News Archive
Jul 12 2018
Press Release: Senate Passes Archaic Language Bill Addressing Persons with Disabilities
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Senate today passed S.2594, An Act eliminating archaic language pertaining to individuals with disabilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts¸ filed by Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville).
The bill updates the language used for...
Jul 12 2018
Press Release: Massachusetts Senate Passes Automatic Voter Registration
BOSTON – Today, the Massachusetts Senate passed H.4671, An Act automatically registering eligible voters and enhancing safeguards against fraud.
“Voting amplifies our voices, giving us a way to both inform policy and express how it will impact...
Jun 29 2018
Press Release: MA Senate Passes Bill to Allow Non-Binary Gender Option on State Licenses
BOSTON—The Massachusetts Senate passed Senate Bill 2562, An Act relative to gender identity on Massachusetts identification. This bill would establish a non-binary gender identity option for Massachusetts licenses.
The bill requires the Registry of Motor...
Jun 15 2018
Press Release: Senate Passes an Act to Promote a Clean Energy Future
BOSTON – Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville) joined her colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate in voting to pass S.2545, An Act to promote a clean energy future, sponsored by Senators Marc Pacheco and Mike Barrett. This legislation represents a firm stand by the...
Jun 8 2018
Press Release: Jehlen, Friedman Appointed to Pay Equity Special Commission
BOSTON – Today, Massachusetts Senate President Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) appointed Senator Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville) and Senator Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington) to serve on the Pay Equity Special Commission. The special commission will investigate, analyze and...
Jun 7 2018
Press Release: Senate Passes Extreme Risk Protection Order Legislation
BOSTON – The Senate on Thursday passed H.4539, An Act Relative to Firearms. This extreme risk protection order (ERPO) legislation would expand upon current Massachusetts gun laws by establishing a legal framework to prevent individuals, if deemed a threat to...
Jun 5 2018
Press Release: Somerville Representatives Celebrate Longfellow Bridge Reopening, Advocacy Successes
BOSTON, MA – The Longfellow Bridge reopened to traffic last week, after five years of reconstruction. The bridge, which connects Cambridge and Boston, has two lanes for inbound motor vehicle traffic, broadening to three at Charles Circle, and one lane for...
May 31 2018
4 dissenters, but Senate whisks through life sciences bond bill
State House News Service
By Colin A. Young State House News Service
May 31, 2018
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate passed a bond bill Thursday meant to re-up the $1 billion, 10-year initiative launched by Gov. Deval Patrick in 2007 to support the...
May 25 2018
Press Release: MA Senate Rolls Back Tax Subsidy for Private K-12 Tuition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2018
Contact: Tara Smith
Tel. (617) 722-1578
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate passed a budget amendment that would preserve the Massachusetts 529 savings plan, a way to save for college.
In 2016, Massachusetts adopted a...
May 23 2018
Senate adopts limits on charter school expansion
State House News Service
By Andy Metzger, State House News Service
UPDATED: 05/23/2018 08:01:06 AM EDT
BOSTON -- The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education would be prohibited from approving new charter schools or charter expansions unless the Legislature fully funds charter...
Apr 27 2018
Press Release: Senate Passes Consumer Protection Legislation
SENATE PASSES CONSUMER PROTECTION LEGISLATION
BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Senate voted Thursday to pass several pieces of consumer protection legislation, including a bill to protect individuals who default on their educational loans from professional...
Apr 21 2018
Massachusetts lawmakers unlikely to update medical marijuana home cultivation law this session
MassLive
Massachusetts lawmakers unlikely to update medical marijuana home cultivation law this session
By Shira Schoenberg
sschoenberg@repub.com
The head of Massachusetts' legislative marijuana committee said she does not anticipate updating the state's medical...
Apr 13 2018
Press Release: Senate Passes Student Loan Bill of Rights to Protect Borrowers
Senate Passes Student Loan Bill of Rights to Protect Borrowers
BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Senate voted on Wednesday to pass the “Student Loan Bill of Rights,” giving greater protections to student loan borrowers in disputes with companies...
Apr 13 2018
Press Release: Senate Approves $600 Million in Funding for Local Road Projects over Next Three Years
Senate Approves $600 Million in Funding for Local Road Projects over Next Three Years
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate passed a three-year, $600 million investment of “Chapter 90” funding for local road and bridge repairs, continuing the...
Apr 6 2018
Press Release: Legislature Sends Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform Bill To Governor’s Desk
Legislature Sends Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform Bill To Governor’s Desk
BOSTON – On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform package that updates decades-old criminal sentencing laws to improve outcomes...
Mar 30 2018
Tipped Workers, Industry Advocates Shed Light on Harassment & Assault In Restaurant Industry
BOSTON – Senator Patricia Jehlen, Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, and the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) Boston hosted a briefing at the State House yesterday calling for One Fair Wage in Massachusetts. The event, titled “#MeToo in the Restaurant...
Mar 23 2018
Newsletter: Students Speak and Act Against Gun Violence
Senator Pat Jehlen
Dear neighbor,
As many of you may know, students in our communities have been working hard to bring attention to passing smart, comprehensive gun control reform both in Massachusetts and at the national level in the weeks since the school shooting at Marjory...
Mar 20 2018
Amid barriers, Winchester women step into the political arena
Winchester Star
By Mariya Manzhos
Posted Mar 20, 2018 at 1:32 PMUpdated Mar 22, 2018 at 1:39 PM
State Sen. Patricia Jehlen remembers when there was no women’s bathroom in the House Lobby in the State House, and...
Mar 20 2018
At 'Intersections' From Roxbury To Andover, Students Stand Together For Gun Control
WBUR - Edify
Max Larkin
Boston-area student-activists lobbying for gun control this month acknowledge an inconvenient feature of the national debate they’re getting into: There isn’t just one “gun problem” facing young people in America.
In the...
Mar 5 2018
As Costs Climb At Public Colleges, State Leaders Weigh Fixes — But Students Demand More
WBUR - Edify
Max Larkin
Students from the University of Massachusetts school system and other state colleges descended on Beacon Hill Monday to ask lawmakers to do more — maybe a lot more — to curb the rising costs of public higher education in Massachusetts...
Mar 5 2018
Boardroom Gap: Financial & cultural pressures creating more gender diversity
Worcester Business Journal
Boardroom Gap: Financial & cultural pressures creating more gender diversity
ILLUSTRATION/LAURA MAROTTA
BY GRANT WELKER
In 2011, when Susan West Engelkemeyer became the second female president in the 203-year history of Nichols College, every administrator who...
Mar 3 2018
Panel to discuss women’s role in civic engagement
Winchester Star
On Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m., the Jenks Center Cummings Room will be the scene of a lively exchange among a panel of distinguished women, including Patricia Jehlen, MA State Senator from Winchester, Judie Muggia, former Board of Selectmen member and Soumya Ganapathy,...
Feb 21 2018
Newsletter: What's Joint Rule 10 and why does it matter?
Senator Pat Jehlen
Dear Neighbors,
"Joint Rule 10 Day"
Rule 10 in the Joint Rules of the Mass. House and Senate sets a deadline for committee reports in the second year of each 2-year session. All committees were required to report on all the bills before them by February 7....
Feb 17 2018
Morning Meeting: State Senator Pat Jehlen talks about challenges in rolling out legalized marijuana in the Bay State
Boston Herald
Feb 8 2018
School-police reform measure at critical moment on Beacon Hill
WCVB
BOSTON —
Amid growing concern about schools turning to police to deal with students' behavior challenges, a coalition of lawmakers and advocates are pushing to include reforms in the criminal justice reform bill winding its way through the legislative process on...