Yours in Service, Jeffrey Sánchez State Representative Thank you for reading my July 2018 Newsletter. As we enter the final month of the two-year legislative session, I wanted to give you an
update on everything I’ve been
working on in the House of Representatives and in the district.
We’ve continued our work in one
of the most progressive sessions in recent history by passing legislation to expand access to voting, increase economic empowerment, and promote LGBTQ+ equality.
I’m working to finalize the budget,
ensuring that it invests in programs that support people at every point in their lives. Throughout the district, summer events are in full swing, with no shortage of celebrations and festivals in Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Brookline. Since my last newsletter, we in the House have been busy working on a progressive agenda to move Mas-sachusetts forward. Here is a recap
of bills I’ve worked on to pass in
the House in recent months.
Conversion Therapy Ban
Massachusetts has been a leader at the forefront of LGBTQ+ equality. From voting to uphold marriage equality to ensuring protection from discrimination in public places for transgender individuals, I hold true to our core value of equality. We continued this trend by voting to ban the harmful practice of
“conversion therapy” for minors.
I am proud to stand against dis-crimination against our youth. Our legislation will ensure that the dis-criminatory practice of conversion therapy ends. Our youth will not have to be subjected to practices that shame them or scare them about being who they are.
Automatic Voter Registration
I’ve continually worked on increas-
ing access and participation in our democracy, from advocating for early voting to pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds. I was proud to vote for a bill estab-lishing automatic voter registration here in Massachusetts. It is com-monsense legislation that will up-grade our registration system, make our voter rolls more up-to-date, enhance the security of our electoral process, and encourage new voters to get involved.
More importantly, it’s estimated
that 680,000 people will be regis-tered to vote when they interact with the RMV or MassHealth. Our legislation builds on this legacy of increasing democracy in Massachu-setts, and prepares our population
Friends and Neighbors:
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Conversion Therapy Ban
1
Auto Voter Registration
1
Gun Control
2
Environmental Protection
2
Yes on 3 to Defend Transgender Protections
3
Funding for the Latin Quarter
4
Affordable Housing
4
Legislative Updates
Jeffrey Sánchez
JULY | 2018
State Representative
to fully and securely participate in the 2020 elections.
$15 Minimum Wage, Paid Family and Medical Leave
Massachusetts took a major step toward reducing income inequality by passing legislation to create the most generous paid family medical leave policy in the country, the highest minimum wage at $15, and an annual sales tax holiday. In Massachusetts, 1.2 million work-ers risk losing their jobs if they take time off work under current laws. Paid family and medical leave will allow workers to take time off to care for a sick loved one, a new-born child, or to recover from their own illness, with the guaran-tee they can return to their job. Thousands of hard-working individ-uals log long hours, but still struggle to pay rent or put food on the ta-ble. This $15 minimum wage will give a pay raise to over 1,000,000 workers across Massachusetts.
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Legislative Updates (cont’d)
cates, and so many others for working to pass this bill.
Environmental Protection
This past winter, the effects of climate change were front and center as se-vere storms cost $1.8B in damage along the eastern seaboard.
That’s why I voted for a $2.2 billion
environmental bond bill authorizing funding for climate adaptation, conser-vation, recreation, environmental pro-tection, and other programs. We need to prepare for extreme weather situations and ensure infra-structure is ready to bounce back. We have a responsibility to protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we use.
Health Care
We are committed to ensuring access
to healthcare. It’s why 98% of the state’s population has coverage, and
why our 2006 law was the framework for the Affordable Care Act. The House wrote the next chapter in our healthcare journey with the pas-sage of the Peter V. Kocot Healthcare bill. Named in honor of our late col-league, our legislation would ensure residents continue to have access to high-quality health care, lay the groundwork for continuous improve-
ment to the Commonwealth’s nation-
ally-leading health care infrastructure, and increase transparency throughout the healthcare system. Rooted in the findings of the Provider Price Commission I co-chaired last year, the law ensures the long-term viability of community health centers. It does so through a $247.5 million assessment on health insurance com-panies, ambulatory surgical centers, and urgent care clinics, distributing those funds to community facilities. Community health centers are crucial to our healthcare system
—
they en-sures residents in every corner of Mas-sachusetts have access to high-quality, affordable care. As we continue to rethink how our healthcare system works, community-based care will be the main focus. We also create a process for telemedi-cine and require pharmacy benefits managers and pharmaceutical compa-
nies to testify on how they’re limiting
health care costs in Massachusetts.
Youth Smoking Prevention
While we’ve had success lowering to-
bacco use among youth, the use of vapor products, like e-cigarettes, vape pens, and Juuls pose a new public health threat. We took a major step towards promoting public health by officially regulating e-cigarettes and prohibiting the sale of tobacco and vapor products to anyone under 21.
