Kelly Garrity, “A Call and a Delayed Response,” Politico, April 2, 2025.
“The big announcement fell flat among progressives, who have been urging the Legislature to quickly pass a joint rules package and turn their attention toward the deluge of actions out of D.C. In a letter sent last week, more than a dozen activist groups urged lawmakers quickly “respond to the extraordinary moment we are facing.”
“Why is it only now that Senate Democrats feel the need to announce that they are thinking about how to respond to the disasters in Washington?,” said Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts. “Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee. They held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing.”
The anticlimactic reveal shined a spotlight on the Legislature’s typically sluggish start to the session. Lawmakers did approve changes to the state’s emergency shelter system earlier this year and recently passed a bill extending a pandemic-era remote meeting provision. But little major legislation has made it across the finish line.
“Until a few days ago, when the Legislature temporarily extended hybrid meeting access for public meetings again, the only bill that the Legislature had passed this session was to kick unhoused families out of shelter,” Cohn said.”
Chris Lisinski, Ella Adams, and Eric Convey, “Frustrated at incremental movement, progressives want leaders to legislate action against Trump policies,” MASSter List, April 2, 2025.
“The lack of concrete details prompted Jonathan Cohn, policy director of the Progressive Massachusetts group that signed onto last week’s letter, to ask: what took so long?
“We are now at the start of the fourth month of the year and are 10 weeks into Trump’s second administration. Why is it only now that Senate Democrats feel the need to announce that they are thinking about how to respond to the disasters in Washington?” Cohn said. “Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing.””
Chris Lisinski, “Progressives in Massachusetts demand legislative response to Trump,” State House News Service, April 1, 2025.
“Signatories on the letter include progressive watchdog Act on Mass, Homes for All Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Sierra Club, the Mass. Campaign for Single Payer Health Care, and Progressive Massachusetts.”
Anjali Hunynh, “‘We can’t sit idly by’: Mass. Senate tasks committee with deciding how to respond to Trump 2.0,” Boston Globe, April 1, 2025.
“Some advocates, however, remained unsatisfied by the Senate’s new approach. Jonathan Cohn, policy director of left-leaning advocacy group Progressive Massachusetts, criticized lawmakers for how long it took to coordinate any response to Trump.
“Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” Cohn said in a statement.
“Let’s just hope that their announced intention to take threats seriously is not another April fool’s joke,” he added.”
Chris Van Buskirk, “Trump cuts $106M in COVID-era grant funding for Massachusetts as Senate taps pol to lead Democratic response,” Boston Herald, April 1, 2025.
“Progressive advocates in Massachusetts have been hounding legislators to do something about the Trump administration’s decisions to slash federal funding for a variety of sectors in the state.
Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn said Massachusetts voters have for months wanted to see their elected officials “be bolder and more proactive in protecting” the state against Trump’s “chaos, cruelty, and corruption.”
Cohn said voters want to hear “real answers from Beacon Hill: how we will protect our essential services amidst looming budget cuts, how we will protect marginalized communities, how we will protect civil liberties and our democracy, how we will show a real governing alternative.”
“Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” Cohn said in a statement.”
Sam Drysdale, “Mass. senators begin fashioning response to Trump, face complaints of slow start,” State House News Service, April 2, 2025.
Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, questioned the point of the press conference.
“We are now at the start of the fourth month of the year and are 10 weeks into Trump’s second administration,” Cohn said. “Why is it only now that Senate Democrats feel the need to announce that they are thinking about how to respond to the disasters in Washington? Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing.”
Mike Deehan, “Mass. Democrats’ Tea Party moment that wasn’t,” Axios Boston, April 2, 2025.
What they’re saying: “Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” Progressive Massachusetts policy director Jonathan Cohn said after Spilka’s announcement.
Chris Lisinski, “Beacon Hill still figuring out how to fight back while bracing for the worst,” MASSter List, April 5, 2025.
Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, questioned why it took Senate Democrats until 10 weeks into Trump’s term to announce they would consider unspecified action at an unspecified later date.
“Somehow, the Senate’s announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” he said.
John Micek, “In Mass., nationwide, the meter is running for the resistance. What’s next?,” MassLive, April 4, 2025.
The Senate’s “announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing,” Jonathan Cohn, of Progressive Massachusetts, said in a statement to MASSterList.
“We are now at the start of the fourth month of the year and are 10 weeks into Trump’s second administration. Why is it only now that Senate Democrats feel the need to announce that they are thinking about how to respond to the disasters in Washington?” Cohn said.