SAVE THE DATE: Our 2026 Annual Member Meeting & Activist Conference

Join us on Saturday, January 31, for our 2026 annual member meeting.

We’ll be focusing on how to build pressure for our legislative priorities, strengthen progressive organizing, and get ready for the suite of 2026 ballot questions. Stay tuned for information about speakers, breakout sessions, and more.

Join us to hone your skills, network with activists from across the state, and get energized for the fights to come.

Progressive Mass 2026 Member Meeting
Saturday, January 31
1 pm to 5 pm
Lasell University, DeWitt Hall
80 Maple Street, Newton

Our Annual Meeting is open to everyone. However, you must be a member to vote for members up for election or re-election to the Board. You also must be a member to nominate yourself or someone else for election.

To nominate yourself or someone else to the Board, submit this form to the Governance Committee at: governance@progressivemass.com. Please submit your nomination by January 3rd. Elections will take place at business portion of our annual meeting. For more information about responsibilities, roles, and terms, please email the Governance Committee.

2026 Annual Meeting Agenda

12:30 – 1:30: Registration & Mini-Activism Fair

1:30 – 2:00: 2025 in Review; What to Expect from 2026; Board Elections

2:00 – 3:00: Interviews with US Senate candidates

  • Alex Rikleen: CONFIRMED
  • Rep. Seth Moulton: CONFIRMED
  • Senator Ed Markey: CONFIRMED

3:00 -3:50: Breakout Sessions #1 — Ballot Questions & Elections

  • The Vote Yes for a Safe Massachusetts Campaign: How to Help Protect our Gun Safety Laws
  • Keeping Mass Home: The Fight for Rent Control
  • A Better Legislature Is on the Ballot: Stipend Reform & Open Records
  • The Tech Bros Say: ‘Give Us Millionaires back Our Fair Share Taxes or We’ll Kill the State Budget!’: We Say: ‘Don’t negotiate with Blackmailers!’
  • Voter Contact 101

4:00 – 4:50: Breakout Sessions #2 –Knowledge, Skills, & Strategies

  • Care Not Cages: Massachusetts Immigrant Justice in 2026
  • Budgets and taxes as levers for social change: where things stand and the road ahead
  • From Scrolling to Striking: Turning Digital Posts into People Power
  • Progressive Mass Chapters: organizing at the community level for statewide change
  • Grassroots Lobbying Beyond the Legislature: Putting Pressure on DAs & Sheriffs

This Thursday: Stand up and Speak Out for Immigrants in Massachusetts

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.

Email Your Legislators

If you’ve already emailed recently, take a moment to call. Find your legislators’ phone numbers here. In solidarity,

Follow-ups to Wednesday’s “MA Fights Back” Forum

Thank you so much for joining Wednesday’s “MA Fights Back” forum on democracy! And if you weren’t able to join us, we missed you!

You can watch the recorded part of the forum here: 

Follow-ups from Justin Lam of the Brennan Center

Folks can sign up for the Brennan Center’s newsletters here or follow them on Instagram, TikTok, etc. @brennancenter. For more on federal interference in elections, here’s a deeper-dive report, and here’s an explainer on the Voting Rights Act and what’s next.  

Follow-ups from David Weinberg of Protect Democracy 

Follow-ups from Shanique Rodriguez of the Massachusetts Voter Table 

Follow-ups from Marisol Santiago of MassVOTE 

Protecting Massachusetts Communities: Rally & Hearing

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-immigrant bills will have hearings next week:

  • 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

Join us at the State House next Tuesday for a rally and the hearings fo rthese bills.

Protect Massachusetts Communities | Pre-Hearing Rally

Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM

Massachusetts State House | Room 428

The Dignity Not Deportations bill and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will have hearings at 10 am in Room A2. Information here.

The Safe Communities Act will have a hearing at 11:30 am in Gardner Auditorium. Information here.

If you are unable to attend in person, you may log into the livestream of the hearing at the Massachusetts Legislature website.

Take Action: When It Rains, You Use the Rainy Day Fund ☔☔☔

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,

Say NO to Kings, but YES to Activism and Great Upcoming Events

Over the past nine months, Donald Trump has been waging an all-out assault on democracy in the United States. We know that when democracy is under attack, the answer is clear: stand up, fight back.

That’s what people will be doing across MA and across the country this weekend with No Kings rallies.

If you’re coming to the Boston rally this Saturday at noon on the Boston Common, swing by our table and say hi!

But there will also be rallies across the Commonwealth. Find one near you here.

Tuesday, 10/21: Make Polluters Pay Petition Drop

For a year, the Mass Polluters Pay campaign has been collecting petition signatures from across the state. Now, with thousands of signatures–and more coming in every day!–we are ready to drop this fat stack of paper off with our legislators to show them the support for Make Polluters Pay.

Join the Make Polluters Pay campaign on Tuesday October 21st at 10 am on the State House steps to rally for a resilient future and drop off petitions with our elected officials.

RSVP on this page to let us know you are coming!

There is still time to collect petition signatures. Please sign the petition and share this link.

RSVP Here

Tuesday, 10/21: Speak Out with MEJA! Fully Fund Our Public Schools!

Please join us and raise your voice alongside MEJA and allies in support of our students and fully funding our public schools!

Time: Tuesday, October 21 at 3:00 pm

Location: State House steps (24 Beacon St, Boston)

Massachusetts is facing cuts to education and healthcare, but we have the power to stop irreversible harm to our students and our communities’ futures. The federal government continues to siphon funding and supports from our students, especially our special needs, multi-lingual, LGTBQ+, and lowest-income students. This year, the Governor vetoed critical funding to reimburse local school districts for funds lost to charter schools—money that is essential for supporting investments in our public schools. Now, state legislators have an opportunity to override the Governor’s veto and prevent further gaps in funding our classrooms.

Please register at https://actionnetwork.org/events/speak-out-with-meja-at-the-state-house and be part of our collective voice!

The community is demanding equitable funding! With Fair Share funds, we can prioritize closing funding and opportunity gaps. COME RALLY! COME SHOUT OUT! COME SPEAK OUT.

RSVP Here

Protect Our Care: Stop the Cuts with Corporate Fair Share Town Halls

The Trump administration is taking away healthcare from working families and seniors so they can put more money into the pockets of billionaires and big corporations. Here in Massachusetts, we could lose as much as $3.5 billion in federal aid that pays for health care, education, and food access for hundreds of thousands of people. We simply can’t afford the harm that will cause.

That’s why we’re supporting Raise Up Massachusetts’s Corporate Fair Share campaign. The Corporate Fair Share bill would raise critical new revenue by requiring large multinational corporations like Amazon and Walmart to pay our existing corporate tax rate on more of the profits they hide overseas.

Join Raise Up Mass for an upcoming town hall to discuss how we can prevent cuts by tapping into the rainy day fund and ensuring that large corporations pay their fair share.

COMING UP:

  • Wednesday, October 22 in Lynn
  • Thursday, October 23 in Springfield
  • Monday, October 27 in Lawrence
  • Tuesday, October 28 in Brockton
  • Tuesday, October 28 in Hyannis

It’s Election Season in MA’s Cities!

If you live in one of MA’s cities (as opposed to towns), it’s election season.

Our Elections Committee has been collecting informational questionnaires from candidates across the state.

Don’t see your city on the list? Reach out. Some cities have late filing deadline, so candidates haven’t been reached out to yet.

READ QUESTIONNAIRES

“MA Fights Back” Climate Action Forum Video Link & Follow-ups

Thank you so much to everyone who joined on Tuesday for our “MA Fights Back” forum on climate action! Apologies for the belated follow-ups. (And if you couldn’t make it on Tuesday, we missed you!)” 

You can watch the video from Tuesday’s forum here: 

We hope to see you again on Monday for our ballot question info & organizing session! 

Jess Nahigian, Mass Sierra Club, on Transitioning off Gas

Nina Schlegel, Green New Deal Resource Hub

Dan Zackin, 350 Mass/Better Future Project on Make Polluters Pay

  • Sign the Petition before 10/8
  • Urge your legislator to cosponsor (If they haven’t already!)
  • Pass a local resolution
  • Join at the State House on 10/21 for the MPP petition drop
  • Join Mass Power Forward at the State House on 10/28 for a Halloween action!
  • Reach out to dan@betterfutureproejct.org with any questions or if you’re interested in passing a local resolution!

For more on GreenRoots, see https://www.greenrootsej.org/. 

For more on the Save Money with Clean Heat campaign, see https://350mass.betterfutureproject.org/save_money_with_clean_heat. 

“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.

“DC Attacks, MA Fights Back: The White House vs. Housing for All” Links & Follow-ups

Thank you so much for joining this evening for our forum “DC Attacks, MA Fights Back: The White House vs. Housing for All”! And thank you again to our amazing speakers! 

If you missed it or wanted to rewatch any of it, the video is available here: https://youtu.be/zGz5C9IUUyY.

Our speakers referenced a few bills at the MA State House: 

Real Estate Transfer Fee (H.3056 / S.1937): An Act granting a local option for a real estate transfer fee to fund affordable housing
Rent Stabilization (H.2328 / S.1447): An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants 
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (H.1544 / S.998):  An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal

Find out if your legislators are already co-sponsoring these bills by looking at our Scorecard website. If they already are, thank them, and if not, urge them to do so. You can find sample email text (as well as more info) for each bill in the links above. 

We also spoke about housing issues in the FY 2026 budget being negotiated right now. Write to your state legislators in support of key budget priorities here.

Recording + Links (Follow-up to “DC Attacks, MA Fights Back: Defending Science and Our Health”)

Thank you so much for joining us on Wednesday for our forum “DC Attacks, MA Fights Back: Defending Science and Our Health”!

And thank you again to our speakers!

  • Dr. Nancy Krieger, Professor of Social Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Dr. Gordon Schiff, Quality and Safety Director, Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care
  • Dr. Sarah Neville, Postdoctoral Researcher, Brown University School of Public Health, and Chelsea School Committee Member
  • Melissa Varga, Science Network Senior Manager, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • Katie Blair, Executive Director, Massachusetts Families for Vaccines

Recording

You can find the video here: https://youtu.be/3W9Hurh6XkM. 

Slide Decks Shared

What You Can Do

Other Resources

This is a running list of HHS offices eliminated entirely or reduced to the point of non-functionality. https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1_HNSEowQOkojkTM5MjXdNdXzNjPK79Q4BXO8VU83A0w/mobilebasic?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&pli=1&urp=gmail_link

Upcoming Forums

Join us again on May 7: https://actionnetwork.org/events/dc-attacks-ma-fights-back-protecting-masshealth.