Follow-up from “What’s Next?” Zoom

Happy Monday!

Thank you for joining us last Wednesday for our “What’s Next?” event! And if you weren’t able to make it, you were missed! One of our opening questions was “What gives you hope?” And for us, that answer is engaged activists like you. 

Missed the meeting? You can watch it here. 

Chapters 

We at Progressive Mass believe that activists on the ground know best how to organize their communities, but they do it best when connecting with people in communities across the state. If you were involved in a campaign (whether issue advocacy, a campaign, a ballot question) this year, a chapter can be a great way to hold your team together for the work ahead and continue the work of organizing and community-building. 

Thank you again to Krista Magnuson from JP Progressives, Marissa Dupont from Soliday Lowell, Rachel Poliner from Progressive West Roxbury/Roslindale, and Lisa Baci from Indivisible LAB from talking about the great work our chapters do. 

Legislative Advocacy 

We are currently in active discussions with our coalition partners about our legislative priorities for the next legislative session starting in January. Stay tuned.

But you don’t need to wait until January to start contacting your legislators. Email them today about why they need to come back into session to address the threat of the second Trump administration. 

Follow-ups from Our Speakers 

We want to thank our amazing speakers from Wednesday: 

  • Kate Glynn from Reproductive Equity Now 
  • Tanya Neslusan from MassEquality 
  • Jessica Tang from AFT Massachusetts. 
  • Jess Nahigian from the Massachusetts Sierra Club 
  • Kade Crockfod from ACLU Massachusetts 
  • Amy Grunder form the MIRA Coalition 

Find helpful links below: 

Reproductive Equity Now: https://reproequitynow.org/

MassEquality: https://massequality.org/

Massachusetts Sierra Club: https://www.sierraclub.org/massachusetts

ACLU Massachusetts: https://www.aclum.org/en

AFT Massachusetts: https://ma.aft.org/ 

MIRA Coalition: https://www.miracoalition.org/

Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions or ideas!

Behind Closed Doors: What’s Wrong with the MA State House

By Eileen Ryan, Progressive Watertown

On Sunday, October 27th, Progressive Watertown hosted a forum, “Behind Closed Doors: What’s Wrong with the MA State House.” The impetus for the forum was the failure of key legislation supported by Progressive Massachusetts to pass in the legislative session that ended on July 31st, 2024, despite wide-spread support and 1,000s of hours of activism by constituents across the commonwealth. Close to 50 people attended, including several Watertown past and present City Councilors. I, as a Progressive Watertown Steering Committee member, had the honor of moderating.

Jonathan Hecht, who served as state representative for Watertown and Cambridge for twelve years and Watertown town councilor for four, was our first speaker. He is a member of the leadership team of Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts and on the steering committee of the Coalition to Reform Our Legislature. Jon gave a brief history of voting rights in Massachusetts, which included some surprising facts: until the 1960s, MA had a rigorous and unfair literacy test required of voters, as well as a “pauper exclusion,” i.e., no one who received public assistance could vote. Jon noted that great progress has been made over the past 60 years to make it easier to vote and more citizens are voting and yet, less is being accomplished at the State House. Public hearings are held by committees, but follow-up committee meetings to discuss the fate of the proposed legislation never happen. There are currently about 750 bills sitting in the Ways and Means Committee that have been heard, vetted, and recommended but have not moved forward, with many of these bills multiple sessions or even decades old. Jon also discussed the stipend system of favoritism at the State House and how it disproportionately affects members of the House of Representatives. People who run for office with the best of intentions become frustrated that they are not able to do the job they were elected to do.

Danielle Allen, professor of political philosophy, public policy, and ethics at Harvard University and the Founder and President of Partners in Democracy, spoke next. Danielle addressed the need for constant democracy renovation at the state level and how it interacts with the looming signs of fascism on a national level. She was applauded when she shared that she had just resigned as a Washington Post columnist due to that paper’s refusal to endorse a presidential candidate. Danielle also highlighted that we are in a moment of intense change technologically and economically and that we are all feeling the effects of great migrations and globalization. She deplored the decline of local news and how it affects voters’ awareness and pointed out that MA is 50th in the number of choices we have in each Massachusetts election cycle due to a high bar to get your name on the ballot.

