Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Monday, July 28, 2025

Start Time:

1:00 PM

Location:

A-2 and Virtual

Event Description

Workforce, Studies, and Commissions

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

JOINT COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH,

SUBSTANCE USE AND RECOVERY

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 02133

Representative Mindy Domb Senator John Velis

House Chair Senate Chair

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Date of Hearing: Monday, July 28, 2025

Time: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Location: Hybrid Hearing – A2 and Virtual via Microsoft Teams

Chair: Representative Mindy Domb

The Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery will conduct a hybrid public hearing on Monday, July 28, 2025 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in A2 on bills relating to the following topic: Workforce, Studies, and Commissions

This hearing will be chaired by House Chair Domb. The Committee will accept written and in-person testimony submitted on the matters listed on the docket below:

Bill Number	Sponsor(s)	Title
H2205	Domb, Mindy (HOU)	An Act expanding loan repayment assistance for primary care physicians
S1385	Comerford, Joanne M. (SEN)	An Act expanding loan repayment assistance for primary care physicians
H2207	Fluker-Reid, Brandy (HOU)	An Act building resilience and increasing access to mental health services
S1388	Cyr, Julian (SEN)	An Act building resilience and increasing access to mental health services
H2208	Fluker-Reid, Brandy (HOU)	An Act to establish a perinatal behavioral health care workforce trust fund
S1411	Miranda, Liz (SEN)	An Act to establish a perinatal behavioral health care workforce trust fund
H2218	LaNatra, Kathleen R. (HOU)	An Act to further enhance behavioral health workforce development
S1380	Brady, Michael D. (SEN)	An Act to further enhance behavioral health workforce development
H2229	Rogers, David M. (HOU)	An Act to expand equity and access to patient centered care for substance abuse disorder
S1382	Brady, Michael D. (SEN)	An Act establishing a board of registration of licensed mental health counselors
H2209	Garry, Colleen M. (HOU)	An Act establishing a special commission on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including but not limited to investigation of PTSD caused by the COVID 19 Pandemic
H2215	Jones, Jr., Bradley H. (HOU)	An Act relative to establishing a commission to study the feasibility of joining the counseling compact
H2226	Moran, John Francis (HOU)	An Act establishing a commission to study the availability of the continuum of care services for persons with substance use disorder
S1412	Miranda, Liz (SEN)	An Act establishing a commission to study the availability of a continuum of care for persons with substance use disorder
S1396	Feeney, Paul R. (SEN)	An Act studying the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on frontline, direct care nurses
S1407	Kennedy, Edward J. (SEN)	Resolve to ensure delivery of mental health services to adults with acute mental illness
S1417	O’Connor, Patrick M. (SEN)	An Act establishing a special commission to study the prevention of heroin trafficking

*Please be advised that the schedule and agenda are subject to change at the discretion of the chairs per Committee rules.

**Further be advised that all House bills considered during this hearing must be reported on by September 26, 2025 subject to extensions consistent with House Rule 27.

Questions regarding House bills on the docket should be directed to House Chair Domb’s office by contacting Staff Director Lily Stowe-Alekman via email at Lily.Stowe-Alekman@mahouse.gov.

Questions regarding Senate bills on the docket should be directed to Senate Chair Velis’ office by contacting Legislative Director and General Counsel Jocelyn Schafer, Esq. by email at Jocelyn.Schafer@masenate.gov.

***INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTRATION / TESTIMONY***

The public is invited to participate in this hybrid hearing, which will be streamed live and archived on the General Court website, https://malegislature.gov/. All persons who wish to testify in-person or virtually are encouraged to sign up in advance by completing this form: https://forms.office.com/g/wWDb5Gu0pz.

The deadline to register to testify virtually is 5:00pm on Thursday, July 24, 2025. Further instructions will be sent to those who register to testify virtually. The Committee will provide a link to join the public hearing to those who sign up to testify virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Individuals who miss the deadline to pre-register for testimony may appear on the day of the hearing and sign-up to speak in-person on forms provided by Committee staff outside of the hearing room. When all pre-registered individuals have been called to testify, the presiding Chair will then call any individuals who sign-up on the day of the hearing.

LEGISLATOR AND PUBLIC OFFICIAL TESTIMONY: Legislators and public officials are also required to pre-register to testify virtually. The presiding Chair, at their discretion, may take legislators and public officials out of turn. The Committee will extend this courtesy to legislators and public officials only, and it will not be expanded to include other individuals or panels.

ORAL TESTIMONY - TIME LIMIT: Each individual registered to testify shall be afforded 3 minutes to speak. Individuals offering testimony on multiple bills must do so within the 3 minute time limit. The presiding Chair, at their discretion, may further limit the time for testimony.

ORAL TESTIMONY – PARTICIPATING AS A PANEL: Individuals participating as part of a panel must fill out the appropriate section of the pre-registration form. Please have each member of the panel fill out the pre-registration form separately and completely. The presiding Chair will permit either fully in-person panels or fully-remote panels only. Questions related to the registration of panels should be directed to the presiding Chair’s staff at Lily.Stowe-Alekman@mahouse.gov.

