BOSTON – Senator Sal DiDomenico testified alongside labor unions, advocates, and workers in support of his wage theft legislation which would protect workers' rights and hold companies that steal from their employees accountable for their actions. DiDomenico’s proposal would allow Attorney General Andrea Campbell to file a civil action seeking relief for damages, lost wages, and other benefits for workers. Campbell would also have the authority to investigate wage theft complaints and issue stop-work orders against employers who are violating wage theft laws.

Governor Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell testified in support of this bill which would provide the Attorney General and workers with additional tools for holding violators accountable. Companies are stealing almost $1 billion in wages each year from workers across Massachusetts and this bill will go a long way towards preventing wage theft and helping employees reclaim their hard-earned money.

“It is indefensible that we allow businesses and contractors to prey on hard working residents year after year, and it is past time that we pass this bill to hold law breaking employers accountable and protect workers’ rights and wages,” said Sen. Sal DiDomenico, lead sponsor of the Senate bill. “When I first filed this bill in 2015, Massachusetts workers were losing $300 million per year in stolen wages and now that number has skyrocketed to almost $1 billion. We cannot wait another session to pass this commonsense proposal. I want to thank Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, my cosponsor, State Rep. Daniel Donahue, and all the advocates who are supporting my bill and standing up for workers in our state.”

###

BOSTON – Senator Sal DiDomenico testified alongside Lift our Kids Coalition members and allies before the Legislature’s Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee in support of his proposal to raise cash assistance grants for families in “Deep Poverty.”

The Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty, S.75 and H.144 (sponsored by Sen. DiDomenico and Rep. Decker with 115 co-sponsors), sets a floor for cash assistance at 50% of the federal poverty level (FPL).  Families living below this level are officially in “Deep Poverty.” Once grant amounts reach half of the federal poverty level, the bills would require grants to be adjusted annually for inflation, so they don’t lose their value over time.

The Committee favorably reported prior versions of these bills in two previous legislative sessions.  Those favorable reports laid the groundwork for the Legislature’s inclusion – after decades of frozen funding – of four grant increases in General Appropriations Acts, with the first increase effective January 2021 and the most recent increase effective April 2024. 

However, even when the fourth increase goes into effect next April, the maximum grant for a family of three with no income will be only $861 a month, still well below the projected 2024 Deep Poverty level of $1,076 a month for a three-person family.

“It is unconscionable that children in Massachusetts go to bed hungry, without basic necessities, because grant amounts are so low,” said Sen. Sal DiDomenico, lead sponsor of the Senate bill. “I am grateful to Legislative leaders for recognizing our moral imperative to raise cash assistance grants,” he said.  “But whether and how much to raise grants should not be left to the annual budget process.  We need to make an ongoing commitment to the Commonwealth’s neediest children.”  

###

Bill provides relief to financially strained hospitals, extends simulcasting to 2025, provides aid for farmers impacted by natural disasters

BOSTON — Senator Sal DiDomenico and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature passed a $200 million supplemental budget, which included $180 million in critical relief for financially strained hospitals in the state, an extension of simulcasting and live horse racing until December 15, 2025, and $20 million in funding for farms that have been devastated by natural disasters, including flooding and unseasonal deep freezes.

DiDomenico successfully advocated for bringing additional funding to Cambridge Health Alliance, which has a high number of patients on Medicaid, among several other hospitals in the state that serve individuals on government insurance.

“I am proud to secure this funding for a health care facility like Cambridge Health Alliance that cares for many of our neighbors with lower income,” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “Thanks to this financial boost, our essential local hospital will continue serving people across our community and keep people from all backgrounds and incomes healthy. I want to thank Senate President Spilka, Chair Rodrigues, and all my colleagues for working on this needed investment in our health care system and farming community.”

“Quick action on this supplemental budget means we will deliver much-needed support to our hospitals and farms—two sectors that not only account for a lot of jobs in our Commonwealth, but which supply critical services and goods to our residents to keep our state healthy,” stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “The flexible funding for farm communities will allow our farmers to continue to recover from the lasting effects of severe weather on their crops, land and livelihoods, and patients will continue to receive care at their community hospitals. I am deeply grateful to Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, Assistant Vice Chair Jo Comerford, Senate Ways and Means staff, Speaker Mariano, and our colleagues in the House for prioritizing this funding—and to Governor Healey for signing this into law as soon as it crossed her desk.”

The bill was sent to the Governor after passage and signed into law on the morning of August 1.

###