Dear Neighbor,

It's overwhelming, trying to keep up with the hourly avalanche of news: the actions, reactions, and retractions of the Trump/Musk administration and the rising resistance.  And that's the point.

In 2019, Steve Bannon proposed this "muzzle velocity" strategy,  as reported in Ezra Klein's excellent piece.  "The opposition party is the media. And the media can only, because they’re dumb and they’re lazy, they can only focus on one thing at a time. …

All we have to do is flood the zone. Every day we hit them with three things. They’ll bite on one, and we’ll get all of our stuff done. Bang, bang, bang. These guys will never — will never be able to recover. But we’ve got to start with muzzle velocity."

Klein says Trump's unilateral orders project strength but actually show weakness; he can't get all of them through legal, legislative means. "Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president."  He won the popular vote by 1.5%, has a low approval rating, and has thin margins in the House and Senate.

Dear Neighbor,

A lot has happened this fall, even while we haven't usually had formal sessions except for one to pass the climate and economic development bills.  (You can read my notes on some highlights here, along with "what's next.")

I don't usually include stories or pictures from events in newsletters.  But I have a lot of photos and thought I'd share some to give you glimpses of where I've been this fall.

https://mailchi.mp/electpatjehlen/gallery-7227454?e=2a1a9beef5

Dear Neighbor,

I am Senate chair of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee and the Committee on Elder Affairs.  Each of those committees produced a major bill this session which passed the legislature and was signed, or is about to be signed, into law. 

In an earlier newsletter, I wrote about the Labor Committee's wage transparency law.  

The second bill, about long-term care facilities for older people and people with disabilities, hadn’t passed by the time formal sessions ended on July 31. In the informal sessions that continue after that, any one legislator could object and stop the bill. Despite that, I am happy and relieved to be able to report that the long-term care bill passed the legislature last Thursday.

Dear Neighbor,

Dear Neighbor,

Conference committees

Dear Neighbors,

Probably the most urgent issue in our state is the cost of housing.  It's a big part of the reason shelters are full and the state is limiting access.  I'll write about lots of end-of-session news soon.

 NEW OVERFLOW SHELTER POLICY

Thursday I joined people protesting the eviction of people from the overflow shelters starting today. The Globe, Herald, and WGBH were among media outlets covering the vigil.  Speakers included Kelly Turley, of Somerville, Associate Director of Mass. Coalition for the Homeless; and Dr. Lara Jimanus of Medford, who brought a letter from health professionals and others about the dangers to children.

Dear Neighbor,

A quick note - to be followed by thoughts on the last day of session.

CEREMONIAL SIGNING OF PAY TRANSPARENCY

Yesterday a huge crowd of enthusiastic supporters gathered for a ceremonial signing of our pay transparency bill.  The new law will be an important step in reducing the pay gaps for women and people of color, as I reported last month.  Senators Feeney and O'Connor, in the photo, were on the conference committee with me.  While it was frustrating that it took so long to reach agreement, the bill got better and helped more people even in the last days of negotiation.  I'm grateful that ours was the last conference committee to reach agreement before the difficult last day of session, when only three of the twelve conference committees reached agreement.

Dear Neighbor,

There is so much happening in the legislature (not to mention the world) the last two weeks of July!  Conference committees are resolving differences between many bills that have passed both houses.  

WAGE TRANSPARENCY 

The Senate passed our Wage Transparency bill last October.  But it was a little different than the House version.

Dear Neighbor,

The next two and a half weeks in the legislature are going to be packed!  

Monday I wrote about important pieces of the Senate's version of the Housing Bond Bill.  This is about why the bond bill is not enough.  Following will be newsletters about the immediate emergency, and possible solutions to keep people in their homes..

WE NEED MUCH MORE SOONER!

Dear Neighbor,

There's no place like home!  How can we make sure everyone in Massachusetts has a stable home they can afford, whether it's owning or renting?  Housing affordability is the biggest crisis right now in our state.

This is the first of three newsletters about the Housing Bond Bill the Senate passed on June 27.  Others will be about the housing emergency and other immediate solutions.

Dear Neighbor,

Thursday the Senate passed (38-2) an important comprehensive bill to reduce the use of single-use plastics.  Hundreds of you, my constituents, have asked us to reduce the use of plastics.

(We were also planning to pass a climate/energy bill, but Republicans tabled it. We went back Friday, and they tabled it again, so we'll pass it Tuesday, and then move on to the Housing Bond bill Thursday.  Busy days at end of session!)

Dear Neighbors,

One of my favorite summer activities starts next week.  People of any age (really!) can learn new skills and join the circus community on Tuesday and Wednesday late afternoons at Prospect Hill and Powder House Park.  I'm so excited to be teaching beginning stilting again!