Next Week at the State House

See you at the State House? Next week, a number of our coalitions are hosting advocacy days at the State House, a great opportunity to connect with other activists across the state and add momentum to key bills.

Mark Your Calendars! 📅

Tuesday, June 6 @ 11 am at the State House: Transfer Fee Coalition Lobby Day —RSVP here

Join the Local Option for Housing Affordability (LOHA) Coalition on Tuesday, June 6, 11-12 PM for a briefing and day of action in support of Rep. Connolly and Sen. Comerford’s bills H.2747/S.1771 establishing a local option transfer fee to fund affordable housing. Speakers will include advocates, municipal officials, impacted people and housing experts from across the Commonwealth.

LOHA Day of Action

Tuesday, June 6 @ 1 pm at the State House (House Members Lounge) — Polluters Pay & Put Gas in the Past Legislative Briefing

This event will be a presentation for legislators on bills at the center of two Mass Power Forward priority campaigns:

  • For the Make Polluters Pay campaign, (H.872 /S.481), An Act Establishing a Climate Change Superfund Promoting Polluter Responsibility – which we call, for short, the “Polluter Responsibility Superfund Bill”.
  • For the Put Gas in the Past campaign, (S.2135/H.3237), An Act Establishing a Moratorium on New Gas System Expansion. – which we call, for short, the “Gas Expansion Moratorium Bill”

Invite your legislators to the briefing with this toolkit.

Legislative Briefing - Tuesday, June 6

Wednesday, June 7 @ 2 pm at the State House — Youth Justice Lobby Day —RSVP here

Join activists across the state to advocate for bills that would end the school-to-prison pipeline and ensure better outcomes for our youth. The lobby day will focus on bills to keep 18-to 20-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system, expand opportunities to expunge criminal records, create opportunities for diversion, and more.

Youth Justice Lobby Day 2023

In solidarity,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts

The Major Polluters Who Caused the Climate Crisis Should Pay for the Cleanup

Flooding

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Chair Rausch, Chair Cahill, and Members of the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, 

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I’m the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide, member-based grassroots advocacy organization fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic Commonwealth. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to H.872/S.481: An Act establishing a climate change superfund and promoting polluter responsibility (“Polluters Pay”), filed by Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Steve Owens.

Massachusetts is already facing the impacts of climate change, and it will only get worse. The increased incidence of storms will damage coastlines and increase inland flooding: the state has projected that inland property damage due to climate change will increase by almost 50% by mid-century, with a disproportionate impact on low-income communities. Additional rail repair costs from extreme temperatures could reach $6 million per year by 2050 and a striking $35 million by the end of the century, and repair costs for electric transmission and utility distribution infrastructure alone are projected to increase by almost $100 million by 2050, with power outages disproportionately impacting low-income communities again. Not to mention the impact on human health and lives.1 

Meanwhile, major fossil fuel companies are seeing record profits. The very companies who lied to the public for decades about climate change are benefiting while all of us, especially the most vulnerable, bear the cost. 

We already have a successful model for addressing these situations of public damages, private profits: the “polluter pays” principle. This principle is employed in all of the major US pollution control laws: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (solid waste and hazardous waste management), and Superfund (cleanup of abandoned waste sites). 

This bill would extend that proven principle to the climate crisis by establishing a climate change adaptation cost recovery program. It would require companies that have contributed significantly to the buildup of climate-warming greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to bear a share of the costs of needed infrastructure investment, based on their historic emissions. 

This bill would raise an estimated $75 billion over 25 years from the 20 largest polluting companies to provide funding for climate resiliency efforts such as restoring coastal wetlands; upgrading roads, bridges, subways, and transit systems; preparing for and recovering from hurricanes and other extreme weather events; installing energy efficient cooling systems; upgrading the electrical grid; and expanding green spaces and urban forestry.

Moreover, the bill understands that our sustainability transition must be a just one, with key provisions to ensure that sufficient funds go to environmental justice populations and that the funding goes to the creation of good-paying jobs. 