Both speakers support a Yes on Question 1, the ballot question to enable the State Auditor to audit our state legislature, and are working out other possible ways to change the legislature, including a future ballot question to address the State House’s stipend system.

The audience asked great questions and was motivated to take action. The forum was recorded and will be ready for viewing soon.

Progressive Watertown: “Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty”

by Susan Falkoff, Progressive Watertown

Progressive Watertown was proud to sponsor a screening of the film “Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty” on October 10. This film tells the inspiring story of Stewart Udall (1920-2010), Interior Secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and his legacy as an advocate of social and environmental justice.

Udall was a pioneer in environmentalism. The film reveals a time when big ideas could still capture bipartisan attention, and when America awakened to the unfolding destruction of paradise and determined to stop it. He was the first public official to speak out about global warming. In addition, he worked collaboratively with Native communities and fought to win compensation for Navajo Indians and “downwinders” who got cancer from their exposure to radiation during the Cold War without being warned of the dangers. His brother, Senator Mo Udall, was an early critic of the Vietnam War, and Stewart faced the agonizing choice of speaking out and losing his role in the Johnson administration or keeping quiet about the war and continuing his important work as Interior Secretary, an extreme of the kind of heartbreaking moral dilemma that is familiar to anyone who has served as a public official.

Thirty people attended the screening and participated in a lively discussion afterwards. Watertown Faces Climate Change and Race Reels, a local program that shows films related to diversity and social justice, cosponsored. It was a timely event, celebrating both Udall’s work with Indigenous people and why it matters to elect progressive politicians who will facilitate social justice and environmental protection. Those of us who lived through these turbulent years recalled our history of activism but know that striving for environmental justice is ongoing. We want to make the film available to younger audiences as well and will donate the DVD to Watertown High School for future showings.

100+ Climate Organizations: climate bill requirements

10/2024

To Governor Healey and the 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 

RE: A Robust Climate Bill

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has made a commitment to environmental justice and to meeting climate mandates in order to ensure a livable planet and a just transition for all. With this letter, the undersigned 108 organizations present elements that MUST be in a climate bill when it lands on Governor Healey’s desk before the end of 2024. 

The Legislature had been poised to take action until the unceremonious end to the 2023-24 formal legislative session on August 1. Despite this delay, there is still time in 2024 to call a special session and pass a climate bill that is broader than siting and permitting reform alone. While it is important to keep the climate bill negotiations alive, the climate-related provisions in the Governor’s supplemental budget bill, H.5049, filed September 11th are far too narrow to represent a reasonable response to the climate crisis in 2024. 

We call on Governor Healey, President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chair Barrett, and Chair Roy and the entire legislature to take this opportunity to meet critical environmental justice (EJ) goals and to equitably and rapidly transform the gas industry into one that meets the Commonwealth’s climate goals while keeping gas rates down. We cannot accept a narrow siting and permitting bill that does not do enough for climate justice, reducing climate pollution, or protecting ratepayers as the outcome of 18 months of the legislative process. Delays in climate action do nothing to benefit constituents and only serve to benefit those who profit from the climate crisis. A 2024 climate package must include, at minimum: 

  • Siting and permit approvals tied to a robust cumulative impact analysis. The definition of cumulative impact analysis in the Governor’s H.5049 is the most accurate and complete definition introduced this session and should be the one used in a final bill that includes siting and permitting reform. We applaud its inclusion.
  • Measures to end large-scale gas pipeline expansion and increase the use of non-emitting thermal networks. While the details of the transition away from gas as a heating fuel in the Commonwealth will require future work from the Healey Administration, legislators and other key stakeholders, the legislature must act immediately to ramp down the expansion of gas infrastructure and put gas companies on a path to provide clean, non-emitting renewable energy rather than fossil gas that leaks methane and air pollution into the atmosphere and into our homes and businesses, costing ratepayers significant sums of money.

