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Dear Women's Caucus Members, Legislative Colleagues, and Partners,

While it is hard to believe that we are already halfway through May, we are excited to bring you our monthly newsletter again. We hope that you will take a moment to read updates about the work of the Women's Caucus below. 

As you know, the Caucus has solidified our strategic and legislative priorities after a thorough and inclusive process involving input from our 63 members. We include updates about these priorities below. The legislature is also in the midst of debating the FY24 State Budget, and the Caucus continues to advocate in both chambers to ensure that our priorities are reflected in this important budget--see updates below. 

The Women's Caucus held several recent events, as we work to support our mission in ways that stretch beyond legislative advocacy--those updates are below as well. We hope that you find this newsletter informative and resourceful. We appreciate your partnership, and as always encourage you to connect with us. All are welcome to contact our Executive Director, Nora Bent


Sincerely,

Senator Joan Lovely & Representative Hannah Kane
MCWL Co-Chairs
Strategic Priorities
Legislative Priorities
  • An Act relative to a livable wage for human service workers
  • An Act relative to salary range transparency
  • An Act to increase access to disposable menstrual products in prisons, homeless shelters, and public schools
    • H.534, Rep. Barber and Rep. Livingstone & S.1381, Sen. Jehlen
       
  • An Act relative to postpartum depression screening
  • An Act supporting parents running for public office 
    • H.669, Rep. Meschino and Rep. Connolly & S.422, Sen. Jehlen
    • This bill will be heard before the Joint Committee on Election Laws on May 17. We look forward to submitting testimony in support of this bill, which we have prioritized for 2 consecutive sessions.
Endorsed Legislation
Our State Budget Task Force, co-chaired by Sen. Friedman and Rep. Ciccolo, has been working to support amendments that relate to our Caucus priorities during the FY24 budget debate. In April, we supported the above amendments to the House budget. We look forward to soon supporting amendments in the Senate budget debate!
Annually, our Board of Directors meets with members of leadership across both legislative chambers and the executive branch. We were honored to meet with Governor Healey and Lieutenant Governor Driscoll to discuss the Women's Caucus' priorities for this session and how we can collaborate.

This meeting was particularly special--we met with this first all-woman Governor & LG team. We look forward to working together to support women and girls across the Commonwealth.
Please let us know if you have events that you would like to be highlighted in the next newsletter or shared on social media.
Annually, the Women's Caucus and our Sexual Violence Task Force, chaired by Rep. Higgins and Rep. Farley-Bouvier, commemorate Denim Day. Denim Day has been held during Sexual Assault Awareness Month for the past 24 years. Following a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove them, implying consent. The following day, the women of the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. 

A rape prevention and education campaign, on Denim Day people wear jeans with a purpose--as a visible means of protesting the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.

This year, we were joined by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer Goldberg, and Auditor DiZoglio. We also heard from Drexler Asassy, a survivor and advocate with Pathways for Change who shared her story with us.
Please let us know if you have articles or social media that you would like to be highlighted in the next newsletter or shared on social media.
In April, we were pleased to host a group of Girl Scouts at the State House. As part of a week of learning about possible career avenues, Girl Scouts from across eastern Massachusetts came to the State House to learn about state government. In addition to taking a tour of the building, the Girl Scouts had lunch with members of the MA Caucus of Women Legislators and participated in a mock debate in the House chamber on one of our priority bills regarding menstrual equity
  • Senate President Spilka received the 2023 Champion of the Year Award from the MA Council for Adult Foster Care.
     
  • Sen. Lovely received the Distinguished Legislator of the Year award from Massachusetts Advocates for Autism.
     
  • Sen. Edwards was named one of the 150 most influential Bostonians by Boston Magazine.
     
  • Sen. Friedman received the Friend of Nursing Award from the American Nurses Association Massachusetts Chapter. 
     
Please let us know if you have accomplishments that you would like to be highlighted in the next newsletter or shared on social media. 
Please send relevant articles, upcoming events, social media you would like shared, accomplishments, or other updates that you think MCWL members and our partners would find helpful. All updates should be sent to Nora.Bent@MALegislature.gov
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