“Why should renters not have the same predictability? “

Chair Lewis, Chair Rausch, and Members of the Joint Committee: 

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 a favorable report for S.1447: An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants.

Massachusetts has a lot to offer, but that does little if people can’t afford to live here. The US News & World Report’s annual state rankings put Massachusetts at #47 in affordability. A worker earning minimum wage in Massachusetts would have to work 101 hours a week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at market rate. [2] 

Clearly, Massachusetts has an affordable housing crisis. This is unsustainable. It has led to expanding economic inequality, increased homelessness, and damage to our economy, as talented workers often leave the state for less expensive regions. Too many of us know stories of friends, family members, or neighbors being priced out of neighborhood then city then state. 

The crisis in outmigration we face is not billionaires moving to Florida. It is of working people not able to afford the cost of living here. 

Solving this affordable housing crisis will require us to use every tool in the toolbox. That requires zoning reform that encourages the creation of walkable, sustainable, and inclusive communities. It requires public investment. And it requires strengthening tenant protections that ensure that communities can remain affordable, inclusive, and stable.

However, municipalities across Massachusetts are blocked from taking the necessary steps to address the housing crisis. The misguided statewide ban on rent stabilization policies and a stringent home rule system that prevents municipalities from passing their own laws to govern the basic aspects of civil affairs hamstring municipalities.

By enabling our cities and towns to pass rent control ordinances tailored to their local needs, we can stem the displacement that is hitting so many communities.

We cannot build our way out of the crisis alone because the people at the highest risk for displacement will already be pushed out before they can benefit from any medium to long-term reduction in rents.

Rent control is about offering price stability to renters. We know what price stability looks like. It’s what homeowners with mortgages are given. Why should renters not have the same predictability? 

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Collective Testimony: Zero Carbon Renovation Funding in the Environmental Bond Bill

Link to testimony here

July 29, 2025
Senator Becca Rausch, Co-Chair
Representative Christine Barber, Co-Chair
Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
State House Room 215
Boston, MA 02133
Re: Zero Carbon Renovation Funding in the Environmental Bond Bill


Dear Chair Rausch, Chair Barber, and Members of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural
Resources:

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony concerning the Mass Ready Act. Our Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Coalition is supportive of this bill and believes it can be strengthened by including additional decarbonization funding for frontline communities. Luckily, H.3577/S.2286, An Act establishing a Zero Carbon Renovation Fund, sponsored by Senator Gomez and Representatives Vargas and Cruz, would do just that.

The Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Coalition has over 200 member organizations representing 80,000 units of affordable housing, and working at the intersection of housing, health, community, and climate. We are united in the idea that equitable building decarbonization is critical for the health, wealth, and safety of our communities long-term.

Decarbonization involves improving a building’s envelope, transitioning it to clean energy sources, adding on-site power generation, and using less energy-intensive building materials. These practices make buildings more resilient in the face of floods, heat waves, and other extreme weather events, while mitigating climate change.

The state has started to invest in decarbonization for affordable housing and other priority sectors through programs at DOER, HLC, and Mass Save. Current and expected decarbonization sources for MA’s affordable housing sector total approximately $500M. But this is not enough.

The cost to decarbonize affordable housing units is currently tracking between $50K-$150K more per unit than a business-as-usual retrofit. Scaled up to over 200,000 units of multifamily affordable housing in MA translates to at least $10B-$30B of investment that will be needed for the affordable housing sector alone to meet our state’s climate goals by 2050.

The inclusion of H.3577/S.2286 will provide funding to catalyze an equitable transition to a clean energy future that simultaneously advances climate resiliency and improves physical and financial security for frontline communities. It will prioritize Environmental Justice communities, Gateway Cities, low-and moderate-income housing, municipal buildings, and minority-and women-owned businesses. As existing buildings in Massachusetts contribute nearly one third of all carbon emissions, a focus on making this clean energy transition is essential if we are to create a sustainable and resilient future for
our children. While H.3577/S.2286 allocates $300 million in funding for these retrofits, we believe that $50 million would be an adequate investment to start this crucial work.

We encourage you to include this language in the version of the Environmental Bond Bill that this Committee reports, so we can move a step closer to the clean and resilient energy future our communities and neighbors deserve. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to ZCRF Committee Chair Emily Jones at ejones@lisc.org. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.


Sincerely,
The Zero Carbon Renovation Fund Coalition Members:
● 2Life Communities
● 350 Mass Berkshires
● 350 Central Mass
● 350 Mass
● Abacus Architects
● Abode Energy Management
● Acadia Center
● ACEDONE
● Action for Equity
● Acton Climate Coalition
● AIA Massachusetts
● Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (ACT)
● Allston Brighton Community
Development Corporation
● Allume Energy
● Alternatives for Community and
Environment (ACE)
● Andover Working to Educate Climate
Action Now (WECAN)
● Anti-Racism & Earth Ministry Teams of
First Church Amherst, UCC
● Asian American Civic Association
● Asian Community Development
Corporation (ACDC)
● AURORA Architects + Builders Co.
● B’nai B’rith Housing
● Beacon Climate Innovations
● Beacon Communities
● Berkshire Environmental Action Team
● Birchwood Sustainable Development
● BlocPower
● BlueHub Capital
Page 3 of 5
● Boston Catholic Climate Movement
● Boston Center for Independent Living
● Boston Climate Action Network (BCAN)
● Boston Housing Authority
● Boston Impact Initiative
● Boston Metal
● Breathe Clean North Shore
● Bright Power
● Brookhaven Residents Climate Change
Committee
● Brookline Community Development
Corporation
● Browning the Green Space (BGS)
● Building A Better Wellesley
● Building Electrification Accelerator
(BEA)
● Building Evolution Corporation
● Built Environment Plus (BE+)
● Byggmeister Design Build
● Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA)
● Capstone Communities LLC
● Cascap Inc.
● Castle Square Tenants Organization
● Center for EcoTechnology
● Chatham Climate Action Network
● Citizens’ Climate Lobby – Boston Metro
West
● Citizens’ Housing and Planning
Association (CHAPA)
● Clean Energy Group (CEG)
● Clean Water Action
● Climate Action Now, Western Mass
(CAN)
● Climate Code Blue
● Coalition for a Better Acre
● Codman Square NDC
● Commonwealth Community
Developers, LLC
● Community Action Agency of
Somerville, Inc. (CAAS)
● Community Action Works Campaigns
● Community Economic Development
Center of Southeastern Massachusetts
(CEDC)
● Community Square Associates
● Conservation Law Foundation (CLF)
● Construct
● Dorchester Bay Economic Development
Corporation
● East Boston CDC (EBCDC)
● Eisenberg Consulting LLC
● Elders Climate Action Mass.
● Embue
● Emerald Cities Collaborative
● Energy Allies
● enviENERGY Studio
● Environmental League of
Massachusetts (ELM)
● Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative
● Fenway CDC
● Franklin County CDC
● Grand Banks Building Products
● Greater Boston Physicians for Social
Responsibility
● Greater Springfield Habitat for
Humanity
● GreenerU
● Greening Greenfield
● Green Energy Consumers Alliance
● Green Newton
● GreenRoots
● Greenvest
● HallKeen Management
● Harborlight Homes
● Hargidon Architecture + Design
● Hebrew SeniorLife
● Health Resources in Action (HRiA)
● Hilltown CDC
● Home City Development, Inc.
● Housing Corporation of Arlington
● Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC)
● Housing Greenfield
● Housing Nantucket
Page 4 of 5
● Homeowner’s Rehab, Inc. (HRI)
● ICON Architecture
