As ICE agents shoot, kill, and execute people in Minnesota, the people in Massachusetts stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota:ICE out of Minnesota, ICE out of MA, and ICE out from all of our communities.
Join Indivisible Mass Coalition, Progressive Mass, ACLU-MA, MIRA, Brazilian Center, and Field First this Thursday, January 29 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the MA State House to talk with your legislators and demand action now.
You can also join a prep webinar tomorrow, Wednesday January 28 at 7:00 pm to get talking points to help facilitate a productive conversation with your legislator.
Last November, the MA House tried to ram through a MAGA energy bill that would have rolled back our Commonwealth’s commitments to clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate action.
Because of an outpouring of opposition from people like you, the House pressed pause.
This week, the House Ways and Means Committee and House Leadership are holding listening sessions for state representatives to weigh in on what changes they would like to see to the bill.
This bill could be the vehicle for stopping costly gas infrastructure expansion and reducing bills with clean energy. But for that to happen, we need state representatives to be climate champions and advocate for bold action in these listening sessions.
Mass Power Forward has laid out a vision of what a real agenda for energy affordability and climate justice would look like. Your rep can help make it a reality.
Can you share these priorities with your state rep?
As the bill moves forward, we need to be ready for quick action. Sign up here to be on deck for actions, such as showing up to the State House or contacting your legislator to support/oppose amendments.
The Massachusetts House may be taking up a data privacy bill as soon as this month.
Recent reporting has shown that ICE has been buying up cell phone location data in order to follow people from work or home. Currently, no laws prevent data brokers from buying and selling our sensitive data, like location data, on the open market. Strengthening our data privacy protections is essential.
Back in September, the Massachusetts Senate passed a robust data privacy bill that would prevent the purchase and sale of such sensitive data, along with other important measures to strengthen privacy rights.
Now it’s the House’s turn.
Big Tech companies like Facebook and Google, which have been buddying up to the Trump administration, are lobbying to water down the bill. Your state rep needs to hear from YOU about the importance of getting a strong bill passed as soon as possible.
Can you call or email your state rep today in support of passing strong data privacy legislation this month?
The tragic murder of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis underscores what has long been clear: ICE agents make communities less safe.
ICE has been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts, breaking up families and breaking the law.
But MA lags behind other blue states in taking meaningful action to rein in police collaboration with ICE and protect immigrant communities.
Beacon Hill could pass legislation RIGHT NOW to change that. That’s why we’ve been working with the Protect Massachusetts Communities coalition to advance legislation based on the following three principles:
(1) Don’t assist ICE. Massachusetts law enforcement must never assist ICE in making civil immigration arrests (taking people into custody when no crime has been committed) or ask members of the public about their immigration status. (2) Don’t turn police into ICE agents. ICE is pressuring and incentivizing local police departments to sign up for its 287(g) program, which turns street-level officers into ICE agents. They are even offering bounty-style bonuses for police forces that bring in high rates of targeted residents. Massachusetts should prevent this from happening within our borders.
(3) Fund legal help to fight deportations. Immigrants are five times more likely to win relief from deportation if they have representation, and detained immigrants with an attorney are ten times more likely to win relief than those without.
Key bills before the Legislature can advance these reforms, such as the Safe Communities Act (H.2580/S.1681), the Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588/S.1122), and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954/S.1127).
Can you take action today by calling or emailing your state legislators about reining in ICE in MA?
And after you do, can you think of a few friends to email as well?
Trump’s corporate tax cuts are going to cost Massachusetts nearly half a billion dollars this year alone — on top of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal programs we rely on.
Here’s the context: States use the federal tax code as a starting point to calculate how much people and corporations owe in taxes. Trump’s changes to the federal tax code cut taxes for the rich and large corporations (by more than $3 billion/year in MA alone). So, unless we act now, these cuts will be baked into our state’s tax code, meaning big tax cuts for the rich and large corporations.
Other states across the country have already taken action, but we’re still waiting on Massachusetts.
As we face looming cuts already due to Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, we can’t afford even more cuts to health care, food assistance, education, and other essential public services.
This holiday season, Santa Claus isn’t the only one who knows when you are sleeping, knows when you’re awake, and knows if you’ve been bad or good.
That’s because large data brokers are able to buy and sell sensitive data from your cell phone, like location data, without your consent.
Let’s do something about it.
Back in September, the Massachusetts Senate passed a robust data privacy bill that would prevent the purchase and sale of such sensitive data, along with other important measures to strengthen privacy rights.
And last month, the House took the first step toward joining the Senate by voting a robust data privacy bill out of committee.
It’s important that momentum doesn’t stall over the holidays.
Big Tech companies like Facebook and Google are going to try to water down the bill, so your legislators need to hear from YOU about the importance of getting strong legislation done early in the new year.
Immigrants with work authorization, temporary protected status and other legal permissions—including union members—are being threatened and/or detained, along with other Massachusetts residents, in the federal administration’s vicious campaign of mass deportation.
That’s why we’re joining allies across the Commonwealth for a rally and speakout in support of immigrants’ rights this Thursday at 12:30 pm in Boston City Hall Plaza.
Can’t make it? You can still take action.
Last week, the Legislature held hearings on key bills to protect the civil rights and safety of everyone in the Commonwealth. Help build momentum by writing to your legislators in support of the Protecting Massachusetts Communities Coalition’s three priority protections: (1) Don’t collaborate with ICE, (2) Don’t let police be ICE agents, and (3) Fund legal aid.
This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents.
Federal immigration agents have been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts in service of Donald Trump’s xenophobic, hateful agenda. Families are torn apart, workplaces stripped of employees, and documented immigrants have feared their status will be revoked. Massachusetts can and must take action to better protect our communities.
Three key pro-immigrants’ rights bills will have hearings tomorrow:
Safe Communities Act (H.2580 / S.1681), which would end the voluntary involvement of our public safety officials in civil immigration matters
Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588 / S.1122), which would prohibit sheriffs from voluntarily renting beds to ICE and ban agreements to deputize state and local law enforcement to ICE
Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954 / S.1127), which would ensure that immigrants navigating our complex immigration courts have legal representation and make permanent a recent budgetary appropriation
First, take a moment to email your state rep and state senator in support of these bills:
On Wednesday, the MA House’s Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy (TUE) advanced a bill that would gut the state’s commitment to clean energy.
WHAT’S IN THE BILL?
Here’s what the bill does:
Rolls back 2030 climate goals rollback
Guts Mass Save, removing decarbonization and electrification from its directive, reducing its budget, and adding incentives for gas furnaces back into the bill
Reduces the Renewable Portfolio Standard (clean energy requirement) from 3% to 1% growth each year
Removes a moderate-income discount electric rate that would save people money
Adds ‘cost effectiveness” tests to everything, and removes the social cost of carbon from calculations, putting a finger on the scale against climate solutions
Prevents pollution reduction payments (alternative compliance payments) from going to clean energy projects
Creates a “pipeline tax” – charging electric customers for gas pipeline supply
Repeals a landmark protection from new nuclear power facilities
Despite all of that, the vote was 7-0.
HOW DID THE COMMITTEE VOTE?
The 7 Democrats who voted to roll back our clean energy and energy efficiency commitments were House TUE Chair Mark Cusack (D-Braintree), Vice Chair Michael Kushmerek (D-Fitchburg), Bill MacGregor (D-West Roxbury), Jeff Turco (D-Winthrop), Dave Robertson (D-Tewksbury), Chynah Tyler (D-Roxbury), and Sean Reid (D-Lynn).If your state rep is on that list, make sure they hear your disappointment.
Two Democrats on the committee–Rep. Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster) and Rep. Margaret Scarsdale (D-Pepperell)–refused to join the bad policy bandwagon. In State House jargon, they “reserved their rights.” In plain language, they sent a clear message of “I’m not willing to support this bill as written.” If you are in their districts, make sure to thank them.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
We need to redouble our commitment to climate action, not walk it back. And the State House needs to hear that.
Can you let your state rep know it’s time to strengthen, not weaken, our climate commitments?
It’s raining! Federal budget cuts are already devastating Massachusetts families, and the worst is yet to come.
This month, more than 1 million Massachusetts residents — overwhelmingly children, seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans — have faced hunger and fear because of the Trump Administration’s cruel attacks on SNAP benefits during the federal shutdown. More than 337,000 residents are facing skyrocketing health insurance costs due to the loss of federal subsidies beginning in January.
And that’s just the start. Up to 350,000 people in Massachusetts risk losing their Medicaid coverage, and up to 104,000 risk losing access to SNAP food assistance altogether, due to massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in the OBBA tax bill passed this summer. Federal cuts to PreK-12 schools, colleges, and childcare could hurt more than 1 million students. And Massachusetts is set to lose as much as $3.5 billion in annual federal aid once cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are fully phased in — blowing a massive hole in the state budget.
Cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and education threaten all of us, but we are not helpless. We need Beacon Hill to prioritize the people of Massachusetts over multinational corporations’ profits and prevent the worst of these devastating budget cuts.
Join Raise Up this week to take action:
☔ RAINY DAY ACTION ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH: Please join the Raise Up Massachusetts Coalition for a rally where we ask state legislators to use just 15% (~$1.2B) of the state’s reserve fund (a.k.a. the ‘Rainy Day Fund’) to offset devastating federal cuts to SNAP, education, and healthcare. RSVP HERE PLEASE.
PHONE BANK ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH: Can’t join us on Thursday in person? We got you covered! Join us to for a phone bank to help drive calls and emails to legislators to pass Corporate Fair Share and use the Rainy Day Fund! RSVP HERE PLEASE.
CLICK TO EMAIL ACTION TO LEGISLATORS: Got some extra time before and after the Thursday actions? Take 2 minutes to email the Governor and your legislators in support of Corporate Fair Share and using the Rainy Day fund here. In solidarity,
