It’s time to spring into action. Here are some upcoming events to put on your calendar.
Saturday, 3/26: Progressive Mass Spring Statewide Candidate Interviews
2022 is a busy year, with open AG and Auditor races and a contested Secretary of the Commonwealth race.
Join fellow activists across Massachusetts on Saturday, March 26, from 1 pm to 4 pm, as we interview candidates for these offices about how they will advance a progressive agenda.
Immigrants’ Day at the State House is an annual tradition from our ally MIRA, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. Each spring, MIRA brings together hundreds of immigrants and refugees to the State House to hear from public officials and advocate for legislative and budget priorities.
The event will be held in a virtual space for safety and public health reasons, with a speaking program with built-in digital advocacy opportunities, followed by regional “roundtables” with legislators co-hosted by MIRA member organizations.
Join us to advocate for our pro-immigrant budget and legislative agenda. The event will focus on the Safe Communities Act, the Work and Family Mobility Act, the Language Access and Inclusion Act, the COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Act, and several budget line-items.
Saturday, April 9: Spring into Action for Common Start
Join the Common Start Coalition to celebrate the milestones of the campaign and to hear how
YOU can help us ensure a stronger future for every child!
Saturday, April 9, 11 am to 1 pm, Boston Common
In addition to learning more about our next steps, the day will include opportunities for child and family fun! Buses to the Boston Common will be provided from certain areas. Stay tuned for more details!
The risk of election crisis in 2022 and 2024 is high and rising. A large percentage of voters believe that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen, dozens of state-level bills have passed that will facilitate partisan interference in election results, and a campaign of threats and intimidation is driving an exodus of experienced election officials.
In this talk, Alexandra Chandler (former Congressional candidate, now working at Protect Democracy) will outline the core threats to U.S. elections and the potential for election subversion, how these threats and changes in voting access increase the risk level and change the playing field, but also why there is cause for hope and what folks can do to take action to reduce the risk of election crisis and other dangers to our democracy in 2022, 2024, and beyond.
Email us at contact@solidaritylowell.com to find out how to join the meeting.
Progressive Massachusetts stands in solidarity with the Boston area Starbucks baristas who are joining together and standing up for their right as workers to form a union.
Our founding belief is that we all do better when we all do better. Labor unions serve as powerful embodiments of that ethos, providing workers with a greater voice and greater economic security through collective agency.
We call upon Starbucks management to accept their workers’ decision to unionize and to refrain from union-busting tactics that pressure workers to vote No. Starbucks has gained a reputation as a socially responsible company, and we ask management to live up to their professed ethos and treat workers asking for a union with respect and dignity, not coercion and retaliation.
Jonathan Cohn and Kristina Mensik in CommonWealth:
“House leadership and members must vote to include same-day registration and strong jail-based voting reforms in the VOTES Act so that we can guarantee that no eligible voter who wants to participate in our democratic process gets turned away. Then, it’s time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and work on the harder, and year-round, task of increasing the number of people who want to participate in the first place.”
For me,
Accountability is Action –
So, take a fraction
Of your time
To learn what is not fine.
Take a stand
And address those in power and make them understand
That all injustice is intertwined.
“Justice is What Love Looks Like in Public.”
This is what Cornel West Said
And why I’ll be dressed in red
On Valentine’s Day
Standing outside the golden-domed State House
In collective action with those who want to show the way,
And be a beacon to help to sway
Those who write the policies.
To teach the leaders that radical love
Must come above
All other reasons why
Leaders guide.
We are done with the seasons of delay.
We will carry our signs that say
We cannot continue on this way.
Without LOVE for all:
Those coming from other places
People of different races
We need to welcome all faces
And face the consequences of income inequality
Of healthcare and education disparity
Housing insecurity, climate change,
Misogyny, and more.
We need to leave the system that pushes us
To consume more and more, and leaves us feeling spiritually poor.
Let us listen to Rebecca Cokley and Brittany Packnett Cunningham and “Spend Our Privilege” whatever that may be:
Health, or wealth, education, sexual orientation, citizenship of this nation,
The privilege of your race, your gender, your abled-bodied personhood
Take that privilege and spend it for the greater good.
