Friday, March 14th Legislative & Public Health Updates
- hannanur3
- May 7
- 15 min read
Dear friends,
I am writing to you today with legislative and public health updates.
Table of Contents
Legislative Updates
Public Health Updates
A Glimpse at the Past Week
Services and Resources
Office Hours on March 18th
I hope you’ll consider joining me for office hours on Tuesday! You can sign up here.
Upcoming Community Meeting — March 25th at 6pm
As you may have seen in my email earlier this week, I will be hosting a community meeting in partnership with the Maria L. Baldwin Community Center from 6pm-7:30pm on Tuesday, March 25th. After the amazing first response of "Know Your Rights" trainings to Trump administration executive orders by advocates and organizations, this gathering seeks to serve as a time for connection within the community to figure out how to respond to all that is going on at the federal level.
This will be a space where folks can share their questions and concerns, and organizations — including those specializing in immigrant & LGBTQ rights and health equity — can talk about their work, the resources they have to offer, and how we, as a community, can support populations and systems that are being targeted.You can RSVP for the Community Meeting here.
Legislative Updates
Governor Announces Energy Affordability Plan
This week, Governor Healey announced an energy affordability initiative that will expand discount programs, examine new regulations on electrical competitiveness, and address the issue of energy supply from third-party companies. The plan will also cover stabilizing the local energy supply and redirecting some clean energy-related charges that increase utility bills. A majority of the savings will happen in the long run; however, there will be immediate relief in the form of a $50 credit on April electric bills for National Grid, Unitil, and Eversource customers.
As I have previously shared, I have signed onto two letters imploring both the Chair of the Department of Public Utilities and the Attorney General, the statutory ratepayer advocate, to address the unacceptably high rate increases for utility bills. Attorney General Andrea Campbell responded by saying she has also sent a letter to DPU and proposed short-term and long-term steps to “provide meaningful relief for Massachusetts ratepayers.”
You can read about the actions gas companies have taken in response to these letters here and a breakdown of the Governor’s plan here. I look forward to reviewing the bill once it is filed and will continue fighting for relief for our community and Commonwealth.
Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal Rejects Roxbury Birth Center
This week, the Boston Globe ran an editorial highlighting that Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal should reconsider its February 25 decision to reject the plans to build the Neighborhood Birth Center — which would be the second birth center in Massachusetts and the first Black-owned and operated birth center in New England — in Roxbury.
I appreciate that members of the neighborhood have concerns about the impact on housing, and I always believe that the direct abutters should be at the table and in discussions. I am hopeful, however, that they may be able to work with the Neighborhood Birth Center to find a compromise, as we know that there are immense benefits to birthing outcomes when birthing people, especially those from marginalized communities, have access to a birth center. That is why I included provisions in the comprehensive maternal health bill I authored last session to incentivize birth centers by requiring the Department of Public Health to promulgate revised regulations regarding their operation. These regulations include alleviating burdensome supervision requirements in order to ensure safe, equitable, and accessible birth options. I am proud to have worked closely with the Neighborhood Birth Center on the maternal health bill and have helped secure funding for them in the budget
Public Health Updates
CDC Issues Measles Outbreak Advisory
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory on the current measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico. The CDC’s HAN is the agency’s primary mechanism for disseminating information about critical public health incidents with various federal, state, and local officials and practitioners. The recent CDC advisory identifies measles as a highly contagious virus that typically begins with fever, cough, coryza (runny nose), and conjunctivitis (pink eye). It can cause severe health complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and death. The measles virus can sustain infection in the air and/or surfaces for up to 2 hours following an infected person leaving an area. There have been 222 confirmed cases of measles across Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
Top U.S. Health Agency Makes $25,000 Buyout Offer to Most of Its Employees
On Monday, over 80,000 federal employees charged with researching diseases, inspecting food, and administering Medicare and Medicaid under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received separation offers. Employees who received the offer have until 5 p.m. today to accept, and those who choose to leave their jobs by the deadline will receive as much as $25,000 as payment. The voluntary separation offers were sent to a broad population of HHS employees including employees at the CDC in Atlanta and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Maryland.
Trump Administration Proposes Changes to Obamacare Enrollment
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a press release on Monday that proposed the “Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule.” The new rule is intended to reduce fraud, but experts worry that it will make it harder for people to receive care and lead to significant drops in enrollment. It proposes standards for the Health Insurance Marketplaces, as well as for health insurance issuers, brokers, and agents who connect millions of consumers to Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. Among other things, the program would regulate income verification processes, restrict enrollment for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and eliminate the year-round opportunity for a special enrollment period for people with very low incomes. It would also restrict other special enrollment periods that allow people to qualify for insurance after major life events, income changes, loss of job-based coverage, and more.
