Chris Lisinski, “Progressives Urge Action Before Trump Takes Office,” State House News Service, December 11, 2024.
Calling on Democrats to “be proactive, and not merely be reactive,” progressive groups urged Beacon Hill to take significant action on immigration, civil rights and reproductive health care before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
More than a dozen groups wrote to top legislative Democrats and Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday with a series of requests, including eleventh-hour formal sessions to muscle through legislation they believe would better safeguard Bay Staters from the policies of Trump, who scored a convincing win last month over Kamala Harris.
In their letter, authors including representatives from Progressive Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition pointed to California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom called a special session to reinforce state laws that could be affected by Trump’s second term.
“If old patterns hold, then the Legislature will reconvene in January, committees will be assigned in February, hearings will continue for the next year, and little if any legislation will be passed and signed into law in the first half of 2025,” the groups said in their letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. “We saw the damage of the first Trump administration, and we cannot afford that wait.”
They praised the Legislature for prior efforts to “proactively respond to right-wing federal action,” including enactment of a law shielding abortion providers and out-of-state patients from legal action originating elsewhere following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The groups also asked Healey to create a state-funded legal defense fund to support court fights over topics such as reproductive health care, form compacts with other “like-minded states,” and prioritize state contracts and investments for “companies that align with progressive values.”
Legislative leaders, who preside over Democrat supermajorities and are working with a Democrat in the corner office, have signaled no plans to take up any Trump-inspired legislation before the new term starts Jan. 1.
They also displayed little to no appetite earlier in the term for tackling the specific proposals progressive groups highlighted, including the so-called Safe Communities Act, which has long been a source of debate but for several straight terms never moved forward for a House or Senate vote.
