Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, released the following statement from the organization about the Legislature’s adjournment with key work left undone
“We are disappointed and appalled to see the ostensibly full-time House and Senate adjourn this morning after failing to take decisive action on so many key issues.
Rather than advancing a robust shared legislative agenda throughout the past year and a half, our Legislature pushed so many important priorities off to the very end of the session, creating bottlenecks and setting themselves up for failure.
It does not have to be this way. Why is it? Because of a State House Leadership that is overly deferential to corporate interests and lacking in vision, an autocratic internal structure, and the learned helplessness of too much of the rank-and-file.
The Legislature ran out the clock on passing meaningful legislation on climate change, despite our living through a summer that continues to break heat records. The Legislature whittled away at the policy components of Governor Healey’s housing bond bill, caving to real estate interests and ignoring public opinion. We have a housing crisis and a climate crisis, and our Legislature is in clear denial about both.
The list of bills left stalled or defeated through inaction is long and includes legislation that one or both chambers have passed overwhelmingly in past sessions. Next year, we fully expect many of these bills to be refiled, and the Legislature will hold hearings on them in which they will pretend to hear about them for the first time, an insult to the public’s intelligence and their own.
Advocates have worked hard this session to build momentum for legislation on housing, climate, criminal legal reform, maternal health justice, health care reform, and countless other issues. Their voices, backed by robust public support for action, should be heard.
The ongoing Veepstakes has highlighted the prolific legislating of narrowly held Democratic majorities in Michigan and Minnesota. When Democrats finally achieved governing trifectas, they immediately went to work to pass long lists of held-up priorities, showing what can be done when the government prioritizes the well-being of the public. Massachusetts likewise finally achieved a Democratic governing trifecta (despite long having the third largest Democratic supermajority in the country) and instead demonstrated dysfunction and lack of ambition. As Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to make the case to the American public that voters should give Democrats a trifecta in DC this November, our Legislature isn’t just failing the people of the commonwealth; they continue to fail the whole country.”
The 193rd legislative session of the Massachusetts General Court has been historically unproductive. As of July 29, fewer than 230 bills had been signed into law across the two years of the session. By contrast, the last several legislative sessions saw 564 (2021-2022), 539 (2019-2020), 626 (2017-2018), 635 (2015-2016), and 701 (2013-2014) bills signed into law.
Of the 227 bills signed into law this session as of Monday, 203 were about one city, one town, one person, or a combination of several towns.
Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide, multi-issue, membership-based advocacy organization focused on shared prosperity, racial and social justice, strong democracy, and environmental sustainability. The organization was founded in 2013 and has 21 chapters across the Commonwealth.
Gintautas Dumcius, “Why are so many amendments being withdrawn on Beacon Hill?,” CommonWealth Beacon, July 30, 2024.
“It’s an idiosyncrasy that drives some crazy, while others say it’s just pols being pols. The quirk isn’t limited to the Senate. Progressive Massachusetts noted that the House’s version of a climate bill drew 107 amendments, and 91 ended up withdrawn. “Our great deliberative body,” the advocacy group sarcastically posted last month to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
According to Jonathan Cohn, the group’s policy director, the strategic case for moving a policy issue forward by taking to the floor via an amendment, even if it gets withdrawn, rests on the idea that enough people see or hear the speeches. “I don’t mean to burst the bubble of legislators, but people don’t watch it,” he said. Writing an opinion piece has more impact than a floor speech, which he likened to “fan service.”
“Filing an amendment, getting a handful of supporters and then saying, ‘I’m done, I’m withdrawing it,’ doesn’t move the ball forward,” Cohn added.
It also highlights the decline of debates. As the State House News Service summary of the Senate’s passage of a housing bill noted, “There was little disagreement and few divided votes.”
Beacon Hill observers say some lawmakers would prefer not to be put on the record about a topic that could cost them support, or even worse, reelection. That amounts to an “incumbent protection racket,” Cohn said.”
Although Massachusetts has a full-time legislature, the formal Legislative Session will end tomorrow.
After tomorrow (well, after the wee hours of Thursday morning), the State House will not likely be taking any more recorded votes for the rest of 2024.
As we noted last week, many important priorities are still in play. If you haven’t contacted your legislators yet, now is the best time.
Here’s what you can do:
And whichever action or actions you take, make sure to share it with your networks too to keep the momentum going. In solidarity,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
Last week, the Healey administration announced that it would limit stays in overflow shelters to five days beginning August 1st (this Thursday).
We can’t turn our back on our state’s right to shelter law (a law in which we should take pride), and we can’t turn our back on families seeking help. It’s simple: an affluent state like Massachusetts should not be kicking out families and young children to live on the streets.
Everyone in Massachusetts should be able to choose where they give birth and the type of maternity care that is most appropriate for their needs. Unfortunately, our state currently lags the nation when it comes to access to midwives, birth centers, home birth, and integration of care — models that can reverse our rising maternal mortality and growing racial inequities in birth outcomes.
The Senate will be taking up legislation today on maternal health justice. Join the Bay State Birth Coalition in advocating for a strong bill.
July 27, 2024
To the Conferees: Chair Barrett, Chair Roy, Majority Leader Creem, Vice Chair Haggerty, and Ranking Members and Minority Leaders Tarr and Jones,
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.
Thank you for your work in negotiating a final version of climate legislation, reconciling S.2838 and H.4884.
This past Monday was the hottest day on record, according to a European climate service. The urgency around robust and equitable climate action could not be clearer.
Massachusetts has in recent years made important commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the recommendations of the International Panel on Climate Change and the Paris Climate Agreement. Setting targets is critical, but meeting them requires real work, consisting of the decarbonization of all sectors of our economy. And we must do this work in a way that does not reproduce the inequities endemic to the fossil fuel economy from which we must transition away.
We urge you to include the following provisions of the Senate or House bills in the final legislation you produce:
In short, as the Department of Public Utilities made clear back in December, there cannot be a future for gas in Massachusetts. The DPU can only do so much on its own, and we need legislative action.
Similarly, we echo the demands of the Mass Power Forward coalition to include the following in a final bill:
Thank you again for your work on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
The best time to contact your legislators is yesterday. The second best time is today.
That’s because time is short. The current legislative session will wrap up next Wednesday, and major decisions will be made between now and then.
As I noted in Monday’s update, this email will be longer than I’d like. That’s because our Legislature, despite being a full-time body, has the tendency to push off everything to the last month, last weeks, even last day of the legislative session. The public deserves a better process, and I’m sure most legislators would prefer one too.
But we wanted to keep you in the loop about what’s happening and what you can do. There will be an array of actions you can take: make a plan to choose at least one action step, and talk to friends about it.
Here’s what you can do:
Make sure to check out our blog for other updates, and stay tuned for action steps. Many bills move quickly at the end of the session (Example: We just learned that the Senate is taking up an important maternal health bill next Tuesday.) In solidarity,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
On July 11, during the debate on its economic development, the MA Senate voted 31 to 9 to keep 18-year-olds out of the adult prison system.
Shifting legal system-involved youth from the adult criminal legal system into the juvenile system improves young people’s access to education and skills training, even if they are never incarcerated. Young people’s prosecution as adults during their late adolescence derails their education, which can have serious effects on their ability to attain employment during these critical adolescent years, diminishing their lifetime earnings, and preventing them from contributing fully to the Massachusetts economy.
The economic development bill is now in Conference Committee, where three senators and three representatives will negotiate a final bill. Here’s what you can do:
Last month, the MA House and MA Senate passed versions of Governor Maura Healey’s Affordable Homes Act.
WHAT HAPPENED: Like Healey’s original version of the bill, both bills established an Office of Fair Housing, legalized accessory dwelling units in single-family zoning districts without undue restrictions, streamlined the use of state-owned land for housing, and increased the bond authorizations for public housing, building decarbonization, and many more housing initiatives. Unfortunately, however, both chambers caved to the real estate lobby and axed the widely popular local option real estate transfer fee (which would have allowed cities and towns to raise extra money to invest in affordable housing).
But the two bills had a number of differences, and a Conference Committee of three senators and three representatives are negotiating final details.
WHAT IS AT STAKE: We have a displacement crisis in Massachusetts, and it is essential that the final version of the Affordable Homes Act contain policies to help renters and working-class homeowners.
A Conference Committee of three state senators and three state representatives are negotiating the final details of the bill.
If we are to make a dent at addressing the affordable housing crisis, we need more investment, we need more housing production, and we need policies to prevent displacement. The Legislature shouldn’t leave out that critical final piece.
You can also email them directly and cc your own legislators, using the following emails:
Last week, the House took up its climate omnibus bill. While the bill contains a number of important reforms, it lacks the ambition of the Senate’s recent bill, which did far more to accelerate the transition away from gas. And the Senate’s bill still hadn’t gone far enough to meet the moment, especially around environmental justice.
Mass Power Forward, the coalition of climate justice advocacy groups, is asking people to email the six-person Conference Committee finalizing the details of this bill. Here is a template you can use:
TO: Jeffrey.Roy@mahouse.gov, Mike.Barrett@masenate.gov, Cynthia.Creem@masenate.gov, richard.haggerty@mahouse.gov, Bruce.Tarr@masenate.gov, Bradley.Jones@mahouse.gov
CC: YOUR LEGISLATORS Find their email here.
SUBJECT: We Need a Strong and Just Climate Bill
Dear Conferees:
I am writing to you regarding the Climate Omnibus bill. Both the Senate and the House bills are missing critical pieces. In particular, we need a robust cumulative impact analysis in line with current practice and a halt on new gas expansion. Please see this letter for further details.
This is important to me because
Best,
NAME
Last session, the MA Legislature passed a moratorium on new prison and jail construction, only for then Republican governor Charlie Baker to veto it.
New session, new opportunity. But time is running short.
The Prison Moratorium bill (S2821), which would put a five-year pause on the construction of new prisons and jails, was reported favorably out of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee. It needs to get a vote on the floor by next Wednesday.
Families for Justice as Healing is asking that people contact the two Ways & Means chairs in support of this critical bill:
✩ House Chair Aaron Michlewitz
(617) 722-2990
Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
✩ Senate Chair Michael Rodrigues
(617) 722-1114
Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov
Email/call script: “Hello, my name is _______ and I am calling to ask the Chairman to please bring the Prison Moratorium bill S.2821 of Ways and Means to the floor for a vote. Both chambers of the legislature already passed the Prison Moratorium last session, and the State Admin Committee worked hard to clarify the language so it’s even more clear that repairs can still be made for the wellbeing of incarcerated people. Passing the Prison Moratorium is a top priority for me, and this bill is supported by incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, community members from all over the state, clergy and faith leaders, public health experts, social workers, and medical providers. Please Pass the Prison Moratorium before the end of the session. Thank you.”
On July 23rd, Governor Healey announced changes to the Emergency Assistance (EA) family shelter system that will force children and their families out with no safe place to sleep at night. Families who are deemed eligible for shelter will now be forced to choose: wait in an unsafe place for a shelter placement or stay for 5 nights in a state-run overflow site but then wait at least 6 months to access EA shelter. This policy change will disproportionately impact immigrant families, both new arrivals and long-term Massachusetts residents.
Join our allies from the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless in front of the State House on Monday, July 29th, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. to call on the Governor and Legislature to uphold access to shelter for children and families.
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Last October, the MA House voted on a gun safety bill, and then the MA Senate did in February. After many months in Conference Committee, the House and Senate finally came to a consensus on a bill.
The House and Senate voted last Thursday to pass it, 35 to 5 in the Senate and 124 to 33 in the House.
Governor Healey signed the bill yesterday.
Here’s what the bill does (credit to the Mass Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence for all their advocacy and for the write-up that part of the following is derived from):
Data Collection
Licensing
Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO)
Training Requirements
Ghost Guns
Semiautomatic/Automatic Weapons
Community Violence Prevention
Sensitive Spaces
Yesterday, the MA Senate voted 38 to 2 and the House 153 to 5 for the final language of legislation to require all employers with 25+ employees to post salary ranges for positions they are advertising.
Here’s what the bill would do (courtesy of WBUR):
July 25, 2024
To the Conferees:
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.
Thank you for your work in negotiating a final version of the economic development bill.
I am writing today to express our strong support for sections 4, 6, 101, 102, 114, 165-169, 179-218, 254, and 257-280 of S.2869. These sections would raise the age of criminal responsibility to 19, thereby ensuring that 18-year-olds are kept out of the adult prison system.
This reform is good for public safety, good for the economy, and good for advancing racial equality in the commonwealth.
Public Safety: An overly punitive approach towards young people increases recidivism by taking away access to education and other supports that are vital to rehabilitation and smooth re-entry. 18-year-olds are, let’s remember, largely high school seniors. We want everyone to be able to finish high school, and we can best achieve educational outcomes by ensuring that young people are in an environment set up for that. Education and supportive services are essential for young people to become stable, contributing adults, and that is essential to community stability.
Economy: Involvement with the adult legal system creates significant barriers for young people in obtaining education, skill-building, and career development opportunities. Keeping 18-year-olds out of the adult system will help them to better achieve their full economic potential, and when that happens, we all benefit.
Racial Equity: Legal system involvement is concentrated in particular communities — especially low-income, Black, and brown communities. When we cut off economic opportunity from Black and Brown youth, both as teenagers and—as a result—as adults, we are exacerbating the racial wealth gap in Massachusetts and compounding deeply rooted inequalities.
Massachusetts has the opportunity to make our communities safer, our economy stronger, and our commonwealth more equitable. We urge you to take it.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
The Massachusetts state primary is Tuesday September 3, the day after Labor Day. That’s 6 weeks away. And that will go by fast.
In April, our Elections and Endorsements Committee began sending our comprehensive policy questionnaire to candidates running in contested races for MA House and MA Senate. We view these questionnaires as a vital opportunity to educate candidates about issues that matter to progressive voters, get candidates on record, and create a more informed and engaged electorate. Read questionnaires we’ve received (for legislative, county, and Governor’s Council races) here.
The Committee reviewed them in May, interviewed candidates, and deliberated to make recommendations. And then we surveyed our members because, as an organization committed to democracy, all of our endorsements must ultimately be approved by our members.
Last month, we announced our first round of endorsements — read more about the candidates here.
And we are proud to share our second round of endorsements for the 2024 cycle. Read more about them below.
Tara Hong is a Cambodian immigrant and a community activist in Lowell, and he has been endorsed by our chapter Solidarity Lowell. He is the former Civic Engagement Coordinator at the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and has served on the board of the Lowell Litter Krewe and Mill City Grows, making sure Lowell is a more sustainable and equitable city. He is running on a strong progressive platform, rooted in transparency, affordable housing, and bold climate action. Learn more about Tara at https://www.tarahong.com/.
Zayda Ortiz is a community organizer in Malden who has been a leader within Indivisible and Progressive Mass. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she has been a strong advocate for immigrants’ rights and for anti-racist education. She has complemented policy advocacy with committed work in mutual aid, organizing with Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors during the peak of the COVID pandemic to ensure that people’s basic needs were met. She is ready to bring this combination of policy ambition and constituent focus to the State House. Learn more about Zayda at https://electzayda.com/.
What is the Governor’s Council and why you should care: The Massachusetts Governor’s Council consists of eight individuals elected from districts each consisting of five state senate districts. The Council is responsible for confirming judges and members of the Parole Board, among other nominees, and of approving pardons and commutations. If you care about the present and future of courts in Massachusetts, then you should care about the Governor’s Council.
Want to learn more about what the office does? The League of Women Voters has an event next Tuesday (7/30) on “Who Governs the Governor’s Council?”.
Mara Dolan is a public defender who has seen up close the injustices of the court system and the Parole Board. She is committed to ensuring that our judges uphold reproductive rights and that they better understand the science of brain development and addiction. Mara knows that the Governor’s Council can play a key role in ending mass incarceration and also wants to boost the public understanding of the office itself, which is too often overlooked. Learn more about Mara at https://maradolan.com/.
Dr. Stacey Borden is the founder and director of New Beginnings Reentry Services and someone who has been fighting for better supports for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and girls. As a Black woman and a formerly incarcerated woman, Stacey brings vital perspectives that have never been represented on the Governor’s Council. Stacey’s work has emphasized the importance of building power in Black and Brown communities blended advocacy, rehabilitation, and systemic change. Learn more about Stacey at https://www.stacey4governorscouncil.com/.
