BOSTON—Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate recently passed a $156.4M supplemental budget to cover increased caseloads and time sensitive deficiencies in Fiscal Year 2018, including additional funding for Regional Transit Authorities, local school districts’ special education costs and programs for Massachusetts children and families. 

“This funding will provide critical investments for programs that support our Commonwealth’s children and families, as well as our schools in my district,” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “I was proud to support these additional resources for our communities across Massachusetts, to ensure that all our residents and municipalities receive the funding they need to finish out the current fiscal year.”

“This supplemental budget includes investments in regional transportation, education and critical resources for low-income and homeless families,” said Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Senator Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland).  “We invest in state and local services in communities across the Commonwealth, working to provide more residents with access to support and opportunities necessary for success.”

“These funds ensure that the Commonwealth can continue to deliver its services to all of its residents,” said Senate President Harriette L. Chandler (D-Worcester). “I am especially grateful for the vital funds dedicated to regional transit authorities. That funding is desperately needed across Massachusetts to ensure a high standard of living for all of our residents in municipalities big and small.”

Recognizing the financial challenges Regional Transit Authorities across the state face in providing reliable, affordable transportation, the supplemental budget invests an additional $4 million in these services.

The supplemental budget also includes $12.5 million for the Special Education Circuit Breaker, increasing reimbursements to school districts for the high cost of educating students with disabilities.

 Additional investments include:

• $25.6M for Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) Grants

• $21.1M for the operation of the Commonwealth’s county sheriffs

• $19.3M for Emergency Assistance Family Shelters

• $15.5M for recently ratified collective bargaining agreements

• $5.3M for veterans’ benefits

• $4.5M to support payroll costs at the Department of Correction payroll and $2M to support payroll costs at the Department of Developmental Services

• $2.5M for services for hurricane evacuees residing in Massachusetts

• $2.2M for the Healthy Incentives Program to increase access to nutritious foods for low-income residents

• $2M for DCF Family Resource Centers to support increased demand for services from hurricane evacuees

• $1M to support the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund

• $150K for the Municipal Naloxone Bulk Purchasing Trust Fund

The bill will now be reconciled with a version passed by the House of Representatives.

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BOSTON – Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) recently announced that the landmark criminal justice reform package crafted by the Massachusetts Legislature has been signed into law. The Senator had previously joined his legislative colleagues in overwhelmingly voting to pass this sweeping piece of legislation, and last week the Governor signed the bill into law. An Act relative to criminal justice reform will lead to a more equitable system by supporting our youngest and most vulnerable residents, reducing recidivism, increasing judicial discretion, and enhancing public safety.

The legislation contains provisions to provide better care for vulnerable populations in the criminal justice system, and implements policies to strengthen protections for public safety and witness protection. The Legislature also passed the accompanying Act implementing the joint recommendations of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Review (H.4012), which is designed to complement the comprehensive criminal justice reform legislation. The CSG bill allows individuals to earn early release by participating in recidivism-reduction programs.

 “The provisions in this reform package make critical changes to outdated and unjust aspects of our criminal justice system, bringing it in line with our principles of rehabilitation and reduced recidivism to promote better outcomes and ensure the welfare of all,” said Senator DiDomenico Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “This bill passed by my colleagues and I in the Legislature is both thorough and thoughtful, and I am confident that it will go a long way towards addressing the issues plaguing out current criminal justice system.”

 For the first time in the history of Massachusetts, this legislation establishes a process for expunging criminal records. Courts will now be able to expunge certain juvenile and young adult (18-21) records, and records in cases of fraud or where an offense is no longer a crime. 

 The Legislature has a longstanding legacy of supporting the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable children, particularly those facing trauma and adversity. Accordingly, this bill raises the minimum age of criminal responsibility from seven to twelve and decriminalizes a first offense misdemeanor if the punishment is a fine or imprisonment for not more than six months. The legislation establishes a Juvenile Justice Policy and Data Commission, which will make the state eligible for additional federal funding, and a Childhood Trauma Task Force to study and recommend gender responsive and trauma-informed approaches to treatment of youths in the juvenile justice system. The bill also extends Good Samaritan protections to alcohol incapacitation for individuals under 21.

 This legislation reflects a balanced, modern approach to sentencing. It eliminates mandatory and statutory minimum sentences for many low-level, non-violent drug offenses. Additionally, it creates the nation’s strongest law for Carfentanil trafficking and strengthens the existing Fentanyl trafficking law, bolstering the Legislature’s multi-tiered approach to the opioid epidemic. The legislation also strengthens penalties for repeat offenders convicted of operating under the influence (OUI).