Massachusetts has taken important steps toward climate mitigation in recent sessions and we must continue to do so to meet our state’s climate goals, but we also need to address the climate crisis that is already hitting communities. This bill shows a way forward. 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts 

Endnotes


[]1 Gloninger, Chris and Asher Klein. “When a Major Hurricane Hits New England, the Costs Will Be Huge.” NBC News. July 25, 2019. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/catastrophic-hurricane-new-england-modeling/92234/; Zhao, Bo. The Effects of Weather on Massachusetts Municipal Expenditures: Implications of Climate Change for Local Governments in New England. Boston: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 2023; 2022 Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2022. https://www.mass.gov/doc/2022-massachusetts-climate-change-assessment-december-2022-volume-i-executive-summary/download.

It’s Time to Make Polluters Pay

Tomorrow, the Massachusetts Legislature is hosting a hearing on a new bill to address the climate crisis: the Polluters Pay bill.

This bill, modeled on legislation filed in other states and nationally, embodies a core principle: those who created the climate crisis should have to pay for cleaning up the resulting damages.

At the same time that communities across the Commonwealth are facing the growing costs of climate adaptation — costs that will grow significantly in the coming decades — fossil fuel companies are making record profits.

The Polluters Pay bill would require companies that have contributed significantly to the buildup of climate-warming greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to bear a share of the costs of needed infrastructure investment. By doing so, it would would raise an estimated $75 billion over 25 years from the 20 largest polluting companies to provide funding for climate resiliency efforts such as restoring coastal wetlands; upgrading roads, bridges, subways, and transit systems; preparing for and recovering from hurricanes and other extreme weather events; installing energy efficient cooling systems; upgrading the electrical grid; and expanding green spaces and urban forestry.

Moreover, the bill understands that our sustainability transition must be a just one, with key provisions to ensure that sufficient funds go to environmental justice populations and that the funding goes to the creation of good-paying jobs.

Can you email your state legislators today in support of this bill?

You can find out if your legislators are already co-sponsors here.

Already emailed? Then call!

Make Polluters Pay

Details for tomorrow’s hearing:

  • 12 pm: Rally on the State House steps with 350 Mass / Better Future Project and allies
  • 1 pm: Hearing
  • Sign up for either here.

Mark Your Calendars: What’s Coming Up

Thursday, May 18 @ 11 am at the State House: No Cost Calls Lobby Day — RSVP here

The Keeping Families Connected / No Costs Calls coalition will be having a Senate advocacy action day to ask Senators to co-sponsor budget amendment #941, which will create a stronger guarantee of no cost calls in the state’s budget. The coalition will be meeting at the fourth floor cafe.

Keep Families Connect: Senate Advocacy Day at the State House

Wednesday, May 24 @ 9:30 am at the State House: Thrive Act Lobby Day —RSVP here

This is an exciting opportunity for students, families, educators, staff, and community activists to come together and connect with legislators about the Thrive Act, new legislation that would create a system of school assessment and improvement that considers the whole child, and focuses on giving students and educators the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Thrive Act Advocacy Day

Tuesday, May 30 @ 10 am at the State House: Healthy Youth Act Lobby Day –RSVP here

An Act relative to healthy youth (S.268/H.544) is a common sense bill that reflects the consensus of the vast majority of MA residents. The bill’s core provision is simple: it will require any public school that already chooses to teach sex ed to provide a medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education.

Healthy Youth Act Lobby Day 2023

Wednesday, June 7 @ 2 pm at the State House — Youth Justice Lobby Day — RSVP here

Join activists across the state to advocate for bills that would end the school-to-prison pipeline and ensure better outcomes for our youth. The lobby day will focus on bills to keep 18-to 20-year-olds out of the adult criminal justice system, expand opportunities to expunge criminal records, create opportunities for diversion, and more.

Countdown to Youth Justice Lobby Day 2023

Three Quick Actions to Take This Weekend

Here are three quick actions that you can take this weekend.

Ask of Gov. Healey: Pause New Gas Infrastructure

Happy Earth Day! The science has long been clear: we need to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. If we know that there can be no long-term future for fossil fuel infrastructure, then we need to stop expanding it and creating a lock-in effect for decades to come, with negative health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities.

