Jamie in the News
The ‘voice of cities and towns’ in Mass. has a new leader. And he wants to talk housing.
April 11, 2024
Andrew Brinker, The Boston Globe
State Senator Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat from Acton and one of the Senate’s most prominent advocates for housing reform, recalls how the MMA effectively killed a bill of his that would have required communities to chart out specific plans to increase production of affordable housing.
“I really felt like for a long time that the MMA was just saying no to any zoning or housing production reform that would allow for more diversity in our housing stock,” he said.
April 11, 2024
Beth Melo, mysouthborough.com
State Senator Jamie Eldridge’s office announced the details:
Eldridge Senior Conference adThe Senior Conference is intended to provide seniors with a day of useful information, entertainment and educational workshops from expert guest speakers on topics including aging well, solo aging, and resources for caregivers and family members. Senator Eldridge also provides free breakfast, and a delicious free lunch made by the culinary students of Assabet Valley. . .
“I look forward to hearing the concerns of seniors, discussing state initiatives to better support older residents in Massachusetts, and highlighting the work of the Legislature so far this session,” said Senator Jamie Eldridge.
The fallout from Healey’s ‘hiring controls’
April 4, 2024
Lisa Kashinski, Kelly Garrity, and Mia McCarthy, Politico Massachusetts Playbook
The hiring pause is “very concerning because, to Governor Healey’s credit, she’s laid out a bold agenda on housing, on climate action, on economic development,” state Sen. Jamie Eldridge told Playbook. “The reality is: If you don’t have the employees, especially people that are really experts in these areas, you’re not going to be able to implement that vision.”
COA Will Provide Transportation to Senior Conference
April 4, 2024
Waylandenews
The 43rd annual Senior Conference for the Middlesex and Worcester District, presented by State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, takes place on Thursday, April 18, from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough. It features speakers from the Massachusetts Legislature; workshops with expert guest speakers on topics like aging well, solo aging, and resources for caregivers and family members; live music from Marlboro’s Flashback Band; free meals from Assabet Valley’s Culinary students; and as always: Raffles! This year’s event will also offer an all-new watercolor painting demonstration from Maynard Artspace.
April 3, 2024
Dan Atkinson, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism
The state police and Jacobs did not respond to requests for comment. But state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, agreed with civil liberties advocates and said he planned to investigate and take action to create government oversight.
“I don’t think the state police should have gone forward to purchase this simulator,” Eldridge said. “This is another front in the potential invasion of civil liberties. It is really critical for the Mass legislature to better protect people’s privacy, including from law enforcement.”
The Mass State Police are purchasing the cell-site simulator from Jacobs using funds received through a $4 million 2023 COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force Program grant, through which the federal government gives states with high numbers of people being treated for drug abuse money for police investigations. That’s instead of treatment, but Sen. Eldridge said Massachusetts has been otherwise moving away from punitive drug-related law enforcement, and was concerned the new addition to the MSP arsenal could counter that.
“Given the source of where the money is coming from, there could be a focus on drug crimes,” Eldridge said. “As we’ve seen [with] Gov. Maura Healey’s decision to pardon misdemeanor marijuana convictions, there’s a real push to walk away from [punitive policies] and end the war on drugs.”
Sen. Eldridge previously chaired commissions investigating civil asset forfeiture and pushed for a bill requiring warrants for the use of facial recognition tech. In an interview for this article, he said he now plans to push for oversight of the MSP’s cell-site simulator.
“It’s extremely disturbing for the state police to be purchasing this piece of equipment when there have been a lot of documented abuses around surveillance, drug crimes, and general invasion of privacy,” Eldridge said. “I’ll be reaching out to state police leadership this week, trying to get more answers about why this is going forward.
Mass. Senate agrees to new protections on debt collection
Citing industry input, Eldridge calls proposal a ‘consensus bill’
April 1, 2024
Sam Doran, Lowell Sun (State House News Service)
Sen. Jamie Eldridge offered “thanks for the debt collectors, their representatives that I often disagree with, but their willingness to come have a seat at the table and work out what is a consensus bill.”
The Marlboro Democrat said he hoped the measure would pass the House and make it to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, “given that this is a full consensus bill.”
The bill would limit the interest rate on a debt to between 2% and 5%, rather than a current rate of 12%, Eldridge said on the Senate floor. It would also prohibit imprisoning someone for their failure to pay a consumer debt, he said, adding that “we should not have debtors’ prisons here in Massachusetts.”
Senate bill would keep money in pockets
March 29, 2024
Christian Wade, Salem News
The bill’s primary sponsor, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, said the changes are aimed at preventing debt collectors from driving people into poverty.
Eldridge said the debt collection rules haven’t been updated in decades, while debt collectors have become increasingly aggressive in going after people’s wallets for unpaid bills. He cited data suggesting an estimated 1 in 3 U.S. adults has debt that has been turned over to collection agencies.
“Unfortunately, a relatively small number of debt collection agencies have taken over the industry and engaged in misleading practices,” Eldridge said.
“The problem is that if someone owes a debt, they either don’t know about the debt, or through interest rates or the charges that are being brought through a small claims court the debt quickly accrues to an even greater sum that is harder to pay off,” Eldridge said.
The proposal would prohibit issuing arrest warrants for people who owe outstanding debts under certain circumstances. Eldridge said currently people who owe debts can be arrested and imprisoned, which he called “shocking” considering the state’s history as a refuge from English debtor prisons in the Colonial era.
“This is the criminalization of private debt,” he said in his remarks Thursday. “We should not have debtors prisons in Massachusetts.”
Homeless women face raft of challenges in Mass.
March 25, 2024
Ruihan Yang, Athol Daily News
But the reality is individuals are excluded from the “right-to-shelter” law; single homeless women will have “much more limited” options towards finding a shelter, Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlboro, said.
“Yet most areas of the state, outside of certain cities, there’s really not much of a shelter system and there’s no shelters for women, very few,” he said. “It doesn’t really meet the needs for my region, not to mention many other parts of the state.”
Eldridge said establishing a special commission is important, but not enough.
“It’s just a commission and I’d rather see direct action, but I do think there’s a need for commission because I think that there are different shelter needs for different women going through different challenges.”
Beyond the special commission, Eldridge said local housing authorities in Massachusetts are encouraged to build more affordable public housing to address the needs of homeless women.
“I’m trying to encourage more of these housing authorities to actually leverage money, leverage the property that they have, and build more low-income housing,” Eldridge said. “I think that could provide a real supply of housing for women that are seeking shelter because that’s, again, truly low-income housing.”
Massachusetts needs a regional drought plan
March 25, 2024
Rep. Joan Meschino and Sen. Jamie Eldridge, The Boston Globe Opinion
Massachusetts’ drought response hasn’t adapted to the frequency and severity of drought the state is now experiencing. During a declared drought, water conservation varies from town to town — if implemented at all. This regulatory patchwork can be confusing for residents and, more important, doesn’t conserve water efficiently. If one town stringently conserves water but the neighboring town doesn’t, there’s only limited water savings to their shared watershed. In many places, surface and groundwater water supplies are hydrologically connected. If water resources are shared, our protection of them should be as well.
Massachusetts can do better. The bill we filed in the General Court, “An Act relative to maintaining adequate water supplies through effective drought management,” more commonly known as the Drought Bill, enhances drought management in two ways to tackle current climate change challenges. First, the bill codifies the existing Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force into statute, ensuring our state’s drought response is grounded in scientific data. Second, the bill authorizes the secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to require regional water conservation measures during a declared drought, replacing the town-by-town approach.
Central Mass. state senator seeks to reform debt collection practices
March 25, 2024
By Sam Drysdale, Worcester Business Journal (State House News Service)
The legislation, based on a bill filed by Sen. Jamie Eldridge, would increase the amount of wages protected from seizure from 50 percent of the state minimum wage ($750) or 85 percent of the workers' gross wages each week, to 65 times the minimum wage ($975) or 90 percent of what they take home each week, whichever is greater. It would also allow a worker to ask the court to exempt additional wages, according to the bill summary.