● Indivisible Acton Area
● Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA
Boston)
● Island Housing Trust
● Jamaica Plain Neighborhood
Development Corporation
● Jewish Alliance for Law and Social
Action
● Jewish Climate Action Network
● Jonathan Rose Companies
● Jones Whitsett Architects (JWA)
● Just A Start
● Kim Lundgren Associates, Inc.
● Latino Support Network (LSN)
● Lawrence CommunityWorks
● League of Conservation Voters
● LEAN Green Building, Inc.
● Lexington Climate Action Network
● LivableStreets Alliance (LSA)
● Local Initiatives Support Corporation
(LISC) Massachusetts
● Longmeadow Pipeline Awareness
Group
● Madison Park Development
Corporation (MPDC)
● Main South CDC
● Maloney Properties, Inc.
● Massachusetts Affordable
Homeownership Alliance (MAHA)
● Massachusetts Association of
Community Development Corporations
(MACDC)
● Massachusetts Association of Housing
Cooperatives
● Massachusetts Climate Action Network
(MCAN)
● Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light
● Mass Power Forward Coalition (MPF)
● Mass Renews Alliance
● Massachusetts Sierra Club
● Metropolitan Area Planning Council
(MAPC)
● Metro West Collaborative Development
● Montague Housing Authority
● Mothers Out Front Massachusetts
● Munkenbeck Consulting
● Mystic River Watershed Association
● Nectar Community Investments
● Neighborhood of Affordable Housing
(NOAH)
● Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts
(N2N)
● NeighborWorks Housing Solutions
● New Ecology, Inc.
● NewVue Communities
● No Fracked Gas in Mass
● No Pipeline Westborough
● North Shore CDC (NSCDC)
● Northeast Clean Energy Council (NECEC)
● Northeast Sustainable Energy
Association
● Nuestra Comunidad Development
Corporation
● Onion Flats Architecture
● Our Climate
● Passive House Massachusetts
● The Property & Casualty Initiative (PCI)
● Peabody Properties
● Petersen Engineering, Inc.
● Pine Street Inn
● Placetailor Co-op LLC
● Planning Office for Urban Affairs
(POUA)
● PowerOptions
● Preservation of Affordable Housing
(POAH)
● Progressive Democrats of
Massachusetts
● Progressive Mass
● Public Health Institute of Western
Massachusetts
● Quincy Geneva New Vision CDC (QGNV)
Page 5 of 5
● R.W. Kern Center at Hampshire College
● RCC Center for Smart Building
Technology
● Rethinking Power Management (RPM)
● Resonant Energy
● Revitalize Community Development
Corporation
● RMI
● Slipstream
● Somerville Community Corporation
● South Boston Neighborhood
Development Corporation (SBNDC)
● Southwest Boston CDC
● Sparhawk Group
● St. Francis House
● Stanton Home
● Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA)
● Steveworks LLC
● Sustainable Comfort, Inc
● Sustainable Wellesley
● The Caleb Group
● The Community Builders (TCB)
● The Green Engineer, Inc.
● The Neighborhood Developers (TND)
● The Passive House Network
● The Schochet Companies
● Town of Hudson Conservation
Commission
● TSK Energy Solutions LLC
● UHM Properties
● UU Mass Action
● U.S. Green Building Council
● UndauntedK12
● Urban Edge
● Valley CDC
● Vermont Energy Investment
Corporation (VEIC)
● Veterans Benefits Clearinghouse
Development Corporation (VBCDC)
● Vietnamese American Initiative for
Development, Inc. (VietAID)
● Vote Solar
● Waterfront Historic Area League
(WHALE)
● Way Finders
● Western Massachusetts Dayenu Circle
● WinnCompanies
● Worcester Common Ground (WCG)
● Worcester Congregations for Climate
and Environmental Justice
● Worcester HEART Partnership
● Worcester Housing Authority
● ZeroCarbonMA