Governor Healey has spoken of climate as a top priority, so she should show that commitment by pledging to halt new gas system expansions until the state has a concrete plan for a just transition to a clean — and green — energy future.

Can you join Mass Power Forward in calling on her to do so?

Ask of Your State Senator: Protect Fair Share

The tax plans proposed by the Governor and the House include hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary giveaways to the ultra-rich and large corporations.

House Tax Proposal vs. Fair Share

But the Senate can take a different path.

Call your State Senator and ask them to:

✅ REJECT the proposed cut to the short-term capital gains tax that would overwhelmingly benefit wealthy investors;
✅REJECT expanding the ‘single sales factor apportionment’ that would give a massive tax break to large, profitable multi-state corporations;
✅TARGET any estate tax reform exclusively to moderate estates, with no tax breaks to large multi-million-dollar estates; AND
✅USE THOSE SAVINGS to invest in affordable housing, childcare, and reliable transportation.

Don’t know your State Senator’s phone number? Find it here, and then save it in your phone for next time.

And then after you make that call, can you follow up with an email?

And if you’re free this upcoming week, sign up for a phone bank with Raise Up Mass so that we can drive more calls to legislators.

  • Tuesday, April 25, 4 pm to 7 pm
  • Wednesday, April 26, 4 pm to 7 pm
  • Thursday, April 27, 4 pm to 7 pm

Ask of Your State Rep: Support No Cost Calls

The good news is that the MA House included No Cost Calls language — that is, ending the predatory practice of prisons and jails charging incarcerated individuals for phone calls to loved ones — in its FY2024 budget proposal.

However, there are additional steps necessary to strengthen the guarantee of access to such free phone calls. Rep. Chynah Tyler filed an amendment to the budget (Amendment #1559) to do just that, ensuring a stronger baseline of access (i.e., including access to tablets and setting a minimum guarantee for call time).

Can you call your state rep to ask them to support Amendment #1559 to the House budget?

Keeping Families Together: No Cost Calls. Rep Chynah Tyler, Amdt #1559

In solidarity,

Take Action: The Work from the Legislative Session Remains Unfinished

Last Sunday, the last day of the formal Legislative Session, the MA Legislature sent a lightly amended climate bill back to Governor Charlie Baker, accepting a few of his amendments but rejecting others. (See the changes here.)

The next step is simple: Charlie Baker needs to sign it.

If he signs it or even if he takes no action, it becomes law. If he vetoes it, it is dead until next year unless the Legislature comes back into session.

Call Baker’s office at 617-725-4005 and urge him to sign the climate bill.

Here’s a sample script you can use:

“I urge you to quickly sign H5050: An Act driving clean energy and offshore wind into law. This bill will support much needed progress to reduce our state emissions 50% by 2030 as required by law. It will expand clean energy, transportation electrification, and building decarbonization measures while creating jobs and helping reach statewide emissions reduction targets.”

Sign the Climate Bill, Charlie

Tell the Legislature: Finish Your Job!
A few weeks ago, the Legislature was on track to end the Legislative Session with important victories of passing a five-year prison moratorium and No Cost Calls legislation.
The five-year prison moratorium, passed in a bond bill, would have put a pause on new prison construction in order to allow time for communities to focus on building alternatives. Prisons and jails cannot guarantee public safety; only investing in community well-being and stability can. Even more, no one builds new prison capacity without a desire to use it: every new prison built is a commitment to lock up individuals for decades into the future.
Moreover, right now, families are charged exorbitant fees to maintain vital connections with incarcerated loved ones (sometimes $5 or $6 for a 15-minute call). This is a regressive tax on the most vulnerable populations of the Commonwealth that also harms public safety by limiting communication and weakening community bonds. The No Cost Calls legislation, passed via the budget, would have ended this predatory practice and provided such calls for free.
But both victories are now at risk due to Charlie Baker’s malice and the Legislature’s delays.

Yesterday, Charlie Baker shamefully vetoed the prison moratorium language. With the Legislature not in session, they are unable to override him.

Last week, Baker also tried to hold the No Cost Calls language hostage to his effort to expand pre-trial detention and take away due process rights. While the House rightly rejected Baker’s push, the Senate insisted on passing a still harmful, narrower version of Baker’s bill, dooming No Cost Calls for the session. (Read our write-up of what went down — and how your legislators voted — here.)

We are joining our allies at Families for Justice as Healing and the #KeepFamiliesConnected coalition to demand a special session in September to 1) override Baker’s veto of the Prison Moratorium and 2) pass No Cost Calls with no amendments.

Call and email you State Rep and Senator (a helpful guide from Families for Justice as Healing)
Find your legislator: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

Script: “Hello my name is _________________ and I’m your constituent. The legislature left too much business unfinished this session. I am asking you to call for a special session in September and stay in session until you 1) override Governor Baker’s veto of the Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium and 2) pass no cost calls with no amendments that will expand criminalization or pretrial incarceration. We already know incarceration has failed to create safety and well-being. There is an active contract to study and design the new women’s prison- so we can’t wait for next session. Please do everything in your power to ensure the Prison Moratorium and No Cost Calls are passed into law.”

**You can also check how your Senator voted on no cost calls/pretrial detentionand either…


*Express disappointment and frustration that they would ignore the demands of organizations led by survivors and formerly incarcerated women who opposed the amendment and vote for expanding criminalization and pre-trial detention which will disproportionately impact people of color. The Senators who voted “yea” knew their vote would derail No Cost Calls.

*Thank your Senator for supporting No Cost Calls and opposing the regressive, reactionary amendment that will only increase racial disparities.

What to Do Before the Legislative Session Ends on Sunday

The legislative session in the MA State House ends this Sunday. That’s right: whatever doesn’t happen between now and Sunday will have to wait until next year.

But we know that so many things can’t wait.

Email Your State Legislators: MA Needs the HOMES Act

Last week, the Senate passed the HOMES Act as part of its economic development bill.

The moment that an eviction case is filed, a tenant has an eviction record for life. These eviction records are unfairly held against people when they try to rent a new place. Tenants should be able to seal their eviction record when they have done nothing wrong, when they pay what they owe, or when their case is dismissed or resolved.

The HOMES Act language will protect many tenants from being unfairly marked with an eviction record and would establish a fair process for tenants to petition the court on a case-by-case basis.

The Senate and House are right now working on reconciling the differences between the House and Senate bills.

The House did not include this essential tenant protection in their bill, and it’s vital that the HOMES Act remains in the final package.

Can you email your state legislators about the importance of keeping the HOMES Act in the final economic development bill?

Tell Charlie Baker: Sign the Climate Bill!

Last Thursday, the House and Senate passed climate legislation that, among other things, invests in off-shore wind and solar energy, accelerates the transition to electric vehicles, and ends renewable energy credits for wood-burning power plants (read our write-up here).

Please get this important legislation over the finish line! Urge Governor Baker to sign the bill ASAP with no changes.

Call Governor Baker at 617-725-4005 or (toll-free) 888-870-7770

Sample message:

“Hi, my name is ________ and I live in _____________. I urge the Governor to sign the climate bill into law as soon as possible, with no changes. I support ending clean energy subsidies for woody biomass. It’s crazy to burn wood for electricity.”

An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind

How Forward Does the MA Legislature’s New Climate Bill Take Us?

MA Legislature Climate Bill

The following summary was written in conjunction with Jess Nahigian and Veena Dharmaraj from the Massachusetts Sierra Club and adapted from the overview done by the Mass Power Forward coalition (done by Jess — s/o again) and materials produced by the Legislature. 

Last Thursday, the MA House and Senate finally came to an agreement on climate legislation this year: An Act driving clean energy and offshore wind (H.5060). 

The bill was the conclusion of negotiations between the House and Senate merging two bills passed earlier this year that varied significantly in scope. In early March, the House passed a bill focused on offshore wind. In April, the MA Senate passed a more comprehensive bill focused on clean energy, buildings, and transportation electrification (See a write-up here).