These are critical components of the evolving climate bill. From a necessary expansion of the electric grid itself (crucial to bringing in the thousands of megawatts of renewable electricity we need), to ensuring that Environmental Justice populations are not overburdened, to protecting gas customers and taxpayers from the ballooning costs of maintaining an expensive, health-harming, and dangerous gas system that will soon be obsolete, our Commonwealth simply cannot afford to wait. We urge the legislature to reconvene for a formal session and demonstrate strong support for environmental justice and rapid decarbonization by passing a robust climate package.

  1. 350 Central Mass
  2. 350 Mass
  3. 350MA Berkshire node
  4. Acadia Center
  5. Alternatives for Community & Environment
  6. All In Energy
  7. Andover WECAN
  8. Arise for Social Justice
  9. Berkshire Environmental Action Team
  10. Beyond Plastics Greater Boston
  11. Boston Catholic Climate Movement 
  12. Boston Climate Action Network
  13. Boston Green Action
  14. Breathe Clean North Shore
  15. Brookhaven Residents’ Climate Change Committee
  16. Canton Residents for a Sustainable Equitable Future 
  17. Cape Ann Climate Coalition Organizing Committee
  18. Citizens Climate Lobby, South Shore & Cape chapter
  19. Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Mass. North Shore chapter
  20. Clean Water Action
  21. Climate Action Group, the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence
  22. Climate Action Now Western Mass
  23. Climate Code Blue
  24. Climate Reality Project Boston Metro chapter
  25. Climate Reality Project Massachusetts Southcoast 
  26. Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund 
  27. Coalition to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere
  28. Concord Area Humanists
  29. Concord Climate Action Network
  30. Conservation Law Foundation
  31. Elders Climate Action Massachusetts chapter
  32. Energy Allies
  33. Energy Efficient Bolton
  34. Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative
  35. First Parish in Bedford
  36. First Parish in Cambridge, Environmental Justice Team
  37. First Parish in Framingham Climate Action Team, Chair
  38. First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington Climate Action Working Group
  39. First Parish Watertown, Green Sanctuary Committee
  40. First Unitarian Universalist Society of Newton Climate Action Task Force
  41. Food & Water Watch 
  42. Fore River Residents Against the Compressor (FRRACS)
  43. Gas Transition Allies
  44. Greater Andover Indivisible
  45. Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
  46. GreenRoots
  47. Green Energy Consumer Alliance 
  48. Green Newton
  49. HEET
  50. HEETlabs
  51. HealthLink
  52. Jewish Climate Action Network
  53. Lexington Climate Action Network (LexCAN)
  54. Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) Massachusetts
  55. Longmeadow Pipeline Awareness Group
  56. Mass Peace Action
  57. Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN)
  58. Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light, Inc.
  59. Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church Climate Action Team
  60. MetroWest Climate Solutions
  61. Mothers Out Front – Arlington
  62. Mothers Out Front  – East Boston
  63. Mothers Out Front – Bedford Chapter
  64. Mothers Out Front – Brookline Chapter
  65. Mothers Out Front – Cambridge Chapter
  66. Mothers Out Front – Newton
  67. Mothers Out Front – Northampton
  68. Mothers Out Front Massachusetts
  69. No Fracked Gas in Mass
  70. North American Indian Center of Boston
  71. North Parish of North Andover Climate Justice Group
  72. North Reading Green Alliance
  73. Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church, Green Sanctuary Team
  74. Our Climate
  75. Our Revolution MA, Climate Crisis Working Group
  76. Partnership for Policy Integrity
  77. Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast, inc
  78. Pilgrim Watch
  79. Progressive Massachusetts
  80. Quincy Climate Action Network
  81. Renewable Renegades 
  82. Resiliency Gardens Project,  Healthy Yards, Needham- Pollinator Protectors
  83. Resist the Pipeline 
  84. Resonant Energy
  85. Salem Alliance for the Environment
  86. Sheffield Saves
  87. Sierra Club Massachusetts
  88. Slingshot
  89. Social Action Committee of First Parish Plymouth
  90. Our Revolution MA, Climate Crisis Working Group
  91. South Coast Neighbors United
  92. Springfield Climate Justice Coalition
  93. Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude
  94. Sunwealth 
  95. Sustainable Marblehead
  96. Sustainable Middleborough
  97. Sustainable Wellesley
  98. The Enviro Show
  99. Third Act MA
  100. TownGreen
  101. Trustees Collaborative for Parks & Open Space
  102. Union of Concerned Scientists
  103. Unitarian Universalist Mass Action
  104. Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield 
  105. Voices for Climate [V4C]
  106. Vote Solar
  107. Watertown Faces Climate Change (a node of 350Mass)
  108. Worcester Congregations for Climate and Environmental Justice

THIS THURSDAY: Learn about the November Ballot Questions

Can you believe that the primary was a week ago already?

Congratulations to our endorsees who won their primaries last week!

  • Mara Dolan (Governor’s Council District 3), who will be the first public defender on the Governor’s Council and defeated a 13-term incumbent
  • Leigh Davis (3rd Berkshire), who will be a progressive housing champion in the State House
  • Tara Hong (18th Middlesex), who defeated a conservative, five-term incumbent state representative
  • Erika Uyterhoeven (27th Middlesex), who defeated her challenger by more than 2:1

We are excited for all the great work that they will do in office.

Not all of our endorsees won their races, but we admire the progressive, issue-focused, grassroots campaigns that they ran, their commitment to their communities, and their willingness to take the step of running for office. We endorsed them because we were impressed by the great work that we have done and know that there is so much inspiring work ahead of them.

The general election is now only eight weeks away. So join us in getting ready for that by attending an info session on the five ballot questions.

2024 Ballot Question Info Session

Massachusetts voters will see at least five questions on the November ballot:

  • Question #1: Auditing the State Legislature
  • Question #2: Eliminating the use of the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement
  • Question #3: Enabling Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize
  • Question #4: Legalizing psychdelics
  • Question #5: Ending subminimum wages for tipped workers

Join us on Thursday, September 12, at 7 pm, to learn more about the five questions, what they would do, and how to get involved. We will have speakers from each of the five campaigns.

Video from Last Thursday’s Forum on Steward & the Health Care Crisis

hank you so much to everyone who joined us last Thursday for our forum “The Steward Crisis and the Future of Health Care in Massachusetts.” Thank you to our wonderful moderator Enid Eckstein, engaging speakers, and event partner Mass-Care.

If you missed the event (or wanted to watch again!), you can find the video here: https://youtu.be/t8rbARiy__A.

During the forum, Bill Walczak mentioned his recent writings on the Steward situation. You can find two of those articles here:

https://www.dotnews.com/2024/steward-case-poses-just-beginning-our-community-s-health-care-woes

https://www.dotnews.com/2024/disowned-our-state-dot-region-s-residents-healthcare-experts-should

Stay tuned for future actions to take and future forums to continue this important discussion.

The House and Senate Passed a Final Version of the Affordable Homes Act. What’s in It?

On August 1, or, in Massachusetts State House time “still July 31,” the House and Senate passed a final version of the Affordable Homes Act, which Governor Healey first introduced all the way back in October.

The vote was 128 to 24 in the House, with Democrats Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) and Dave Robertson (D-Tewksbury) voting no and Republicans Marcus Vaughn (R-Wrentham), David Vieira (R-Falmouth), and Steven Xiarhos (R-Yarmouth) voting yes. The Senate vote was 38 to 2, with Peter Durant (R-Spencer) and Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) voting no.

The Affordable Homes Act, also referred to as the housing bond bill, is a combination of bond authorizations and new housing policies.

First: what is a bond bill?

A bond bill is legislation that authorizes the state to issue and sell bonds to fund capital projects and programs. The bond bill contains capital authorizations, which identify programs that can be funded through revenue raised through said bonds. Importantly, a bond bill only authorizes the spending; it provides a menu, not a direct appropriation.

The final bill promises $5.16 billion in new investment in housing, but it is important to remember that this is not an exact budget appropriation. Indeed, Healey’s own capital spending plan dedicates only $2 billion for housing over the next five years, and $400 million in fiscal 2025. To be clear, this is a significant increase over recent years, but it indicates that all $5.16 billion in authorized expenditures are unlikely to be realized.

Among the bond authorizations, there were many important items, such as:

  • $2 billion authorization for public housing
  • $150 million for public housing decarbonization and $275 million for sustainable and green housing initiatives
  • $10 million authorization for a fund to help nonprofits acquire existing, non-subsidized housing units and keep them affordable for at least 30 years, protecting them from the speculative market

So next: what policies got included?

The final bill included such new policies as the following:

  • Legalizing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by right (Governor’s, House, & Senate bills): The bill requires cities and towns to adopt by-right permitting in single-family zoned districts, caps parking mandates at 1 spot per unit for ADUs further than ½ mile from public transit, and bans owner occupancy requirements. Many cities and towns across the state have been fighting to pass zoning reforms to allow such ADUs (that is, small, independent residences built on the same lot as a single-family home) as a way to increase housing stock.
  • Eviction record sealing protections (Governor’s & Senate bills): The bill prohibits a consumer reporting agency from including in any report a sealed eviction record, and it gives tenants the ability to petition to seal eviction records in no-fault, non-payment, and fault cases over set time periods and the ability to seal any case that is dismissed or results in a final judgment in favor of the defendant. Unfortunately, none of this record sealing will be automatic; tenants will have to petition the court to get records sealed. Nonetheless, this is an important step because having an eviction record can create a devastating barrier for tenants looking for housing and these records impact people’s ability to obtain housing, credit, and employment, harming many and disproportionately impacting women and people of color.
  • Foreclosure Prevention Pilot Program (Senate bill): The bill creates a pilot foreclosure prevention program in 5 communities with the highest foreclosure rates statewide. The program would allow homeowners facing foreclosure to request a mediation with their lender, together with a neutral third party, to pursue alternatives to foreclosure.
  • Creation of an Office of Fair Housing (Governor’s, House, & Senate bills): The bill establishes an office within the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities with explicit focus on fair housing and establishes a trust fund for enforcement initiatives, fair housing testing, education, and outreach. Strong fair housing laws and enforcement ensure that people are not discriminated against in buying or renting a home for reasons of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, etc. 
  • Facilitating the Use of State Land for Housing (Governor’s, House, & Senate bills): The bill would help streamline the disposition of land under the control of a state agency or quasi for housing purposes. When the state owns the land, it can also lower the costs of building housing, making it easier to build affordable units.

What policies were excluded from the final bill?

  • Transfer Fee (Governor’s bill): This local option policy would have allowed cities and towns to apply a small fee to high-end real estate transactions in order to fund affordable housing. 
  • Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (House bill): TOPA is a local option policy in which tenants would be given the right of first refusal to band together to purchase their building when the owner puts it on the market.
  • Banning Broker’s Fees (Senate bill): This language would have required broker’s fees to be paid by the party who originally engaged with the broker — meaning, in almost all cases, the landlord rather than the tenant.
  • Inclusionary Zoning by Simple Majority (Governor’s bill, modified in the Senate bill): This would have allowed cities and towns to adopt inclusionary zoning policies with a simple majority vote of their City Council / Town Meeting / Select Board, rather than the  two-thirds vote that is currently required. Such ordinances require developers to build a certain percentage of affordable units as a part of new construction.

What’s the takeaway?

The bill contains a number of policy victories, but it only makes a dent in the overall affordable housing crisis. We need continued advocacy to make sure that promised spending actually happens, and we need our Legislature to give cities and towns the tools that they want (like a transfer fee, like TOPA, like rent stabilization) to best respond to the crisis locally. Where the Affordable Homes Act fell short, it did so due to heavy lobbying from the real estate industry: a sign of the need for greater organizing among progressives and tenant advocates in support of a housing justice agenda.

Statement about Beacon Hill’s Adjournment after a Dysfunctional, Unproductive Session

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, released the following statement from the organization about the Legislature’s adjournment with key work left undone

“We are disappointed and appalled to see the ostensibly full-time House and Senate adjourn this morning after failing to take decisive action on so many key issues. 

Rather than advancing a robust shared legislative agenda throughout the past year and a half, our Legislature pushed so many important priorities off to the very end of the session, creating bottlenecks and setting themselves up for failure. 

It does not have to be this way. Why is it? Because of a State House Leadership that is overly deferential to corporate interests and lacking in vision, an autocratic internal structure, and the learned helplessness of too much of the rank-and-file. 