Let Your Legislators Know: MA Wants Rent Control

Massachusetts has a housing crisis, and we need every tool in the toolbox.

Too many working-class individuals and families are being priced out of their communities and the Commonwealth entirely due to ever-growing rents. But Beacon Hill can take action.

Join Homes for All Massachusetts tomorrow for a rally in the State House (Grand Staircase) the State House at 11:30 am before the 1 pm hearing on rent control at 1 pm in Gardner Auditorium.

Here’s what you need to prepare:

  1. RSVP for rally here
  2. Find the testimony guide here
  3. Email written testimony here: jointcommittee.municipalities&regionalgovernment@malegislature.gov
  4. Email your state rep and state senator in support.

Healey Wants to Spend $360 Million on a New Prison. Tell Her No Way. For years, our friends at Families for Justice as Healing have been organizing against a proposed $50 million new women’s prison to replace MCI-Framingham. How has Governor Maura Healey responded? By proposing a $360 million new women’s prison. Incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls have been clear: what we need is not a new prison, but greater programming for those currently incarcerated, better reentry programs for people when they return to community, and greater community investments in housing, health care, education, and economic security and opportunity. Think of how much that $360 million could do if it went instead to keeping communities safe and ending cycles of incarceration and harm. Join FJaH in telling Governor Healey to stop the $360 million new women’s prison with the action toolkit at bit.ly/FreeHerMA.

Call daily between 9am and 5pm only – (617) 725-4005 Email any time using this form: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/email-the-governors-office Sample Email/Script: “Hello, my name is _________________ and I am your constituent. I oppose your plan to build a $360 million women’s prison. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on prison construction is not investing in people’s wellbeing and will not make our communities safer. Our communities need this money for housing, healing, healthcare, treatment and more. We could actually make Massachusetts a model for the rest of the country by releasing many more women and implementing alternatives to incarceration rather than building yet another prison.” Share Your Fair Share Story On November 8, 2022, Massachusetts voters passed Question 1: the Fair Share Amendment. We chose a fairer tax system, guaranteeing that the richest one percent will pay more to fund our public schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and public transit. Now, Fair Share is at work, already funding more than $6 billion in transportation and public education investments—with more to come. See a list of Fair Share investments to date at fairsharema.com. How is the Fair Share Amendment positively impacting your life, family or work? Are your children receiving free school meals, or learning in a newly-renovated school building? Are you riding a regional transit authority bus for free, or paying a reduced fare on the MBTA? Are you attending tuition-community college, or receiving state financial aid to make public college more affordable? Are you driving on newly paved roads, or riding on subway trains that are faster? Are you receiving child care financial assistance, or sending your child to a child care program that’s benefitted from new grants to child care providers? Is your city or town receiving more money for local roads and schools? (hint: if you live in Massachusetts, the answer is YES!) Raise Up Massachusetts is collecting stories about the many ways the Fair Share Amendment is making a difference in the lives of Massachusetts residents. If you have a story about how Fair Share is positively impacting your life, family or work, please share it with us here.
SHARE YOUR STORY
Progressive Mass’s New “Power Lunch” Series What comes after calling your state rep and state senator? Getting others to do so as well. Join Progressive Mass for our “Power Lunch” phone bank series (Thursdays at noon), where we will be building our collective power in service of a better Commonwealth for all.

In solidarity,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts

Protecting the Freedom to Read

Chair Garballey, Chair Mark, and Members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, and the Arts: 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I am the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts. We are 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.2328 and H.3594: An Act Regarding Free Expression, filed by Senator Julian Cyr and Representative John Moran.

Over the past few years, we have seen attacks on schools and libraries across the country aimed at removing books by and about LGBTQ people, communities of color, and other marginalized groups. Much of this has been driven by well-funded, well-organized national conservative groups, now unfortunately urged on by the White House. 

Many people would like to think that Massachusetts is different, but we are not. According to the American Library Association, in 2022 there were at least 45 attempts to restrict access to books in Massachusetts school and public libraries, with 57 titles challenged. This puts us among the top 5 states with the highest book ban attempts.

Students learn best when they see themselves and the issues that impact them reflected in their education. Education should be about opening up students to the world and to themselves, and that requires a focus on inclusivity and equity. And it means not seeking to exclude parts of history or identity.

Beyond being simply a moral issue, this is a constitutional issue. The First Amendment protects the right to share ideas, including educators’ and students’ right to receive and exchange information and knowledge. These bills would ensure that selection of age-appropriate library materials is based on the professional expertise of librarians and educators, and would establish a process and standards for handling book challenges so that books are not taken off the shelves based on political or personal views.

At a time when education is under attack from a hostile federal administration, and the goals of diversity, equity, and inclusion are under attack, Massachusetts should be clear about our values and join other states like Illinois, New Jersey, and Rhode Island in pushing back against book banning. 

Thank you for all your work on the hearing, and, again, we urge you to swiftly advance these important bills.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

Testimony in Support of Language Access and Utility Accountability

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Chair Cabral, Chair Collins, and Members of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight:

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

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.3384 / S.2125 (An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion) and H.3400 (An Act prohibiting the use of ratepayer funds for utility lobbying, promotions, or perks).

H.3384/S.2125: Language Access and Inclusion Act

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

Massachusetts, correspondingly, is home to great linguistic diversity: more than 1 out of 4 residents report speaking a language other than English at home, with the most common languages being Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Russian. However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court.

The Language Access and Inclusion Act would help our Commonwealth better meet the needs of all residents by standardizing and enforcing language access protocols and practices at public-facing state agencies. Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak.

H.3400: Utility Accountability

Our public utilities are supposed to serve and be regulated in service of the public interest; however, gas and electric utilities are regularly using money they collect from customers’ bills to fund their lobbying, advertising, and trade association dues. Customers have no say in such decisions, and such spending can often be directly in contradiction of the public interest. Voters across the Commonwealth want strong environmental laws and robust and equitable climate legislation, and we should not be coerced into funding opposition campaigns simply because of the need to have light, heat, and electricity in our homes.

Similarly, utilities are using customer ratepayer money to subsidize the lavish expenses of their Boards of Directors—at the same time as they are raising prices.

It’s quite simple: If utilities have so much money to spend on lobbying, ads, and perks, they are charging customers too much money and investing too little in the transition to clean, green energy.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

“We Won More State House Transparency. What’s Next?” Recording & Follow-ups

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for yesterday’s event “We Won More State House Transparency. What’s Next?” (And if you weren’t able to make it, we missed you!)

You can watch or re-watch the video from last night here: https://youtu.be/_nuUdbt9oyg.

Here’s the slide deck that we used. 

As Scotia noted, we want YOU to be a part of our accountability team. Sign up to be a part of it here  https://forms.gle/uwvvYZX7jdz3rdQe6.

We mentioned the Coalition to Reform Our Legislature’s stipend reform campaign. You can learn more about that here.

Testimony: MA Needs Debt-Free Higher Ed

Friday, July 18, 2025

Char Comerford, Chair Rogers, and Members of the Joint Committee on Higher Education:

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

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.1436/S.929: An Act relative to debt-free public higher education.

Because of the transformative new revenue from the Fair Share Amendment, Massachusetts recently took a major step forward by making community college free. But we need to ensure that students can graduate from any of our public colleges and universities without debt.

Our public colleges and universities are engines of economic opportunity. Studies reliably show that a postsecondary degree provides a proven premium in lifetime wages for graduates, and has become a commonplace requirement for a wide range of job types. But for too many of our high school graduates, the cost of attending college is prohibitive.

That’s because the cost students face is not just that borne by students during their years in school, but the costs years after through accrued debt. By preventing young people from living independently, buying a home, or pursuing their career of choice, student debt is a drag on our economy. Even when students drop out due to cost, they can be saddled with debt for years after, and have a much more difficult time finding jobs.

The United States stands out compared to other countries in how expensive it is to attend college, and the costs have grown exponentially in recent decades, outpacing other economic indicators. It is often shocking to hear people talk about how cheap college used to be several decades ago, while many students today are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Let’s do right by our students and right by the future of the Commonwealth by embracing debt-free public higher education.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts

House Passes Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care Shield Law 136 to 23

Yesterday, the MA House joined the MA Senate in voting to strengthen the state’s shield law that protects the right to abortion care and gender-affirming care.

The bill would shield law by prohibiting the Department of Public Health from collecting or disseminating personally identifiable data related to reproductive and gender-affirming care in MA, prohibiting tech service providers, CHIA, and the Health Connector from providing documentation to other states regarding such services, establishing state-level EMTALA protections for emergency abortion care, allowing providers critical anonymity by using their practice name on prescription labels for reproductive and gender-affirming health care medicines, ensuring clinicians and lawyers are protected from professional discipline related to hostile litigation, and more.

The bill passed 136 to 23.

20 of the 23 NO votes came from Republicans. They were joined by Democrats Colleen Garry (D-Dracut), Alan Silvia (D-Fall River), and Jeff Turco (D-Winthrop).

Joining Democrats in voting yes were Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading), First Assistant Minority Leader Kimberly Ferguson (R-Holden), Third Assistant Minority Leader David Vieira (R-Falmouth), Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury), Donald Wong (R-Saugus), and unaffiliated Susannah Whipps (U-Athol).

