Wanted: Bold Climate Action

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.

The process in the House was also emblematic of the chamber’s democracy deficit: of 107 amendments filed, 91 were withdrawn, and the handful that were adopted were watered down. What we see time and time again in the MA Legislature is that bad process leads to bad outcomes.

To read more about this, check out blog posts from Jess Nahigian at the Sierra Club and Dan Zackin at 350 Mass.

The Mass Power Forward coalition will be hosting rallies at the State House from through next Wednesday (7/31). You can sign up to join a rally here.

Better Late Than Never: House and Senate Pass Final FY 2025 Budget, Sending it to the Governor

At the end of last week, the MA House and Senate agreed to a final version of the FY 2025 budget. There are a number of big wins (but some disappointments) in it.

What We’re Excited About:

  • $170 million for universal school meals
  • $117.5 million for tuition-free community college
  • Major steps to deliver affordable, high-quality education and child care that will mean more stable funding for providers, better pay for educators, and more affordability for families
  • Continued funding for fare-free transit in Regional Transit Authorities
  • An access to counsel pilot program that will provide legal representation for low-income tenants
  • Increased cash assistance for families, seniors, and people with disabilities in poverty
  • Continued work to replace our state flag and seal

Click here to see how the full $1.3 Billion in new Fair Share revenue was allocated by the House and the Senate — new investments that you made possible by volunteering and voting for the Fair Share campaign in 2022.

What We’re Disappointed About:

  • That only $10 million was provided for the implementation of free calls in prisons and jails (No Cost Calls), well below the $35 million allocated in the Governor’s budget and the House budget
  • The exclusion of stronger reporting requirements for No Cost Calls implementation passed by the Senate
  • The exclusion of a key voting reform to delink the municipal census from voter registration passed by the Senate
  • The legalization of online lottery sales, which is an extremely regressive way of raising revenue

The budget now goes to the Governor to sign.

TAKE ACTION: The MA Senate must pass critical maternal health legislation

The clock is ticking. The current formal legislative session at the State House ends in less than two weeks. And there is a lot still pending.

Today, we’re asking you to take action in support of two bills of critical importance to women’s health:

  • A maternal health bill that passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate
  • The prison moratorium bill which passed last session but is still in committee with the clock ticking

The MA Senate Must Act on Maternal Health

Massachusetts families deserve a better maternal health care system. We have waited long enough for greater access to midwifery care, out-of-hospital birth options including birth centers and home births, pregnancy loss leave, public health data collection, coverage for donor milk, and so many more important provisions in this bill. The Massachusetts House passed a comprehensive Maternal Health Bill unanimously on June 20. The Senate needs to take action now — and by July 31.

Can you email your state senator in support of long-overdue legislation to expand access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options?

Tell the Ways & Means Committee: Pass the Prison Moratorium

Let’s be blunt: prisons and jails are among the least healthy places. Despite rhetoric around rehabilitation, they are routinely places of retribution where people are denied necessary care.

Two years ago, the MA Legislature passed a moratorium on new prison and jail construction, but it was blocked by Governor Charlie Baker’s veto.

The organizing hasn’t stopped. Earlier this session, we saw moving testimony from women in MCI-Framingham who were able to participate virtually in hearings and speak directly to committees in the Legislature about why MA doesn’t need a new women’s prison — but instead needs greater investment in supportive services.

The prison moratorium bill is currently sitting in the Ways & Means Committee, awaiting action. Use this guide from Families for Justice as Healing to call the committee and urge them to pass the prison moratorium.

TAKE ACTION: Critical Housing and Climate Policies at Stake

The clock is ticking. The current formal legislative session at the State House ends in just two weeks. And there is a lot still pending.

Take action in support of strong action on our housing crisis and on the climate crisis with the tools and templates below.

The Affordable Homes Act Must Support Renters

WHAT HAPPENED SO FAR: Last month, the MA House and MA Senate passed versions of Governor Maura Healey’s Affordable Homes Act.

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:

  • Creating a process for sealing eviction records (Senate bill)
  • Banning brokers’ fees (Senate bill)
  • Establishing a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase local option (House bill)
  • Creating a Foreclosure Mediation Pilot Program (Senate 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.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send an email to the Affordable Homes Act Conference Committee:

  • Senator Lydia Edwards
  • Senator William Brownsberger
  • Senator Peter Durant
  • Representative James Arciero
  • Representative Aaron Michlewitz
  • Representative David DeCoste

You can use the template hereor customize your own email (and then cc your own legislators).

The House Can Strengthen Its Climate Bill

The House will be voting today on its climate omnibus bill (H.4876), which addresses the difficulties of connecting local clean energy projects to the grid.

Take a few minutes to write to your state rep in support of Mass Power Forward priority amendments:

  • Amendment #17 Protecting consumers and communities from new, large gas pipeline expansions (Williams), which would end Energy Facilities Siting Board approval of new, large, polluting gas pipeline expansions which, if constructed, will adversely affect ratepayers, the health and safety of Massachusetts residents, and the climate.
  • Amendment #15 Improving Air Quality in Environmental Justice Communities (Barber), which would create a technical advisory committee for air quality and direct the Department of Environmental Protection to identify at least 8 pollution hot spots, install air monitors there, and provide recommendations for how to reduce air pollution there by 50% by 2030.

Mass Power Forward also has a handy action guide as well that you can use.

End of Session Letter on Criminal Justice Reform

July 15, 2024

Via Electronic Mail

Senator Karen Spilka

President of the Senate

Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov

Representative Ronald Mariano

Speaker of the House

Ronald.Mariano@mahouse.gov

Representative Aaron Michlewitz

Chairperson, House Committee on Ways and Means

Chairperson, Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov

Senator Michael Rodrigues

Chairperson, Senate Committee on Ways and Means

Chairperson, Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov

Representative John Lawn, Jr. 

Chairperson, Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing

John.Lawn@mahouse.gov

Senator Cindy Friedman

Chairperson, Joint Committee on Health Care Financing

Vice Chair, Senate Committee on Ways and Means

Vice Chair, Joint Committee on Ways and Means

Cindy.Friedman@masenate.gov

RE: 36 Organizations Urge Support of Criminal Legal System Reform

Dear Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chair Michlewitz, Chair Rodrigues, Chair Lawn, and Chair Friedman:

We are a coalition of 36 advocacy organizations focused on improving public health and safety through corrections system reform. We are heartened that several important and broadly supported criminal legal reform policies were advanced out of committee, reflecting the legislature’s commitment to the well-being of incarcerated people and our communities. We believe that now is the time to move these bills to the floor, all of which would affirm the human rights of incarcerated individuals, prepare them for successful re-entry, reduce racial inequity, and promote the health and safety of our communities. Passing these bills is especially important in this moment of transition at the Department of Correction — we have an opportunity to reshape correctional culture in a way that is more conducive to rehabilitation, prioritizes continuing to safely reduce the prison population, and improves transitions back to the community. We urge you to bring the following bills to floor votes with enough time before the end of the session to ensure that if there is a veto, there is time to override.

Currently in the Joint Committee for Health Care Finance

  • An Act to ensure appropriate access to medical parole,  H.2319 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security): This bill would carry forward the promise of medical parole, which was established by the 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act (CJRA). It clarifies language to ensure that people with cognitive incapacitations have access to the process, reduces delays, and provides for appropriate parole supervision and judicial review. 

Currently in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means

  • An Act establishing a jail and prison construction moratorium, S.2821 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight): Amidst a record low and declining prison and jail population, this bill would establish a five year pause on prison and jail construction and expansion so we can focus on further reducing the number of people in prisons and jails, implementing alternatives to incarceration, and investing in communities. The bill will not prevent essential repairs. The legislature passed a previous version of this bill last session, but it was vetoed by the previous administration. 
  • An Act to promote rehabilitation including guaranteed health, treatment, and safety for incarcerated LGBTQI+ People, S.1499 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security): This bill promotes the health and safety of LGBTQI+ incarcerated people.
  • An Act transferring Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Mental Health, S.1239/ H.2985 (reported out favorably from the Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery) This bill will address enduring issues with mental health care by transferring operation and oversight of Bridgewater State Hospital to the Department of Mental Health (DMH) from the Department of Correction (DOC).

Currently in the House Committee on Ways and Means

  • An Act related to rehabilitation, re-entry, and human rights for incarcerated persons, H.2325 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security): This bill would establish universal baseline standards for conditions of confinement for everyone incarcerated in Massachusetts state prisons, county jails, and houses of correction. The standards would actualize reforms to restrictive housing enshrined in the CJRA, reduce the harm incarcerated people experience and help support successful re-entry into the community. 
  • An Act to strengthen family and community connection with incarcerated people, H.2314 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security): This bill rolls back unnecessary restrictions on prison and jail visitation, which is a critical system for maintaining community connections and supporting successful re-entry.
  • An Act establishing parole review for aging incarcerated people, H.2397 (reported favorably from the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security): While the prison population overall is decreasing, the percentage of the population who are elderly is increasing. This bill would provide an opportunity for parole for all incarcerated people over the age of 55 who have already served half of their sentence or at least 15 years. 
  • An Act ensuring access to addiction services, H.1966/S.1247 (reported favorably from the committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery): This bill would end the practice of incarcerating men who have not been convicted of any crime but who have been civilly committed for involuntary treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders under M.G.L. chapter 123, section 35 (also known as “Section 35”). 

Currently in the Budget Conference Committee

  • Ensuring full implementation of No Cost Calls: Last year, Massachusetts passed legislation to guarantee free communication between incarcerated individuals and their loved ones (“No Cost Calls”). This policy has already improved vital community connections for incarcerated people and their families. To continue this progress and ensure effective implementation, we need both dedicated funding and robust reporting by the Department of Correction and County Sheriffs. We ask the budget conference committee to dedicate $35M in the Communications Access Trust Fund for No Cost Calls in prisons and jails (item 1595-6153 in the House FY 2025 budget proposal) and to make technical fixes to the reporting requirements, so that policymakers have the information they need to effectively monitor the No Cost Calls law (Section 29 A&B of the Senate FY 2025 budget proposal).

Together, the above bills will create effective implementation of existing law, advance human rights,  improve conditions of confinement, promote successful re-entry, provide meaningful pathways to safe release for elderly people and those who are very sick or incapacitated, and help to ensure that we invest commonwealth resources in our communities. 

As the formal session enters its last weeks, we strongly believe that there is still time to meaningfully reform our corrections system to further public health and safety, reduce racial inequity, and support commonwealth communities. Indeed, we believe it is urgent to do so.

Thank you for your time and attention to these important issues. 

Sincerely,

Abolitionist Mail Project

ACLU of Massachusetts

Actual Criminal Justice Roundtable of the Southern New England United Church of Christ

Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network (BIJAN) 

Bristol County for Correctional Justice

Campaign to End Life Without Parole (CELWOP)

Coalition for Effective Public Safety (CEPS) Steering Committee

Coalition for Social Justice Action

Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund

Color Of Change

Committee for Public Counsel Services

CORI Initiative, Center for Law & Social Responsibility at New England Law | Boston

Decarcerate Western MA Bailout Project

DeeperThanWater Coalition

Disability Law Center

Drop LWOP New England

F8 Foundation

Families for Justice as Healing

First Parish Brookline, Unitarian Universalist

First Parish Concord, Unitarian Universalist 

First Parish in Bedford, Unitarian Universalist

Greater Boston Legal Services CORI & Re-entry Project

Human Rights at Home Clinic, UMass Law School

Jane Doe Inc., The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee

Massachusetts Against Solitary Confinement (MASC)

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health

Massachusetts Parole Preparation Partnership

Massachusetts Peace Action

Prison Policy Initiative

Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts

Progressive Massachusetts 

Real Cost of Prisons Project

Showing Up for Racial Justice Boston

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

Unitarian Universalist Mass Action

Women and Incarceration Project

Letter to the Conferees on the Affordable Homes Act

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. 

Massachusetts faces a growing affordable housing crisis. To rent the average 2-bedroom apartment in Massachusetts requires an income equal to $37.97 per hour, more than twice the minimum wage. Home ownership has become increasingly out of reach, as the state’s median home price has passed $600,000. The high cost of housing has led to displacement, and in a growing number of municipalities, the local workforce can no longer afford to live there.

We are grateful for the work spent on the Affordable Homes Act (H.4726) this session, as it contains a number of critically important tools for addressing this affordability crisis. 

We appreciate the inclusion in both chambers’ bills of provisions such as legalizing accessory dwelling units as of right with minimal restrictions (Sections 7 & 8 of the House bill,  Sections 10 & 11 of the Senate bill), streamlining the process for using surplus state-owned land for housing (Section 105 in the House bill, Section 135 in the Senate bill), and creating an Office of Fair Housing (Section 5 of the House bill, Section 8 of the Senate bill). 

When negotiating a final version of this bill, we urge you to incorporate the great ideas present in both bills, notably the following:

  • Eviction Sealing Protections (Section 66 of the Senate bill), which would provide tenants with the ability to seal an eviction record in certain types of cases at certain times. Right now, there is nothing tenants in Massachusetts can do to seal an eviction record—even if they did nothing wrong, won the case, or paid off any rent due. The moment an eviction case is filed—regardless of the reason or the outcome—a tenant has a permanent and publicly available eviction record on the Trial Court’s website that creates a significant barrier to finding a next place to live.
  • Tenant Opportunity to Purchase local option (Section 36D of the House bill), which would provide cities and towns the ability to pass ordinances to give tenants the right to buy their buildings by matching a third-party offer when their building goes up for sale. TOPA gives tenants, or a non-profit they designate, a chance of becoming owners of their homes, preserving affordability and requiring no loss of profit to the seller. 
  • Banning Broker’s fees (Section 37 of the Senate bill), which would ensure that renters are not burdened with unreasonable costs and would promote transparency and fairness in real estate transactions. As tenants struggle to afford to rent in our increasingly unaffordable housing market, brokers’ fees can make housing options unattainable due to the increase in upfront costs required. A renter who moves every few years could have to pay such costs each time, and tenants on housing vouchers face restricted housing options due to the barriers these fees create. Moreover, MA is an outlier, as in most states landlords have to bear the full fee. The Boston Globe has excellent recent reporting on this issue: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/10/business/rental-brokers-boston-september-leases/. 
  • Foreclosure Mediation Pilot Program (Section 150 of the Senate bill), which would help ensure housing stability. Under mediation, a homeowner and lender meet face-to-face with a mediator and discuss how to address a default. Sixteen states and DC have already adopted this proven policy. This excellent Boston Globe article underscores the importance of such a program: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/07/12/opinion/homeowners-foreclosure-mediation-legislature/. We also echo the call for minor modifications to the language as urged by the Homes for All coalition. 
  • Inclusionary Zoning by Simple Majority (Section 13 of the Senate bill), which would allow cities and towns to pass, by simple majority, ordinances that require up to and including 13% of new units be affordable. Inclusionary zoning helps increase the economic diversity of affluent communities and expand affordable housing options. 
  • Small Properties Acquisition Fund (Line Item 7004-0073, line 312, in the Senate bill), which provides not less than $10,000,000 for a Small Properties Acquisition Funding Pilot established in item 1599-6084 of section 2A of the Acts of 2022. This would provide subsidies for nonprofit acquisition of homes from the market, and by including funding for the production of affordable homeownership units that can be kept affordable in perpetuity.
  • Housing Shortage Commission (Section 142 of the Senate bill), which would establish a commission to produce a report about policies that can provide sustainable and equitable housing solutions to: (i) improve housing production; (ii) address racial wealth disparities in housing; (iii) ensure regional equity in housing; and (iv) prevent chronic homelessness, with the commission’s purview including studying a transfer fee, a vacancy tax, a blight tax, an increase in the excise tax, and community land trusts. 

We hope that these measures will find your support. Poll after poll shows that voters across the Commonwealth want comprehensive action on housing, and this bill can be an important step forward. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn 

Policy Director 

Progressive Massachusetts 

MA Senate Passes Raise the Age via Economic Development Bill

On Thursday, during the long debate on the MA Senate’s economic development bill, the chamber voted 31 to 9 to increase the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include 18-year-olds—keeping high school seniors out of the adult prison system.

Although the Raise the Age bill would have gone all the way to 21, this is still a major win, and research has shown that allowing emerging adults to be tried as juveniles decreases crime, improves public safety, and is good for creating economic opportunity. In the juvenile system, there is better access to education and support resources, and there are also better mechanisms for record sealing.

Voting against the measure were the chamber’s four Republicans as well as Democrats Nick Collins (D-South Boston), John Cronin (D-Fitchburg), Michael Moore (D-Auburn), Walter Timilty (D-Milton), and John Velis (D-Westfield).

There were four other recorded votes during the debate.

  • A party line 35 to 4 vote to enhance local public health infrastructure and service delivery.
  • A 6-33 vote on an amendment from Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) to expand corporate tax exemptions. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and Walter Timilty (D-Milton) joined the chamber’s four Republicans.
  • A 5-34 vote to lower the capital gains tax and drain much-needed revenue. Timilty again joined the chamber’s four Republicans.

Final Weeks of the Legislative Session: Here’s How to Take Action

Three weeks from this Thursday (i.e., August 1st), the MA Legislature will go on break for the rest of the year.

That means that it’s crunch time: all of the policymaking that should have already happened over the pats 18 months will happen in just over three weeks.

That also means that it’s especially important for your legislators to hear from you so that our priorities can cut through the noise.

Read on for an email to your state rep and an email to your state senator to send this week and share.

Thank you for all you do.

In solidarity, Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts

Tell Your State Rep: MA Wants Bold Climate Action

This summer has already seen some heat records broken, and we should expect more. Climate change isn’t just an issue for the future; it’s here today, and it’s urgent that our elected officials act with the urgency the situation requires.

On June 25, the Senate passed Bill S.2838, An Act Upgrading the Grid and Protecting Ratepayers. While the bill makes some strides towards dismantling the gas system, it left out key demands of Environmental Justice communities across Massachusetts such as:

  1. A robust cumulative impact analysis tied to siting approval
  2. Ending the expansion of large gas pipelines
  3. Clean indoor and outdoor air

Email your state rep today in support of bold and equitable climate action before the legislative session runs out!

And here’s more: Join the MA Youth Climate Coalition and Mass Power Forward coalitions for a climate justice rally this Saturday at 1 pm at the Boston Common Bandstand.

Tell Your State Senator: Strengthen Privacy Rights

Currently, there is no law in Massachusetts or federally to prevent the sale and purchase of cell phone location data. Every day, companies collect and sell sensitive location information from cell phones, revealing information about where we live, work, and socialize.

Here’s just one example: Politico recently reported that a data broker company tracked people’s visits to nearly 600 Planned Parenthood clinics in 48 states, including Massachusetts. The company sold that data to inform one of the largest anti-abortion ad campaigns targeting specific individuals. If anti-abortion extremists can use cellphone location data to target abortion seekers with ads, they can also use that data to target, harass, or threaten patients and providers in our state.

There is a bill to fix this: the Location Shield Act, which would ban the sale of cellphone location data to protect the privacy and safety of all Massachusetts residents.  

The MA House is planning to vote on a narrowed version of this bill this week. It’s vital that the Senate take up the Location Shield Act so that MA can be a leader on protecting privacy rights.

Can you email your state senator in support?

The Legislative Session Ends in Four Weeks. Here’s What’s Left

State House at night

Four weeks. 

That’s how much time is left in the current formal legislative session in the MA State House. The session will technically continue until the very beginning of January, but the Legislature is unlikely to take up any non-controversial bills after July 31. 

In 2024 so far (the second year of the legislative session), 122 bills have been signed into law. 116 of those 122 were about either one city, one town, one person, or–in one case–two towns. 

Here are the other 6: 

  • Becoming the 49th state to criminalize revenge porn
  • Passing a supplemental budget that imposed cruel limits on shelter stays
  • Authorizing the state to borrow $400 million over the next two fiscal years to finance improvements for municipal roads and bridges — and then establishing that said bonds shall be payable not later than June 30, 2059
  • Establishing a Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week and a Noah Fernandes Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Day
  • A short-term budget to address the fact that they haven’t passed a budget yet 

That means that there is a LOT left to do in this final month. 

What can you do now? 

You might be seeing your legislators at the local July 4th parade or festival. Make sure that they know you are paying attention and want the Legislature to take action on these many pending issues. And then after you enjoy the holiday, stay tuned for actions and events on how to build momentum in these final weeks. 

Where do things stand? 

The House and Senate have ongoing negotiations (“Conference Committees”) to finalize several bills: 

Added to that list soon will be the Affordable Homes Act, which the House passed in early June and the Senate passed last week. 

What else is still in play? 

Several bills have passed one chamber but not the other. Just over the past couple of weeks, the Senate recently passed a plastics reduction bill and a climate omnibus bill, and the House passed a maternal health bill as well as an economic development bill. 

The Senate has also passed bills to allow for gender-neutral state IDs, to make it easier for unhoused individuals to get state IDs, to require school districts that teach sex ed to use comprehensive, medically accurate curricula, to strengthen our child care and early education infrastructure (a fight also happening through the budget), and to control some prescription drug prices. The House also passed a hospital regulation bill and a long overdue update to parentage laws. 

Some important bills have gotten out of committee, awaiting further action. Here are a few: 

And others are sitting in committee, still alive but awaiting action, such as legislation to raise the age of criminal majority in order to keep teenagers out of adult prisons. 

What should you take away? 

What we should always remember is that we have a full-time legislature and the second largest Democratic supermajorities in the country (and a Democratic trifecta). Our Legislature can and should be ambitious and comprehensive in its policymaking, not procrastinating or playing catch-up. Everything mentioned in this email is something the Legislature can and should do, with the only limitations being those they impose on themselves. 

The State Budget Is Late Again. That Means You Can Still Contact Your Legislators.

Happy July!

July means warm weather, vacations, and picnics, but it is also thestart of the new fiscal year. And, as has been the case each year for over a decade, Massachusetts is without a budget, as the MA Senate and MA House are still stuck in negotiations about final details.

These recurring delays are bad for the commonwealth, as they harm the ability of cities, towns, and departments to plan. In short, we all deserve better.

But when they delay, that also means that you have more time to contact them, so take advantage of that.

Can you email your state legislators today about key budget priorities?

Here are some of the important provisions being negotiated as you read this email:

  • Early Education and Child Care: Advancing the Common Start vision of a more robust early education and child care infrastructure with greater stability for providers, better pay for educators, and more affordability for families, as reflected by various parts of both the House and Senate budget
  • Universal School Meals: Fully funding universal school meals
  • Access to Counsel: Implementing a statewide Access to Counsel pilot program to increase access to legal representation for low-income tenants and low-income owner occupants in eviction proceedings
  • Cash Assistance for Low-Income Families: Increasing cash assistance for the families most in need
  • No Cost Calls Funding: Creating a dedicated funding source for implementing no–cost calls in prisons and jails
  • No Cost Calls Reporting: Fixing No Cost Calls reporting requirements so that policymakers have the information they need to effectively monitor free communication
  • Voting Access: Eliminating barriers to voting access by ending MA’s outlier status as the only state where if a voter doesn’t return the annual municipal census, they’re placed on the Inactive Voter list
  • New Flag, Seal, & Motto: Continuing the work to develop a new state flag, seal, and motto

Can you email your state legislators today about key budget priorities?