Eldridge's bill also seeks to reduce the statute of limitation for consumer debt from six years to five years, reduce interest rates charged to people after a court finds they owe debt from 12 to 3 percent and make clear the new rate is not retroactive.
MET Criminal Justice Lecturer Advocates for Correctional Reform at Massachusetts State House
March 22, 2024
Boston University Metropolitan College
As Matesanz and his colleagues described, the number of citizens sent to jail and prison in the US and in Massachusetts increased by about 400 percent from 1974 to 2010. Speaking at the Massachusetts State Legislature, at the invitation of Senator Jamie Eldridge, the group advocated that prerelease and reentry programs be expanded; that more prerelease centers be tailored to meet the needs of individuals who are incarcerated with behavioral health needs, disabilities, and elder care needs; and that funding be expanded to reduce waitlists.
Advocates are concerned shelter limits raise stakes for housing transitions in Massachusetts
March 22, 2024
By Sam Drysdale, New England Public Media
Both Turley and Park also support the Senate bill's inclusion of an advisory commission to take a look at restructuring the emergency assistance program, but support a Sen. Jamie Eldridge bill that would add families that have experienced homelessness and more providers and advocates to the commission.
More than half of arrests by Mass. parole officers were not parolees, latest data show
March 21, 2024
By Deborah Becker, WBUR
We're concerned if parole officers are participating with other law enforcement on drug busts or other investigations that are not at all related to checking in on a parolee, what is the oversight of those officers?" said state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat representing Middlesex and Worcester counties, and co-chair of the Massachusetts Legislature's criminal justice reform caucus.
Senate moves Mass. closer to banning revenge porn like 48 other states in the U.S.
March 21, 2024
By Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Herald
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Marlborough Democrat, acknowledged how close legislators came last session.
“This is a tightly crafted bill because we are establishing a new crime in an era where we are repealing or often reforming our criminal statutes,” he said. “In addition, we are discussing social media and messaging activities where the First Amendment, the right of free speech, including protecting even offensive speech, is often a factor.”
Teaching real-world finances, financial literacy fair teaches kids budgetary skills
March 20, 2024
By Jesse Collings, Metrowest Daily News
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, who previously sponsored a bill to increase the number of Reality of Life Fairs in Massachusetts, attended Friday's event at L-S. He said there is currently a bill in the State House that would make financial literacy a high school graduation mandate.
"The new bill would make it a mandate and I think that is something to take a look at," he said. "I've been to the Marlborough Reality of Life Fair and now this one in Sudbury. It's a great model and it's great to see students learning about this. I think there's a gap in terms of requiring more financial literacy, and understanding on what repaying debt really is like."
Sunshine Week Meets Shade On Beacon Hill
March 16, 2024
Colin A. Young, NewBostonPost (State House News Service)
Act on Mass and Progressive Massachusetts both support a bill (S.1963) filed by state Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), the so-called Sunlight Act. That bill would require that all recorded votes in legislative committees be posted on the Legislature’s web site, that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, and that written testimony submitted to committees be publicly available. It got a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Rules in January 2024.
Eldridge’s bill would also subject the governor’s office to the public records law — retroactive for all of Governor Maura Healey’s time in office. The idea of making the governor’s office subject to the public records law is something that the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, Act on Mass, Progressive Massachusetts, and the Pioneer Institute all agree on.
“I think we do need that,” Eldridge said in January of eliminating the governor’s exemption. “There’s so many policies — whether it’s the Steward health care crisis, to climate action policies, to budget crises — that the fact that we don’t know some of the communication or some of the discussions happening means that the public or other elected officials don’t know what’s going on.”
Wayland Library Hosts Legislative Summit
March 15, 2024
Neal McNamara, The Patch
Senator Jamie Eldridge was grateful for colleagues who have filed legislation supporting intellectual freedom and resisting book bans, sharing his direct experience with book challenges in his own town of Acton. He encouraged everyone to maintain the long-term investments in our libraries by supporting the legislative agenda:
Restorative justice funding on the budget chopping block
March 14, 2024
Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon
When Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough, formerly the Senate appointee to the advisory group, began advocating for the grants on the Senate side with his colleagues, it was coming from “an equity lens,” he said. “The restorative justice groups that were essentially in well-off areas were able to raise money, but low-income or working class communities are where you really need restorative justice even more.”
In this fiscal environment, Cataldo and Eldridge noted, an entirely new expense creating a state office is an even harder lift than protecting the ongoing but relatively recent grant program. The governor is also facing blowback over other cuts to efforts aimed at reducing recidivism, such as reentry programs for formerly incarcerated people.
“So far, I would say the Legislature and the judicial branch are the most excited, or putting their money where their mouth is,” Eldridge said, “and it’s unclear where the Healey-Driscoll administration is on actually funding restorative justice programs.”
Annette Pfannebecker: Support the Sunlight Act
March 13, 2024
Annette Pfannebecker, Greenfield Recorder (Letter to the Editor)
The Sunlight Act, sponsored by longtime transparency champion Sen. Jamie Eldridge, would implement a number of urgent transparency reforms, including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website, requiring that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, making written testimony submitted to committees publicly available, and making the governor’s office not exempt from the state’s public records law.
Gov. Healey plans mega-pardon for those convicted of marijuana possession
March 13, 2024
Sam Doran, The New Bedford Light (State House News Service)
Others present on the steps included DePalo, Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux, former Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson, Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy; Sens. Jamie Eldridge, Adam Gomez, and Liz Miranda; and Reps. Mary Keefe, Sarah Peake, Russell Holmes, Christine Barber, Michelle Ciccolo, Bud Williams, Francisco Paulino, Vanna Howard, James Hawkins, Kate Donaghue, and Andres Vargas.
Healey administration moves to eliminate Devens housing cap and convene housing working group
March 8, 2024
John Osborn, The Harvard Press
The two measures surprised local officials. According to a spokesperson for state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Harvard and Ayer, the senator was warned that housing at Devens would be addressed in the Mass Leads bill only the day before it was filed. The advice came from an aide to the secretary of economic development, Yvonne Hao. Eldridge forwarded the news to officials in Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. Neil Angus, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, told the Press he had no advance warning. Harvard’s DEC representatives Carl Sciple and Duncan Chapman confirmed there had been no mention of the bill in any public communication. MassDevelopment did not respond to queries regarding its involvement or notification.
State Sen. Eldridge told the Press Friday he was feeling “blindsided.” Although he has had discussions and meetings recently with the governor’s housing and economic development secretaries, and with MassDevelopment CEO Rivera, he had no idea the governor was considering legislation to remove the cap, he said. Leaders of the three towns and the Devens framework committee had shown leadership by voting unanimously for housing at Vicksburg Square and asking MassDevelopment to collaborate in making it happen. “I would respectfully submit that this proposal by the administration is not a dialogue but a monologue.”
The filing of the bill is only the first step in its becoming law, an aide to Eldridge told the Press. Next stop is the House of Representatives where the Ways and Means Committee will get a chance to redraft it, after which it will move to the floor where members can offer amendments. Then it’s off to the Senate where the same will happen. Once the Senate passes its version, both versions will head to a conference committee to iron out any differences before it is sent to Healey’s desk, where she can sign it, or send back parts she doesn’t like. If the working group language survives, he said, the working group would need to convene within 30 days of the day after Healey signs it into law. “So the race to the end of formal sessions is on,” he said.
Why we need more Parole Board members
March 7, 2024
Jean Trounstine, CommonWealth Beacon (Opinion)
Last year, Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Mary Keefe urged Gov. Healey to add an impacted person with a letter stating, “An essential lived experience that has too often been excluded from the Parole Board is one that can only be derived from a period of incarceration.
Reformers say justice reform progress imperiled
March 6, 2024
Alison Kuznitz, 22 News WWLP
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, said he wants to ensure Healey’s budget cuts do not continue in the House and Senate. Eldridge said he would consider the possibility of attempting to tap into the rainy day fund to cover budget gaps, though he said he would need to review Finfer’s pitch.
“We’ve done the hard work to make a difference, and therefore we’ve saved millions of dollars, of taxpayer dollars,” Eldridge said. “So we cannot accept a cut to these programs.”
Eldridge vowed to fight for reentry programs and other services when he meets with Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues in about two weeks.
Sunshine Week casts light on Beacon Hill’s democratic decline
March 5, 2024
Erin Leahy and Brenna Ransden, CommonWealth Beacon (Opinion)
This bill, sponsored by longtime transparency champion Sen. Jamie Eldridge, would implement a number of urgent transparency reforms including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website, requiring that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, making written testimony submitted to committees publicly available, and subjecting the governor’s office to the state’s public records law.
Marlborough Super Tuesday Voting: What To Know For 2024
March 4, 2024
Neal McNamara, Patch
This bill, sponsored by longtime transparency champion Sen. Jamie Eldridge, would implement a number of urgent transparency reforms including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted.
Massachusetts House starts considering bill to remove words disparaging to people with disabilities
February 27, 2024
Kerry Kavanaugh, Boston 25 News
“This is so frustrating,” said Melissa Reilly, office aide and disability policy advisor for state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat. “I definitely need to get this work done this year.”
Reilly has an extensive resume – as a decorated Special Olympian who medaled in skiing in Japan in 2005 and in South Korea in 2013, and a self advocate in the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.
“I want to see for the people with disabilities like me, that we don’t have to hear this word ever again,” Reilly said.
“Change the law,” she said. “We need to get this word out of the system.”
Reilly is pushing for passage of the so-called archaic language bill, which would remove the disparaging references from all state laws and replace them with more respectful and empowering language.
“Part of the way that the sort of civil rights movement within the disability community has made progress is to make sure that we don’t use these offensive words literally in our laws,” Sen. Eldridge said.
Sen. Eldridge, of Worcester, said versions of this bill have been filed for five sessions, and that Reilly has been one of the strongest advocates – year after year.
“She’s reached out to almost every legislator in the Massachusetts legislature,” he said. “She’s had coffee, you know, with a lot of legislators to convince them to co-sponsor the bill.”
Reilly said the bill’s passage would mean a lot to her, and other people living with disabilities.
“Hopefully, this is the year,” she said.
“Sometimes we’re the first in the nation, but sometimes we’re in the middle of the pack,” Sen. Eldridge said. “And I think right now we’re in the middle of the pack around this issue.”
“It’s been a long time ever since I’ve been working on this piece of legislation,’ Reilly said. “And I can’t believe there’s nothing, nothing working.”
Framework committee sends plan for new housing at Vicksburg Square to MassDevelopment
February 23, 2024
John Osborn, The Harvard Press
Copies of Normand’s letter were sent to the chair of the MassDevelopment Board of Directors and Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao; state senators Jamie Eldridge and John Cronin; state representative Danillo Sena; and Interim Executive Vice President for Devens Operations Meg Delorier. The Press invited the three legislators and Delorier to comment, but none offered a response in time for this issue of the Press.
'plugIN MetroWest' Hopes To Shift Homeowners Away From Fossil Fuels
February 21, 2024
Montana Samuels, Patch
“The plugIN campaign is an example of what should be happening throughout our state and the country to work at the community level to address global warming,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough). “I’m continuing to work with colleagues to support efforts like that of MassEnergize to ensure we can meet our carbon reduction targets and have a resilient future.”
In June 2023, Senator Eldridge announced that he secured $100,000 in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget for MassEnergize to promote home electrification. Due to revenue shortfalls, the Healey administration reduced funding for many state-funded projects by 50% in January 2024. This resulted in a final funding amount of $50,000 for the plugIN campaign.
Steward says it has no plans to close Nashoba; Eldridge encouraged by state’s scrutiny
February 16, 2024
John Osborn, The Harvard Press
Meanwhile, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge told the Press in a phone interview that he and others in the Nashoba Valley legislative delegation, including state Sen. John Cronin and state Rep. Danillo Sena, had been briefed by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services last Friday on the status of Steward hospitals in the region. He said he was encouraged that the state is in touch with Steward executives and is closely monitoring the situation, but that he had been left with the clear impression that Steward wishes to sell one or more of its nine Massachusetts hospitals.
In his comments to the Press, Eldridge said, “I think the concern is that Nashoba Valley Medical Center is not a ‘profit-making hospital’ because it’s in a rural area,” making it likely to be one of the hospitals that is sold, he said. While it would be good to no longer have Steward overseeing Nashoba’s operation, Eldridge continued, questions would remain regarding who would own it and whether that owner would invest properly in the hospital. “It speaks to the continued problem with our for-profit health care system,” said Eldridge, a longtime advocate for state-managed Medicare for all.
Mass lawmakers eye full insurance coverage for pregnancy care favorably
February 13, 2024
Kinga Borondy, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
“In the last session, with the repeal of Roe, the Senate came to have a greater awareness of how best to support pregnant people and the need for maternal health care,” said Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “It’s not just a question of reproductive rights, but a recognition that the health care system is private, for-profit. The costs for pregnancy is borne by families and is a burden on the state’s poorer residents and people of color.”
Gun Violence Documentary To Screen In Sudbury
February 12, 2024
Neal McNamara, Patch
The screening of "Trigger" will also feature state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who has worked on legislation at the state level on gun control, including controlling the proliferation of 3D-printed "ghost" guns. Earlier in February, the state Senate the SAFER Act updating state gun laws. The House passed a different version in October, and the two bills have to be reconciled before heading to Gov. Maura Healey's desk.
Where do key bills stand in the Mass. Statehouse? Check out our legislative tracker
February 6, 2024
Kinga Borondy, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Safe Communities Act: Sponsored by Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, the bill would set uniform standards for all Massachusetts police departments that would protect the immigration status and physical location of residents interacting with law enforcement officials until their cases have been concluded. Police would be barred from reaching out to contact federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to relay such information. Local law enforcement could answer questions about whether certain individuals are in custody. Once a criminal defendant has served their sentence, local officials could call ICE to remand them to federal custody.
What is the Sunlight Act, the bill being considered in the State House?
February 5, 2024
Ellen Fleming, 22 News WWLP
Shining light on Beacon Hill and providing the public with a greater understanding of the workings of the State House is the objective of this bill. The Sunlight Act that is being spearheaded by Senator James Eldridge, would affect lawmakers from western Massachusetts all the way to the Cape and the Islands.
Senator Eldridge said in a statement, “We are responsible for the improvement of this system and should be held accountable for the things we say, the things we do, and especially how we vote.”
On Massachusetts gun law reform, lawmakers in search of common ground
February 5, 2024
Carrie Healy, New England Public Media
Advocates and lobbyists milled outside the Massachusetts Senate chamber and chatted with senators, including Jamie Eldridge (right), during debate on a firearm reforms package, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.
Oh, yeah, it's I think it's even more than that! It might be more than 5,000 that are filed every two-year term. So the options are plentiful. We'll have our eyes peeled on some of the most high-profile bills. You think of things like the Safe Communities Act (H. 2288 filed by Rep. Ruth Balser and S. 1510 from Sen. James Eldridge). This will be a sign of if they're still in the mix for the next five-ish months of the terms, or if their fate is already sealed at this point.
Vermont, Other States Push for “Climate Superfund” Bill to Hold Polluting Companies Accountable
February 3, 2024
Dana Drugman, Sierra Club
In Massachusetts, Democratic lawmakers Representative Steve Owens and Senator Jamie Eldridge are lead sponsors of the state’s climate superfund legislation (H.872/S.481). Like the New York bill, it seeks to recover $75 billion over 25 years from major fossil fuel companies, with at least 40 percent of the funds going towards adaptation projects that directly benefit environmental justice communities. Projects could range from urban greening investments to protecting sewage treatment plants to addressing climate-related public health challenges. The legislation is currently pending before the Environment and Natural Resources Committee; if it fails to move out of committee this session, climate campaigners say they hope to try again next year.
Steward executive says no hospitals will be closed
February 2, 2024
John Osborn, The Harvard Press
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Ayer and Harvard, told the Press in a brief phone call Friday evening that he was relieved Nashoba Valley Medical Center would not be closing in the near future. However, he hoped Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature “can take a harder look at our health care system and embrace reforms to ensure that these types of close calls never happen again.”