It is not the role of the oppressed to address
The injustice that keeps them and us
Hushed. Voices unheard must rise up aided by those who can
Those who can do – Is that you?
It is I and it is why
I keep on writing, calling, showing up.
There is so much to do.
We need systemic change
We need an economy of gift exchange,
Not an economy of extraction, and exploitation, the system that
Created Mass incarceration.
Come to the world with gratitude
Welcome enough,
Stop buying all that stuff.
Know you are enough, you understand.
Lend your heart and hands.
In the words of Melnea Cass:
“If you can’t do great things
Do small things in a great way”
And have a Happy Valentine’s Day.
“Policy is my love language.” This is a quote that Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley often uses, and it rings so true. If we want to build a society where people truly love, care for, and respect each other, then we need policies that reflect that, rather than policies that dehumanize and marginalize.
Tell Your State Rep to Vote YES on the Work & Family Mobility Act!
Last Friday, the Work & Family Mobility Act was reported out of the Joint Transportation Committee.
This bill would enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard Massachusetts driver’s license or identification card regardless of immigrant status.
Many MA residents depend on a car to get to work, to school, to the hospital, etc., and immigration status shouldn’t be a barrier to getting a license.
Moreover, the Work & Family Mobility Act would make us all safer. If all drivers have passed the same test and know the same rules of the road, and are properly insured, we all benefit.
The House is expected to vote on the bill soon—possibly as early as this week.
Valentine’s Day Rally to Pass the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium Bill!
Let’s show love to incarcerated women and love for our communities! Come to the State House with Families for Justice as Healing on Monday from 12-1pm to push the Legislature to pass the Moratorium Bill and free women from Framingham and invest money in what communities really need to thrive! Please wear masks to keep each other safe. Feel free to bring signs with messages like FREE HER, STOP THE NEW WOMEN’S PRISON, or PASS S2030/H1905. RSVP HERE.
Hearts Broken on Slow Solutions, Love is Strong for our Movement
Every day that passes without action breaks our hearts, knowing that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Immigrant, and all oppressed people are harmed by the status quo. Our frontline movements have worked for years for urgent social change, with some priority bills delayed by our legislature for over a decade. It is with our broken hearts and fierce love for each other that we will gather at the statehouse, united in calling for action.
We will be joining allied organizations in gathering at 3pm on Monday in front of the State House (and on Zoom) to lift up our priorities together. Will we have another year of immigrants in MA denied access to a driver’s license? Will tens of thousands more face needless COVID-19 evictions and foreclosures?
Healthy Youth Act Lobby Day
For over 10 years, the Healthy Youth Act has been our Commonwealth’s opportunity to ensure that public schools that choose to offer sex education provide lessons that are inclusive, comprehensive, and medically accurate.
This Monday, February 14, from 12 pm to 2 pm, the Healthy Youth Act Coalition will be hosting a virtual lobby day to urge the Legislature to pass the bill. RSVP here (and you can email your state rep here if you can’t make it.)
Fighting for a Fair Share from Our Wealthiest Institutional Neighbors
Tuesday, February 15, 6pm – 7:30 pm
Across the Commonwealth, towns and cities are wrestling with the challenges and fiscal burden of expanding nonprofit property tax expansion from some of the wealthiest education and medical institutions in our country. Without a framework for institutional contributions, critical services for residents are threatened. From Western Mass to Greater Boston, from North Shore to South Shore—this issue demands state action. Join us for a discussion on necessary state legislation on payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) programs and how advocacy organizations and state and local legislators are fighting to win it.
The PILOT Action Group is hosting a discussion with Davarian L. Baldwin, college professor and author of In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower and How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities. Baldwin’s book provides an excellent analysis of the role of large nonprofit institutions in our communities, and presents a vision of a more equitable relationship between communities and these institutions. Register here.
Common Start Coalition Roundtables
The Common Start Coalition is a statewide partnership of organizations, providers, parents, early educators, and advocates working together to make high-quality early education and child care affordable and accessible to all Massachusetts families.
Over the next few weeks, the Common Start Coalition will be hosting a series of roundtable discussions about why long-term investment in child care and early education infrastructure is so critical. Sign up today!