ORDER OF TESTIMONY: The presiding Chair, at their discretion, will determine the order of testimony during the course of the hearing. It is the responsibility of the individuals registered to testify to be prepared to speak when called upon by the presiding Chair. In the event that an individual testifying is called by the presiding Chair and that person is not logged into the Teams platform or present in the hearing room, the presiding Chair will move on and call the next individual or panel.

Hearings will be recorded and posted publicly, archived on the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery webpage for the duration of the 194th Legislative Session.

For questions regarding hearing logistics, please contact the presiding Chair’s staff via email at Lily.Stowe-Alekman@mahouse.gov.

WRITTEN TESTIMONY – DO NOT FILL OUT THE FORM: For individuals wishing to provide written testimony ONLY, please do not fill out this form. Written testimony is encouraged and will continue to be accepted after the hearing until the relevant bill is acted upon. Written testimony may be submitted electronically via e-mail to the following: jointcmte-mentalhealth@malegislature.gov. For testimony submitted by email, please include the bill number and “TESTIMONY” in the subject line of the email, as well as your name, address, phone number, and organization, if any, on the submitted testimony. Registration is not required to submit written testimony.

Written testimony may be physically mailed to the House and Senate Chairs at the below addresses:

CHAIR MINDY DOMB

JOINT COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE AND RECOVERY

ATTN: LILY STOWE-ALEKMAN

24 BEACON STREET, ROOM 33

BOSTON MA, 02133

CHAIR JOHN C. VELIS

JOINT COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE AND RECOVERY

ATTN: JOCELYN SCHAFER

24 BEACON STREET, ROOM 513

BOSTON MA, 02133

Please be advised that all written testimony submitted will be read by Committee Members and staff and may be made publicly available at the discretion of the Chairs as per Committee rules. The Committee may limit or redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness or safety of the testifier or others.

Persons submitting written testimony containing sensitive personal information or information intended only for the Committee should prominently indicate whether such written testimony should be made publicly available or if the person desires the public availability of all or part of such written testimony to be limited by the Committee.

Those who do not plan to testify but want to watch the public hearing may view the live stream under the Hearings & Events section of the legislative website.

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: The Committee will work to coordinate reasonable accommodations required to ensure that people with disabilities are able to participate fully in the hearing process. Timely requests for accessibility accommodations, such as assistive listening devices and systems, sign language interpreting services, closed captioning and transcription services, will be provided upon request. Requests for services should be submitted by completing the state house accessibility form, https://malegislature.gov/StateHouse/AccessibilityForm/. If you have any questions regarding a submitted request for accessibility accommodations, please email the presiding Chair’s staff at Lily.Stowe-Alekman@mahouse.gov.  

If you have Accessibility needs, click here.

Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery - 7-28-2025	7/28/2025 1:00 PM	01:45:01

Workforce, Studies, and Commissions 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.2205	An Act expanding loan repayment assistance for primary care physicians	Mindy Domb
S.1385	An Act expanding loan repayment assistance for primary care physicians	Joanne M. Comerford
H.2207	An Act building resilience and increasing access to mental health services	Brandy Fluker-Reid
S.1388	An Act building resilience and increasing access to mental health services	Julian Cyr
H.2208	An Act to establish a perinatal behavioral health care workforce trust fund	Brandy Fluker-Reid
S.1411	An Act to establish a perinatal behavioral health care workforce trust fund	Liz Miranda
H.2218	An Act to further enhance behavioral health workforce development	Kathleen R. LaNatra
S.1380	An Act to further enhance behavioral health workforce development	Michael D. Brady
H.2229	An Act to expand equity and access to patient centered care for substance abuse disorder	David M. Rogers
S.1382	An Act establishing a board of registration of licensed mental health counselors	Michael D. Brady
H.2209	An Act establishing a special commission on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including but not limited to investigation of PTSD caused by the COVID 19 Pandemic	Colleen M. Garry
H.2215	An Act relative to establishing a commission to study the feasibility of joining the counseling compact	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.2226	An Act establishing a commission to study the availability of the continuum of care services for persons with substance use disorder	John Francis Moran
S.1412	An Act establishing a commission to study the availability of a continuum of care for persons with substance use disorder	Liz Miranda
S.1396	An Act studying the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on frontline, direct care nurses	Paul R. Feeney
S.1407	Resolve to ensure delivery of mental health services to adults with acute mental illness	Edward J. Kennedy
S.1417	An Act establishing a special commission to study the prevention of heroin trafficking	Patrick M. O'Connor

Present (9)

Mindy Domb (HOU)

Kate Donaghue (HOU)

Russell E. Holmes (HOU)

Steven S. Howitt (HOU)

John Francis Moran (HOU)

David K. Muradian, Jr. (HOU)

Sean Reid (HOU)

Susannah M. Whipps (HOU)

Steven George Xiarhos (HOU)

Absent (4)

Michelle M. DuBois (HOU) *

Colleen M. Garry (HOU) *

Mary S. Keefe (HOU) *

Christopher M. Markey (HOU) *

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery

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