Eldridge said he remained concerned about Nashoba’s future because as a small community hospital it has always, in his view, been overlooked by Steward. Exhibit A, he said, is that despite his communication with Ayer town officials and the governor's office, he had yet to hear from anyone on Nashoba’s senior leadership team. He was given a copy of Callum’s memo by a Steward lobbyist, he said. “It would have been a greater reassurance to hear from somebody who actually works at the hospital.”
Mass. housing secretary Ed Augustus visits Devenscrest Tuesday
January 31, 2024
M.E. Jones, Sentinel & Enterprise
The announcement of Augustus’ visit drew quite a crowd, including multiple newspaper and TV outlets who waited outside the private meeting between the Augustus and the Devenscrest Association members. Also, taking part in the meeting was state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, state Rep. Dan Sena as well as other city and town officials such as Ayer Town Manager Robert Pontbriand.
Mass. hospitals ‘really struggling,' State House chair says
January 31, 2024
Chris Lisinski, NBC 10 Boston
Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough, whose district includes the Steward-operated Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, said he has received "radio silence from Steward Health Care" about next steps.
"It's very frustrating. I understand there's discussions at the executive level with Steward, but unfortunately, they're not informing at least the Nashoba Valley legislative delegation," Eldridge said Wednesday.
Editorial: Transparency cracks appear within Legislature
January 30, 2024
Editorial, Sentinel & Enterprise
The Joint Committee on Rules, co-chaired by Sen. Joan Lovely of Salem and Rep. William Galvin of Canton, released the bill authored by Sen. Jamie Eldridge (S 1963). While top Senate Democrats didn’t indicate any plans to put the bill up for floor votes, the committee reported the legislation to the Senate, where it’s now pending in the clerk’s office.
In a statement released by Act on Mass, Eldridge, a Marlboro Democrat, said he was proud to file the bill.
“I am a firm believer that the more information the public has about legislation on Beacon Hill, and the legislative process, the more responsive elected officials will be to their constituents,” said Eldridge.
And as Eldridge knows, it’s not just the public that’s been left in the dark. Many legislators themselves don’t know how the fate was assigned to many of the bills before them.
Advocates hope to close wealth gap, push 'baby bonds' bill
January 29, 2024
Amanda Keane, Spectrum News
The staggering number is why state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Middlesex and Worcester, and others are working to set the next generation up for success.
"That automatically is going to sort of continue that income inequality, and oftentimes racial inequality gap, that exists in Massachusetts,” Eldridge said. “So these are ways to sort of, you know, break through that."
Sunlight Act on move, targeting Legislature and governor
January 25, 2024
Michael Norton, Sentinel & Enterprise
The Joint Committee on Rules, co-chaired by Sen. Joan Lovely of Salem and Rep. William Galvin of Canton, on Tuesday released the Sen. Jamie Eldridge bill (S 1963). While top Senate Democrats did not offer any indication Wednesday about plans to put the bill up for floor votes, the committee reported the legislation to the Senate where it is now pending in the clerk’s office.
In a statement released by Act on Mass, Eldridge said he was proud to file the bill.
“I am a firm believer that the more information the public has about legislation on Beacon Hill, and the legislative process, the more responsive elected officials will be to their constituents,” said Eldridge.
MCI-Concord, the oldest men's prison in Massachusetts, is closing
January 24, 2024
Mike Toole, CBS Boston
State Senator Jamie Eldridge said the move will save Massachusetts about $15 million a year in operating costs. The senator said that's the same amount the state saved last year when it closed MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole.
"Given the declining number of incarcerated people in state prisons, the challenges of providing modern education, programming and re-entry support to incarcerated people in aging buildings, and the state's fiscal challenges, this is a common sense decision that strikes yet another blow in the criminal justice reform movement to end mass incarceration," Eldridge said in a statement.
Environmental advocates take another run at a statewide plastic bag ban
January 19, 2024
Alexa Coultoff, Boston Globe
“The bill took a few terms to get support from the committee, but people began to see plastic everywhere and realize something needed to be done,” said Senator Jamie Eldridge, who has sponsored a version of the bill since 2009.
“When there’s a comprehensive ban, when it covers all retail stores, we know there’s a significant reduction in plastic bags. We’re talking billions of plastic bags across the country,” Eldridge said.
“Now is the time for statewide action to take a uniform standard which lots of retail stores and supermarkets support,” Eldridge said.
Massachusetts’ good times not rollin’ like they used to
January 9, 2024
Editorial Board, Boston Globe
There will, of course, always be those who insist that the state is in this situation because Healey gave away too much to “the wealthy” in a tax reform bill approved last year. That group includes Senator Jamie Eldridge. “At the end of the day, earmarks are not going to cover this budget deficit,” he told the Globe. “I am very troubled that we just passed a tax reform package where over a third of the tax cuts went to the wealthy. I think that’s extremely concerning.”
Governor Healey announces budget cuts amid $1 billion shortfall
January 8, 2024
Louisa Moller, CBS Boston
Democrat State Senator Jamie Eldridge argues that the state may have to rethink its tax cuts in order to ensure a balanced budget.
"The tax changes that we passed haven't even been implemented so this shortfall is from just mostly reduction in capital gains revenue which tends to be pretty volatile. So, this concern I have is that actually, this could be even worse. That once the tax reform changes go into effect, our revenue reductions could be even worse," Eldridge said.
December 12, 2023
Mass.gov
"I'd like to thank Executive Office of Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao and the Healey-Driscoll administration for providing a Downtown Initiative grant to the town of Hudson as part of the administration's Community One Stop for Growth program," said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough). "For the last decade, I've been proud to partner with Representative Kate Hogan and the town of Hudson to secure millions of dollars in EOED funds for the town's revitalization. This effort played a key role in Hudson's recognition as America's Best Main Street in 2021."
Legislators to meet with state officials to urge release of money for study of Devens’ future
November 22, 2023, John Osborn
The Harvard Press
In a brief interview, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge told the Press that Hao, who chairs MassDevelopment’s board of directors, has called for a meeting in her office before the end of the year to discuss the request with MassDevelopment CEO Dan Rivera; Eldridge, who represents Ayer and Harvard; state Sen. John Cronin, who represents Shirley; and state Rep. Dan Sena, who represents all of Devens.
The $400,000 earmark was requested by Eldridge as the last session of the state Legislature drew to a close and is included in Chapter 140 of the Acts of 2022. Members of the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee say they need the money now to hire the consultants who will help the committee draft the recommendations on the future disposition of Devens due from the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley by 2033. The money, Eldridge said, is meant to help pay for that study, not for other initiatives like the rezoning of Vicksburg Square. Money in a bond bill is released at the discretion of the governor.
Said Eldridge when questioned about the matter: “I’ve said many times, as I think you know, that it’s important for MassDevelopment to get back to being more directly engaged in discussions, whether it’s long-term disposition issues or the housing discussion.”
New Tax Cuts Prompt Debates About Affordability
November 21, 2023, Sarah Robertson
The Shoestring / The Montague Reporter
“The frustration I hear from my progressive constituents is, what is the value of having a Democratic governor and an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature if we’re passing Republican policies?” state senator Jamie Eldridge of Acton told the Reporter.
Eldridge, one of only two legislators to vote against the bill, pointed out that Governor Charlie Baker had proposed cutting the capital gains tax while he was in office, but the House and Senate rejected his proposal.
After the passage of the Fair Share Amendment, he said, businesses began aggressively lobbying for changes in this direction. “A lot of large corporations, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and in my opinion the Boston Globe, are pushing hard on the idea that we passed the millionaires’ tax and now we need to provide some relief for the wealthy,” Eldridge continued. “The idea of competition is a very neoliberal frame, because what does ‘competitive’ mean? …. The idea that Massachusetts would somehow be this low-tax, low-cost state is just unrealistic.
“How are we becoming a more welcoming state, and how are we improving the quality of life for residents? I don’t see cutting taxes as the way to get there,” Eldridge argued. “When you talk to most employers they’re focused on workforce training, housing needs – it’s not the taxes that are driving people away.”
