Legislation

An Act relative to age restrictions for veterans applying to be police officers and firefighters

This bill excludes veterans from 32-year-old age restriction for application to become a firefighter or police officer provided they do not exceed the maximum age limit (42) for enlistment into the U.S. Armed Forces set forth by 10 U.S.C. 505(a).

An Act protecting students abroad

This bill would prioritize the safety of students who study abroad by requiring secondary and post-secondary institutions to conduct risk assessments for different portions of the program, establish protocols in case of emergency, and provide statistics (that parents can access) on any assaults or injuries that occur in these programs.

An Act relative to proper disposal of miniatures

This bill would expand the bottle bill include a 5 cent deposit on miniatures- i.e. nips- to promote recycling of these small bottles to cut down on littering in municipalities.

An Act to improve notice requirements of hazardous water release

This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection to register findings of hazardous materials in order to give adequate notice to homeowners and potential home buyers. Under current law, this notice is only required to be given to the owner of the real property and only before the Department undertakes any action in response. This current practice is unfair and harmful to potential home buyers who are not required to be notified of any oil or hazardous waste threat on the property until they buy it and are approached by the Department with a costly and invasive response action plan.

An Act to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities through commercial rate equity for safety net hospitals

This legislation requires commercial health plans to prioritize paying vital high Medicaid safety net hospitals the statewide average relative price. Safety net hospitals, the predominant health care providers for vulnerable populations, are among the lowest paid in the Commonwealth and have some of the greatest disparities in resources across communities. Especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, equitable commercial insurance rates for high Medicaid safety net hospitals are now more imperative than ever. This legislation also amends five Division of Insurance statutes to require that carriers annually certify and provide evidence that each high Medicaid safety net acute hospital’s rates meet a minimum threshold of the carrier’s statewide average commercial relative price and authorize presumptive DOI disapproval if commercial insurance contracts do not meet this minimum payment level.

An Act relative to the relief of mortgage debt

This would allow people whose mortgages were discharged because of a foreclosure, to exclude the amount discharged from their income for state income tax purposes. Currently, people who lose their homes to foreclosure have to declare the amount discharged in the foreclosure as taxable income.

An Act relative to retirement benefits for care givers at the Soldiers' Home

This legislation would reclassify licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, physical therapy aids, and recreational therapists as Group 2 employees, making them eligible to retire with their maximum benefits 3-5 years earlier than under current law as Group 1.

An Act relative to restoring corporate tax rates

This legislation would restore the current corporate tax rate back to its pre-2009 recession rate, thereby ensuring that businesses that are turning a profit are contributing more to support the public goods on which their profits are based. Raising the current rate of 8.0% to the pre-2009 rate of 9.5% could generate $375 to $500 million annually from profitable businesses.

An Act providing home energy efficiency audits as a benefit of employment

This bill would provide a corporate tax deduction to allow businesses to provide home energy efficiency audits to employees.

An Act to lift kids out of deep poverty

This bill would raise TAFDC grants for very low-income families with children, elders, and disabled individuals by 20% per year until they reach half of the federal poverty level. Families living below half of the poverty level are considered to be in Deep Poverty. Under this bill, grants would reach the level of deep poverty in July 2023 and then would keep pace with inflation as the poverty level goes up.

An Act relative to nondiscrimination

This legislation would require each executive department and agency to fully comply with the 2011 transgender anti-discrimination law by drafting nondiscrimination statements creating procedures for ensuring equal access to state services, training officials to prevent discrimination, and investigating reports of discrimination so that they can be dealt with promptly.

An Act relative to universal school meals

This bill would require all schools to make available school breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge to the student or their family. The cost would be covered by the existing National School Lunch Program federal reimbursement combined with a supplemental state reimbursement. This bill would also maximize federal reimbursements for meals by encouraging schools to support Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach to families. Students in households enrolled in SNAP receive free school meals reimbursed by the federal government.

An Act addressing discriminatory police reporting

This legislation makes it a hate crime to knowingly make a false police call/summons without reason because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, religious practice, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

An Act to prevent wage theft, promote employer accountability, and enhance public enforcement

This legislation seeks to address the growing wage theft crisis by giving the state greater power to go after corrupt employers and providing the Attorney General with additional tools to hold violators of wage laws responsible for their actions. Specifically, this legislation enhances enforcement against wage theft by providing the AG’s office with the ability to file directly in court to pursue wage and hour violations on behalf of workers, and to collect damages and attorney’s fees when those workers prevail in court. It also provides the Attorney General the ability to issue Stop Work Orders at worksites where they have investigated and determined wage theft violations to have occurred, while respecting the due process rights of employers and giving them time to appeal or cure the violations before the Order takes effect.

An Act relative to fairness in workers' compensation disfigurement benefits

Under current Massachusetts Law, workers who suffer permanent bodily harm while on the job are compensated up to $15,000, but only if such disfigurement is on the face, neck or hands. This bill eliminates that requirement and changes the compensation from $15,000 to 22.5 times the weekly average wage to keep in step with inflation and the rising cost of living. This bill passed in the Senate during the 2015-2016 legislative session.

An Act relative to disability or death caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

This legislation defines Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a disability and provides language to create a presumption that PTSD was suffered in the line of duty. In their profession, firefighters and police officers suffer adverse effects from the traumatic exposures they come in to contact with on a daily basis.  

An Act providing for diabetes management in schools

This bill would allow a school nurse or school physician to allow other school staff to give a glucose monitoring test or insulin in the case a student is unable to self-administer the test or give themselves insulin. The tests and insulin may also be administered in classrooms with the approval of a school nurse or physician.

An Act establishing creditable service for veterans

This bill recognizes veterans' service to our country by providing those who are employed by the state with an opportunity to receive increased pay compensation after seven years in their current position.

An Act relative to applied behavior analysts

This bill would create an independent Board to oversee licensure of Applied Behavior Analysts. With the establishment of an independent board, licensure of Applied Behavior Analysts would be processed more quickly, thus allowing children and families to access extremely critical services in a timelier manner.  This legislation will also ensure that the growing field of Behavior Analysis is being overseen by professionals on the Board who are intimately familiar with the profession and its needs. This will ensure better oversight of the profession and ultimately better treatment for families.

An Act relative to housing court jurisdiction

This bill would amend Massachusetts General Law by eliminating outdated references to the geographical jurisdiction of the housing court in order to reflect current changes after the statewide expansion of the housing court in 2018.

An Act relative to quality funding for early childhood education and care programs

This legislation will establish a schedule for the revision of the payment rate structure for subsidized child care providers. It will also establish the factors and process necessary for payment rates to be adjusted and will lay out the process of appeal for the child care provider should they choose to contest the final or interim rate established by the board.   

An Act to increase family stabilization through the earned income tax credit

This bill would create a guaranteed minimum income (GMI) to ensure that everyone in the Commonwealth can attain a basic standard of living. Creating a GMI program in Massachusetts will be accomplished by enhancing the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) so that it covers more households and delivers larger cash benefits. Specifically, this legislation would increase the state match rate from 30% to 50% of the federal credit and establish a minimum $2,400 credit for extremely low-income households and those with no taxable income at all. The bill would also extend the GMI credit to middle income families who are currently ineligible, expand to previously excluded groups of people, and improve access to the GMI credit through more frequent payments and communications/outreach. 

An Act relative to fire safety education in schools and colleges

This bill requires fire safety curriculum be taught in all schools and colleges.

An Act to create access to justice

This bill would restore the right of an individual to bring a claim in state court against a government agency when policies have a disparate impact on individuals designated as a protected class under Massachusetts state law. 

An Act promoting access to counsel and housing stability in Massachusetts

This bill will make legal representation in eviction proceedings a right, rather than an option. The purpose of this proposal is, in the short-term, to provide families facing eviction—and, in many cases, homelessness—with housing stability through a greater likelihood of success in eviction proceedings by requiring legal representation. Similar programs in cities such as New York City have shown that tenants are far more likely to win eviction cases when they are represented by legal counsel. Long-term, this bill will assist with housing and economic stability, avoiding recurring evictions, and preventing shelter entry in Massachusetts.

An Act to ensure equitable health coverage for children

This bill will expand comprehensive MassHealth coverage to all eligible low-income children, regardless of immigration status.

An Act relative to healthy youth

This bill ensures that if a school in Massachusetts teaches sexuality education, it will provide students with information about abstinence, delaying sexual activity, healthy relationships and healthy behaviors free of coercion, effective contraceptive use, and sexually transmitted infections.

An Act relative to language access and inclusion

This legislation would mandate, standardize, and enforce language access requirements for state-funded programs to increase equity and improve outcomes for immigrant communities with government agencies. This legislation would establish a language access advisory board and require state agencies to translate their website and documents and provide oral interpretation services.

An Act to save recycling costs in the commonwealth

This legislation is aimed at providing financial relief to municipalities being crushed by skyrocketing waste and recycling costs and curbing wasteful manufacturing of packaging materials. The bill establishes a sustainable packaging oversight board that will track the types of packaging being introduced into commerce in Massachusetts and impose a sliding scale of costs on the manufacturers based on how much of their product is not recyclable.  The higher the non-recyclable content, the higher the contribution amount. Funds collected will then be distributed to participating municipalities to mitigate the costs incurred for their waste and recycling. 

An Act ensuring high quality pre-kindergarten education

This bill will create a state-wide grant program for cities and towns to support pre-k expansion and pre-k quality improvement, helping to achieve the City of Boston’s goal of offering a seat in a quality universal pre-k program to every child that wants one.

An Act protecting survivors of rape and their children

This legislation would prevent a court from providing any custody or visitation to a person who committed a crime of sexual assault, the result of which a child was conceived, unless the parent who was the victim of the crime consents and a court finds any such custody or visitation would be in the best interests of the child. This would include cases where there has been a criminal conviction or cases in which there is no conviction but a court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the crime occurred. A court may still order child support to be paid. This legislation also protects survivors of certain crimes of domestic violence and their children from being subjected to requests for custody or visitation unless they consent and it is also found to be in the best interests of the children.

An Act relative to the disclosure of certain police reports

This legislation makes it a hate crime to knowingly make a false police call/summons without reason because of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, religious practice, age, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

An Act regarding the pediatric palliative care program

This bill would remove the “subject to appropriation” language for the state’s pediatric palliative program in the current statute to guarantee that adequate funding for this program is always made available so all eligible children and families have access to these vital services.

An Act relative to petit treason

This legislation would repeal the archaic law that states “petit treason shall be prosecuted and punished as murder.” Petit treason is the crime of a subordinate killing a superior: a servant or slave killing his “master” or a wife killing her husband. In Massachusetts, the law punishing petit treason was only ever enforced against enslaved people. Such archaic and racist laws (even if no longer enforced) have no place in Massachusetts General Laws, and this bill has been filed to remove this language.  

An Act relative to growth opportunities for state financial institutions

The bill provides equal access to increased growth and business opportunities as a new tool for mutually owned state chartered financial institutions by authorizing the purchase of deposits and the assumption of deposit liabilities. As accounts are automatically transferred to an institution, new accounts and members/customers are gained. In addition, the acquiring mutual institution gains the opportunity to expand into new and strategic markets.

An Act relative to class 3 electric bicycles

This bill would classify certain electric bicycles that reach up to 28 mph as Class 3 electric bicycles in order to match Massachusetts law with federal definitions and statewide regulations set by the Department of Conservation of Recreation.

An Act regulating labor standards for transportation network drivers

This bill would make regulate the labor standards surrounding transportation network drivers (such as Uber and Lyft Drivers). It would require transportation network companies (TNCs) to pay drivers 80% of fares collected and provide a quarterly report of the collected fares to the Department of Public Utilities (DPU). The Department will also reserve 5 cents from each fare in order to compensate TNDs who have been injured while working. This bill would also require municipalities to assess and determine a pre-set number of permits offered to TNDs to operate within their municipality. Finally, if passed, this legislation would require DPU to conduct a study into the effects of TNCs on the Commonwealth, including limiting the number of permits offered to companies and drivers, and the environmental effects of regulating such permits. 

An Act relative to reforming the housing development incentive program

This bill would reform HDIP  by requiring recipients have at least 20% affordable housing for renters whose income is not more than 50% of the  area median income or owner-occupants whose income is not more than 80% of the area median income. There is currently no affordable housing requirement for HDIP.

An Act protecting an employee's right to rebuttal of personnel records

This bill makes it illegal for an employee to be fired for rebutting an adverse report in an employee's personnel record put in by an employer