Safety and Better Outcomes for Young 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.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Editorial: Countering Trump-era Policies in Massachusetts and Beyond

Jennifer Debin, “Countering Trump-era Policies in Massachusetts and Beyond,” Dover-Sherborn Hometown Weekly, September 18, 2025.

Dear Editor,

Massachusetts could be doing more to counter the Trump administration’s destructive and chaotic policies.

As Trump escalates, we must too.

All people throughout the country will be harmed by Florida’s troubling decision to eliminate vaccine requirements for schoolchildren following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda. We need as many people vaccinated as possible to develop herd immunity. While I appreciate that Massachusetts and Governor Maura Healey are standing up and solidifying our own vaccine policy, a piecemeal state by state approach does  not work for public health issues like communicable diseases.

The governor’s new standing order enables pharmacists to administer the boosters to “all  eligible persons” without CDC approval; this is a start, but not enough. We need our Massachusetts local and federal representatives to step up and take action on the national level. We cannot let anything the Trump administration does be easy. They are acting fast and without regard for the law and are governing for the benefit of a very small fraction of our country.

Women’s health is another area where Massachusetts should lead. We need to continue to bring the fight at every opportunity, challenging both other state governments and federal  policies that aim to limit women’s rights to decide on their own health. How does it make sense to say vaccines are a personal choice but a woman’s own healthcare decisions are not?

Additionally, while federal protections for immigrant students and students with disabilities are in jeopardy, Massachusetts has taken a strong stand to make sure that those rights continue to be protected here. The Commonwealth is a continual leader in public education – our representatives could be bolder, standing up against harmful educational policies on the federal level. 

Massachusetts has established the Protect Education Equity Bill which is an impressive step that allows Massachusetts state law to explicitly affirm the right to a public education for students of all immigration statuses and students with disabilities at a time of rising federal threats to civil rights. This bill is just one example that can be shared with other states. Joining

forces with other states and providing support and sharing of ideas can build a strong coalition against Trump policies.

On immigration, Massachusetts must continue to lead by example as a welcoming place against the hateful and violent actions of this administration, recently exacerbated by ICE’s increased budget and horrific round up quotas, ignoring due process and upending

families. Non-cooperation with ICE at the local level to make safe places for people to be able to work, play, learn, and live is key but the Massachusetts delegation need to increase  challenges at the national level. None of this is normal or okay and we cannot acquiesce.

Lastly, the piecemeal approach to environmental protections will not work and requires a national strategy to be most effective in combating climate change. The Trump administration

halting impactful projects like wind energy are an overreach that will harm us and future generations. 

How can we best support our Massachusetts representatives to think bigger and go beyond our

home state to improve overall quality of life and protect the democracy we love at this tumultuous moment in our country? There is not a simple answer and it can become exhausting addressing so many issues at once, but it is worth challenging Trump-era policies at  

every turn not only for life here in Massachusetts but for the good of the United States.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Debin

Sherborn, MA

Let Your State Senator Know: MA Wants Strong Data Privacy Laws

Your data should be nobody’s business.

This Thursday, the Massachusetts Senate will vote on comprehensive privacy legislation known as the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act (S.2608). Strong data privacy legislation must ban the sale of our sensitive data, limit how companies handle our data, and provide a strong enforcement mechanism.

The Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, as written, achieves many of these goals, including a complete ban on the sale of sensitive data. But there are critical protections missing from the bill, and Big Tech lobbyists will be hard at work this week trying to keep them out and to weaken the bill.

Your legislators will be hearing from the Big Tech lobbyists who have spent the whole year cozying up to Donald Trump. They need to be hearing even louder from you.

Email your state senator in support of strong data privacy legislation.

Here are the key amendments that civil liberties advocates are rallying behind and that your senator needs to hear from you about:

#52 (Rausch) – Closing Loophole to Prevent All Sales of Sensitive Data, which eliminates broad carveouts for industries that are regulated (but in a much more general way) on the federal level

#25 (Friedman) and #4 (Creem) – Preventing Location Tracking for People Traveling to Massachusetts,which ensure that people who come to our state for reproductive and gender affirming care have all the protections we can offer

#55 and #56 (Rausch) – Strong Enforcement, which ensure that people are able to seek redress in court when their rights are violated. To put it simply, a law without a strong enforcement mechanism is just a recommendation.

LTE: “LETTER: Mass. Deserves Better — Support the Corporate Fair Share Act & Close the Tax Loophole”

Rita Colafella, “LETTER: Mass. Deserves Better — Support the Corporate Fair Share Act & Close the Tax Loophole,” Watertown News,” September 22, 2025.