The Legislature ran out the clock on passing meaningful legislation on climate change, despite our living through a summer that continues to break heat records. The Legislature whittled away at the policy components of Governor Healey’s housing bond bill, caving to real estate interests and ignoring public opinion. We have a housing crisis and a climate crisis, and our Legislature is in clear denial about both. 

The list of bills left stalled or defeated through inaction is long and includes legislation that one or both chambers have passed overwhelmingly in past sessions. Next year, we fully expect many of these bills to be refiled, and the Legislature will hold hearings on them in which they will pretend to hear about them for the first time, an insult to the public’s intelligence and their own. 

Advocates have worked hard this session to build momentum for legislation on housing, climate, criminal legal reform, maternal health justice, health care reform, and countless other issues. Their voices, backed by robust public support for action, should be heard. 

The ongoing Veepstakes has highlighted the prolific legislating of narrowly held Democratic majorities in Michigan and Minnesota. When Democrats finally achieved governing trifectas, they immediately went to work to pass long lists of held-up priorities, showing what can be done when the government prioritizes the well-being of the public. Massachusetts likewise finally achieved a Democratic governing trifecta (despite long having the third largest Democratic supermajority in the country) and instead demonstrated dysfunction and lack of ambition. As Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to make the case to the American public that voters should give Democrats a trifecta in DC this November, our Legislature isn’t just failing the people of the commonwealth; they continue to fail the whole country.” 

The 193rd legislative session of the Massachusetts General Court has been historically unproductive. As of July 29, fewer than 230 bills had been signed into law across the two years of the session. By contrast, the last several legislative sessions saw 564 (2021-2022), 539 (2019-2020), 626 (2017-2018), 635 (2015-2016), and 701 (2013-2014) bills signed into law. 

Of the 227 bills signed into law this session as of Monday, 203 were about one city, one town, one person, or a combination of several towns. 

Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide, multi-issue, membership-based advocacy organization focused on shared prosperity, racial and social justice, strong democracy, and environmental sustainability. The organization was founded in 2013 and has 21 chapters across the Commonwealth. 

Wanted: Bold Climate Action

Last week, the House took up its climate omnibus bill. While the bill contains a number of important reforms, it lacks the ambition of the Senate’s recent bill, which did far more to accelerate the transition away from gas. And the Senate’s bill still hadn’t gone far enough to meet the moment, especially around environmental justice.

The process in the House was also emblematic of the chamber’s democracy deficit: of 107 amendments filed, 91 were withdrawn, and the handful that were adopted were watered down. What we see time and time again in the MA Legislature is that bad process leads to bad outcomes.

To read more about this, check out blog posts from Jess Nahigian at the Sierra Club and Dan Zackin at 350 Mass.

The Mass Power Forward coalition will be hosting rallies at the State House from through next Wednesday (7/31). You can sign up to join a rally here.

Better Late Than Never: House and Senate Pass Final FY 2025 Budget, Sending it to the Governor

At the end of last week, the MA House and Senate agreed to a final version of the FY 2025 budget. There are a number of big wins (but some disappointments) in it.

What We’re Excited About:

  • $170 million for universal school meals
  • $117.5 million for tuition-free community college
  • Major steps to deliver affordable, high-quality education and child care that will mean more stable funding for providers, better pay for educators, and more affordability for families
  • Continued funding for fare-free transit in Regional Transit Authorities
  • An access to counsel pilot program that will provide legal representation for low-income tenants
  • Increased cash assistance for families, seniors, and people with disabilities in poverty
  • Continued work to replace our state flag and seal

Click here to see how the full $1.3 Billion in new Fair Share revenue was allocated by the House and the Senate — new investments that you made possible by volunteering and voting for the Fair Share campaign in 2022.

What We’re Disappointed About:

  • That only $10 million was provided for the implementation of free calls in prisons and jails (No Cost Calls), well below the $35 million allocated in the Governor’s budget and the House budget
  • The exclusion of stronger reporting requirements for No Cost Calls implementation passed by the Senate
  • The exclusion of a key voting reform to delink the municipal census from voter registration passed by the Senate
  • The legalization of online lottery sales, which is an extremely regressive way of raising revenue

The budget now goes to the Governor to sign.