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MORE April Opportunities for Action
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Attend LWVMA's Spring Conference:
Join LWVMA, Rep. Niki Tsongas, and a lineup of energizing speakers at our Spring Conference, "Beyond the March: Women Leading the Way in Massachusetts," Saturday, April 28, from 9:30 until 3 at Clark University in Worcester. The conference is open to all League members and to the public. For information and to register, click here
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Gun Control
Elections and Voting:
2020 U.S. Census:
Oppose Citizenship Question: Help oppose the addition of a question on citizenship status to the 2020 U.S. Census. The national League has issued a strong
statement
condemning this last-minute decision by the Commerce Department.
LWVUS has put together
talking points
to use when addressing the citizenship question in the 2020 Census. LWVUS is working on a petition to Congress and will roll out additional materials soon.
Women's Issues
Women's Advocacy Day May 16: Join the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women's lobby day Wednesday, May 16, in the Great Hall at the State House to learn the legislative status and to lobby for women's issues including equality in disability insurance and family leave.
The schedule is registration and coffee 9:30-10:30 a.m.; speakers 10:30-11:30 a.m.; visit legislators 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; and report back and lunch, 1-2 p.m.
Register here
.
Environment & Energy:
Worcester Energy and Environment Town Hall: Participate in a discussion of energy and environment issues and legislation Wednesday, May 16, 6:30-8 p.m., Belmont A.M.E. Zion Church, 55 Illinois St., Worcester, co-sponsored by LWV of Worcester and LWVMA. Sen. Harriette Chandler will discuss pending legislation and take questions, and various environmental organizations will discuss priority issues. The event is free and open to the public.
Register here
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LWVUS Cap and Trade Webinar: LWVUS is offering "Cap and Trade - An Introduction," a webinar with Dr. Emily Wimberger, Wednesday, May 9, 3-4 p.m. Cap and trade systems are the dominant method of pricing carbon globally. Wimberger, chief economist at the California Air Resources Board which manages California's cap and trade system, will give an overview of that system. Registration is limited to 100 people. Register here.
Children's Issues:
Lift the Cap on Kids: The Cap on Kids - also called the family cap - denies welfare benefits to children conceived while the family received assistance. Currently, 8,700 Massachusetts children and their families are harmed by this outdated policy that many other states have eliminated. LWVMA supports H.85 and S.34 to repeal this cap, bills currently in the House and Senate Ways & Means Committees.
The
desired result could also be accomplished by adding funds to the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children budget to provide $100 per month more for each "family cap" child, but these funds are not in the recently released House FY 2019 budget. Rep. Marjorie Decker is filing an amendment to the House FY 2019 budget to provide the spending to effectively lift the cap on kids. Please call your state Representative today and ask him/her to co-sponsor the Lift the Cap on Kids budget amendment.
Immigration:
Update on Safe Communities: The coalition for the Safe Communities Act, recognizing that the bill is unlikely to pass this year, is proposing that some key provisions should still be adopted by other means, including in the state budget. The coalition and the bill sponsors have identified three specific provisions that could be adopted as outside section amendments to the budget. Please ask your legislators to support these amendments during the budget deliberations. You can find details
here
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Progress Update:
Action on LWVMA Bills since April 1
Signed into law:
- Success! Two major criminal justice reform bills, S.2371 which is the omnibus bill, and H.4012 to implement some task force recommendations, passed both the House and Senate and were signed into law by Governor Baker on Friday, April 13. Kudos to legislative specialist Colleen Kirby for her hard work on this important legislation! And thanks to all of you who contacted your legislators and the Governor in support of these reforms; it worked.
- The bill, S.2296, formerly S.591/H.2960, requiring that confidential medical information be sent to the patient rather than to an insurance policyholder was signed by the Governor.
Bills in conference committee:
- H.4134, formerly H.675 To issue bonds financing production and preservation of low- and middle-income housing. Different versions passed the House and Senate and bill is now in conference committee.
Bills reported favorably from committee and awaiting a vote in the first chamber:
- S.46 To create a bill of rights for homeless people
- H.2686 To repeal the bottle deposit law (LWVMA opposes)
- H.2116 To authorize municipalities to assess a "water-banking" fee on large-scale water users to mitigate the impacts of major new and expanded developments
Bills sent to "study" and killed for session:
- S.365 To require candidates for president and vice president to disclose tax returns and provide financial information in order to be on the ballot in Massachusetts
- S.374, S.397 To require photo identification for voting (LWVMA opposes)
- S.371 To implement Election Day voter registration (but in part included in new bill, S.2399)
How to Contact Your Legislator:
You can find phone numbers, email addresses and office addresses on the legislature's web page for your Senator and Representative. Go to
www.malegislature.gov and click on the Legislators tab. If you don't know who your legislators are, click
here.
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The LWVMA Action Newsletter is distributed to all LWVMA members. Anyone can request the Action Newsletter by clicking here. Please review this Newsletter for articles of interest to your League and include them in your local Bulletin.
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