RFK Looks to Tighten Loopholes on Chemicals in Food Products
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, is setting his sights on closing the loophole allowing companies to put chemicals in their food products without notifying food regulators and consumers. As one of his first official attempted changes, his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda aims to regulate the Food and Drug Administration's “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) label. The label allows companies to self-certify the safety of a food additive as long as it is “generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use.” Since the industry isn’t required to tell the FDA when they include some chemicals and substances in their products, hundreds of other chemicals are most likely being added to the food supply without the government’s knowledge.
CHIA Report Shows Health Care Cost Surge in 2023
On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) released its Annual Report on the Performance of the Massachusetts Health Care System. CHIA is charged with investigating the performance of the state health care system and reporting on trends in costs, coverage, and quality indicators to inform policymaking. The Annual Report also includes a calculation of the total health care spending in the Commonwealth. According to the report, total health care expenditures per capita increased to $11,153 between 2022 and 2023. The 8.6% increase is the second-largest increase since CHIA began tracking the annual change in 2013. The rate increase for 2023 was also more than double the 3.6% benchmark goal set by lawmakers as the goal for keeping health care cost growth within a reasonable range.
A Glimpse at the Past Week
It was great to join old and new friends at the 7th Annual Randolph International Women’s Day. I was joined on a panel facilitated by Town Councilor Katrina Huff-Larmond with three inspiring women, Traci Griffith, J.D., Robin Harris, ED.D., and Dr. Liza Marcie Swedarsky, who are doing important work in health care, education, and racial justice. I am grateful to have been in a space that both honored the amazing work women do in our Commonwealth and acknowledged the work ahead under the current administration. Thank you to Kathy Ann Reddick and the Randolph Women’s Club for hosting this event.
On Monday, I was honored to receive the Legislator of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Building Trades Union (MBTU) alongside my colleague, Senator Paul Mark. It has been a joy to work in partnership with President Frank Callahan and all of the trades members who entrusted me with carrying out their top legislative priorities last year.
Last session, I secured the inclusion of an amendment authorizing public agencies and municipalities to enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) for public works contracts in An Act relative to strengthening Massachusetts’ economic leadership. The legislation provides clarity on PLAs, codifies that these are optional agreements for municipalities to choose to opt into, and clarifies any confusion that may arise. I was pleased to see the Governor issue an Executive Order on Tuesday that promotes the use of PLAs for large public work projects for state agencies. With this order, the agencies that fall under the executive department will have to review public works projects to see if a PLA would be in the best interests of the project, community, and workers if the estimated construction costs exceed $35 million.
Unions are essential to ensuring that people are paid at their true value, providing people with family-sustaining jobs with benefits such as healthcare, pensions, and annuities. Organized labor is the best anti-poverty measure—people want to work, and when they are paid prevailing wages and have the opportunity to thrive, we all benefit. I look forward to continuing to work alongside all of the trades members this session on several bills, including bills on just transition, healthy and sustainable schools, increasing the utilization of apprenticeships in public works, and much more!
On Tuesday, my staff attended the Massachusetts Families for Vaccines legislative briefing at the State House on childhood immunization requirements in Massachusetts and the importance of herd immunity, particularly for immunocompromised children and those who cannot be vaccinated. Vaccination rates in Massachusetts have declined, leading to an increased risk of preventable disease outbreaks. Many schools have vaccination rates that fall well below the 90-95% threshold needed for herd immunity, which puts both vaccinated and unvaccinated children at risk.
During the briefing, my staff heard from a panel of public health experts from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Boston University School of Public Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics about the need for better data collection on immunization rates in Massachusetts and strengthening public health efforts to ensure higher vaccination rates to prevent public health emergencies and protect lives.
For more information on the importance of vaccinations for preventable diseases in Massachusetts, please visit this link.
I spoke at the tax credit briefing hosted by the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition and the Black and Latino Caucus on Tuesday afternoon. During the event, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) — an essential tool in combating poverty — and featured information about Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites.