Preventing Animal Cruelty
The House passed “PAWS 2”
- An Act to protect animal welfare and safety in cities and towns. The bill expands on our initiatives to protect animals from abuse and violence. Recent research conducted by North-eastern University and the MSCPA shows compelling evidence for the link between animal abuse and violence toward humans. By incorporating this research into our decision-making pro-cess, we can be more effective at ad-dressing issues of violence.
I am thankful for the MSPCA’s work
on this important bill, and all they do on a daily basis to protect animals, and am proud to support this bill. On July 1, our gender pay equity law went into effect. With paid leave, mothers will be able to take time to nurture their newborn child with the guarantee of returning to the same job and salary, furthering our efforts to close the gender wage gap. Our agreement to institute an annual sales tax holiday and phase out premi-um pay for retail workers prevented the sales tax reduction ballot question from moving forward, which would have cost the state $1.5 billion. This means revenue can continue funding education, transportation, healthcare, housing, and other key programs.
Gun Safety
We in Massachusetts know that strong, commonsense gun laws save lives. Building on our bump stock ban
last fall, I proudly voted for “red flag”
gun safety legislation in May. Now signed into law, family members will soon be able to petition a court to
take away a person’s guns if they pose
a risk to themselves or others. A study conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety found that in at least 42% of mass shootings, the attacker exhibit-ed dangerous signals before the shoot-ing. This bill creates a process for peo-ple to intervene to prevent that trage-dy from happening. I am incredibly proud to support this legislation, and am grateful for the leadership of Speaker DeLeo, my col-leagues in the House, students, advo-
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District Events
With the summer in full swing, there’s
been no shortage of great events here in the 15th Suffolk District. From festi-vals and food to concerts and commu-
nity meetings, there’s never a dull mo-
ment in our community.
General Events
I was thrilled to support the beginning of another
Little League
baseball sea-son in JP and Mission Hill. Spring also means
Love Your Block
season in
Boston, hosted by the Mayor’s Office of
Neighborhood Services. I always enjoy supporting this tradition that brings MH, JP, and Rozzie neighbors together in the name of maintaining the beauty of our city parks and streets. As part of our going district artist ex-hibit, we welcomed
Cristina Rose
Nelson’s
work to my office. Cristina’s
vibrant work captures the imaginative possibilities of mixed media art. Roslin-
dale’s
Glenn and Jan Williams
are our current artists on display.
Brookline
Continuing our Coffee and Conversa-tions series, members of the
High Street Hills Association
graciously opened their home for a living room chat. It is fulfilling conversations like the one we shared that encourage progress in the neighborhood and at the State House. The
Goddard House Assist-ed Living
also hosted us for a conver-sation with residents and tour of the facilities. In the ongoing work to ad-dress gas leaks, we joined
Mothers Out Front
in a tree-tagging event.
Jamaica Plain
The end of winter beckons one of JP’s
proudest traditions
–
Wake Up the Earth.
In honor of WUTE’s 40
th
anni-versary, I was proud to present a House resolution with my colleague Representative Liz Malia, alongside JP
City Councilor Matt O’Malley. Wake
Up the Earth represents the JP neigh-borhood at its best. Our ongoing engagements at
Bromley-Heath and the Julia Martin House
continue with the change of season. Early June kicks off our annual Hot
Dog Night
season. Through August, my staff, partners, and I will be grilling hot dogs and burgers to bring the commu-nity together on Tuesday afternoons. We hope to see you there! Alongside my colleague Representative
Liz Malia and Matt O’Malley from the
Boston City Council, we hosted an event with neighbors at the
JP
Forum to affirm our support for the transgender community
. The forum was in support of the Freedom for All campaign so people know a
YES on 3
vote this November maintains funda-mental protections we passed in 2016. Thank you to our event partners for your support and advocacy
–
JP Forum, Freedom for All, the MA Transgender Political Coalition, & Keshet.
Mission Hill
Spring brought exciting festivities with our neighbors and partners in Mission Hill. With the help of neighborhood partners, city and state agencies, we held a barbeque at Sheehy Park and a transportation luncheon for seniors. We celebrated another successful year
at Mission Hill NHS’ Annual Meeting
and honored community members who give back to Mission Hill Main Streets.
Roslindale
The
Roslindale Village Main Street Summer Farmers Market
kicked off, bringing together local produce, live music and entertainment in Adams
Park. It’s another example of our dis-trict’s traditions that invite the neigh-
borhood to reconnect with neighbors.
Open Birch
was a successful pilot this that I am proud to have supported. It embodies what Rozzie values most
–
open spaces that bring people together in the name of catching up with neigh-bors over a bite and fun activities. The
Washington Street bus priority
pilot was a success, significantly cutting travel time from the Square to Forest
Hills. Based on its success, I’m excited
to work with the T and the city to see where else we can prioritize buses and improve transit throughout our district.
YES on 3