The bill passed the House 146 to 7, with the only NO votes coming from Republicans Donnie Berthiaume, Nicholas Boldyga, Angelo D’Emilia, Marc Lombardo, Norman Orrall, Kelly Pease, and Alyson Sullivan. It passed the Senate 38 to 2, with Senators Ryan Fattman and Patrick O’Connor voting no.  

The bill includes many strong provisions, as detailed below, and some notable omissions. Disappointingly, the bill omitted several large financial investments as well as language about air quality monitoring. Additionally, the transportation policy and building emissions reduction policy were limited in scope. The transportation section of the bill remains limited to electrification, rather than exploring ways to expand public transit usage (as well as biking/walking) and reducing the number of automobiles on the road in the first place (a limitation more of the reach of the original Senate bill than of the negotiations). The buildings emissions portion of the bill falls short of creating the investment and infrastructure to decarbonize buildings at the 100,000 building per year  scale identified as necessary in the state’s pathway to decarbonization by 2050.

Now the bill must go to the governor’s desk, where he has until July 31 to pass it, send it back with revisions, or veto it.

Offshore Wind

  • Establishes a Massachusetts Offshore Wind Industry Investment Program, administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), consisting of annual tax incentives, grants, loans, and other investments
  • Creates the Massachusetts Offshore Wind Industry Investment Trust Fund to promote the manufacture of domestic supply chain components of the offshore wind industry; stimulate increased financing for permanent manufacturing facilities; advance clean energy research, technology, and innovation; and prepare individuals for offshore wind careers by supporting workforce training
  • Removes the price cap for new offshore wind projects, which requires each new project to offer power at a lower price than its predecessor, if there are fewer than three bidders. 
  • Gives preference to offshore wind bids from companies that invest in local manufacturing, provide employment opportunities for underrepresented populations, adopt good labor practices, and mitigate environmental impacts, and takes utilities out of the bid selection process. 
  • Establishes a commercial fisheries commission to provide input on best practices for avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating impacts to wildlife related to offshore wind

Solar Energy

  • Allows agricultural and horticultural land to be used to site solar panels and establishes a commission to study the deployment of these “dual use sites” while minimizing ecosystem and agricultural impact
  • Removes net metering constraints on solar up to 25kw and removes smaller solar arrays from the net metering cap

Other Renewable Energy Measures 

  • Prevents wood-burning biomass power plants from qualifying for renewable energy incentives in the Renewable Portfolio Standard Program but, lamentably, does not exclude it from other incentive programs 
  • Directs a study of the advantages and disadvantages of a regional or multi-state clean energy market
  • Enhances regional collaboration by allowing the Commonwealth to coordinate with nearby states on clean energy solicitation and transmission

Shifting Utilities Away from Fossil Fuels 

  • Requires utility companies to proactively and regularly submit plans to upgrade the transmission and distribution grid, as overseen by a new grid modernization advisory council (the council lacks the public input requirements in the Senate plan). to improve reliability and resilience and accommodate the shift to renewables
  • Reduces incentives for fossil fuels by limiting ratepayer-funded efficiency programs from incentivizing fossil fuel equipment starting in 2025 
  • Establishes a grid modernization advisory council (but without the public input requirements in the Senate bill)  and requires distribution companies to submit regular modernization plans
  • Creates a working group to develop recommendations for regulatory and legislative changes necessary to align our pipeline replacement program (GSEP) with the state’s climate goals
  • Requires additional scrutiny of  the utility-controlled investigation into the “future of gas” 
  • Paves the way for expanded use of renewable thermal energy, including geothermal networks

Workforce

  • Ensures clean energy workforce development programs include workers in impacted and disadvantaged communities
  • Expands and develops workforce development programs in clean energy, particularly wind

Buildings

  • Requires an assessment of K-12 schools with an eye toward improving efficiency, air quality
  • Allows 10 municipalities to pilot fossil-free new and major renovations, but with newly added specifications that exclude life science labs and health care facilities, and requires any participating community to (a) meet the 10% affordable housing target set by state law (chapter 40B) or (b) have approved a zoning ordinance permitting multi-family housing by-right in at least one area
  • Requires that large buildings (20,000 sq. ft. and larger, more expansive than the Senate’s original 25,000 sq. ft. and larger) report their energy usage annually, and allows only Boston and Cambridge to set their own building energy reporting requirements (as opposed to allowing any city/town to do so, as in the Senate bill) 
  • Increases public accountability and reporting requirements to ensure utilities are providing efficiency services to low-income ratepayers and households

Transportation

  • Provides up to $5000 in point-of-sale rebates for the purchase of electric passenger cars and light duty vehicles less than $55,000, with an additional $1500 rebate for low-income individuals. Rebates of at least $4500 for medium and heavy duty electric vehicles and for those trading in their internal combustion engine vehicle 
  • Calls for the MBTA bus fleet to be all-electric by 2040 (with no more fossil-fuel buses purchased after 2030) and prioritizes deployment on routes that go through underserved communities (Note that environmental groups advocated for full electrification by 2030, and that the Senate bill had “no new non-electric purchases” after 2028)
  • Mandates all new cars sold in the state to be zero-emission starting 2035
  • Creates an interagency coordinating Council to develop and implement a plan for deploying EV charging infrastructure in an equitable and accessible manner and establishes a Charging Infrastructure Deployment Fund 
  • Mandates off-peak rates for EV charging and requires distribution companies to submit proposals for time-of-use rates 
  • Requires the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to develop vehicle electrification and GHG emission regulations for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft)
  • Requires MasDOT to provide technical and funding assistance to help Regional Transit Authorities electrify their fleets 
  • Requires MassDOT to install EV charging stations at all service plazas on the MA Turnpike, at least five commuter rail and subway stations, and at least one ferry terminal.
  • Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) to conduct a study on electrifying our school bus fleet

A Few Notable Omissions 

Unlike the Senate bill, the final bill did not contain the following:

  • Banning competitive electricity suppliers, who often prey on the most vulnerable, from operating in Massachusetts
  • Increasing publicly available air quality monitoring and directing the state to establish baseline air quality in air pollution hotspots and corridors
  • Teeing up a successor to the state’s SMART solar program that favors development in the built environment
  • Interim and full electrification targets for the commuter rail system
  • Allocating $100 million to the Electric Vehicle Adoption Incentive Trust Fund;  $50 million to the Charging Infrastructure Deployment Fund; and $100 million toward Clean Energy Investment Fund from the Senate bill (Funding for these programs is in the Economic development bill under consideration by the legislature)
  • Authorizing all public pensions, with the exception of the state employees retirement system, the state teachers retirement system, and the State Boston retirement system, to divest from any investment in fossil fuel companies

And a Few Red Flags…

  • Expands the definition of clean energy for Massachusetts Clean Energy Center research purposes to include “renewable biofuels, renewable biodegradable chemicals, advanced thermal-to-energy conversion, fusion energy, hydrogen produced by non-fossil fuel sources and methods, and carbon capture and sequestration”
  • Allows existing (grandfathered) anaerobic digestors to qualify for clean peak standard
  • Includes biofuels, “green” hydrogen, landfill gas, “low-emission advanced biomass power conversion technologies” are called “innovations” in the list of technologies eligible for educational grants

Take Action: The MA Legislative Session Ends in TWO WEEKS

Did you know that the current legislative session at the MA State House ends in just two weeks?

That’s right: any bills that don’t pass between now and July 31st are done until next year (at the earliest).

That means that there will be a flurry of activity in the coming weeks, and we want to keep you in the loop.

Stop the MA Legislature from Giving Massive Tax Breaks to the Wealthiest Estates

The Massachusetts tax system hits the wallets of lower-income people harder than high earners, with the bottom 20% of earners paying a higher percentage of their income in state and local taxes than the top 1%. An exception is the Commonwealth’s relatively robust estate tax. The estate tax is one of the main policies we have focused on reducing the gaping racial wealth gap in Massachusetts.