This session, I filed An Act supporting families through enhanced tax credits alongside Chair Andy Vargas. The bill would increase the EITC federal credit match, remove the dependent cap, and increase the Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC). This is my sixth term filing an EITC bill. When I first filed the bill, our state had one of the lowest tax credits in the nation at 15%. I am so proud that the House has raised it to 23%, 30%, and now 40%. In 2017, I led efforts to allow survivors of intimate partner violence who were married to their abusers to file for the EITC separately, which, with the support of Chair Aaron Michlewitz, made Massachusetts the first state to adopt such a policy. I am grateful to Speaker Ron Mariano and Chair Michlewitz for their support in raising the EITC again in the tax package to a 40% state match, as well as codifying a streamlined child and family tax credit.
It was great to see Joe Diamond, Executive Director of Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP), and my colleagues, Chair Andy Vargas, Leader Carlos González, and Senators Sal DiDomenico and Jamie Eldridge, who have also been important leaders on this issue. Thank you to the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition and Charlotte Bruce for your partnership.
On Tuesday, I met with Gregg Ellenberg, Rebecca Elliott, and Brittany Hill from Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center. We talked about the challenges they are facing as shelter providers, and I shared a few of the bills I filed this session to support families in the shelter system. I am deeply grateful for the work they do to support the most vulnerable members of our community.
On Wednesday, I was honored to share a few thoughts with National Honors Society (NHS) students from my alma mater, Cambridge Rindge & Latin School (CRLS), the Community Charter School of Cambridge (CCSC), and Prospect Hill Academy Charter School (PHA) about my journey to public service, which began as a student organizer at CRLS.
I assured them that while we are in turbulent political times, we will chart a course to stand up, fight, and organize for a government that uplifts people rather than harms and causes suffering.
I shared with them the importance of seeking joy, as it is an act of resilience. In joy, we find the strength to continue to face the moment and the courage to stand up for our values. I also reminded all of us that there will be days, and maybe weeks, when being the first to stand up may not feel safe or comfortable. We can and must show solidarity by uplifting those who are standing up and speaking out. There is strength in numbers, and when we show support for those who speak out, we inspire others to do so. This room was full of many young leaders who have already proven they are ready to meet the challenges in front of us. Their curiosity to learn more, their brilliance, and their desire to serve will help guide us to better days.
I was honored to receive the Leadership in Suicide Prevention Award from the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention for my work on mental and behavioral health. I was recognized for my work on an omnibus bill I authored two sessions ago, known as the THRIVES Act, to improve school-based behavioral health and children’s mental health legislation alongside the Children’s Mental Health Campaign.
I have also filed legislation to minimize the access to firearms for individuals who may pose a danger to themselves or others. In 2018, I filed and successfully passed my first extreme risk protection order (ERPO), or ‘red flag’ bill. Originally, family members and law enforcement could intervene by petitioning the court to remove firearms temporarily and immediately. This was expanded upon in the gun safety omnibus signed into law last session, An Act modernizing firearms laws, allowing who can petition for an ERPO to include health care providers and school principals. The bill was inspired by Reed Shafer-Ray, a Harvard undergraduate who shared with me a story about his friend who died by suicide. Reed’s friend’s parents had been taking away guns for a long time, but there was no legal mechanism in place to prevent him from buying more.
I spoke about the importance of recognizing the many ways we can support suicide prevention. We can defend access to healthcare for the LGBTQ community while it is under attack. We can also support and defend our immigrant neighbors at a time when children and families are afraid to leave their homes, go to school, or seek out healthcare because of looming threats of raids and deportations. Ensuring we are meeting basic needs like access to food and housing means we are supporting the mental health and well-being of our community.
I am immensely grateful for the work done by the Coalition for Suicide Prevention every day; they are saving lives and advocating for policies that will have an immediate impact on the lives of people struggling with suicidality and mental illness.
I was pleased to give remarks at the 1199SEIU Personal Care Attendant (PCA) rally. PCAs ensure older adults and people with disabilities get the care they need in order to live their fullest lives with dignity and recognition of their inalienable human rights. We will be judged by our abilities and commitment to the care of our most vulnerable.
I am grateful to Speaker Ron Mariano and Chair Aaron Michlewitz for their support and for creating a House Budget last fiscal year that did not make the proposed cuts to the PCA program that were proposed in the Governor’s FY25 budget. This year, the Governor has proposed tying PCA spending to the healthcare spending benchmarks of the Health Policy Commission, which would significantly affect the program. As its demand continues to grow, it will cut off access to a rising number of people who need it. The population of Massachusetts is aging, and there is an increase in the aging disability population. We must continue to provide healthcare professionals with the tools to serve older adults and people with disabilities. Without the program, restricting access to it will cost Massachusetts more in the long run if older adults and people with disabilities have to seek out more expensive forms of care.
