Announcing: March Academy, Committee Assignments, and more!

Hello from your State House,

This week, our team kicked off the March Academy —a seven-part on-line teach-in to bring the work of the State House back home to our district. (Details about how to participate are linked below.)

We're in a partnership, you and me. I head to Boston to work on behalf of our district and you hold me accountable with your ideas, activism, questions, and more.

The goal of these teach-ins is to break down barriers to accessing your government. I don't want you to have to search through malegislature.gov, reading docket numbers and legalese in order to understand the legislation I filed on your behalf. And even more important, I know that we'll be strongest this session if we're focused together on the priorities of our district, working in unison both inside the State House and in the district.

Each 45-minute teach-in will feature an overview of priority bills in a particular issue area as well as an opportunity for your questions and comments. My team and I will also give you a sense of what to expect this spring. Hint: Lots of hearings, a budget debate, and more.

We're using Zoom (an easy-to-use on-line platform with video and phone options for constituents) to host the March Academy. Teach-ins will be recorded, captioned, and posted on our soon-to-be-launched website for greater accessibility. Video and phone participation for each teach-in is limited to the first 100 people.

>>>Here are the details for the March Academy webinars.<<<

And here are three additional quick highlights of the last few weeks:

(Please scroll down to the bottom for pictures featuring an office visit with a rock star young organizer committed to the MA Rental Voucher Program, a teach-in I co-organized at the State House featuring the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, Legislative Aide Rani Jacobson joining the celebration of Frederick Douglas, and last weekend's forum on Net Zero Energy buildings.)

#1 Committee assignments are in. Here are mine for this session:

Chair, Joint Committee on Public Health

Vice Chair, Joint Committee on Higher Education

Joint Committee on Revenue

Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy

Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery

Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change

Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight

#2 I had two columns published recently:

A 'My Turn' column in The Greenfield Recorder.

A 'Dear Jo' column in The Daily Hampshire Gazette where I answered questions about opioid addiction and taxes.

#3 I'll be doing 'People's Office Hours' at the Amherst Winter Farmers' Market this Saturday, March 2 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. More information here.