BOSTON- Last week, Senator DiDomenico joined the national CROWN Coalition in hosting a legislative briefing ion hair discrimination and the CROWN Act. The CROWN Coalition is an alliance of organizations dedicated to advocating for new state laws-- known as the CROWN Act-- that provide protection from race-based hair discrimination. In the Massachusetts State Senate, Senator DiDomenico is the lead sponsor of S.994, An Act prohibiting discrimination based on natural hairstyles, which would prohibit race-based hair discrimination, including the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair textures or protective hairstyles.

Senator DiDomenico hosted this anti-hair discrimination briefing alongside his State House partners, Senator Adam Gómez and Representatives Chynah Tyler and Steven Ultrino. Together, these legislators are sponsoring and advocating for the CROWN Act to be passed here in Massachusetts.

Currently in Massachusetts and 36 states across the country, it is legal to discriminate against a person in the workplace or schools because of natural or protective hairstyles. Hair discrimination remains a source of racial injustice with economic consequences for Black people. According to a 2019 study, Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from the workplace because of their hair. The CROWN Act corrects these racial injustices by making hair discrimination illegal.

The legislative briefing included a multitude of speakers detailing their own experiences and involvement in the fight against race-based hair discrimination. Moderated by Adjoa B. Asamoah, National Lead Strategist for the CROWN Coalition, other speakers at the event included Boston City Councilor, Lydia Edwards, Mya and Deanna Cook of Malden, who fought back against hair discrimination in their school in 2017, Janicka Ellis, Owner of Castle Hair Studio in Roxbury, and Bitiah Carter, President and CEO of New England Blacks in Philanthropy.

During the event, Senator DiDomenico emphasized that the existing anti-discrimination laws in Massachusetts fail to protect employees and students who wear their hair in natural or protective hairstyles from discrimination. For this reason, he stressed that it is crucial for the CROWN Act and any supporting bills to become law. "We need to play out part in ensuring that adults and children throughout the Commonwealth, like Mya and Deanna, are protected from hair discrimination that targets hairstyles associated with race. While this bill would finally help provide protection from race-based discrimination, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done. However, I am hopeful that we can continue working together to make these changes a reality in the near future." 

The National CROWN Coalition has had success in elevating the public narrative around hair discrimination in recent years and inspiring a movement to end hair bias and discrimination. In 2019 and 2020 alone, they were successful in advocating for new laws across the nation. DiDomenico stated that "It is because of the extraordinary work of the CROWN Coalition nationally that we have gotten so much attention put on the issue, and rightfully so. It is my sincere hope that Massachusetts be the next state to pass the CROWN Act to protect Black women, men and children and ensure that natural hairstyles are celebrated, not discouraged."

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BOSTON- On July 7th, Senator Sal DiDomenico joined with Cecilia Rouse, President Joe Biden's Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, at a local childcare center in his district to promote the American Families Plan. Senator DiDomenico and Chair Rouse, alongside Massachusetts Congresswomen Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley, and Lori Trahan, toured Nurtury Early Education in Cambridge, New England’s first early education and care agency, in an effort to spotlight the nation’s “care infrastructure” and its fragility– a fact which has been brought into sharper focus during the pandemic.

Like many early education providers across the nation, Nurtury was hit hard by the pandemic and has remained under-staffed and unable to meet its licensed capacity despite high demand. This has largely been due to the fact that many childcare workers were unable to find care for their own children during the Covid-19 crisis. Consequently, a lack of available childcare services and providers prevented many parents from being able to get back to work.

“Education, and more specifically early education, has been a top priority of mine since I was first elected back in 2011,” said DiDomenico following the tour. “Therefore, it was sadly no surprise to hear that childcare centers like Nurtury are unable to fill classrooms, since they cannot find staff who either can afford to work in the childcare industry or can find care for their own kids. This pandemic has hit our childcare industry hard but has also revealed how critical this industry is to our economy. I do hope that this crisis has showed all Americans just how important it is that we invest in early education and care at both the state and federal levels.”

