[Massachusetts-NFB] FW: LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT!! Parenting anti-discrimination bill needs to be voted favorably out of committee by June 22, 2025

Mon May 12 19:34:43 UTC 2025

Hello friends and supporters of H.1852/S.1164, a bill to protect disabled parents rights in the juvenile and family court systems.

These bills were scheduled for hearing on April 22, 2025 with only a few days notice prior to a holiday weekend.  My apologies for not notifying you in advance, but I was actually out of the country at the time.  Our own Sam Fein and Senator Joan Lovely testified in favor of the bill, but since we were not able to bring a larger group of people to show up at the state house for the hearing, we now need your help with submitting written testimony!

Please submit any written testimony as soon as possible by email to: Christianna.Golden at masenate.gov <mailto:Christianna.Golden at masenate.gov>  and Grace.Giordina at masenate.gov <mailto:Grace.Giordina at masenate.gov> , both in Senator Edwards office.  Please reference the bill numbers (H.1852/S.1164) and indicate that you are supporting the legislation and asking that the members vote it favorably out of committee as soon as possible!  The House deadline to report bills out of committee is sixty days after hearing, which puts us at June 22!  While it appears the Senate allows for more time, we need to consider this deadline as a critical one!  If you need more assistance in drafting testimony, please reach out to myself, or Sam Fein (copied above) and we can send you some talking points and/or suggestions.  Please speak from your own personal experience and/or that of your constituency and how this bill would positively impact their experience.

We also need calls to the chairs and committee members!  Please use the following links to reach out to any and all members of the Judiciary Committee, and in particular the chairs, Senator Lydia Edwards and Representative Michael Day, as they have the greatest influence in determining what is voted favorably out of committee. (I've included a link to the page for the committee listing all the members, click on their name for their page and email address) as well as email addresses for each of the chairs and vice chairs.

https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J19

Senate chair: Lydia.Edwards at masenate.gov <mailto:Lydia.Edwards at masenate.gov> 

House chair: Michael.Day at mahouse.gov <mailto:Michael.Day at mahouse.gov> 

Senate vice chair: James.Eldridge at masenate.gov <mailto:James.Eldridge at masenate.gov> 

House vice chair: Brandy.FlukerReid at mahouse.gov <mailto:Brandy.FlukerReid at mahouse.gov> 

Again, please contact us with any questions or if you are in need of contact information.  If you happen to be a constituent of any of the relevant legislators, PLEASE mention that (and include your address) in your email or call to their office - they always want to hear from constituents.  If you have community members and other individuals you are working with you can also make calls or send emails, please have them do so, and feel free to forward this email and/or fact sheet attached - which you should feel free to reference and use for talking points as well.

Thank you all so much for your support and efforts on this legislation, we have a short window to work on this bill, but let's make this the year to get the bill passed!

_____________________________________ 

Kate Nemens, Esq. (she/her/hers) 

Senior Attorney/Legislative Advocacy Director

Supervising Attorney, Family Law Project

Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee

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