Happy New Year, friend!
I hope you had a wonderful and restful holiday season. In fact, I hope you got to spend your holiday like a state rep, i.e. took seven full weeks off and are just now slowly easing back into work.
The House spent their first formal session of the year in, well, an informal session addressing two local matters. Like I said, easing back in. After all, what’s the rush? 🙄
But look! The Senate did hold a real formal session on Thursday, and even passed three bills! See, House? Was that so hard??
Then again, these bills were pretty narrow in scope (more on them below), and none were leadership’s big lingering priorities for this session like gun control, prescription drug pricing, or Governor Healey’s housing bond bill.
The first year of this session was the Legislature’s least productive in decades, passing fewer bills and taking fewer roll call votes than usual. The second year of the session, which effectively ends on July 31st, has just begun. It’s up to us to compel them to change course.
Let’s get into it.
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State House Scoop
Months after passing $1 billion in permanent tax cuts, Beacon Hill leaders call for “fiscal prudence”
December marks the sixth month in a row with tax collections lower than expectations, putting the state about $769 million below projections. And anyone who’s ever put together a budget knows what that means: spending cuts. Or as Speaker Mariano put it, “fiscal prudence.” We’ll know soon enough where those cuts are going to come from; Governor Healey’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal is due by January 24th.
These cuts can come from anywhere, but here’s a few places to watch; public higher education (this has been defunded over the last twenty years despite increasing enrollment), mental health and other human services (remember when Governor Healey vetoed $1 million for a suicide text hotline?) and, of course, emergency shelter services. Although the rate of migrants entering Massachusetts has slowed since the summer, shelter funding and services continue to carry significant costs that Beacon Hill has already batted around like a bargaining chip.
And while the tax collections for 2023 may be down, we’ll have even less revenue to work with in 2024; the Legislature passed $1 billion in permanent tax cuts which go into effect this year. That’s $1 billion less that we have for public education, human services, and housing our most vulnerable residents. And because these tax cuts are permanent, we’ll have $1 billion less next year, too, and the year after that, and so on. And don’t forget who benefits the most from these cuts: the wealthy and corporations.
So when your legislators tell you they don’t have money for priorities you care about, ask them why it is, then, that we had money for this:
Senate passes three bills, future in House unclear
In the first formal session after their seven-week holiday recess, the Senate passed three bills unanimously on Thursday. Respectively, these bills aim to expand wheelchair warranties (S 2546), protect those who use fentanyl strips from criminal liability (S 2543), and improve interactions between police and people with autism (S 2542). It’s unclear at this point whether the House will take any of these bills up; as we know all too well from the Healthy Youth Act and Same Day Voter Registration, the House has no issue ignoring progressive bills that have been passed, even repeatedly, by their colleagues in the Senate.
Certified by Sec of State, 10 ballot questions have now moved to Legislature
The 2024 ballot question saga has entered its next stage: Secretary of State Bill Galvin officially delivered several petitions to the State House on Wednesday for consideration before our legislature. Our lawmakers have until the first Wednesday in May to either approve, reject, or (their favorite) do nothing about each petition. Should they opt for either of the latter two, each campaign must then collect another 13,000 signatures.
Among the petitions awaiting legislative action are the Auditor’s question to audit the State House, removing the MCAS graduation requirement for high schoolers, ensuring tipped workers are paid the same minimum wage as all other workers, legalizing psilocybin, and allowing rideshare drivers (think: Uber, Lyft) to unionize.
Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at each of the major ballot questions as they progress, including a look at the several Lyft- and Uber-backed initiatives against unionization efforts.
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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.
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Housekeeping
THANK YOU: We reached our fundraising goal!
WE DID IT! We hit our end-of-year fundraising goal of $4,000 with time to spare. Thank you to everyone donated to this fundraiser. Heck, thank you to everyone who donated at any point this year! You are the reason Act on Mass exists, and you are the reason our movement can continue to fight for democracy and accountability on Beacon Hill. I can't wait to see what we accomplish together in 2024.
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Take Action
Fight for your Rights Lobby Day: January 23rd
It’s finally happening: we’re going under the golden dome! Join Act on Mass and Indivisible Mass Coalition on Tuesday, January 23rd at 9:45am, for our first ever Lobby Day! We’ll be meeting with our legislators to lobby for a slate of pro–democracy bills, including the Sunlight Bill, S.1963.
What: Lobby Day
Who: Indivisible Mass & Act on Mass
When: Tuesday, January 23rd, 9:45am-2:00pm
Where: State House, Room 428
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Intern with Act on Mass!
The time has come to bring new friends aboard the Act on Mass team — we’re hiring interns to help with our digital communications and political organizing next semester! Our internship program is designed for high school and college students (though we welcome folks of all ages and backgrounds) who are passionate about civic engagement and grassroots organizing. Our internships are fully virtual and unpaid.
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNSHIP POSTING >>
POLITICAL ORGANIZING INTERNSHIP POSTING >>
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Write a letter to the editor for the Healthy Youth Act on January 17th
We’re teaming up with the Healthy Youth Act Coalition to lead a training on writing a Letter to the Editor! Join us on Wednesday, January 17th from 6-7PM to hear more about the fight to make sex ed in our state medically accurate, consent-based, and LGBTQ+-inclusive, and how to take action in your local news outlet. No experience necessary, we’ll train you from drafting all the way through to publication.
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And last, a not-so-fun fact to kick off your weekend
A new report from Hunger Free America revealed that food insecurity in Massachusetts has increased by nearly 50% in just the past two years. The main reason for such a drastic rise in food insecurity? The expiration of federal benefits that were subsidizing nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the failure of our state government to fill the gaps.
Specifically, federal funding for SNAP benefits expired on April 1st of this past year. Without state intervention, Massachusetts residents who rely on SNAP were poised to see their benefits shrink by an average of $160 per month. In response, our lawmakers decided to fund less than half of the remaining need. This report shows us, in no uncertain terms, the very real consequences of this decision for vulnerable families.
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That's all from our first Scoop back from our own little holiday recess! I hope your first week of the new year has been full of good cheer and hope about the year ahead.
All right, enough reading your email, go put some hot cocoa on the stove--you have a snowstorm to prepare for!
Stay warm and safe out there,
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass