In the News

Gov. Charlie Baker was joined by more than a dozen legislators, superintendents and police chiefs on Monday, Aug. 20 for a roundtable discussing his supplemental spending plan to aid public school security.

State Senator Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, applauded the funding, but also said that unless the state begins to work with insurance providers to enhance mental health coverage, the long term improvements will be hindered by a lack of access to services that would make a difference.

“The members of our public schools and public safety officers are doing a phenomenal job, it is a real honor to be a resident of Massachusetts and working with those officials,” Friedman said. “But if we don’t engage our insurance companies and our providers and people who make decisions about the value they play in our communities, we are not going to solve this problem. It’s all going to be put on the schools and the public safety administrators, so we have to look at that piece really seriously and I think it has to be part of anything we do.’”

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Senator Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington) and Representative Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) recently lauded the passage of the final version of the Environmental Bond Bill. The bill includes local earmarks to benefit the Town of Burlington, including $3 million for the design, planning and preconstruction of a new water transmission main connecting the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s (MWRA) Arlington transmission main line with the Town of Burlington.

“I’m pleased that this legislation includes critical funding to connect Burlington’s water supply with Arlington, especially during a time when our residents are experiencing a water ban,” said Senator Friedman. “This funding will increase access to water supply in town and make necessary infrastructure improvements to enhance the quality of life for our residents while protecting our environment.”

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Massachusetts lawmakers have passed legislation that would provide treatment with medication to inmates addicted to opioids.

The bill would allow some inmates at five county jails, including three in the western part of the state, to take prescriptions designed to limit the urge to use opiates. State Senator Cindy Friedman worked to make sure the pilot program was included in a larger opioid bill. “There is a major crisis going on around people with substance use disorder and incarceration,” she said.

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The ongoing project to modernize the Lexington visitors’ center just earned a boost of state support. The state’s budget for the new fiscal year, signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last week, appropriates $200,000 for the renovation, which will cost about $4.5 million and aims to expand the visitors center’s exhibit space and amenities.

Likewise, state Sen. Cindy Friedman grouped the visitors center among other “key priorities” for the town, and Sen. Mike Barrett noted that the facility needs an upgrade. Prior to the project’s approval at annual Town Meeting, advocates said the building often becomes congested as tourists – whose numbers have tripled since the center opened 52 years ago – fight for space to view exhibits and buy souvenirs.

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BOSTON – The Massachusetts Legisture’s 2018 legislative session officially ended at 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning with legislators, including local legislators, having a brief chance to take a quick look back over the past few days.

For one thing, Representatives Jim Dwyer (D-Woburn), Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington), and Senator Cindy Friedman (D-Lexington) note they took pride in the passage of the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) state budget.

The final budget features substantial investments in key areas related to public education, local aid, transportation, health and human services, housing and assistance for low income families. In addition, the budget includes several items of specific interest to the city of Woburn, they reported.

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ARLINGTON, MA – State Sen. Cindy Friedman, State Rep. Sean Garballey and State Rep. Dave Rogers are proud to announce funding for a myriad of projects in and around the Town of Arlington in the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19) state budget. The final budget features substantial investments in key areas related to public education, local aid, transportation, health and human services, housing and assistance for low income families.

METCO will use its funding to provide late afternoon and evening transportation for students in Arlington and Lexington. “Many students in Arlington benefit from the METCO program,” Friedman said in a statement. ‘Expanding access to late afternoon and evening transportation will ensure that METCO students have the opportunity to fully participate in after school athletics and extra-curricular programs at Arlington and Lexington high schools.”

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The bill on opioids that the Massachusetts Legislature approved late Tuesday contains several provisions that have nothing to do with combating opioid addiction, but instead aim to help people often seen as casualties of that fight — those suffering from chronic pain.

Spooked by worries about addiction and poorly trained in pain management, many physicians have reduced or stopped prescribing medications for pain, and some avoid pain patients altogether, advocates say. At the same time, insurance often doesn’t cover other types of treatment for pain.

“For some people, they’re just uncomfortable with this notion that you give drugs to a person who has an addiction that’s chemical-based,” Senator Cindy F. Friedman, chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery, said Wednesday.

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WOBURN, MA — The state budget passed includes $10,000 for Woburn to increase substance abuse awareness and education and $100,000 for English language instruction for immigrants and refugees, according to a press release issued after the budget was passed by the two state representatives and the state senator that represent Woburn.

“Individuals that have immigrated to Massachusetts from another country often face English language barriers, which pose challenges to those individuals as they seek to integrate into American society, including difficulty gaining employment, communicating their needs to health professionals, and accessing community resources,” Friedman said in the statement. “This funding would provide greater resources for English language learners, empowering them to contribute to and thrive in their communities.”

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As its formal session barreled toward a close early Wednesday, the Massachusetts Legislature passed broad changes to how the state targets the opioid epidemic, but it failed to reach deals on major legislation addressing health care and the state’s school funding formula.

The success — and death — of several closely watched pieces of legislation buffeted state lawmakers’ dash to wrap any remaining formal business from the past 19 months.

“This bill is a bill we can all be extremely proud of,” said state Senator Cindy F. Friedman. “It keeps Massachusetts as a leader in the fight to stop this illness from continuing to ravage our residents and our communities.”

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On July 10, Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, led a conversation with family caregivers, respite workers and homecare leaders on the plight of family caregiving today. She stressed the need for the community to pay attention and make voices heard in the right settings to promulgate the power of professional home-care to take the pressure off of family caregivers.

The senator spoke to an audience of about 25 at the Billerica Council on Aging as part of their after-work sessions to support younger seniors, 60-75 years of age, many of whom are caught in daily crises trying to manage their own lives and that of older loved ones. The three homecare companies present, Guardian Angel, Home Instead and Right at Home have been screened by the Outreach and Wellness Staff at the BCOA and receive referrals as cases are brought to the Center.

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