We are entering what I believe will be a hopeful era, ushered in by bold, new leadership in the Executive branch – Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. New Constitutional officers. New Cabinet Secretaries. New and returning State Senate and House colleagues.
Together with you, we’ll create the future we want – equitably rendered for all.
For an overview of this moment, town hall invitations, and a roundup of news, please read on.
**But first: It's cold. If you need services, shelter, support, please email jo.comerford@masenate.gov. Any time. (More on energy prices below.)**
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Beginning in July 2022, my team and I began meeting with stakeholders to research new bills that respond to emerging issues while also refining critical bills from last session that haven’t yet passed.
Every bill has a story behind it – a human story that transcends policy details turned into legalese. Taken as a whole, our team’s 2023-2024 legislation reflects a mosaic of concerns and hopes from our region – permeated by a focus on equity and justice. You can find all our bills listed and summarized here and a bill filing 101 outline in the P.S.
In January we also welcomed Katelyn Billings – our team's new Director of Communications and Engagement – who has hit the ground running in this new year and new session.
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Government works best when we make it work together.
Our bills build upon the success and momentum we’ve gained together in past sessions – and move us toward a more just and equitable future for all.
That’s why we’re holding four town halls on legislation we filed this session – each focused on one of the following issue areas: education; climate; health, health care, and child welfare; and farming, food systems, and agriculture.
We’re also planning a “kitchen sink” town hall focused on the legislative timeline, process, budget, economic development, housing, and transportation.
Mark your calendars and sign up here and we'll send you information:
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Feb. 14 @ 5 p.m.: Pre-K through public higher education
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Feb. 21 @ 5 p.m.: Health, Health Care, and Child Welfare
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Feb. 27 @ noon: Farming, food systems, and agriculture (This town hall will be hosted by the great folks at Grow Food Northampton.)
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March 8 @ 5:30 p.m.: Kitchen sink
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The first vote the Senate takes after we are sworn in is for Senate President. I joined Senator Will Brownsberger in nominating Senator Karen Spilka for a third term to lead the Massachusetts Senate.
The Senate President has visited our district many times over the past four years. She's biked through Hatfield to end hunger, put on big boots and spent hours in farm fields and cow barns (pictured) listening to farmers, and just recently visited the UMass Water and Energy Technology (WET) Center to understand the groundbreaking work on PFAS happening right here in Amherst.
I’ve also been appointed to the Temporary Committee on Rules, which is preparing a draft of the 2023-2024 Senate Rules as well as a proposal for Joint Rules with the House. Thank you to everyone who is advocating for greater equity, transparency, and accountability. I am with you – and I’m also focused on retaining remote participation in bill hearings so that constituents in western Massachusetts don’t have to drive for hours and incur enormous and unequal expenses to engage in the democratic process.
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I’m staying deeply involved in two big rail projects underway in the region:
The Western Massachusetts Passenger Rail Commission convened last week in Greenfield to take testimony from the public on possible rail governance models for western Massachusetts regional rail. The Commission was created by the Legislature to study and assess governance, operation, and maintenance models for the expansion of passenger rail in western and central Massachusetts. I’m proud to serve on the Commission alongside House and Senate colleagues, rail experts, regional planners, and more. For more details and to submit testimony, visit the MassDOT website. (More hearings will be forthcoming. We’ll spread the word via social media and local calendars.)
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I’ve heard from many of you about high energy bills and I share your concerns.
In October of last year I joined with colleagues to write to the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), urging it to protect consumers against the price hikes by utility companies this winter. I joined another recent letter as the Healey/Driscoll Administration ramped up. Thanks to so many efforts and the Administration's quick efforts there’s been some progress: The DPU under new leadership has announced that it is requiring utilities to decrease their price for natural gas by four to five percent.
So much more to do.
The Salvation Army's Good Neighbor Energy Fund also offers one-time grants for eligible consumers. To find out if you are eligible, contact the Salvation Army at (800) 262-1320 in area codes 413 and at (800) 334-3047 in area code 617, 508 ,781, and 978.
Please know our office will continue to prioritize keeping energy affordable. And please be in touch if we can help you access fuel assistance. Just email jo.comerford@masenate.gov.
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(You may remember that our team had the honor of passing healthy soils legislation in 2020 to create and fund a program to make it easier for farmers and land managers to utilize practices such as no-till or low-till farming, cover crops, and other practices to keep soil healthy, nutrient-rich, and sequestering carbon.)
