Hi ,
Well, that’s a wrap on my first session as your State Representative. After a grueling 23-hour final formal session that lasted all through Sunday night and into last Monday morning, the State House has adjourned for the session. I’ve witnessed a lot of negotiation strategies play out throughout my life, but having 200 people (plus staff, advocates, journalists, and the like) stay present and awake for nearly 23 hours in which we pass time by voting on land takings in towns is a new one.
While there are several key legislative victories we’ve secured since I took office in January 2021, I want to first acknowledge how we fell short. The Prison Moratorium and No Cost Calls for incarcerated folks and their loved ones were both killed at the last minute. It’s been a week and I still don’t have words to do this justice. We failed you. I tried, many of us tried, so many who were directly impacted did everything right, and yet we failed you and your loved ones.
Apologies don’t begin to do our incarcerated siblings and their loved ones justice. The fight for abolition does not end here, which is why I am advocating for a special session to work these provisions back into our agenda and get them passed without further delay. Thank you to Families for Justice as Healing and National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls for mobilizing an incredible team of advocates to fight and make this happen.
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Wins from this session and priorities for the next Education Head Start Grants
We have won major education funding wins in the budget for next year. From Pre-K through Public Higher Education, funding from the state has gone up across the board. Notably, we won over $30 million in funding for early education and child care programs, over half of which will go to Head Start Grants for early education for low-income families. And another $3 million on top of that has been set aside for early childhood mental health grants, which will be a crucial step in our pandemic recovery.
The Student Opportunity Act
After two years of fighting tooth and nail to fund the Student Opportunity Act, we’ve secured funding for the 1st one third of the funding, nearly $500M more supporting our low-income students, students with special needs, and English Language Learners. This is huge, and I can’t emphasize that enough. Before I became a State Rep, I fought alongside my fellow education justice organizers to get the Student Opportunity Act passed. But just prior to entering office, the bill stopped being funded because of COVID — the opposite of what we needed to happen to support our schools through the pandemic. This has been a long and personal battle for me, and I’m proud to have helped secure the funding we need for the Student Opportunity Act.
Higher Education Funding
Another gain in education funding came for our public higher education system, which has been critically underfunded for decades. Since I graduated high school, Massachusetts has slashed higher ed funding by ⅓ less money per student, and we rank 43rd in the country in state higher education funding. But we are turning the tide with this budget: the House plans to invest nearly $1.6 billion in funding for our State Universities, Community Colleges, and the UMass system through a combination of direct funding, endowment match incentives, and scholarship funding. In fact, scholarship funding alone was raised by $25.5 million as compared to FY22. For the first time in… well, a very long time, we have the funds required that our public higher ed institutions need to cover costs for the next year.
Priorities for Next Session
Next session, I plan to continue advocating for adequate education funding, including charter school reimbursement so that districts are not forced to pit public schools against charter schools for limited funding. And most importantly, we must ensure that adequate funding was not just a one-time fluke from the revenue surplus. Bay Staters deserve a quality education, regardless of whether or not we’re in a recession.
And despite turning tides with our higher education funding budget, we are still not investing enough in our public higher education and must be doing more to work towards debt-free higher education. Nobody should go into debt from going to college, which is why I will continue to fight for more funding for scholarships and financial aid, and to pass H.1339 to guarantee a debt-free college education.
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Immigration The Work and Family Mobility Act
In June, we overrode Governor Baker’s veto of The Work and Family Mobility Act. The bill is now officially law and, effective July 2023, it will enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard Massachusetts driver’s license, regardless of immigration status, while keeping our Commonwealth in full compliance with REAL ID requirements. I am proud to have voted in favor of this bill, but appalled by how long it took us to get to this point for our immigrant communities.
Priorities for Next Session
We cannot further delay protections for our immigrant communities, which is why next session I will continue to fight to pass the Safe Communities Act. We must separate our local law enforcement from deputizing ICE agents, who are illegitimate and unnecessary, and have no place in our communities and schools.
