PM in the News: Progressives Push for Preemptive Action on Trump 2.0

Kelly Garrity, “Progressives push for preemptive action on Trump 2.0,” POLITICO, December 11, 2024.

NOW NOT LATER — With just over a month until Donald Trump returns to the White House, more than a dozen progressive and grassroots groups are urging the state’s Democratic leaders not to wait to strengthen state laws for rights they say are likely to come under fire in the next administration.

In letters sent to Gov. Maura Healey and top legislative leaders, the coalition calls on Beacon Hill’s Big Three to get the ball rolling now, before the current legislative session ends on Dec. 31.

“States like Massachusetts have a responsibility to lead and push back: we must refuse to comply everywhere we can, we must shore up protections for marginalized communities in the Commonwealth, and we must chart a clear course for what accountable progressive governance looks like and how it delivers for us all,” the letter to Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano reads.

The organizations backing the push: Signatories include groups like Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition, Progressive Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Act On Mass and Our Revolution Massachusetts.

What they want: The groups are asking Healey to call the Legislature back for a formal session “as soon as possible.”

They’re also calling on the governor to create a “legal defense fund” that would support civil rights litigation, and are urging Healey to join Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ “Governors Safeguarding Democracy” group.

And they want to see the Legislature pass bills that would ensure no state resources are used in assisting federal immigration enforcement and end ICE detention in the state.

PM in the News: “With Ballot Question 1, A Test of Trust in the Massachusetts State Legislature”

Jack Trapanick, “With Ballot Question 1, A Test of Trust in the Massachusetts State Legislature,” Harvard Crimson, October 22, 2024.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director at Progressive Mass, pointed out that it was difficult to get any internal information about the legislature’s workings. Neither its committee votes nor hearing testimony are available to the public.

“We hold the status of being the only state where the governor’s office, the legislature, and the judiciary, all claim full exemption from the public records law,” he said.

The legislature, Cohn added, “doesn’t view information, in general, as the public good” — though he conceded that the measure was likely to face a lawsuit if it passes.

PM in the News: “Federal funds go to migrant support in Boston shelters”

Sarah Betancourt, “Federal funds go to migrant support in Boston shelters,” WGBH, November 25, 2024.

I do think that having that money come in now is especially important because supportive money on that front might not be there once the Republicans in D.C. get their hands on the budget,” said Jonathan Cohn, policy director for Progressive Massachusetts.

Boston also has the Trust Act, an ordinance that prohibits police from asking people about their immigration status, sharing information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making arrests as a result of ICE warrants, and transferring people to immigration custody.

“We shouldn’t put ourselves in a situation where we don’t have funding because the federal government says ‘We’ll only give you this funding if you repeal this Trust Act,”’ said Cohn. He recommends the city do everything it can to boost resources before January.

“So we continue to be a welcoming space to refugees coming here and can give them a place to stay while they eventually can get a work permit or can get safe housing elsewhere,” he said.

Cohn also said that while other cities and towns have similar language to the Trust Act, this could be an opportunity for the state to pass something that is a “statewide provision,” that standardizes rules around cooperating with immigration enforcement across communities.

PM in the News: “Playing the Trump Card on Shelter Limits”

Kelly Garrity, “Playing the Trump Card on Shelter Limits,” Politico, November 25, 2024.

“Next year, as Trump is president, some of the imagery around the state kicking out families — that happening under a Trump presidency will definitely increase a certain emotional reaction,” Jonathan Cohn, the policy director at Progressive Massachusetts, told Playbook.

In an interview on MSNBC shortly after the election, Healey said that Massachusetts State Police would “absolutely not” assist if asked by Trump’s administration to help execute mass deportations. That, Cohn said, is “a clear disconnect” from the message her office is sending at home.

PM in the News: Progressives make the case for going beyond housing bond bill

Ella Adams and Eric Convey, “Progressives make the case for going beyond housing bond bill,” MASSterList, October 3, 2024.

What exactly do progressives think can help address the state’s 200,000-unit housing deficit?

Grassroots group Progressive Massachusetts looks at the Healey administration’s recent housing bond bill as a good step forward, but still falling short in a housing environment that needs much more investment. 

Progressive Mass. Policy Director Jonathan Cohn told MASSterList that as the group prepares for next session, it’s continuing to support authorization of local option transfer fees and rent control, a pair of ideas that have pockets of support but have failed to unite legislative Democrats.

Cohn is calling on lawmakers to be more vocal and to “hear from and listen to” their constituents more on housing. He also thinks the way municipalities need to get approval from Beacon Hill in order to implement local housing policies — like the aforementioned transfer fees — needs to change.

“I think that we really need comprehensive reform around home rule in Massachusetts because on too many issues, cities and towns are blocked from taking necessary action by the state,” Cohn said. He added that the state could “use its power of the purse better” by closing tax loopholes and raising more revenue from high earners that could fund housing.

PM in the News: Does the legislative clock and calendar matter on Beacon Hill?

Chris Van Buskirk, “Does the legislative clock and calendar matter on Beacon Hill?,” Boston Herald, September 22, 2024.

“With five high-profile bills still locked up in secretive talks heading this session, Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn said the fall dealmaking proves “all of their self-imposed deadlines are fake.”

The proposals cover a wide range of issues including prescription drugs, hospital oversight, clean energy, and economic development. But Cohn argued breakthroughs on major bills could have happened earlier.

“If you push off everything to the end of the session, and then you have all the conference committees at the same time and you have people who are in multiple of them, they simply won’t get things done,” he said. “The way in which they slowly finished things after (July 31) speaks to how it would have been a perfectly functional way to operate if they just started everything early.””

PM in the News: “Cartwright wins big in SJC clerk race despite hurdles”

Yawu Miller, “Cartwright wins big in SJC clerk race despite hurdles,” Bay State Banner, September 11, 2024.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director at Progressive Massachusetts, said the election results point to a progressive majority in Boston that has rendered it virtually impossible for conservative-leaning candidates to win.

“It’s like a rainbow coalition that brings together Black Boston, Chinatown, Latinos and white liberals,” he said. “That kind of coalition is one that can win power, and has won against more conservative interests in the past.”

PM in the News: Frustration and the Ballot Box in WGBH

Katie Lannan, “Why frustrated activists can’t rely on the ballot box for change in Massachusetts,” WGBH, August 15, 2024.

Other observers and advocates, like Jonathan Cohn of the advocacy group Progressive Massachusetts, say the dynamic can fuel a sense of complacency on Beacon Hill. For one thing, Cohn said, most state legislators don’t need to worry about defending their record on the campaign trail.

“One of the problems is that for legislators, because of the fact that so few of them are ever really contested in elections, it flattens the sense of time so they can think, ‘Oh, well, we’ll just be back at it in January,’” he said. “Issues just lose a basic degree of urgency because it’s just one never-ending legislative session for them.”

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Democrats have supermajority control of both legislative branches on Beacon Hill, and Cohn said the red-versus-blue partisan framework through which many people view elections doesn’t really apply in deep-blue Massachusetts.

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“I also think that the Legislature’s history of long, late-night sessions that end with nothing also make it seem like an unattractive job,” said Progressive Mass.’ Cohn. “If you see a place where you look at it and you think, ‘I don’t even know that I could accomplish anything by being here,’ it’s understandable why somebody might not want want to run for that office or think that their that their talents, skills, etc., would be better used elsewhere — even though those people could be the best people for the jobs.”