Senator DiDomenico’s visit was in support of an infusion of public funds for early childcare and education services through President Biden’s $1.8 trillion American Families Plan. The plan would create universal pre-Kindergarten for all children ages three and four and help to make the childcare industry more affordable for all families. The provision would also establish rules preventing childcare costs for low and middle-income families from exceeding more than seven percent of their income. Additionally, the plan would create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, as well as extend the Child Tax Credit increases that were included in the national COVID-recovery package signed into law by the president in March.

After the tour, Senator DiDomenico, accompanied by Chair Rouse and all three Congresswomen in attendance, participated in a roundtable with members and staff of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA). The discussion centered on the experiences of Black entrepreneurs and small business owners who shared stories of their struggles and challenges throughout the pandemic. The conversation illustrated the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on people of color and the universal challenges for families to access affordable, high-quality childcare.

“This roundtable was a fantastic learning opportunity, and for everyone at the federal, state and local levels to discuss the work that lies ahead to solve this childcare crisis. I am grateful to everyone who shared their expertise and experiences, and of course to our incredible Congresswomen for their dedication to passing the American Families Plan. Without question, this tour will help to inform the work that I do around early education and childcare in the Massachusetts Legislature, which I hope will serve as a complement to the passage of American Families Plan.”

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BOSTON- Last week, Senator DiDomenico testified before the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing in support of three pieces of legislation he filed this session: S.761/H.1290, An Act to streamline access to critical public health and safety-net programs through common applications, S.762/H.1309, An Act to ensure equitable access to health coverage for children, and S.763/H.1310, An Act to ensure equitable health coverage for children with disabilities.

An Act to streamline access to critical public health and safety-net programs through common applications, also known as the “SNAP Gap” bill, is one of Senator DiDomenico’s top food security policy priorities this session. The SNAP Gap refers to number of children, families, and elders who receive healthcare benefits through MassHealth or Medicare and are likely eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) but are not receiving any food assistance. In Massachusetts, the SNAP Gap is estimated to be approximately 740,000 people.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity had been a pressing problem across the United States, and especially in the Commonwealth. The pandemic has now shed a stark light on the state of Massachusetts, further exacerbating rates of food insecurity, with a 59% increase across the board and 102% increase in children. Senator DiDomenico’s bill S.761 aims to close the SNAP Gap by allowing low-income residents to apply for SNAP at the same time as MassHealth and the Medicare Savings Program, streamlining the application process, removing barriers, and ultimately reducing hunger.

“SNAP is a 100% federally funded benefit, and until we close the SNAP Gap, we are simply leaving thousands of federal dollars on the table,” said DiDomenico in his testimony. “This is unconscionable, especially at a time when we are experiencing more food insecurity in Massachusetts than ever before. As we continue facing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill should be a top priority for the Legislature to connect our residents with the assistance they need and deserve.”

Senator DiDomenico also testified in support of two other pieces of legislation he filed in partnership with the organization Health Care for All (HCFA), to ensure that all kids in the Commonwealth have equitable healthcare coverage. Currently in the Commonwealth, over 30,000 children and young adults are not eligible to receive comprehensive coverage under MassHealth simply due to their immigration status. Of those youths who are ineligible, approximately 1,650 are also challenged with disabilities.

An Act to ensure equitable health coverage for children would expand comprehensive MassHealth coverage to all young people under age 21 whose only barrier to eligibility is immigration status. An Act to ensure equitable access to health coverage for children with disabilities would expand MassHealth CommonHealth to undocumented children (through age 18) and low-income young adults (ages 19-20) with disabilities. The goal of both bills is to advance the Commonwealth’s goals of promoting health equity by taking steps towards universal coverage for children.

Testifying before the committee, DiDomenico stated: “Every child deserves access to comprehensive health coverage, and these bills will reduce barriers to care for thousands of immigrant children in Massachusetts. Especially as immigrant communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, we cannot allow immigration status to disqualify otherwise-eligible children and young adults from MassHealth. The consequences of denying them healthcare are long-lasting and far-reaching. Children with inadequate healthcare are more likely to suffer from chronic illnesses, as well as physical or developmental disabilities, into their adult lives.”

Furthermore, he emphasized: “Both bills will break this cycle by knocking down barriers and expanding comprehensive health coverage. Simply put, we must cover all kids.”

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