Nonetheless, the Massachusetts House voted last week to roll back the estate tax, to the cost of $207 million. This lost revenue means money isn’t available for important investments or for tax relief for the struggling residents of the Commonwealth.

Even worse, the estate tax rollback was designed in a way that disproportionately benefits the largest estates, namely those over $3 million. This would be the biggest increase in the racial wealth gap in decades.

If legislators want to help comparatively smaller estates, they should design their design their policies to do so, not advance a costly giveaway to the wealthiest estates.

Can you write to your state senator to urge them to reject the House’s estate tax proposal?

Turn up the Heat: MA Needs Climate Action

A climate bill is in the works, but it hasn’t reached the Governor’s desk yet. Together, the provisions laid forth in the House and Senate proposed bills put Massachusetts in a good position to implement strategies to reduce our emissions 50% by 2030 – as required by law – and create healthier communities.

But these strategies cannot wait two years more to be passed into law! Let’s ensure that lawmakers finalize a climate bill that moves us toward our shared climate and justice goals.

The conference committee and House and Senate leaders must send a bill to the Governor’s deskby Thursday, July 21 to avoid the chance of a pocket veto by Governor Baker.

Your legislators need to hear from you: no climate bill is not an option! Advocates are circulating a public sign-on letter for legislators to show their support for moving this forward swiftly. Your legislators need to hear from you that it’s important they demonstrate support!!

Take action!

  1. Check if your legislators have signed onto the letter
  2. If not, send your legislators a message asking them to sign on – either by emailing them or calling them.

Email

Dear _________

I am alarmed to hear that, in the final days of the legislative session, a comprehensive climate bill is still not on the governor’s desk. We have very little time before the end of the session.

[why passing a climate and justice bill is important to you]

We must get a climate bill to the governor’s desk by Thursday. Please join me in voicing your support for swift passage by signing on to this public “Dear Colleague” letter.

Thank you,

Call

I’m calling to voice concern that the legislature has still not passed a climate bill this session. Climate advocates are circulating a public sign-on letter for legislators in support of quickly moving a bill. Has the Representative/Senator seen the letter? You can view the form and the letter at bit.ly/maclimate22. Will the Representative/Senator sign on?

If yes: Wonderful, thank you. They can use the sign-on form found in the letter

If not sure/need to get back to you: Please let me know what the legislator says.

If no: Can you explain why not?

Two More Asks from Our Allies

Follow-ups to Tonight’s “Lobby & Learn Event”

Thank you to all of you who joined us earlier this evening, and to those who couldn’t join: we missed you! And thank you to all four of our wonderful presenters: Crystel Murrieta-Ruiz, Cabell Eames, Sana Fadel, and Vanessa Snow!

You can watch the video from tonight’s event here: https://www.facebook.com/ProgressiveMass/videos/526092582299567.
If you are interested in making calls to voters in key districts for any of the bills, please let me know! (Phone-banking the friendly folks on our list is fun!) And if you want to be notified if we organize a phone bank around one of them, let me know as well.

Work & Family Mobility Act

The Senate will be voting tomorrow (or if you read this in the morning, “today”). You can join the virtual watch party at 11AM, which is when the Senate will begin session. Register using the following link: https://bit.ly/dff-senate-watch-party.

Don’t forget to email and call your Senators ahead of Thursday to ensure they are committed to voting “YES” in favor of driver’s licenses.

And then remind a few friends as well.

Climate Action

Cabell spoke about hearings this week on the Future of Gas Report (https://thefutureofgas.com/sep), which was written by consultants hired by the public gas utility companies in Massachusetts (Eversource, National Grid, Berkshire, Liberty and Unitil), in response to a request from the Attorney General for the DPU to do a study on how gas companies can meet Massachusetts’ mandatory emissions reductions. Instead of doing that investigation themselves, the DPU handed it over to the gas companies. The DPU is now reviewing the consultants’ report and the companies’ plans and trying to assess the claims and assumptions made. You can find instructions on how to submit testimony (due by 5 pm on Friday) here.

