With thousands of bills filed each legislative session, and only so many hours in the day, we can’t include every bill we care about on our Legislative Agenda. We wanted to highlight these as additional bills we’re supporting this session, even if not on our priority agenda.
Our Shared Prosperity Agenda
$20 Minimum Wage (HD.3850 / SD.382)
- Title: An Act relative to the minimum wage
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Carmine Gentile & Dan Donahue; Sen. Jason Lewis
- Title: Raises the minimum wage to $20 per hour over four years and indexes it to inflation to better align the minimum age with a living wage
State House Unionization (HD.2970 / SD.919)
- Title: An Act relative to collective bargaining rights for legislative employees
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Carol Doherty; Sen. John Keenan
- What It Does: Extends collective bargaining rights to State House staff
Gig Workers (HD.3356 / SD.722)
- Title: An Act establishing protections and accountability for Delivery Network Company workers, consumers, and communities
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Andy Vargas; Sen. Lydia Edwards
- Description: Ensures delivery workers receive the same protections, wages, rights, and benefits that all Massachusetts workers are entitled to under law
PILOT Reform (HD.3727 / SD.2153)
- Title: An Act relative to payments in lieu of taxation by organizations exempt from the property tax
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven; Sen. Adam Gomez
- What It Does: Enables cities and towns with nonprofits owning total property valued at or above $15 million to require them to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) equal to 25% what they would have owed without the exemption
Corporate Tax Disclosure (HD.3385 / SD.2291)
- Title: An Act requiring public disclosures by publicly-traded corporate taxpayers
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Dan Donahue; Sen. Liz Miranda
- What It Does: Makes publicly accessible reports that are already filed annually by publicly-traded corporations, detailing their sales, profits, taxable income, and taxes paid
Public Bank (HD.2541 / SD.1213)
- Title: An Act to establish a Massachusetts public bank
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Mike Connolly & Antonio Cabral; Sen. Jamie Eldridge
- What It Does: Creates a public bank that would be able to offer lower-interest loans to local governments, small-and medium-sized businesses, and farmers
Access to Counsel (SD.1771 / HD.3912)
- Title: An Act promoting access to counsel and housing stability in Massachusetts
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Dave Rogers & Mike Day; Sen. Sal DiDomenico
- What It Does: Provides legal representation for low-income tenants and owner-occupants in eviction proceedings
- Title: An Act providing for climate change adaptation infrastructure and affordable housing investments in the commonwealth
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Sam Montaño; Sen. Jamie Eldridge
- What It Does: Increases the deeds excise tax on home sales to provide a funding stream for affordable housing and climate resilience
Ending Broker’s Fees (HD.238 / SD.35)
- Title: An Act eliminating forced broker’s fees
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Tram Nguyen; Sen. Lydia Edwards
- What It Does: Bans the ability for landlords to require renters to pay broker’s fees
An Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty (HD.1353 / SD.1818)
- Title: An Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Marjorie Decker; Sen. Sal DiDomenico
- What It Does: Raises cash assistance grants by 20% per year until they reach 50% of the federal poverty level and then increase grants each year to keep up with inflation
Community Schools (HD.1108 / SD.2060)
- Title: An Act to establish a community schools special legislative commission
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Chynah Tyler; Sen. Paul Mark
- What It Does: Establishes a commission to study the community schools model, which is characterized by increased service provision, parent engagement, and community partnerships
Adjunct Bill of Rights (HD.1827 / SD.2009)
- Title: An Act promoting an Adjunct Bill of Rights
- Lead Sponsors: Sen. Paul Mark; Reps. Pat Duffy & Sean Garballey
- What It Does: Makes adjunct faculty who teach half-time or more at one or more public institutions of higher education eligible for a state pension and health insurance
Fair Wages for Faculty & Staff (HD.4041 / SD.1511)
- Title: An Act to provide fair wages to employees of public institutions of higher education
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Andy Vargas; Sen. Pavel Payano
- What It Does: Ensures that future wages of public higher education employees are at or above the national average when adjusted for cost of living
Green & Healthy Campuses (HD.3796 / SD.2107)
- Title: An Act to provide green and healthy public colleges and universities and address their deferred maintenance needs
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Manny Cruz & Rep. Aaron Saunders; Sen. Jake Oliveira
- What It Does: Creates a commission relative to energy and environmental improvements on public higher education campuses and a fund to support the commission’s recommendations
Full-Spectrum Pregnancy Care (HD.1456 / SD.1199)
- Title: An Act Ensuring Access to Full Spectrum Pregnancy Care
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa; Sen. Cindy Friedman
- Description: Requires health insurance plans to cover all pregnancy care—including abortion, prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care—without any kind of cost-sharing
Community Immunity Act (SD.2117)
- Title: An Act promoting community immunity
- Lead Sponsors: Sen. Becca Rausch
- Description: Creates statewide consistent immunization policy and provides residents throughout the Commonwealth the data necessary to prevent future outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infectious disease
Our Racial and Social Justice Agenda
