Greetings from Beacon Hill!
Every month has been busting with activity, and October is no exception. In addition to picking our family pumpkins, I made significant progress on two deeply important legislative efforts: the Community Immunity Act and changing our primary elections policy.
Astronaut Sunita Williams
Before I get to the policy pieces, I must say that a huge highlight of October was getting to meet Captain Sunita Williams, an amazing astronaut and the first woman for whom a school is named in Needham! What a joy. What a proud moment for our district. What an inspiration Suni is to everyone who has the good fortune of meeting her. It is so powerful for all of us to see women of color in science and technology, particularly with the level of success that she has achieved. I was incredibly honored to present Suni with a citation from the Senate.
Community Immunity Act press conference
Later in the month, I held a press conference on the #CommunityImmunityAct with Leader Paul Donato, Representative Maria Robinson, and several people representing organizations that have endorsed the bill. We intentionally held this event in the Nurses Hall of the State House.
Check out some of the exciting press coverage we’ve had since!
Carey Goldberg of WBUR’s CommonHealth, and a nearly 5-minute segment on WBUR Morning Edition (our first coverage on that show!)
Plus spots on both Channel 22 and Channel 25 news!
I am so proud of this bill that, when enacted, will create and implement state level immunization policy designed to protect the health and safety of everyone in the Commonwealth, and particularly some of our most vulnerable people. We don’t even have mandatory immunization data reporting. It’s time to fix it, and I’m leading the charge.
Massachusetts 2020 Primary Elections
I also had a blast on the Senate floor giving a lighthearted speech about a very serious topic -- when we hold our primary elections. In short, because of the policy currently baked into our election laws, we are left with nothing but terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days on which to hold our primaries.
I even had props! (Being a visual learner myself, and a former law professor, I like props.) It’s time to move our primary date to June, and I’m thrilled to have significantly elevated that conversation in the Legislature and the media. I will always push to lift up and bolster people’s access to our democratic systems, and that absolutely includes voting rights. (Amazingly, I also got to meet Judith Viorst in person!)
Reproductive Justice Forum in Needham
Finally, please join me at Breaking the Cycle of Shame: A Reproductive Justice Forum on Wednesday, November 6, 7-9 PM at Needham Town Hall which I am co-hosting with the MetroWest Commission on the Status of Women. Please see the invitation below and RSVP.
I will continue to keep you updated on this and much more! Please follow along on Twitter and Facebook, and don’t hesitate to call our office at 617-722-1555 or stop by Room 218 in the State House.
Yours in service,
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