Furthermore, we must expand in-state tuition to be available to undocumented students, and ensure they are included in efforts to pursue debt-free higher education in Massachusetts. This is especially crucial in our district, where almost a third of Somerville High School students are foreign-born, and for over half of them, English is not their first language. In the meantime, The Somerville Dreamers Scholarship is available to provide financial support for Somerville students who are not eligible to receive financial aid from the federal government due to their immigration status.
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Expanding Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice
An Act expanding protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care
Right before the end of the session, we passed into law a sweeping bill to expand and protect access to reproductive and gender-affirming care, including abortion. While the ROE Act codified the right to abortion in Massachusetts state law in 2018, this new law expands upon the work of advocates to break down many barriers to care in Massachusetts. The state now mandates insurance coverage for abortion, simplified access to emergency contraception, and ensures college students in access deserts (thousands of college students in Massachusetts currently live in “access deserts” where the nearest abortion provider is multiple hours away via public transit) are able to obtain medication abortion on campus.
Notably, we secured $2 million in the FY2023 budget to support abortion access and support abortion funds in Massachusetts. The bill also includes a provision to end cost-sharing for abortion care, which will help ease the financial burden of an abortion, which can often be upwards of $500 in Massachusetts. Priorities for next session
Once again, the Legislature has passed on the opportunity to finally end one of the most heinous abortion barriers that remains in Massachusetts: judicial bypass. While the ROE Act removed this major consent barrier for 16- and 17-year olds seeking abortions, it critically left this mandate in place for those under 16. Every person, regardless of age, must be able to access the timely reproductive health care they need without interference or delays from parental consent or judicial bypass.
I support and will advocate for the full slate of the Beyond Roe Coalition’s legislative priorities, which you can read about in full here. We must continue to expand abortion and other reproductive health care access, support and protect our providers and patients, and increase research and education efforts for abortion in order to keep ourselves and our communities safe.
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It’s not over yet: the fight for housing and climate justice
One area the legislature critically fell short this session is in housing. Somerville residents know all too well that the housing crisis is crippling and we need urgent systemic action now. While this past session saw an increase in Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (or RAFT) funding, which is supporting the most vulnerable in our community at risk of losing their homes, we did nowhere near enough to combat the housing crisis. I’m running out of room here, though, so I will dedicate a full email to this later on.
And there’s a sweeping clean energy climate bill sitting on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature. I will update you once we get wind of any movement on this bill. This would be the second climate bill passed this session following the 2050 Roadmap bill. I'm ecstatic that after 10+ years of inaction, this session we are taking big steps towards stopping the climate crisis. |
A note on the MBTA
To all of you who have reached out to my office regarding the MBTA and the impending closures, please know that I hear you and we are doing everything in our power to make sure that accessible and reliable transportation is available throughout the closures. While I am pleased to share we have increased funding for the T by $400M in the Transportation Bond Bill, to address these issues, it is a first step and we must do more. The issues plaguing the T go far beyond what can be fixed in the next month, which is why I’ve been meeting with the T and testifying alongside my constituents to get adequate funding and reliable access. The T is a lifeline for so many Somervillans and we’re going to fight for funding and accountable management. With that in mind, receivership (federal takeover of the MBTA) is not an adequate solution at the end of a governor’s term. We should give the next governor a chance to turn this around, rather than turn over power to a federal agency and strip all of us on the limited oversight and power we still have.
Keep an eye on your inbox for more news on transportation and alternative options during the closures — I will be following up as soon as I have more information. |
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Order your Team Erika t-shirt!
Back by popular demand, get your Team Erika t-shirts while you still can! Please place your order by August 14th at 11:59 PM in order to get the coolest election gear in town. ;) |
Canvass with Team Erika
We will be launching canvasses to talk with neighbors about the most important issues they are facing in Somerville. This is critical work for me because your voice and your issue help drive my priorities in the State House. We are launching every Saturday and Sunday at 10am, hope to see you there! |
It is truly an honor to serve you all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with your thoughts and questions about the budget, if you want to advocate for any bills, or need any help from government services. |
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