It was great to see Representatives Steve Owens and Tara Hong, former Chair Jeff Sanchez, and Senators Julian Cyr and Robyn Kennedy. Thank you to 1199SEIU and Executive Vice President Tim Foley for inviting me to speak at the rally.
I had the pleasure of meeting with the Harvard Equal Democracy Project and hearing about their priorities for this session, along with their work to protect democracy and access to voting. This work is more important than ever under the Trump Administration. I am grateful for your work!
I was delighted to meet with middle and high school students through the YW Cambridge’s Girls Only Leadership Development (GOLD) program. It was a joy to share my experience as a woman in the Legislature and answer questions about public service and government. I also had the opportunity to show them around the State House! They were a very passionate and engaging group of students, and I was so impressed by their thoughtfulness and curiosity.
I also had the pleasure of meeting with the MIT Graduate Student Council to hear about their legislative priorities. It was great to meet these impressive students, hear about their studies, and talk about their housing and health care priorities, many of which I was already supporting.
It was great to connect with MassBudget to discuss their priorities for the FY26 budget. Among them is the expansion of the EITC to ITIN (Individualized Tax ID Number) holders — immigrants who file taxes but don’t have a Social Security number and cannot access the tax credit. We know how effective the EITC is in offering economic mobility and putting more cash in people’s pockets. The exclusion of ITIN holders — ⅔ of whom live in mixed-status homes with U.S. citizens — is a clear equity issue. Expanding access to the EITC to ITIN holders has been a major provision in my EITC bill for several sessions. I will continue to fight and prioritize expanding access.
Rick Grudzinski, Director of Member Services for the Massachusetts Farmers Markets, and Annie Conway, Assistant Market Manager and Food Access Coordinator, stopped by my office during Healthy Incentives Program (HIP) Lobby Day to talk about the importance of HIP and SNAP. I will continue to support efforts to codify and fund these important programs that ensure people with low and limited incomes have access to nutritious food, particularly fresh produce.
I met with Tom Rodriguez, Director of Just A Start's Youth Program Pathways, and YouthBuild students during the Massachusetts YouthBuild Coalition's 30th Annual State House Day. It was great to hear how much YouthBuild has positively impacted the lives of their students, providing them with resources and opportunities along with academic and workforce training. The three students I spoke with told me they plan to apply for apprenticeships after completing the Just A Start program. Thank you to YouthBuild for all of the work that you do to provide young adults with a brighter future.
On Thursday, I met with Sarah Iselin, President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, to discuss their approach to menopause coverage and meaningful ways the Legislature can support women going through menopause and perimenopause. Last session, I was proud to author and lead the passage of a maternal health omnibus. This session, I will continue that work while also taking on the issue of menopause.
On Friday, I spoke at United Way of Mass Bay’s weekly call regarding actions taken at the federal level and what Massachusetts can do to counter and push back on them. I continue to closely monitor, along with my staff, directives from the Trump administration in the public health sector, from the cancellation of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee — whose job it is to provide advice about what strands should be included in the full vaccine — to guidance on reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We are concerned but remain ready to respond.
Cambridge Public Health Helpline Supports Residents with COVID-19
To speak with someone, call the confidential COVID-19 Hotline at 617-933-0797. Learn more here.
Intimate Partner Abuse Prevention Helpline
This initiative is designed to prevent intimate partner violence by fostering accountability and change in people who harm or may harm their partner. You can find more information at 10to10helpline.org or by calling 877-898-3411.
SafeSpot Overdose Prevention Helpline
SafeSpot is a virtual spotting/overdose detection service for people who use drugs. Learn more at safe-spot.me or access it by calling 800-972-0590.
Alzheimer's Association Helpline
The Alzheimer’s Association is a nonprofit that provides support, research, and care for Alzheimer’s and dementia with a 24/7 for caregivers and patients. More information is available at alz.org, or by calling 800-272-3900.
De Novo Center for Justice and Healing
De Novo is a Cambridge-based nonprofit that provides free civil legal assistance and affordable psychological counseling to people with low incomes. You can learn more about their services at denovo.org.
MassLegalHelp.org is a resource to help Massachusetts residents learn about their legal rights. The website does not offer legal advice or answer individual questions but has a page about options for finding a lawyer. It does provide resources for those facing legal issues, such as a landlord refusing to make repairs, appealing the denial of SNAP benefits, and questions about getting a CORI sealed.
As always, please contact me with questions or concerns at Marjorie.Decker@mahouse.gov.
Sincerely,
Marjorie
