June 6, 2023

Greetings!

Happy June! Several key priority bills are coming up for hearings at the State House, and we hope you will be able to join us in person or online next week.

Join Us for Two Important Bill Hearings Next Week

First, the Joint Committee on Transportation will hold a hearing next Tuesday, June 13th, 10 a.m. –1 p.m., focused on licenses, state IDs, and aviation. The "Everyone Needs ID" Mass ID access bills are scheduled to be heard that day. Please keep reading below for more details.

Second, the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities just announced that they will hold a hearing at the same time (next Tuesday, June 13th, 10 a.m. –1 p.m.), focused on human services. The bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness and the Emergency Assistance family shelter access bills are scheduled to be heard that day. More details also are included below.

Mark Your Calendar to Join Us Again Later This Month

The Joint Committee on Housing also will hold a hearing on Monday, June 26th, 10 a.m.–1p.m., focused on public housing, homelessness, and home rule petitions. Several priority bills will be heard that day, including the upstream RAFT bill, the HomeBASE bill, legislation to eliminate the asset limit for families applying for/participating in the Emergency Assistance (EA) program, and more. Please save the date. We will send additional details on this hearing soon.

The FY24 Budget Is Now in the Conference Committee Phase

On Thursday, the House and Senate each named three members from their chamber to negotiate the final FY24 budget. The six budget conferees are House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz, House Ways and Means Vice Chair Ann-Margaret Ferrante, House Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Todd Smola, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Senate Ways and Means Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, and Senate Ways and Means Ranking Minority Member Patrick O'Connor. The conferees will spend the next few weeks ironing out the differences between the House and Senate budget proposals.

We will be sending out a follow-up alert in the next few days asking you to join us in thanking legislators for their work thus far and to advocate with the conferees and your own state legislators for key housing, homelessness prevention, and benefits priorities for the final FY24 budget. Please stay tuned.

Thank you for your partnership and collective advocacy!

In solidarity,
Kelly and Julia

Kelly Turley
Associate Director

Julia Garvey
Community Organizer/Legislative Advocate


P.S. Stay up to date with the Coalition’s advocacy initiatives by following us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (Links also included at the top of this message.)
#EveryoneNeedsMass ID Access Bill Hearing Details
Bill of Rights for People Experiencing Homelessness and Improving Emergency Assistance for Families with Children Bill Hearing Details