Dear Editor,

Massachusetts is facing a critical moment. Federal budget cuts are threatening to devastate essential services — Medicaid, SNAP, education, mental health care, and more. These cuts could strip healthcare and food assistance from up to 350,000 residents, blow a $3.5 billion hole in our state budget, and harm over 1 million students. We must act now to protect our communities.

A powerful solution is the Corporate Fair Share Act (An Act Combating Offshore Tax Avoidance, H.3110/S.2033), a proposal that would raise over $400 million in new annual revenue by closing a loophole that allows billionaire global corporations to hide profits offshore and avoid paying their fair share in Massachusetts taxes.  

Right now, Massachusetts only taxes 5 percent of these offshored profits — far less than neighboring states like Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, which tax 50–60 percent. The Commonwealth even taxes a smaller share of offshored corporate profits than New Hampshire does. The Corporate Fair Share Act would simply bring us in line with these states and the federal government, increasing our share from 5 percent to 50 percent.

This isn’t a tax hike on small businesses. In fact, only 0.5 percent of all C Corporations report any offshore profits. Most small businesses — LLCs, S-Corps, sole proprietorships — aren’t affected at all. This bill targets the wealthiest multinational corporations that exploit tax havens while our local businesses and families pay their fair share.

And here’s the truth: Massachusetts voters (of which 50 percent are Republican) overwhelmingly support this change.

  • In an August 2020 poll by Echo Cove Research, 84 percent of likely Massachusetts voters supported closing the loophole that lets corporations slash taxes by hiding assets offshore.
  • In an August 2024 poll by Data for Progress, 75 percent of Massachusetts voters agreed that the state corporate income tax should be updated to prevent multinational corporations from using offshore tax havens.
  • In an April 2025 poll by Lake Research Partners, 78 percent of Massachusetts voters supported closing corporate tax loopholes for large, profitable, multinational corporations.

The message is clear: Massachusetts residents want fairness.  We pay our taxes. Our local businesses pay their taxes. It’s time the mega-corporations do the same.  The Corporate Fair Share Act will:

  • Level the playing field for local businesses
  • Protect essential services like healthcare, education, and mental health care
  • Ensure financial stability for future generations

Let’s stop leaving hundreds of millions of dollars on the table. Let’s prioritize the taxpayers of Massachusetts over multinational corporations’ profits. Say no to devastating cuts. Say yes to fairness. Tell the State House to close the loophole ad Support the Corporate Fair Share Act. For more information, visit raiseupma.org/corporate-fair-share.

Rita Colafella
Watertown Resident

Let’s Lift Our Kids out of Deep Poverty

Monday, September 22, 2025

Chair Kennedy, Chair Livingstone, and Members of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities:

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. 214 and S. 118: An Act to lift kids out of deep poverty.

These bills would raise cash assistance grants by 20% a year until they reach 50% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and then adjust them annually so that they remain at 50% FPL and do not lose their value over time.

We appreciate the Legislature’s commitment to addressing deep poverty. The Committee favorably reported prior versions of these bills in three previous legislative sessions and included increases to cash assistance grants in the last five budget cycles, from FY21 to FY25.

However, the question of whether to raise cash assistance grants should not need to be revisited every year.  Instead, as the bills provide, grants should be increased more rapidly to reach the modest Deep Poverty level and then increased each year to keep up with increases in the cost of living.

The current maximum TAFDC grant of $861 a month for a family of three with no income is still less than half of the federal poverty level—Deep Poverty—currently $1,110 a month. Grant amounts for EAEDC cash assistance for older adults and people with disabilities are even lower, at only $441 a month for an individual, compared to the Deep Poverty level of $652 a month. With grant amounts this low, families cannot afford basic necessities, forced to decide whether they can afford food or medications or a roof over their head.

Please give your full support to these bills. It is time to end Deep Poverty in Massachusetts.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

An Inclusive Education is a Quality Education

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Chair Lewis, Chair Gordon, and Members of the Joint Committee on Education:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to fighting for an equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.371/H.655: An Act to promote comprehensive and inclusive curriculum in schools and S.340/H.656: An Act relative to healthy youth. 

In recent years, we have seen an attack from organized conservative forces on the teaching of US history, fueled by a desire to whitewash history and erase the contributions of women, people of color, and LGBTQ communities. The Trump administration has been doubling down on this with a multi-front attack on public education and civil rights with the Orwellian term of “patriotic education.” 

Students benefit from learning the entirety of history, not sanitized versions of it, and they benefit from seeing themselves represented in the materials taught in the classroom. We should be ensuring that students receive an inclusive, comprehensive, anti-racist curriculum that will set them up for success. 