The House rejected an amendment from Rep. Michael Soter (R-Bellingham) 129 to 30. The amendment would have extended the same shield protections to parents seeking to block access to reproductive and gender-affirming care for their minor children.

Joining Republicans again were Garry, Silvia, and Turco; also voting with Republicans were Francisco Paulino (D-Lawrence) and Dave Robertson (D-Tewksbury). Whipps joined Democrats in voting against it.

The House voted 130 to 26 for an amendment from Rep. Meg Kilcoyne (D-Clinton) with technical changes to the bill to ensure that the electronic medical records segmentation provision can be fully realized and operational without impacting clinical care within the Commonwealth and while preserving the intent of protecting patient privacy from harmful out-of-state actors.

Garry, Paulino, Silvia, and Turco again joined Republicans, and Whipps joined Democrats.

Trump Wants to Gut Labor Law. Here’s How to Keep Workers Protected in MA.

Trump’s pro-oligarchy, anti-democracy pals who wrote Project 2025 were clear: they want to destroy the National Labor Relations Act, which is the foundational law passed during the New Deal to protect private sector workers’ rights to unionize.

Trump and his cabinet officials are hard at work at implementing their promised rollback of labor laws, leaving working people poorer and less safe.

Here in Massachusetts, we can make sure that—no matter what happens at the federal level— workers are protected in Massachusetts. That’s why we’re supporting legislation from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, known as the Protect Labor Act, that would ensure that these labor protections exist in MA no matter what.

These protections include a presumption of employee status to ensure workers have access to wage, hour, and benefits protections; a ban on captive audience meetings; protections from anti-union “right to work” laws; and more.

Can you email your state legislators in support of protecting labor rights in MA?

MA Can and Must Do More to Protect and Expand Workers’ Rights

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Chair Oliveira, Chair McMurtry, and Members of the Joint committee on Labor and Workforce Development:

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

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1311/H.2078: An Act uplifting families and securing the right to strike for certain public employees and S.1327/H.2086: An Act protecting labor and abolishing barriers to organizing rights. These bills would protect and expand rights for workers in the Commonwealth.

Unions and working-class people are under attack from the federal government, as President Donald Trump and his oligarchic pals in Big Tech and Big Finance seek to unravel decades of labor, civil rights, consumer, and environmental protections to enrich themselves further.  

Massachusetts should voice a loud and clear NO to that agenda and do that by strengthening and protecting the rights we have in this state.

First, a word on strengthening. The right to strike is a critical labor right that ensures that workplace negotiations happen in good faith. But this right is not sufficiently protected or respected in Massachusetts because public sector workers lack that right.

To be clear, banning strikes does not mean that strikes do not happen. We have seen many such examples across the Commonwealth in recent years. The ban means unreasonable penalties and fines, not the lack of strikes. A right to strike, by contrast, treats a strike as what it should be: an available tool for workers to use if negotiations occur in bad faith and a mechanism for structuring the timeline of negotiations to encourage both parties to come to an agreement. The current situation tips the scales against workers; restoring this right would create a level playing field.

Moreover, current law is worse than just penalizing strikes. Current law penalizes even talking about strikes, a gross violation of the First Amendment. This legislation would end that.

But, as noted earlier, as we expand labor rights, we also need to ensure that the rights that exist are protected. The Protect LABOR Act would ensure that labor protections continue to exist in Massachusetts even if Trump and his corporate buddies eliminate them at the federal level.

Trump and his Cabinet of Project 2025 authors has made clear that they want to eviscerate the National Labor Relations Act, under which private sector labor rights are established. Decades of labor protections could disappear if they succeed.

This bill offers a necessary bulwark against that by ensuring measures like Department of Labor Relations certification of pre-existing federally recognized unions; a presumption of employee status to ensure all workers, regardless of industry, have guaranteed access to wage, hour, and benefits protections; a ban on captive audience meetings; protection right anti-union “right to work” laws; and more.

Massachusetts has had a great track record of strengthening labor rights, especially when they are under attack federally. Let’s continue that legacy.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts