With the summer over, the Legislature is getting back into the swing of things, with a number of hearings coming up soon. Here are two key ones next week — and what you can do to help.
Monday, 9/18: Hearing on the Cherish Act
On Monday, at 10 AM in Gardner Auditorium at the State House, the Joint Committee on Higher Education will be holding a hearing on the Cherish Act.
Our public colleges and universities are essential vehicles for economic mobility and economic stability. However, our state has been underinvesting from public higher education for the last two decades. When the state reduces funding to public colleges and universities, the result is higher tuition and fees, and a growing debt burden faced by students and families.
The Cherish Act (S.816; H.1260) is a comprehensive response to the problems facing public higher ed today and charts a vision for what a higher education system for all would look like. The bill has four key parts:
- Debt-Free Public Higher Education
- Increased Student Supports
- Recruitment and Retention of High-Quality Faculty and Staff
- Green, Healthy, and Safe Campus Facilities
Click here to RSVP for Monday’s hearing.
Click here to register to take a free bus to/from the hearing.
Click here to submit written testimony.
Click here to sign up for a virtual written testimony workshop.
Click here to urge your legislators to attend the Cherish Act Hearing.
Click here to learn more about the Higher Ed for All Coalition!
Wednesday, 9/20: Show Your Support for the State House Staff
Last year, State Senate staffers announced that a majority of their colleagues had signed union authorization cards in March of 2022. They requested voluntary recognition from our Senate President, and after delaying for three months, she refused to recognize the union.
Since then, the Senate has maintained a card majority despite major turnover, and organizers are over 2/3 of the way to a majority in the MA House. In order to unionize, however, they need to change state law on public sector unionization.
H.3069/S.2014, An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees, will get a hybrid public hearing in front of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on September 20th at 1pm. These bills would extend to State House staff the same right to unionize, if they choose, that almost all workers in the Commonwealth already enjoy.
- Read and sign onto written testimony from MSHEU requesting the SARO Committee support the bills. Please sign the letter from organizations/unions/supportive individuals.
- Register to testify in person, or virtually, at the hearing on Sept 20th. You can fill out the linked form by 5:00 PM on Monday, September 18th to register.
- Email your state legislators to ask them to co-sponsor H.3069 and S.2014.