A few days before the end of the session, the Senate and House also passed a bill I filed with Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier creating a Foster Parents’ Bill of Rights. The bill enacted minimum requirements for what foster parents should receive, such as freedom from discrimination, access to a 24-hour emergency hotline, information about the child in their care, and more. You can read more about the bill, which is now law, here. Rep. Farley-Bouvier and I have partnered again to file a number of child welfare bills this session. And I’m also partnering with Representative Michael Finn on An Act establishing a bill of rights for children in foster care.
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Thank you to State House News Service, Project Bread, The Greater Boston Food Bank, and many sponsors for hosting a critical #EndHungerHere event in Boston last week. We're going to do it: We're going to end hunger in the Commonwealth by 2030.
As a Senate co-chair of the Food System Caucus, I was honored to speak about the work ahead alongside Representative Hannah Kane, Erin McAleer from Project Bread, and Catherine D'Amato of The Greater Boston Food Bank, in a conversation beautifully moderated by Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB.
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I had the honor of offering the legislative welcome in a celebration of great writing at a Massachusetts Center for the Book event at the State House earlier this month. The New York Times characterized our region as “the most author-saturated, book-cherishing, literature-celebrating place in the nation.” You can watch a video of my opening remarks here.
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Cheers for Amherst poet Karen Skolfield, whose collection Battle Dress was the award winner in poetry for 2020.
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Congratulations to Northampton author Christopher Boucher for receiving Honors in Fiction in 2020 for Big Giant Floating Head and Leverett author Jennifer Rosner for receiving Honors in Fiction in 2021 for The Yellow Bird Sings.
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Deep gratitude to Northampton author Mike Curato whose debut graphic novel, Flamer, was the Award Winner in Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature for 2021.
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And many congratulations to Northampton author Ruth Ozeki whose novel The Book of Form and Emptiness was the Award Winner in Fiction in 2022.
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The State House was booming on January 25 with “Hands Together for Climate Justice” as mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and their children clapped and sang their way to Governor Maura Healey and her team. Constituent Services Director Rachel Klein and I were delighted to host Mothers Out Front members and cheer on their essential work, and thrilled to hear from Governor Healey and her team about making climate justice a priority. |
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We had a packed kickoff of the Legislature’s Public Higher Education caucus, which I am delighted to co-chair with Representative Natalie Higgins. It was terrific to hear from Department of Higher Education Commissioner Noe Ortega and to be joined by the state’s major public higher education advocates and experts. Along with Representative Sean Garballey, I have once again filed An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system or the CHERISH Act which calls for a transformational investment in our state’s public community colleges, colleges, and universities. This is the session that we’ll get this done!
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I was honored to attend the swearing in ceremonies for Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll who each talked about their love of the Commonwealth, its people, and the places we call home. The Governor and Lieutenant Governor laid out a bold and necessary vision and initial plans to ensure that everyone in Massachusetts can thrive. Here’s one of many informal group pictures with wonderful Senate colleagues and a tremendous new Executive team.
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Sending our love to you,
Jo, Katelyn, Rachel, Elena, Brian, and Jared
P.S. Bill-filing-101
The deadline for timely-filed bills in the 2023-2024 legislative session was January 20.
My team and I have prepared a slate of 65 bills and seven Home Rule Petitions (with more to come) from individual municipalities.
Right now, bills have temporary “docket numbers,” assigned in the order they are filed (for example “Senate Docket 1234” or “SD1234”).
In a few weeks, all bills will be sent to relevant committees where they will be given their permanent number, based on their committee assignment, like “Senate 1234” or “S.1234.”
Each bill will then receive a public hearing, starting this spring and continuing into early next year. All hearings are open for anyone to testify – in person or by submitting a written statement. You can create a “MyLegislature” account that will let you know when bills you care about are coming up for hearing or a floor vote, submit testimony, and much more. Information and registration for this is here. Just let us know if you need help with the process.
In addition to these bills which we’ve filed, I’ll cosponsor vital bills filed by my colleagues. You can tell me what bills you’d like me to cosponsor by emailing jo.comerford@masenate.gov.
P.P.S. Less is more
Shout out to my good friend Jay A. for letting me know that he could have read a novel in less time than it took him to read our epic December newsletter. Jay, you’re right. Brevity is the soul of wit. Hope you agree that January’s newsletter is a bit more right-sized!
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Boston office
(617) 722-1532
State House
Room 413-C
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Amherst office
(413) 367-4656
UMass Amherst
Isenberg School of Management
Rooms 116B & 116C
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Please send all mail correspondence to the Boston office. |
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