Senator Cindy Friedman

On a national level, the political scene this past year may have looked chaotic no matter which side you support, but moving over to the state level, local leaders like state Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington, are reflecting on 2019 accomplishments, and 2020 goals.

Friedman said the peaks of the last year revolve around health care, children’s well being, and fighting hunger, specifically funding allocated to address hunger in Billerica. She said she was pleased to also help provide the Billerica Public School District with $19,348,854 under the 2020 state budget, which is $145,980 more than the 2019 allocation. She added being able to connect with local officials like Town Manager John Curran has been positive. When there was funding available in the budget Friedman said she was able to call Curran, see what the town’s immediate needs were, and offer $66,000 for streetscaping improvements for Billerica roads.

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While several other states have abolished cash bail for criminal defendants, Massachusetts is likely to hold onto the practice, based on new recommendations from the state legislature’s special commission on bail.

State Sen. Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington), the commission co-chairperson, said more work remains to be done, and she is hoping that the legislature will renew the bail commission.

“There’s a lot of interest in looking at the whole bail magistrate [system] and how bail is delivered when it’s not delivered in court. It’s a situation I am very uncomfortable with,” she said.

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WOBURN, MA – Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington) recently received the “Outstanding Public Official Award” from Vinfen, an innovative health and human services organization that provides community-based services for people with disabilities. At its 12th Annual Celebration of Family Partnerships this fall, Vinfen honored the dedicated family members, guardians, advocates, self-advocates, and staff who support the individuals it serves.

“All people, including those with behavioral health challenges or disabilities, should be able to lead full and productive lives – free from prejudice and discrimination – and receive support from their communities,” said Senator Friedman, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. “Thank you to Vinfen for recognizing my work, but more importantly, for the work you do each and every day to care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

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State lawmakers around the country are following Colorado’s lead in filing legislation that would place a cap on monthly insulin copays for diabetics. Most of the bills that have been filed so far follow the model of the Colorado law that was enacted in May, which caps monthly copays for insulin at $100, regardless of the amount needed by a given patient.

But at least one state is more ambitious. The bill introduced by Massachusetts Sen. Cindy Friedman (D) would cap copays at $25 per month and also would create a mechanism for the state to begin monitoring the cost of other drugs considered essential to the public health.

Friedman told Bloomberg Law that she thinks $100 per month is too high for insulin-dependent diabetics, especially for patients who use more than one drug, each subject to a separate copay. “But there’s certainly no moral universe, or economic universe, in which the price of insulin should be what it is now.”

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With an aging workforce and a low unemployment rate, Massachusetts faces a tight labor market, creating a dynamic that could limit the state’s future economic growth. That was one of the main messages economists delivered to lawmakers on Wednesday, at an annual Ways and Means Committee hearing that launches the state budget-writing process. Economists who testified projected a slower revenue growth rate than in the past two years, offering estimates that ranged from 0.8 percent to 3.5 percent.

Revenue Commissioner Christopher Harding characterized the Massachusetts unemployment rate as “impressively low,” forecasting a rate of 2.8 percent this fiscal year, and said that job growth may come at a slower pace than it has in the past.

“This could drive up wages, this could do all kinds of things that have a direct impact on business here in the commonwealth, because there’s a limited talent pool in order to achieve the growth these businesses want to achieve,” Harding said, after Sen. Cindy Friedman asked if there was any cause for concern with such a low unemployment rate.

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The conference committee reconciling the different House and Senate bills related to children’s health and wellness filed its report with the House clerk after wrapping up a press conference called to announce a deal agreed to by five of the panel’s six members. The sixth member, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, ultimately signed on as well before the bill (H 4210) was filed.

“In no way, shape or form do we believe that this is the end of the work that we need to do,” Friedman said, adding that some Senate approved measures relating to DCF were omitted from the final bill “in deference to” the House’s ongoing effort to pull together legislation addressing the department.

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