S.371/H.655 would require that the state’s academic standards include the achievements, contributions, and other works in the humanities, science, math, literature, arts, and other disciplines by people from underrepresented groups; and the accurate heritage, customs, and identities of underrepresented groups, including the histories of slavery, colonial settlement, land appropriation, territorial expansion, tribal reservations, and present-day effects of such pasts. All our students benefit from such a fuller understanding of history and culture. 


S.340/H.656 (“The Healthy Youth Act”) would expand the reach and positive impact of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Framework, which includes updated standards for sex education and was unanimously approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in 2023. This new Framework is a significant step forward, but the Healthy Youth Act is still needed to ensure that the sex education students receive in school is medically accurate, age appropriate, and LGBTQ-inclusive. It is disappointing and shocking that MA is behind many other states in this regard. We should be leading, not playing catch up, when it comes to basic education.  

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

We Can Mitigate Voter Confusion with Good Policy.

Chair Keenan, Chair Hunt, and Members of the Joint Committee on Election Laws:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the Policy Director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide grassroots advocacy group committed to fighting for an equitable, just, democratic, and sustainable Commonwealth.

We urge you to give a favorable report to the following bills:

  • H.834 / S.505: An Act establishing same day registration of voters
  • H.799 / S.503: An Act decoupling the municipal census from voter registration
  • H.820 / S.504: An Act enforcing accessibility for voters with disabilities
  • H.874 / S.524: An Act relative to voting rights restoration

Critical to improving voting access is reducing opportunities for voter confusion. Voters have so much to think about as they decide whom to vote for. But there are ample opportunities to be confused about such questions as “Am I able to vote?” “Where?” “When?” “If I go there, will my vote be counted?”—to name a few—given the many questions and problems that plague people every day of their lives. We can mitigate all of these sources of confusion with good policy.

Same Day Registration (H.834/S.505)

Tenants moving to a new apartment after getting priced out or evicted by an unscrupulous landlord. Senior citizens looking to downsize and move into a retirement community. Under MA’s current law, if these moves happen too close to an election date, these people—and countless others like them—could lose their right to vote.

That’s because we have an arbitrary and unjust 10-day voter registration cutoff. And shockingly, we’re an outlier in New England for having a cutoff at all. In Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut, eligible voters can register to vote or update their registration at the polls. It’s a simple reform (indeed, NH and ME have done it for decades), and it can boost engagement and improve the efficiency of election administration.

The need for Same Day Registration will be especially acute next year, as the state primary is currently scheduled for September 1, a major move-in day across the state. And, indeed, as you all know from running for office, most voters start paying attention in those final weeks, and they shouldn’t be shut out of the process for doing so.

Decoupling the Municipal Census from Voter Registration (H.799/S.503)

Our municipal censuses serve valuable roles for data collection and jury selection, but MA is an outlier in making them a tool for voter disenfranchisement. Voters can be rendered inactive for failing to complete a form that many can easily miss, creating confusion at the polls and increasing barriers to participation.

Disability Access (H.820/S.504)

Voting must be accessible to all eligible citizens, including voters with disabilities. In reality, too many polling places still have barriers to full inclusion: malfunctioning accessible machines, poor signage, broken automatic doors, and more. These bills provide meaningful oversight by requiring polling place inspections every four years, compliance plans for sites that fall short, and enforcement authority for the Attorney General.

Voting Rights Restoration (H.874 / S.524)

Felony disenfranchisement in Massachusetts is a recent phenomenon. Indeed, although we often think of the history of voting rights in the US as one of ever-forward motion, Massachusetts stands as an outlier. In the late 1990s, after incarcerated individuals in MCI-Norfolk started organizing for better conditions, Republican Governor Bill Cellucci and the MA Legislature responded with retaliation: a multi-step process of disenfranchisement. In 2000, Massachusetts voters approved a constitutional amendment to prohibit people incarcerated for felonies in state prison from voting in state elections; the subsequent year, Cellucci signed a law to extend this prohibition to federal and municipal elections. Our commonwealth did something rare in recent history: it took away the right to vote from a category of people who were formerly enfranchised.

In 2022, the Massachusetts Legislature took an important step forward when passing the VOTES Act by including language creating protections for jail-based voting for those who still maintain the right to vote, but we must build on that momentum by ending remaining disenfranchisement, as these bills would.

To go back to the point about voter confusion, this connection between incarceration and voting rights can often lead people to think they have lost their right to vote permanently, even when they return home. Again, voter confusion leads to disenfranchisement, and it is preventable with good policy.

In Conclusion, at a time when democracy is under attack, MA should be taking every step we can to strengthen our democracy. Let’s show our commitment to democracy and improve the voting experience for everyone.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts