Legislative Accomplishments
Representative Sánchez has a career in the Massachusetts General Court that dates back to 2003. In the time since he was first elected to represent the Fifteenth Suffolk/Norfolk District, the Representative a record of passing legislation that improves health outcomes, ensures people's right to access to healthcare coverage, invests in affordable housing, and promotes economic empowerment for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Representative Sánchez has been at the epicenter of health care and defining public health. Representative Sánchez was involved with 2006's landmark legislation Chapter 58, which has increased healthcare coverage to 98% of the state's population, and served as a framework for the Affordable Care Act. He worked on Chapter 224 in 2012, a landmark healthcare law that focused on price and data transparency to control the growth of health care costs, improve health care access and quality, and promote public health. He co-chaired the Special Commission on Provider Price Variation, a 23-member panel charged with addressing provider price variation and rising healthcare costs through increased transparency, strengthening market forces, and a potential role for the state.
Sánchez has also worked to pass new laws that: ensure copay-free access to birth control for women in Massachusetts, protect patients through modernized reporting of physician discipline, increase routine screening for HIV, expand access to maternity care from nurse-midwives, and increase oversight for pharmacies engaged in compounding. Sánchez worked to ensure adult dental benefits were restored in MassHealth. He also played a key role in passing legislation that improved the nutrition of food served in school and increased access to medical immunizations.
In 2006, he passed legislation creating the Infrastructure Investment Incentive Program (also known as I-Cubed). The program facilitates partnership between the state, local government and private developers to encourage job growth and decrease local budgetary reliance on property taxes for infrastructure improvements. The I-Cubed program is credited for spurring development in Fenway, the Seaport, and Kendall Square. He also worked on An Act Providing for the Investment in and Expansion of the Life Sciences Industry in the Commonwealth, which nurtured the booming life sciences industry we now see across the Commonwealth, including the creation of the Massachusetts Life Science Center. He was at the forefront of 2018's re-authorization of the Life Sciences bill, ensuring that state funds went toward student internships and diversity initiatives in the life sciences sector.
2017 proved to be a successful year for Representative Sánchez when his Language Opportunities for Our Kids bill was signed into law after 15 years of advocacy. The law modifies current one-size-fits-all English immersion laws to allow for more inclusive teaching methods for English language learners (ELL) in Massachusetts public schools. He played an active role in the House debate on criminal justice reform, pushing for a bill that ultimately eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses, created a process for expunging past criminal records, and investing in post-release re-entry programs.
In 2018, Representative Sánchez passed his first budget as chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. It's a budget that invests in people, and drives home the point that there is a face behind every line-item. It included new investments in housing and homelessness, environmental protection, youth summer jobs and workforce development, public education, and healthcare. Click here for more information on the budget.
Governor Deval Patrick Congratulates Representative Jeffrey Sánchez after signing his compounding pharmacies bill
Representative Sánchez celebrates as his Language Opportunities for Our Kids bill is signed into law