New Housing Policy in Massachusetts Sparks Debate
November 16, 2023, Nuala Hafner
Off Plan Property Exchange
The proposed bills, filed by Rep. Mike Connolly, Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Sen. Pat Jehlen, Sen. Adam Gomez, Rep. Dave Rogers, and Rep. Sam Montaño, seek to give cities and towns the power to regulate local rents. However, opponents from the real estate industry argue that rent control would inhibit housing production, discourage landlords from maintaining high-quality apartments, and reduce property tax revenue.
25 Investigates: Bills to strengthen laws around child sex abuse languish on Beacon Hill for years
November 15, 2023, Kerry Kavanaugh and Marina Villeneuve
Boston 25 News
In December 2021, a panel of child sex abuse survivors testified in support of the legislation.
One Boston man – who said an athletic coach sexually abused him as a child – said Massachusetts law fails to protect young teenagers from grooming.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat and chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, thanked survivors for their harrowing testimony: “Thank you for your testimony, it was very powerful. And I assure you it has had an impact on the committee.”
Nearly two years later, survivors and advocates are still waiting for their lawmakers to act.
After ballot push fails, rent control gets Beacon Hill hearing
November 14, 2023, Sam Drysdale
NBC Boston
Rep. Mike Connolly and Sen. Jamie Eldridge's bill would, among other things, allow cities and towns to prohibit landlords from raising rent over a predetermined percentage each year. Some housing advocates Tuesday recalled instances where their rents rose as high as 60 percent in a single year.
Athol town government filed a home rule petition this year to allow the town to regulate rent in manufactured housing parks, such as Crowl's community. Municipalities cannot implement rent control without approval from the state -- and voters decided to ban the policy statewide in 1994. Connolly and Eldridge's bill seeks to give the power to regulate local rents back to cities and towns.
Falmouth Democrats To Meet On Nov. 16
November 7, 2023
The Falmouth Enterprise
The Falmouth Democratic Town Committee will feature Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) in-person on Thursday November 16, at 7 PM at the Gus Canty Community Center, Room 1. Zoom participation is also available.
Sen. Eldridge is the chairman of the Clean Energy, Criminal Justice Reform, Medicare For All and MBTA caucuses. He will speak on the status of progressive legislation in the current 2023/2024 session.
November 1, 2023, Willow Delp
Amherst Student
An endowment tax is a way for Amherst to give back on its questionably-gotten gains. The Endowment Tax Act (sponsored by Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Natalie Higgins) would finance public education for Massachusetts residents. In conjunction with the Debt Free Future Act, the Endowment Tax Act would provide the funding to ensure that all eligible Massachusetts students can graduate from public institutions of higher education without debt. The Endowment Tax Act would place a 2.5 percent excise tax on the Massachusetts colleges and universities that possess an endowment of over $1 billion — and that includes Amherst.
Beacon Hill Roll Call: Senate votes from the week
October 30, 2023, Bob Katzen
Lowell Sun
“I sponsored [the state-owned bank bill] to ensure that more working families, underserved communities including women and minority owned small businesses and farms, cities and towns interested in infrastructure and climate resiliency projects and housing and worker cooperatives have better access to capital,” said Senate sponsor Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). “Too many residents, entrepreneurs and municipalities do not have access to loans from financial institutions, creating a barrier for job creation, limiting the ability to address the housing and climate crises and maintaining the status quo for improving communities. Establishing a public bank will help Massachusetts overcome these challenges and help address wealth and racial inequities that were only made worse as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
October 20, 2023, Ivy Scott
Boston Globe
State Senator Jamie Eldridge, whose district includes the prison, said that despite steps taken by legislators in the 2018 criminal justice reform law, he was “not convinced” that inmates in the Secure Adjustment Unit are being given access to their rights under state law.
“It’s the official mission of the Department of Correction — in its own name — to quote-unquote correct people, and to rehabilitate people,” he said in a phone interview Friday. “The conditions the men at the SAU [face]... I still question whether they are truly humane.”
October 16, 2023, Sarah L. Riley
Boston Globe
State Senator Jamie Eldridge is concerned about a loophole in state law that allows some gun dealers to skirt Massachusetts gun laws. LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF
“This is exactly the kind of loophole or gap that, absolutely, should be closed,” said one bill sponsor, Senator Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat whose district includes Littleton.
At hotels sheltering migrants, fears about neo-Nazis grow
October 11, 2023, Deborah Becker
WBUR
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat who represents Worcester and Middlesex counties, says he has visited some of the hotels in his district where about 200 migrant families are staying.
Last month, he met with families at a Marlborough hotel shortly after a white supremacist demonstration there. He says he understands how a lack of communication [about the migrants' situations] could help incite extremism.
“In talking to many of my colleagues across the state, we are supportive of the migrant families," Eldridge said. "The challenge is to make sure that the communication is clear between the [Healey] administration and our communities."
Transit forum seeks to fill the gaps
October 9, 2023, M.E. Jones
The Lowell Sun
The agenda featured guest speakers who fielded questions and comments from the crowd. Heading the roster was Sen. James Eldridge, who represents the Middlesex and Worcester Districts, including Ayer, Harvard, Littleton and other Nashoba area towns, many of which are outside the state’s public transportation network and most of which lack Ayer’s ready rail access.
Eldridge acknowledged challenges Nashoba area residents may face if they commute more than a few miles to work, say to Boston, and want to get there via public versus private transportation. The forum’s goal was to pinpoint those areas and gather public input as part of an ongoing quest to find ways and means to close those gaps.
“These towns tend to get overlooked” when budgets are being built at the state level, Eldridge said. And although there has been progress – from Ayer’s new parking garage and updated train station to infrastructure upgrades such as bridge and road repairs and marked bike lanes on local roads – the need for more public transportation remains at issue. “There’s work to be done…” the senator said.
Hudson breaks ground on housing project at former police station
October 4, 2023, Laura Hayes
Community Advocate
Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) said often when affordable housing is constructed — particularly in the MetroWest — it tends to be for seniors. While affordable housing is needed for seniors, Eldridge said low-income housing is just as critical for families.
“We think about all of the waiting lists that are in every single community, including Hudson, and how this is going to help address that backlog and really make sure that, as we’re being a welcoming community, that we’re making sure that that’s welcoming to those that are less well-off and to low-income families,” Eldridge said.
Healey’s Executive Branch Expansion
August 11, Lisa Kashinsky
Politico
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Sen. Jamie Eldridge
Healey Declares State of Emergency Over Strained Family Shelter System
August 8, Neal McNamara
Patch
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, said Healey's declaration is a step in the right direction, but state officials have room to improve when it comes to coordinating the response with locals.
On Friday, Eldridge and state Rep. Kate Donaghue, D-Westborough, went to a Southborough hotel after 22 migrants from Haiti were placed there by the state. The migrants arrived on Thursday, but town officials weren't notified until Friday, he said. The town was able to mount a response, bringing donations of food and healthcare supplies to the families, Eldridge said.
"That communication does need to improve, and we need to better connect with municipal governments and local stakeholders to provide local support," he said.
Editorial: Rail Trail receives deserved attention
August 2, Editorial
Lowell Sun
At the time, State Sen. Jamie Eldridge said he expected the DCR to send out a contractor to “assess the scope of necessary repairs” in the near future.
…Eldridge, a Marlboro Democrat, called it a “step in the right direction,” though he hoped to receive “more of a firm commitment” from the DCR soon.
DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo tours Nashua River Rail Trail
August 1, Submitted Article
Lowell Sun
In addition to Kennedy, state Rep. Margaret Scarsdale, D-Pepperell, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlboro, state Rep. Danillo Sena, D-Acton, and Susan Templeton from the office of state Sen. John Cronin, D-Fitchburg, joined the rail trail tour.
“I am grateful to DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo for visiting Pepperell to tour the Nashua River Rail Trail with state legislators, municipal officials, and rail trail enthusiasts,” Eldridge said. “The walk was an important opportunity to show Commissioner Arrigo the need to repave the twenty-year-old rail trail and thank him and the Healey-Driscoll administration for including $650,000 in the administration’s capital plan, to upgrade the rail trail. This will provide a beautiful recreational opportunity for bicyclists and pedestrians through the communities of Ayer, Groton, Pepperell and Townsend, up to New Hampshire.”
Sheriff petitions against jail construction moratorium
July 26 by Eunki Seonwoo
The Martha’s Vineyard Times
When committee chair James Eldridge, D-Marlborough, asked whether the facility had seen a need for more cells, Ogden said the goal was to decrease the number of cells to 15. There are currently 20 cells with a capacity for 40 individuals awaiting trial or serving sentences up to two and a half years.
Families impacted by police violence fight for medical civil rights
July 26 by Zeina Mohammed
Boston Globe
The bill was first introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature in 2021, but did not make it out of committee. State Senator Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who chairs the committee, said he expects the bill to get “a lot more attention this session,” in part because of continued police shootings, particularly of people with mental health conditions.
Surge in homeless families has Marlborough officials worried about impact on schools
July 25 by Jesse Collings
MetroWest Daily News
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, said Marlborough has historically been supportive of immigrants, as well as other lower-income residents of Massachusetts.
"Marlborough has always been a city of immigrants, a very welcoming city for those that are less well off," he said. "This has happened before, it happened about eight years ago at a different hotel, and while many of the families are refugees, there are homeless families that have been living in Massachusetts for some time. Twenty-five percent of Massachusetts residents were born outside the United States, the strength of our economy, the strength of our state, is immigration."
Week of July 17
In Print, Independent Press
Wayland Climate Action Group May Get Boost In State Budget
July 13 by Neal McNamara
Wayland Patch
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, included a $100,000 earmark in the 2024 budget for MassEnergize, a Concord-based organization that helps local households take climate change action. A MassEnergize affiliate, Energize Wayland, would benefit from the funding boost.
Hudson receives MassTrails grant
July 9
Community Advocate
The town is grateful for the advocacy and support of its legislative delegation Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Kate Hogan.
July 8
Sentinel and Enterprise
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) announced he secured a $25,000 earmark in the FY24 Senate Budget for Association Mujeres Emprendedoras (AME), an organization which provides essential assistance to Brazilian immigrants and female entrepreneurs.
“I am proud to secure this earmark for AME, which has been providing Brazilian-American women with everything they need to start their own business and lead more independent lives – from technical assistance and networking opportunities, to emotional support and immigration help,” said Eldridge. “I am grateful to AME for their excellent work, and I thank my fellow colleagues for their support.”
Hate is on the rise in Massachusetts Muslim communities, says senator looking to create commission
June 29 by Erin Tiernan
MASSter List
Eldridge said his bill aims to create an 11-person commission to identify issues affecting Muslim communities in Massachusetts and work to increase their ranks in positions of leadership — including in the State House.
“This is the first bill of its focus in the country – no other state legislature has proposed a commission to better support the rights of Muslim Americans,” he said.
“To be clear the purpose of this commission is merely to address Islamophobia,” he said. “To be representative, we need more Muslim Americans to run for office, to be in civic leadership.”
June 20 by Chris Burrell and Paul Singer
GBH News
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a chair on the judiciary committee, told GBH News that the DOC has a track record at the “superintendent level” of resisting expansion of college programming inside its walls.
“There’s just this cultural sort of opposition to more education,” he said. “When colleges have tried to expand in some of our prisons, they’re just either met with silence or opposition.”
Eldridge also said many programs are lacking in real-world needs.
“Why aren’t there programs to train people to go into clean energy or solar installation, higher-level trade jobs, computer programing?” he asked. “Those are jobs that clearly the workforce is in need of.”
Senator: Tracking-device tampering should be felony
June 14 by Alison Kuznitz
Daily News of Newburyport
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, chair of the committee, said he met with Jo last year and thanked her for her “continued courage.”
“And Sen. O’Connor, thank you so much for filing so many bills around domestic violence,” said Eldridge, an Acton Democrat. “We really appreciate your leadership.
Republican Senator: Tracking Device Tampering Should Be Felony in Massachusetts
June 13 by Mike Silvia
The Fall River Reporter
“I fought for my safety. I begged for my protection knowing now my abuser had control of the system — a system that disregarded my life,” Jo testified.
Sen. Jamie Eldridge, chair of the committee, said he met with Jo last year and thanked her for her “continued courage.”
“And Sen. O’Connor, thank you so much for filing so many bills around domestic violence,” Eldridge, an Acton Democrat, said. “We really appreciate your leadership.”
Eliminating tax cap law among 70-plus amendments to Senate’s $586M tax relief plan
June 13 by Chris Van Buskirk
The Boston Herald
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge said he wants to scrap the voter-passed tax cap law known as Chapter 62F because it creates a layer of unpredictability with state spending. The law required state officials to send nearly $3 billion back to taxpayers in 2022, which threw last year’s tax relief talks out the window.
“I don’t think it really serves sound public policy,” Eldridge told the Herald. “I didn’t hear from anyone about ‘this made a big difference in my life to get this tax rebate.’ So I do think that it’s important to have this discussion to repeal it and make sure that we’re not worried about it being triggered in the future.”
How to protect undocumented workers from exploitation
May 26 by Marcela García
Boston Globe
Then there are small but important legislation fixes to empower workers, such as a Massachusetts bill filed in the House by state Representative Tram Nguyen and in the state Senate by Senator Jamie Eldridge to protect injured employees. The legislation would make it a presumed violation of current anti-retaliation law if a worker is discriminated against or fired within 90 days of filing a workers compensation claim.
Patient death at Shattuck Hospital raises allegations of ‘neglect’
May 10 by Jennifer B. McKim
The Bay State Banner
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat from Marlborough who leads the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus and sits as the Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, said he was concerned about GBH News’ findings. He joined a group of state lawmakers last week to tour the Shattuck.
“I came away from the whole visit with a lot of unanswered questions,” he said. “We’re going to dig deeper.”
Rally to Make Higher Education More Accessible Held at State House
May 3
WBZ News
The Higher Ed for All Coalition gathered in the rain on Beacon Hill, calling on legislators to pass two bills for the upcoming budget: the debt free public college bill and the CHERISH Act.
…Senator Jamie Eldridge is confident that the two bills will make it through this legislative session.
"We have underinvested for well over four decades in public higher education, this is unacceptable," Eldridge said. "This is the session we’re gonna begin to see major investments in public higher education."
Annual seniors conference returns to Assabet Valley
April 26 by Maureen Sullivan
The Community Advocate
MARLBOROUGH – For the first time in three years, there was an in-person seniors conference.
Hosted by state Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) on April 20, the 42nd annual conference drew dozens of local seniors to Assabet Valley Vocational Technical High School.
State Sen. Eldridge re-files 'solar ready roofs' legislation
April 25
Spectrum News 1
In an effort to help Massachusetts reach its goal to be net-zero emissions by 2050, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Middlesex & Worcester, is re-filling a bill for “solar ready roofs.”
Gateway Cities want to help solve the state’s housing crisis. We need to let them.
April 24 by the Editorial Board
The Boston Globe
“If we’re serious about making sure we have available housing stock for all residents, we have to make sure every housing tax credit is working to build some affordable housing,” Eldridge said.
Massachusetts Legislature, hostile to rent control, includes more landlords than renters
April 21 by Matt Stout and Emma Platoff
The Boston Globe
“It just seems, right now, very uncertain if we’re going to take any major action,” said state Senator Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat and renter who last year moved from Acton to Marlborough in search of cheaper housing. “If we go through a session and there is no major action on housing at a time when a lot of elected officials are talking about it, that will be a major failure.”
Beacon Hill Roll Call, April 3-7
April 14 by Bob Katzen
Daily Hampshire Gazette
Sponsor Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) said current law allowing the Legislature itself to redraw districts leads to concerns over the objectivity and transparency of the redistricting process.
Coalition relaunch well-timed for tax relief debate
March 31 by Sam Doran
WWLP
BOSTON (SHNS) – As tax reforms spring back into the conversation on Beacon Hill, a coalition of 30 organizations pitched its priorities that leaders said would buoy low- and moderate-income families.
Sen. Jamie Eldridge noted that lawmakers “came very close to expanding the EITC last year” in an economic development bill; the House tax package in 2022 would have upped EITC to 40 percent of the federal credit.
Legislature passes bill that will allow remote meetings for two more years
March 31 by Joan Eliyesil
The Harvard Press
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge told the Press that residents and town officials continue to tell him that they want remote or hybrid municipal meetings to continue. The Legislature is also considering a variety of bills that would make this option permanent.
UNLOCKING HIGHER EDUCATION: EXPERTS MAKE THE CASE FOR MORE COLLEGE BEHIND BARS
March 31 by Jean Trounstine
DIG Boston
An afternoon panel at the Education in Prison conference attempted to answer how scaling up could occur. Lee Pelton, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, state Rep. Mary S. Keefe, and former state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz discussed building a network and the need for more dedicated space for education in these institutions, and emphasized that students should be able to tap into college programs if they transfer from one prison to another.
Should state dollars be used to jumpstart market-rate housing construction?
March 27 by Jennifer Smith
Commonwealth Magazine
Three bills responding to the issues raised by the Mass. Law Reform report are before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Housing, proposing similar changes to the HDIP formula.
One of them, put forward by Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Acton and cosponsored by Housing co-chair Sen. Lydia Edwards of East Boston, would require 20 percent of the units in HDIP projects to be made affordable.
Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces Enhanced State ID Program for Returning Citizens
March 24 by Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
BOSTON — Yesterday, in a roundtable discussion with stakeholders, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced a newly enhanced and streamlined process to provide individuals with a government-issued photo identification card upon release from the Massachusetts Department of Correction (DOC).
"Providing incarcerated persons with a state ID upon release is a critical step in their successful reintegration into society," says Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough), who has been championing the cause for the past 10 years.
Following a dismal global climate report, could Massachusetts push up its net-zero goal?
March 21 by Sabrina Shankman and Emma Platoff
The Boston Globe
An alarming new report on climate change, which prompted the UN secretary general to urge developed nations to move up the target for largely ending the use of fossil fuels by a full decade, raises a difficult question for Massachusetts, already ahead of most states on climate policy.
Massachusetts Bill Would Allow Noncitizens To Vote
March 15 by Tom Joyce
New Boston Post
Should Massachusetts communities allow non-citizens to vote in local elections?
A bill on Beacon Hill would allow it.
State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) filed “An Act Extending Voting Rights In Municipal Elections To Noncitizen Voters of the Commonwealth” (S.415) earlier this year.
Healey won't release sexual harassment complaints, settlement pacts
March 9 by Todd Wallack
WBUR
Several lawmakers, including state Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) have filed bills to extend the records law to the governor's office. While campaigning for governor, Healey said she would support such legislation though she has since said she wouldn't sponsor a bill of her own.
Don't flush those wipes, says state lawmaker
March 8 by Kinga Borondy
The Gardner News
It turns out “flushable” wipes, regardless of their intended use, are not so flushable. And members of the state Legislature want to address the misleading labeling.
The bills, filed by Garballey in the House and state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, in the Senate, would allow a lead time to re-label the merchandise and educate the public.
Is housing NIMBYism threat to future of Mass.?
March 4 by Kinga Borondy
Telegram and Gazette
In Central Massachusetts, Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, favors housing starts that would be truly affordable using local, state and federal funds, tax incentives and public/private partnerships.
There’s Community Preservation Act funds, a 3% surcharge on local property taxes that is earmarked for historic preservation, recreation and low-income housing starts. Eldridge pointed to the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds as well as state and federal grants that can be accessed for seed money.
‘We need to ban ghost guns,’ Mass. Gov. Maura Healey says
March 2 by Colin Young
MassLive
At least two sets of legislation have been filed this session to address ghost guns: HD 352 / SD 1469 from Rep. David Linsky and Sen. Jamie Eldridge and HD 2143 / SD 2031 from Rep. Marjorie Decker and Sen. Cynthia Creem.
The Linksy-Eldridge bill would prohibit possession of ghost guns and the manufacturing of a 3D-printed gun without a federal firearms license, and would ban distribution of digital instructions to program a 3D printer to manufacture or produce firearms and some components.
Beacon Hill Roll Call, Feb. 20-24
March 1 by Bob Katzen
Daily Hampshire Gazette
LAST MONTH’S RENT AND SECURITY DEPOSIT (SD 141) — Would amend a current law which allows landlords to charge both last month’s rent and a security deposit to new tenants.
“If this bill is enacted, landlords will only be permitted to charge last month’s rent or the security deposit,” said sponsor Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). “In short, this bill significantly lowers the upfront cost of renting.”
Winter 2023 by David Reich
Boston College Law School Magazine
Jamie Eldridge (00) knew what he wanted—a career in politics and a law school known as a launching pad for high politicians. With those prerequisites in mind, he entered Boston College Law School and began an ascent that may well put him in line with the likes of Edward Markey ’72, Bobby Scott ’73, and John Kerry ’76.
Editorial: Devens’ future as economic engine ensured
February 21 by Editorial Board
Lowell Sun
With existing cap space dwindling, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who represents the three Devens towns, pushed legislation that would raise the limit to 12 million square feet.
Select boards in Shirley and Ayer, two of the three Devens communities, favored eliminating the cap entirely, but Harvard’s board wanted a 12 million-square-foot limit, which Eldridge endorsed.
Sen. Eldridge Will Take Helm Of Judiciary Committee Again
February 15 by Neal McNamara
The Patch
SUDBURY, MA — State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Sudbury, will return to his position atop the state Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary following senate action Wednesday.
Eldridge was first appointed to chair the joint committee on the state Senate side at the start of the 191st session in 2019.
Eldridge on Wednesday was also appointed as a member of the joint committees on cannabis policy, public service, public safety and homeland security and children, families and persons with disabilities.
Eldridge was reelected in 2022, defeating Wayland resident and Republican Anthony Christakis. After the 2020 Census, the lines of Eldridge's Worcester and Middlesex District shifted east to include all of Sudbury and Wayland, plus Marlborough, Southborough, Hudson, Acton, Littleton, Boxborough, Harvard and Ayer.
Well-water testing on horizon in Mass.
February 15 by Kinga Borondy
Telegram and Gazette
“Public water supplies are regulated by the state Department of Environmental Protection, but there are no state regulations governing water quality in private wells,” said Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, one of the sponsors of the bill.
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STATE WIRE: BILL TO EXPAND TAX CREDITS DRAWS ON CHILDREN’S HEALTH DATA
February 7 by Kathryn Carley
Dig Boston
A bill to increase tax credits in the Commonwealth is backed up by research showing the credits lead to better nutrition for working families and better long-term health outcomes for children.
Democratic State Senator Jamie Eldridge said while food, energy and housing prices are up significantly, the bill is about more than just rebates.
“It’s also about their health care,” Eldridge said. “It’s about taking care of kids and making sure they have adequate nutrition, and it’s something that really has a tremendous impact on the entire Commonwealth.”
February 6 by Bob Katzen
The Lowell Sun
FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION (SD 1946) – Would guarantee free public higher education as a right for all students who have attended a high school in Massachusetts for three or more years and graduated from a Bay State high school.
“This bill matters because state funding for public higher education in Massachusetts has been cut drastically in the past 20 years resulting in significant tuition and fee increases and one of the fastest-growing student debt burdens in the nation,” said sponsor Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough).
New Seqens lab joins growing biotech, pharmaceutical cluster at Devens
February 3 by John Osborn
The Harvard Press
Another company has joined the growing cluster of pharmaceutical and biotech enterprises at Devens.
The ribbon-cutting drew a crowd of several dozen dignitaries, Seqens officials, and scientists who packed a small conference room to hear comments from Luzeau, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, and French Consul General Mustafa Soykurt.
February 5 by Samantha J. Gross and Matt Stout
The Boston Globe
Maura Healey was the state’s chief law enforcement officer for eight years. She was a civil rights attorney and led groundbreaking court challenges. No one in seven decades has been elected governor with her résumé.
“It’s important to give her credit where she did support some reforms leading up to the 2018 law. But I don’t think it’s clear yet what her vision is on” criminal justice, said state Senator Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who co-chaired the Legislature’s judiciary committee last session. “And I think it’s unclear what state government [as a whole] is going to tackle this session.”