Wednesday, Feb 16, from 6:30pm – 7:30pm: Roundtable discussion on racial justice and Common Start, hosted by Neighborhood Villages and Coalition for Social Justice
Thursday, Feb 17, from 4pm – 5pm: Common Start Roundtable discussion on wraparound services, hosted by Horizons for Homeless Children
Thursday, February 24, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm: Common Start Roundtable discussion with religious leaders on affordable childcare
Tuesday, March 1, from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm: Common Start Roundtable discussion on Building Blocks for a Healthy Future
2022 will be a busy year in Massachusetts, with four of our statewide constitutional offices having open races (Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Auditor) and one contested primary (Secretary of the Commonwealth).
The Governor and Lt. Governor’s races offer Massachusetts an opportunity to shift course from the complacency and conservatism of the Baker-Polito administration. We must make sure that our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic puts our commonwealth on a more equitable foundation, one that does right by workers, local businesses, and historically disenfranchised communities; one that provides our teachers and students the resources they need to thrive; and one that is rooted in an understanding of the importance of investing in our future, from child care to public education to public transit and beyond. Massachusetts also must address long-standing crises of medical debt, student loan debt, housing instability, runaway climate change, and systemic racism. We have a lot to do, and we need proactive leaders, backed by an engaged public, to do it.
Progressive Massachusetts reached out to all announced and likely-to-announce candidates in December 2021, inviting them to fill out our comprehensive questionnaire about their policies, priorities, and leadership style. 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.
If a candidate declined to fill out the questionnaire or submitted a questionnaire after others were publicly posted, they are not included below.
Quick Dates
Primary: Tuesday, September 6 (pending final approval)
General: Tuesday, November 8
Our Endorsement Process
As a membership organization, we put major decisions like endorsements before our members. All candidates who submitted a questionnaire are eligible for consideration for endorsement, although candidates must pass a 60% threshold in our member ballot to be endorsed by Progressive Mass.
Anyone who has donated at least $5 to Progressive Mass over the past year counts as a dues-paying member, and we will be sending out our member ballot on Friday, February 11.
On January 25th, local Democratic town committees in Dedham, Norwood, Westwood, and Walpole joined to present “Labor 2022” an event designed to bring attention to the needs of our allies in the labor movement.
An inspiring keynote address from Massachusetts AFL-CIO president Steven Tolman was followed by a panel discussion between Dedham DTC Chair Mark Reilly and labor leaders Max German (AFL-CIO), Gabriel Camacho (UFCW), FayeRuth Fisher (SEIU), and Paul McClory (MTA). The panelists presented several key steps where progressives could take action.
1) Of key importance is the defeat of the so-called gig worker ballot initiative. This ballot question seeks to define Lyft, Uber, Instacart, and Door Dash employees as “contractors” rather than traditional employees. This would deny these low wage, front line workers OSHA protection and unemployment insurance. It would also authorize a sub-minimum wage for these workers, and would eliminate most anti-discrimination protections for workers. The initiative would also indemnify tech companies from litigation if the drivers are in an accident (for more information see here and here). The key components of this initiative are in violation of Massachusetts labor laws, and the initiative is already the subject of a lawsuit by Attorney General Maura Healey.
The initiative has gained enough signatures to be turned over to the Legislature who have to either take no action, or enact a legislative “solution” that addresses the issues raised by the initiative. Of note, Lyft made the single largest campaign donation ($14.4 million) to the Massachusetts legislature in support of the imitative. If the legislature takes no action, then the well-heeled supporters must obtain an additional 13,374 petition signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot.
Please urge your state Reps and Senators to take no action on this egregious initiative. After that we must work to prevent the initiative from garnering the additional signatures it needs.If the measure ends up on the ballot, we must work to defeat it. Tell your friends and family that if this initiative fails, Uber, Lyft, etc. will still be there for them (albeit with unhappy rich shareholders). Also let them know that the crumbs being offered to workers as part of the initiative (a base wage, and a healthcare stipend) are not offered to all workers and are far from sufficient. Counter corporate lies with truth
2) It is important that we keep up our efforts to enact the Fair Share Amendment. Check out here to see how you can get involved.
3) Several bills pending in the statehouse also deserve our support. These bills are due to be reported out of committee for floor votes (or killed) on February 2. Immediate action is needed.
S1179/H1959, An Act to Prevent Wage Theft and Promote Employer Accountability. Contact your state Reps and Senators and urge support.
S69/H3710, An Act Facilitating the Unionization of the Cannabis Workforce. Contact your local legislators and urge support. Also, contact Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and Rep Daniel Donahue, committee chairs overseeing the movement of this bill to the floor and urge them to report this bill out of committee.
The Common Start Coalition hosted a Round Table Event January 24th to underscore the importance of the Common Start bill (S.362/H.605), a comprehensive, innovative bill that will transform the lives of many families as well as the Massachusetts economy by guaranteeing affordable, high-quality child care and early education for all. Check out this visual to see how many benefits radiate out of this one piece of legislation.
Colin Jones from Mass. Budget and Policy Center gave an overview of recent federal funding. The upshot is that federal relief has not offset the total losses of our child care system during the pandemic. More federal funds are expected but they will constitute a bridge for a couple years until we can develop state funding for the universal child care program.
Representative Katherine Clark spoke of child care as a PUBLIC GOOD. She has been a consistent supporter of accessible child care even before being elected to the U.S. House of Representative in 2013. She explained that lack of available child care costs the U.S. economy $57 billion dollars a year because 30% of families can’t find care for their children. Other developed countries spend about $14,000 per year to subsidize child care while the U.S. spends about $500. She emphasized that our legislators are continuing to fight for adequate funding for child care initiatives.
Parents and educators provided real stories about the realities they face these days. The additional stresses of the pandemic make their needs especially clear.
Naomi Meyer, an attorney at Greater Boston legal Services who helped develop and write this bill, explained that it may take five years to fully implement the legislation but would start by covering the families with the lowest incomes first.
Over the past few years, the Common Start Coalition has done an impressive job of bringing together stakeholders across the state to work on the bill. As Meyer explained, we can’t solve one piece of the puzzle by itself: we will only succeed by bringing parents, teachers, providers, and community members together around a shared vision.
Last week was a bad week for voting rights in the US Senate, as Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema refused to support rules changes that would allow for important voting rights packages to pass amidst Republican opposition.
But this week—with your help—might be a good week for voting rights in Massachusetts. Last October, the MA Senate passed the VOTES Act, which not only makes vote-by-mail and expanded early voting permanent but also goes further by eliminating our arbitrary, exclusionary voter registration cutoff and strengthening protections for jail-based voting.
The MA House is expected to take up this bill this week: on Thursday, January 27.
It’s important that the House pass the VOTES Act in full, especially the provisions on Same Day Registration and strengthening Jail-Based Voting.
Driving Families Forward Virtual Briefing Series Continues
Join the Driving Families Forward Coalition for part II of the Driving Families Forward Coalition Virtual Briefing series! Over the last year, the Driving Families Forward Coalition has worked tirelessly gaining the support of more than 270 endorsing organizations, including community, health, faith, labor, business, and law enforcement for the Work and Family Mobility Act, which would ensure that immigration status is not a barrier to obtaining a driver’s license.
Tune in on Facebook Live at the Driving Families Forward page Tuesday, January, 25th to hear from law enforcement leaders supporting our legislation across the state.
Common Start Roundtable: Tuesday @ 6:30 pm
Tomorrow at 6:30 pm, the Common Start Coalition will be hosting a virtual roundtable–featuring Congresswoman Katherine Clark–about the child care crisis and the solutions for it, especially the Common Start bill.
Massachusetts Power Forward Day of Action
Climate Justice can’t wait! Massachusetts needs decision-makers to act fast and move more climate justice policy now!
Join the Massachusetts Power Forward coalition this Thursday for a day of action. 9AM – 10AM : Action Hour, call your legislators https://fb.me/e/1i7OF5oNc 12pm- 1pm: Action hour, take a selfie photo petition and post on twitter to push our legislators https://fb.me/e/3lr4Lo33T
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