Press Room

The Massachusetts State Senate announced today that Kathryn A. Bethea-Rivera, Ph.D., has been hired as the new Human Resources Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Senate.

Today the Massachusetts Senate passed legislation to rename the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) to MassAbility, a change that will define the agency’s role in supporting residents with disabilities live independently.

) Today, the Massachusetts Legislature passed sweeping reforms to the long-term care and assisted living sectors, taking a powerful step towards delivering high quality and safe care for older residents across the Commonwealth. An Act to improve quality and oversight of long-term care strengthens the Commonwealth’s oversight of nursing homes, provides critical anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ nursing home residents, and permanently allows assisted living residences to offer basic health services.

Today, The Massachusetts Legislature passed a comprehensive maternal health bill which creates a state licensure pathway for midwives and lactation consultants, encourages the creation of more freestanding birth centers, establishes a grant program to address maternal mental health and substance use disorder, and expands the statewide universal postpartum home visiting program. This legislation also mandates that insurers provide coverage for postpartum depression and major depressive disorder screenings for perinatal individuals.

The Massachusetts Legislature has passed the Affordable Homes Act, the largest housing investment in Massachusetts history and a powerful first step in tackling the state’s housing affordability crisis.

The Massachusetts Legislature has passed An Act Honoring, Empowering and Recognizing Our Service Members and Veterans (HERO Act), legislation designed to boost support for hundreds of thousands of individuals across the state who have served in the United States military, including nearly 30,000 women veterans and thousands of LGBTQ+ veterans.

The Massachusetts Legislature today passed An Act to ensure legal parentage equality, extending the full rights of parentage to LGBTQ+ families and families created via assisted reproduction.

Today the Massachusetts Senate passed legislation expanding support for residents coping with substance use disorder to stem the toll of an opioid crisis that takes thousands of lives each year.