 The new law requires district attorneys to create pre-arraignment diversion programs for military personnel, veterans, and individuals with addiction or mental health issues in order to combat the opioid epidemic and provide healthcare parity. It also expands diversion programs to the Juvenile Court and removes the existing age restriction on diversion in the District Court.

 Following reforms in 2010 and 2012, this legislation again updates the Commonwealth’s criminal offender record information (CORI) system to help individuals secure gainful employment and housing, enacting the following policies:

• Reduces the wait time to seal a conviction from ten years to seven years for a felony, and from five years to three years for a misdemeanor.

• Allows a conviction for resisting arrest to be sealed.

• Expands the ability of an applicant with a sealed record to be able to answer “no record” on housing and professional license applications.

• Establishes protections for businesses and landlords who shall be presumed to have no notice or ability to know about criminal records that have been sealed or expunged.

This legislation updates the Commonwealth’s bail system and enhances judicial discretion by requiring a judge to take a person’s financial resources into account when determining bail. It also raises the threshold for larceny to qualify as a felony from $250 to $1,000. It also creates the crime of solicitation that is tied to the severity of the underlying crime. 

Additional policy changes include: reduction of fees imposed on defendants; decriminalization of minor offenses; enhanced limits on solitary confinement; improvement of prison conditions; and release of prisoners who are permanently incapacitated and pose no safety risk.

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Bill creates a new licensing process for student loan servicers in the Division of Banks and empowers state officials to investigate and fine loan servicers 

BOSTON — Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett), Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville), and Senator Joe Boncore (D-Winthrop) recently joined their colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate in passing the “Student Loan Bill of Rights,” which gives greater protections to student loan borrowers in disputes with companies servicing their loans.                                                  

The bill, S.2380, An Act establishing a student loan bill of rights, requires student loan servicers to be licensed companies with the state Division of Banks, and empowers state officials to investigate the servicers and take action against those that violate the state’s banking and consumer protection laws.

 The bill also supports the ongoing work of Attorney General Maura Healey’s Student Loan Assistance Unit by establishing a Student Loan Ombudsman in the Attorney General’s Office, who will lead efforts respond to complaints from student loan borrowers and help them understand their rights.

 “It’s no secret that as the cost of higher education continues to rise, students are taking on more and more debt to cover the costs,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico. “Unfortunately, this problem is made worse by the fact that many of them are also being taken advantage of by predatory student loan companies who use deceptive practices to force students into costly repayment plans. This bill is an important next step in the Senate’s ongoing effort to fight exploding student debt by cracking down on the abuses in the student loan industry to better protect our students and families.”  

 "Each year, young people in our district and across this country put themselves into tens of thousands of dollars or more of debt to further their education. This legislation takes important steps to protect students during the borrowing process, offering greater information at the state level and ensuring that lenders maintain transparent and fair practices,” said Senator Pat Jehlen. 

 "Student debt is a seminal issue for our generation," said Senator Joe Boncore. "The rising cost of college has hindered the economic development of a generation. This bill is a first step toward safe guarding the future for students and graduates."  

“A college degree has never cost so much. As a result, students are taking on substantial debt, and they are being taken advantage of by servicers who use deceptive practices and wrongly steer them into costly repayment plans. While the Trump Administration, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, continues to side with large for-profit student loan servicers and strip away protections for student loan borrowers, we in Massachusetts are standing up to protect our residents from predatory student loan companies,” said Senator Eric P. Lesser (D-Longmeadow), lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate.

 “As public officials, it is our duty to ensure fair and appropriate lending – especially in the student loan industry,” said Senate President Harriette L. Chandler. “This legislation ensures that Massachusetts residents receive robust consumer protections and that the student loan industry is given the proper level of oversight. I want to thank Senator Lesser for his leadership on this issue.”

“Taking on abuses in the student loan industry has long been a priority of my office. That’s why, in 2015, we created a Student Loan Assistance Unit to help borrowers with their student loans,” said Attorney General Maura Healey. “I thank Senate President Chandler, Senator Lesser and the Senate for providing new resources and tools to protect Massachusetts students and families.”

 Under the bill, student loan servicers would have to apply for licenses from the state, which the Commissioner of Banks could revoke if the servicer is engaged in abusive practices such as overcharging students or steering them into costlier repayment plans to make higher profits.

 Student loan servicers that break state licensing requirements or take advantage of students could be fined and forced to repay student borrowers under the bill.

 The bill now goes to the State House of Representatives, where it awaits further consideration.

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