Press Room

The Massachusetts Senate today advanced the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, sweeping new legislation that establishes some of the strongest consumer data protections in the nation. The bill protects young people, empowers consumers with new rights over their personal information, limits how businesses and tech companies can collect and use data, and creates robust enforcement authority.

The agreement reached by the Legislature further deepens our commitment to support our most vulnerable populations by bolstering our fiscally strained hospitals and community health centers, which are firmly embedded in the fabric of our Commonwealth.

Today, Senator Michael J. Rodrigues, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, and Aaron Michlewitz, Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, issued the following statement regarding a partial supplemental budget bill to be reported out of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Next week, the Massachusetts Senate will take up three pieces of legislation to create legal protections for people who administer fentanyl testing equipment, protect day habilitation participants with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and help lower rental car costs in the Commonwealth.

An Act relative to fentanyl test strips ensures that people in Massachusetts can use key testing materials to determine whether a substance contains fentanyl or its related synthetic opioids.

An Act to update Nicky’s Law ensures that people with intellectual or developmental disabilities are equally protected from abuse at MassHealth day habilitation services as they are in other care settings.

An Act relative to affordable car rentals brings the rental car industry in Massachusetts onto the same playing field as the vast majority of other states and promotes continued access to affordable rentals.

As the school year begins for students across Massachusetts, Senate leaders are applauding newly codified protections for K-12 students who are English language learners. These protections were enacted in response to the Trump Administration's rollback of protections for students who are learning English.