Dignity Not Deportations (HD.3596 / SD.1107)
- Title: An Act relative to immigration detention and collaboration agreements
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Christine Barber & Dave Rogers; Sen. Adam Gomez
- What It Does: Bans collaboration agreements between state/local law enforcement and ICE and bans ICE detention beds in Massachusetts
Juvenile Diversion (HD.3434 / SD.246)
- Title: An Act promoting diversion of juveniles to community supervision and service
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid; Sen. Cindy Creem
- Description: Helps keep youth out of the prison system by allowing for community supervision or community service as a non-incarceration alternative in more cases
Ending Life without Parole (HD.348 / SD.1006)
- Title: An Act to reduce mass incarceration
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Chris Worrell; Sen. Liz Miranda
- What It Does: Repeals mandatory sentences of life without parole, which have strong racial biases and have been deemed human rights violations by international courts
Overdose Prevention Centers (HD.4212 / SD.2483)
- Title: An Act relative to preventing overdose deaths and increasing access to treatment
- Lead Sponsors: Sen. Julian Cyr; Reps. Marjorie Decker & John Lawn
- What It Does: Creates a ten-year pilot programs for overdose prevention centers that use harm reduction strategies to address the opioid crisis
Regulating Facial Surveillance (HD.794 / SD.503)
- Title: An Act to implement the recommendations of the special commission on facial recognition technology
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Orlando Ramos; Sen. Cindy Creem
- Description: Implements the recommendations of the commission created by the 2020 police reform bill to create a tight regulatory framework for facial surveillance
Healthy Youth Act (HD.947; SD.1777)
- Title: An Act relative to healthy youth
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Jim O’Day & Vanna Howard; Sen. Sal DiDomenico
- What It Does: Requires school districts that provide sex education to ensure that it is comprehensive, age-appropriate, and LGBTQ-inclusive, with an emphasis on consent
Language Access Bill (HD.3876 / SD.1757)
- Title: An Act relative to language access and inclusion
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Adrian Madaro & Carlos González; Sen. Sal DiDomenico
- What It Does: Builds the capacity of key public-facing state agencies to meet the language access needs of an increasingly diverse population
Our Sustainable Infrastructure & Environmental Protection Agenda
Zero-Carbon Renovation Fund (HD.3171 / SD.1325)
- Title: An Act establishing a zero carbon renovation fund
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Andy Vargas & Manny Cruz; Sen. Adam Gomez
- What It Does: Creates a fund for green and healthy home retrofits, with a prioritization of affordable housing, low-to-moderate-income homes, gateway cities, and environmental justice communities
No Ratepayer Money for Utility Lobbying (HD.1833/SD.742)
- Title: An Act prohibiting the use of ratepayer funds for utility lobbying, promotions or perks
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Steve Owens & Jenny Armini; Sen. Cindy Creem
- What It Does: Prohibits utility companies from using customer money for lobbying, promotions, and perks
Air Quality Bill (HD.1924 / SD.1086)
- Title: An Act to ensure cleaner air for communities overburdened by outdoor air pollution
- Lead Sponsors: Reps. Christine Barber & Mike Connolly; Sen. Pat Jehlen
- Description: Improves indoor and outdoor air quality, especially for Environmental Justice populations and those communities burdened by air emissions from highways, ports, airports, and congested roadways by expanding outdoor air monitoring for key pollutants, setting ambitious targets for 2030 and 2035, requiring better ventilation systems in medium and large buildings, among other measures
Plastics Reduction Act (HD.2592 / SD.2134)
- Title: An Act to reduce plastics
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Ted Philips; Sen. Becca Rausch
- What It Does: Reduces single-use plastics in the Commonwealth, including a uniform plastic bag ban, disposable food service ware limits, and the creation of fund to support transitions to environmentally friendly products
Our Good Government & Strong Democracy Agenda
Hybrid Meeting Access (HD.368)
- Title: An Act to modernize participation in public meetings
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Antonio Cabral
- What It Does: Requires that all public bodies have options for hybrid participation and creates a trust fund and competitive grants to help municipalities with the technology needed to do so
Voting Rights Restoration (HD.407 & HD.408 / SD.1414 & SD.1416)
- Title: An Act relative to voting rights restoration & Proposal for a legislative amendment to the Constitution relative to voting rights
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven; Sen. Liz Miranda
- What It Does: Ends remaining incarceration-based disenfranchisement in Massachusetts
Local Option RCV (SD.2194)
- Title: An Act providing a local option for ranked choice voting in municipal elections
- Lead Sponsors: Sen. Becca Rausch
- Description: Enables cities and towns in Massachusetts to adopt ranked choice voting for municipal elections
Ending Foreign Corporate Influence of Local Elections (HD.984 / SD.1152)
- Title: An Act to Limit Political Spending by Foreign-Influenced Corporations
- Lead Sponsors: Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven; Sen. Mark Montigny
- What It Does: Requires corporations seeking to make independent expenditures to attest, under penalty of perjury, that they are not a foreign-influenced corporation and labels them as such if they do not
An Accountable State House (SD.1301 / HD.4303)
- Title: An Act to strengthen representation and promote democratic, transparent, and efficient lawmaking
- Description: Improves the pay structure and incentives for Massachusetts legislators by reforming the stipend system
