Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Last Thursday, I was proud to join my colleagues in passing comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation after 14 hours of debate on the Senate floor.

I am very pleased that bail reform was included in the final version of the omnibus bill – our office has worked incredibly hard over the past few months to move this provision forward. To read my full statement on bail reform, please click here. In addition, my colleague Senator Brownsberger, the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, provides an informative summary of the bail reform provisions at this link on his website.

With this bill, the Senate took critical action to move Massachusetts toward a fairer system that focuses on lessening unnecessary incarceration and increasing access to diversion programs. We still have a lot more work to do, but we have certainly taken a step in the right direction.

Thank you to everyone who called, emailed, and visited my office to express your advocacy for criminal justice reform over the past several weeks. Your voice truly had a say in the outcome of this legislation. If you have any additional questions or comments, please share your thoughts below, call my office at (617) 722-1432, or email me directly at Cindy.Friedman@masenate.gov.

Senate Healthcare Report & Legislation

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Senate released a health care report with accompanying legislation that focuses on short and long term goals to fix our healthcare system to lower costs, improve outcomes, and maintain access. The report is a result of a yearlong study and research conducted by the Senate’s Health Care Cost Containment working group on best practices, cost-saving measures, and innovations and trends in seven states.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming weeks to further strengthen the bill to ensure that we continue to develop the most efficient way to deliver high quality health care coverage to consumers at a fair price. To learn more about the health care report and proposed bill, please refer to the following links. In addition, I invite you to share your comments on this post.

Submit a Comment

In order to facilitate a further discussion on the issues affecting all of us, I will periodically post in the “Submit a Comment” tab on my website regarding a relevant issue or article and ask for your direct input. In the comment section, you will be able to share your thoughts and concerns on important issues, allowing for valuable discussion between myself and other residents of the 4th Middlesex district.

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