State lawmakers introduce bill to bring back rent control
February 2 by Spectrum News Staff
Spectrum News
WORCESTER, Mass. - Several Massachusetts state lawmakers have filed a bill to bring back rent control in the state at the local level.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Middlesex & Worcester) said the bill would allow cities and towns to put limits on how much rent would increase year to year. He said right now, there's a steep rise in housing costs, especially in the city of Worcester.
Dozens of ATF inspectors descend on gun vendors at Littleton mill following dealer’s arrest
February 2 by Sarah L. Ryley
The Boston Globe
Senator Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat whose district includes Littleton, said he’s been pushing for state or federal officials to assist Littleton with inspections since the Globe published its investigation in September, adding that he’s grateful the ATF has finally stepped in.
Eldridge estimated that 50 Littleton residents have reached out to him with concerns about the large number of gun dealers at the mill. They “want to know what is being done . . . to keep Littleton residents safe, to close loopholes, and make sure that every gun dealer in Massachusetts is thoroughly inspected on a regular basis,” he said.
Will Reidy be different as Healey’s public safety chief?
February 1 by Michael Jonas
Commonwealth Magazine
Democratic leaders on criminal justice issues in the Legislature clashed with the Baker administration over some issues, with the co-chairs of the judiciary committee, Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Michael Day, charging that the administration was slow to implement provisions of a sweeping 2018 criminal justice reform bill, including its call for more data transparency on the corrections system.
When Eldridge and Day invited Reidy to testify at a hearing in December on implementation of the reform law, he declined to appear and instead provided a 14-page letter detailing what he said was the Baker administration’s commitment to “faithfully execute the requirements” of the criminal justice act.
Eldridge and Day butted heads last year with Baker over his effort to expand the list of crimes eligible for a “dangerousness hearing,” which would allow a defendant to be held without bail. The two lawmakers opposed the changes. Their differences took on a personal edge after Baker convened several panels in which victims of sexual assault and domestic violence – crimes that would have been covered under his bill – advocated on behalf of his proposal. Baker accused Eldridge and Day of offering a“harsh, cold, and callous response” to the victims.
The Senate approved a modified version of Baker’s proposal – over Eldridge’s objections – but the House did not and the measure died at the end of the session. Sen. Bruce Tarr, the Republican minority leader, has reintroduced the bill for the new two-year session that began last month.
Eldridge said Baker “took very personally” the Legislature’s failure to adopt his proposal. “I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that carried over into the decision by Secretary Reidy not to come before the Judiciary Committee,” he said of Reidy’s failure to testify at the December hearing.
Eldridge suggested that decision, like the sparing use under Baker of a new provision allowing for medical parole of terminally or severely ill inmates, wasn’t necessarily a call made by Reidy but was “made in the governor’s office.”
Bill introduced to regulate private water wells in Massachusetts
January 31 by Devin Bates
Spectrum News
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Middlesex/Worcester) has introduced legislation that would allow the Department of Environmental Protection to set standards for private water quality and provide low-income homeowners with financial assistance for testing.
"Right now, we're all paying state income tax, and yet a lot of rural communities that more often than not have private wells are not getting the same protection as more suburban or urban communities," Eldridge said. "So it's really about more equitable access and leveling the playing field."
Gas stove bans weighed amid health, climate concerns
January 31, 2023 by Christian Wade
Salem News
Another proposal, filed by Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, would allow cities and towns to create local ordinances banning gas powered heating systems, water heaters, stoves, dryers and other appliances.
Rep. Donaghue Files Bills To Combat Substance Use Disorder, Healthcare, and To Support Education
January 28, 2023 by Editor
Framingham Source
FRAMINGHAM – State Representative Kate Donaghue announcedshe has kicked off her first legislative session by filing and co-sponsoring a number of bills aimed at improving the quality of life for Westborough, Northborough, Southborough, and Framingham residents.
“Working with Senators Jamie Eldridge, Mike Moore and Becca Rausch who have filed bills in the Senate, I have filed corresponding bills in the House in a number of areas,” reported Representative Donaghue.
Legislators still feeling sting from 62F
January 24, 2023 by Chris Lisinksi
State House News Service
At least four bills are in the pipeline this session that would repeal the voter-approved Chapter 62F, filed by Democrat Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Acton (SD 791), Democrat Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth (HD 3038), Democrat Rep. Michelle DuBois of Brockton (HD 3599) and Democrat Rep. Mike Connolly of Cambridge (HD 1517).
State officials tout 'no net-loss' conservation law
January 24, 2023 by Christian Wade
The Eagle Tribune
BOSTON — State officials are touting a new law that strengthens protections for land conservation to prevent overdevelopment, saying the move will help preserve open space and blunt the impacts of climate change.
One of the bill’s primary sponsors, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Marlborough, called it the “most significant land protection legislation in a generation” and said the hard-fought protections will help protect green space from development.
New Law Allowing State Action In Water Use Backed By Sen. Eldridge
January 19, 2023 by Neal McNamara
Patch - Sudbury
SUDBURY, MA — State Sen. Jamie Eldridge has resubmitted a water conservation law that would change water use restrictions during times of drought.
Eldridge and state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, are cosponsoring the bill, SD 142, that previously stalled in the state Legislature. The law would allow the Executive Office of Energy and Affairs to require regional water conservation efforts to protect water resources.
Firearms dealer from controversial Littleton gun shop cluster facing federal charges
January 19, 2023 by CBS Staff
CBS Boston
LITTLETON – A man who operates his business as part of a controversial gun shop cluster inside an old mill building in Littleton is facing federal charges.
State Senator Jamie Eldridge visited the gun mill in his district and told WBZ-TV that he has concerns with how business is done there. He's filing a bill to make it harder for business owners to sell guns and parts of guns.
"To ban ghost guns, which are guns that are similar to banned guns, but just different enough that dealers think they can sell them," Sen. Eldridge said. "As well as banning the sale of parts of guns that are already banned in Massachusetts. We need to close these loopholes and I am concerned these loopholes are happening at the Littleton gun mill."
Healey’s chance to correct the corrections system
January 8, 2023
The Boston Globe
Late last month, the co chairs of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Michael Day, held a two-day oversight hearing on just how far off the mark the department has been on all of those issues — a hearing at which the Baker administration declined to have any officials testify. But the hearing can and should provide a road map for the new administration — or for anyone committed to social justice and the rule of law.
Healey may face 'higher bar' of scrutiny as governor, but she's eager to get to work
January 5, 2023
WBUR
"We're always going to be pushing for more change — and I expect that'll happen," said Jamie Eldridge, a state senator from Acton and a leading progressive in the Legislature.
He added that the most pressing issue before Healey is widespread income and racial inequality across Massachusetts. (One recent study found that almost a quarter of Latinos in the state suffer from food insecurity.)
"Despite all the progress we make in so many other areas, that gap is continuing to grow," Eldridge said.
State commission calls for dismantling structural racism in Mass. prisons, jails
January 4, 2023
WGBH
The Special Legislative Commission on Structural Racism in Correctional Facilities, led by state Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Marlborough) and former state Rep. Nika Elugardo (D-Boston), was charged with investigating the treatment of people of color incarcerated at state and county correctional facilities. More than 11,500 men and women are incarcerated across the state and county correctional system, whether serving sentences, awaiting trials or detained under federal programs.
“Eliminating racial disparities and dismantling structural racism within our correctional facilities are forefront in not only creating a more just criminal justice system for people of color within the system but to establishing a more just society in Massachusetts for all,” Eldridge said in a statement.
Editorial: Back Maura Healey’s public records words with action
January 3, 2023
The Lowell Sun
After the launch of his successful re-election campaign, Secretary of State William Galvin announced he would seek legislation requiring the governor’s office — but not the Legislature or judiciary — to comply with the transparency law.
But in a sign of the difficulty involved with changing long-held habits, a bill that would achieve that end — filed by Acton Democrat state Sen. Jamie Eldridge on Galvin’s behalf — has languished in the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee since February.
We can’t rely on individuals to unilaterally act in the public’s best interests, as Gov.-elect Healey vows to do. Legislation, like the one proposed by Galvin and petitioned by Eldridge, is the only way to correct this indefensible behavior.