One of the priority bills for the Mass Renews Alliance that Cabell mentioned is the Building Justice with Jobs bill (S.2226 / H.3365), which would adopt housing regulations mandating minimum energy efficiency, energy performance, or related energy standards and put thousands of MA residents to work retrofitting 100,000 homes each year to improve energy efficiency and health outcomes, and reduce utility bills and carbon emissions. We have a fact sheet with sample scripts and talking points here: https://www.progressivemass.com/issues/building-justice-jobs-2021-action.

Cabell also mentioned the Mass Power Forward press conference and lobby day next Thursday from 11 am to 1 pm at the State House. You can RSVP for that (and learn more) here.

Raise the Age

Sana had excellent slides about the Raise the Age bill ( H.1826 / S.920), which would improve public safety and reduce youth entanglement with the criminal legal system by allowing 18, 19, and 20-year-olds to not be automatically tried as adults. The coalition has an excellent website, with a sample script for contacting your legislators: https://www.raisetheagema.org/.

Election Day Registration

This is the article Vanessa mentioned about provisional ballots: https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2022/04/27/provisional-ballots-massachusetts-2020-election-rejected-common-cause/.

The Election Modernization Coalition will be holding an informal in-person lobby day next Wednesday 5/11 @11am in the State House. More details to come, but RSVP to gfoster@commoncause.org if you can attend.

The four Democrats on the six-person Conference Committee are Senators Barry Finegold (Andover, Lawrence, Dracut, Tewksbury) and Cindy Creem (Brookline, Newton, Wellesley) and Representatives Mike Moran (Allston-Brighton, and a tiny bit of Brookline) and Dan Ryan (Charlestown, Chelsea). If you know people in their districts, urge them to contact their legislators! The Senators both support EDR and need backing; the two reps do not support it and need pressure. Please also write to your own legislators urging them to contact the Conference Committee in support of Election Day Registration.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

This Wednesday: Our Legislative Update & Action Evening

Can you believe that it’s May already? That means warmer weather, blooming flowers, and both upcoming deadlines at the Legislature and opportunities to take action.

Wednesday, May 4: Lobby & Learn Evening

Join us this Wednesday, 5/4, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm to learn more about some of our top legislative priorities and how to take action to support them.

The first hour will consist of info sessions on legislation. The second hour will consist of breakout groups for taking action in this critical part of the session.

Featured Speakers:

  • Chrystel Murrieta, Political Coordinator, SEIU 32BJ
  • Cabell Eames, Political Director, 350 Mass / Better Future Project
  • Sana Fadel, Deputy Director, Citizens for Juvenile Justice
  • Vanessa Snow, Director of Organizing & Policy, MassVOTE

This Thursday: The MA Senate Votes on the Work & Family Mobility Act

Our event on Wednesday is timely because the next day, the MA Senate will be voting on the Work & Family Mobility Act.

Allowing Bay Staters to apply for driver’s licenses, regardless of immigration status, is common sense public policy that improves public safety for all Massachusetts families.


Please email your state senator to urge them to VOTE YES on the Work & Family Mobility Act this week!

Saturday, May 7: Free Our Mothers Car Rally in Framingham

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, but not everyone will have the opportunity to spend quality time with their mother due to a carceral system that rips families apart.

Join Families for Justice as Healing and The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls for their annual car rally in Framingham this Saturday (May 7) 1 pm to 3 pm. Come let the community know—No New Women’s Prison, No Old Women’s Prison, No More Women’s Prison.

To get more details, RSVP here.

Take Action to Address the Housing Affordability Crisis!

Massachusetts has an affordability crisis, and cities and towns lack the tools to adequately respond.

That’s why we’ve been working in coalition with groups across the state to pass Real Estate Transfer Fee Enabling Legislation (H.137S.868: An Act empowering cities and towns to impose a fee on certain real estate transactions to support affordable housing). These bills would enable cities and towns to impose a modest fee on high-end real estate transactions to create a funding source for affordable housing.

The bill faces an important deadline of May 9th (one week from today) in the Joint Committee on Housing. If no action is taken by this date, the session will be over for this bill.

Can you email House & Senate Leadership in support of this key bill?