The 191st legislative session in the MA State House has started. Join us in the fight for progressive policy.

What New Progressive Actions Will You Be Taking in 2019?

A scorecard tells a story. So what story does our 2018 scorecard of the House tell? : A guide to the 2018 Scorecard (View Spreadsheet here, website here) -- All numbers refer to the spreadsheet.

A scorecard tells a story. So what story does our 2018 scorecard of the Senate tell? : A guide to the 2018 Scorecard (View Spreadsheet here, website here) -- All numbers refer to the spreadsheet.

In January of 2017, Progressive Massachusetts unveiled our legislative agenda for the 190th legislative session -- 17 items for 2017 (and 2018). As we near the end of the year -- and the start of the next legislative session, it’s the perfect time to take stock of how the various bills fared.

Clear Victories

Reproductive Rights

The ACCESS bill, which updates MA’s contraceptive coverage equity law to require insurance carriers to provide all contraceptive methods without a copay, passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature and was signed by the Governor.

Democracy

Massachusetts became the 13th state to adopt Automatic Voter Registration. In this reform pioneered by Oregon in 2015, eligible voters who interface with select government agencies (here, the RMV or MassHealth) are automatically registered to vote unless they decline. With more than 700,000 eligible citizens in MA unregistered, AVR will increase the accuracy, security, and comprehensiveness of voter rolls.

The bill also enrolls Massachusetts in Electronic Registration Information Center, a coalition of states founded by the Pew Research Center that enable states to synchronize their voter rolls. ERIC has increased the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the voter rolls in participating states.

[Note: The original bill included smaller social services government agencies as well. The final bill allows for their later inclusion but focuses on the two largest sources of possible new registrants.]

Ballot Questions

On November 6, Massachusetts voters will see three questions on their ballot. Progressive Massachusetts recommends YES-YES-YES.

Primary Night 2018 was a big night for Progressive Massachusetts and our endorsed candidates.

Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley defeated incumbent Congressman Mike Capuano by 17%, becoming the first woman of color to represent Massachusetts in Washington.

Rachael Rollins won by 16% and will become the first woman of color to be the District Attorney of Suffolk County. She ran on a strong progressive platform of implementing the recently passed criminal justice reform bill and taking bold steps beyond it to curb mass incarceration and make sure we aren’t criminalizing poverty, illness, and addiction.

And in a strong message to House Leadership, challengers Jon Santiago and Nika Elugardo defeated Assistant Majority Leader Byron Rushing and Ways & Means Chair Jeff Sanchez, respectively.

They will be joined in the House by other Progressive Mass endorsees Lindsay Sabadosa (Northampton), Maria Robinson (Framingham), and Tommy Vitolo (Brookline), all of whom had big wins last night and face no challenge in the general election. Additionally, Berkshire County will now have a progressive reformer District Attorney in Andrea Harrington.

Becca Rausch won big and will go on to face incumbent Senator Richard Ross this November, and Steve Leibowitz will go on to face incumbent Representative Tim Whelan. Christina Minicucci will face a Republican challenger this fall as well. They will all need your help.

As do our endorsees Jay Gonzalez and Quentin Palfrey, who are fighting to bring progressive policy back to the Corner Office.

John Kirk from Progressive Needham reminds us at least week's #WednesdayWitness that the legislature already has the votes to pass #SafeCommunitiesAct but they lack the will and the leadership to have done so.

For the sake of the children separated from families and for the safety of undocumented citizens who are our neighbors,in order to #KeepFamiliesTogether let's demand from our representatives that they make this the first order of business when they re-convene in January 2019.

#nohatenofear #immigrantsarewelcomehere #NoExcuses

We bet we've heard a lot of them before. Share what you're hearing when you ask your Legislators, WTF happened and why did you fail to pass (sooooomuch)? 

The Legislative session here in Massachusetts ends one week from today, and there's still a lot to get done.

Find your state representative's contact info here, and then give them a call on these key issues. .