Dear Neighbor,
It's been a busy time at the state house! I don't expect you to read everything here, but to give you a taste of some of the things we work on.
First I want to let you know that the wonderful Vicki Halal, who has worked with me for many years on education and aging policy, is now my chief of staff! And Tara Christian has joined our team as legislative aide. You can see all our staff bios here.
SENATE AGAIN PASSES MENSTRUAL EQUITY BILL
Last Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed our menstrual equity bill - for the third time. I hope this time is the charm and the House will join us. The bill would require access to free menstrual products in schools, shelters and prisons. The bill was made possible by the extraordinary organizing of the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Coalition, led by MassNOW, which includes more than 70 organizations and hundreds of activists. The discussion of the bill starts at 8:01 in the recording.
SENATE PASSES MENSTRUAL PRODUCT INGREDIENT DISCLOSURE
Also Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed Sen. Comerford's bill requiring disclosure of the ingredients in menstrual products. Menstrual products have been found to have many harmful substances such as PFAS. People are not aware of the harmful ingredients in the products they're putting in their bodies. Some of these are marketed as organic, only to contain harmful chemicals. Access is not equitable if access is not safe. New York, California, and Nevada have already passed such laws.
ALSO THURSDAY, SENATE PASSED THE MOVE OVER LAW
The state’s existing Move Over law requires drivers to slow down and to change lanes if practicable to protect emergency response vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles, and tow trucks, and their occupants in the breakdown lane. ,
The Senate passed a bill expanding those protections for stationary utility trucks or stopped vehicles with flashing lights. Senators shared stories of lives lost that could be saved through passage of this bill.
CHARTER CHANGES: CAMBRIDGE, MEDFORD AND SOMERVILLE
It took a lot of work to develop new charter proposals for our three cities, and then a lot of work to pass the home rule bills to allow them to be voted on. (Massachusetts cities and towns have less autonomy than in most states. Changes in charters, fee increases, rent regulations and more require state legislative approval. After that, changes in charters have to be approved by voters.)
You can read about Cambridge's proposed charter change here, and a report on it from Cambridge Day here.
Medford's info is here, with a comparison of new and old charters here. Somerville's is here, with a flyer about it here. There are two Somerville ballot questions about the charter, one on the charter, and the other on creating a four-year term for mayors. There's a third ballot question in Somerville on Palestine; more on that next time.
SENATE PASSES DATA PRIVACY ACT
This fall the Senate passed a data privacy act, strongest in the country, to prohibit the sale of personal data.
Right now, big tech companies make billions selling our data without transparency or consent. This bill says your data belongs to you, not to corporations. (Still needs approval by House and governor.)
Health records, fingerprints and face scans, GPS locations, immigration status, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and children’s information are all explicitly protected under the bill. Companies wouldn't be able to sell minors’ personal data or target ads at them—period.
PROTECTING EDUCATION EQUITY BECOMES LAW
Mass Advocacy Center led the effort to pass landmark legislation enshrining and affirming essential legal protections for students with disabilities and immigrant learners under threat from the presidential administration. The bill moved quickly, part of our response to dangers from Washington.
The law explicitly guarantees the right to public education for students regardless of immigration status.
Sadly, just weeks after the law was signed, the federal government did remove some of these protections for English learners with disabilities, but because of the Protect Education Equity Law, Massachusetts remains protected. To learn more about the other protections in the bill, click here.
ANTISEMITISM COMMISSION
My husband Alain and I testified at the Combatting Antisemitism Commission in opposition to their recommended use of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Many of my constituents - including Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff (CJFS) and Together in Massachusetts - have also testified that the definition labels many people, including many Holocaust survivors and Jewish leaders, as antisemites. Alan Solomont, former president of Tufts and former chair of Combined Jewish Philanthropies among other distinctions, asked the commission to at least include other definitions. Here's a clip of our testimony, edited by CJFS. The full hearing, the first open to public comment, is here.
Antisemitism is real, but I continue to ask whether there's evidence that labeling and punishing, or even training, are the best way to change hearts and minds and stop generational transmission. A better way to fight antisemitism can be found, perhaps surprisingly, at Elon University, a small North Carolina university that was one of two schools, along with Brandeis, that was given an A by the Anti Defamation League. At the link, read about how it has "won plaudits for creating a safe campus for Jewish students even as it avoids the limitations on speech pursued by other universities under fire for antisemitism." Civility and education, getting students to talk together. This may not work as well everywhere, but worth considering.
LAW TAKES EFFECT TO HELP HOMEBUYERS COMPETE
Last week, a provision of our 2024 housing law could help homebuyers compete against corporate bidders. WGBH reported, "Sellers are barred from conditioning the acceptance of an offer to purchase on the buyer’s agreement to waive, limit, restrict or otherwise forego their right to have the property inspected. Buyers do not have to conduct an inspection, but they are banned from letting sellers know before an offer is accepted that they intend to waive the home inspection."
Just this week, we heard from a new homeowner who would really have benefitted from a home inspection.
ON OCT. 29, OUR PAY EQUITY LAW GOES INTO EFFECT
Our pay transparency law requires businesses and public entities to disclose salary ranges and collect more comprehensive hiring data. We passed it last year, but it goes into effect Oct. 29, giving businesses time to adjust. I wrote about it last year here, and about the bill signing here. Many employers, including the Senate, have already been complying.
TESTIMONY ON BILLS
Recently, I testified on Somerville's rent stabilization and tenant right of first refusal ordinances, and my bills on
- outdoor air pollution
- UMass Faculty rights,
- fare free buses,
- preventing the use of National Guard troops in active combat without a declaration of war
- requiring the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to consider the effect on all students in granting or expanding charter schools.
- benefits for people receiving Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children(EAEDC).
Want more info on any of these or other bills I'm working on? LMK.
COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS, SECRETARIES
I'm Senate chair of the Committee on Aging and Independence, and had many meetings with my excellent co-chair Rep. Tom Stanley of Waltham. We held our final hearing, and worked on the senior housing commission, the Assisted Living Commission, the Alzheimers Advisory Committee, the Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) Commission and the LGBT Aging Commission. We extended the work of the Assisted Living Commission after the disastrous Gabriel House fire in Fall River, which showed how much more regulation and enforcement is needed.
I'm also vice-chair of the Education and Revenue Committees, and member of Cannabis Policy, Labor and Workforce Development, and Judiciary. But I honestly can't make all of the hearings; sometimes there are three at the same time!
Recently, I talked with Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler about graduation requirements, MCIEA, antisemitism, and charter schools; Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Kiame Mahaniah about new regulations for assisted living residences (especially after the Gabriel House fire), , and Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus about Somerville's bridge subsidy to keep older renters housed,
ALSO: ONE MORE CANDIDATE FORUM IN SOMERVILLE
CAAS' renter-led forum on Housing Justice for Somerville!Date: Wednesday, October 22,
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: East Somerville Community School – 50 Cross St., Somerville
Registration (in-person or Zoom): www.bit.ly/SomervilleHousingForum
More soon,
Pat Jehlen