BOSTON — Senator Sal DiDomenico secured language in the Senate Economic Development bill for several of his key policy priorities, and he brought $5 million in bond authorizations for local infrastructure projects in the district. The economic development package lifts up small businesses and burgeoning industries, bans predatory kiosks used in cryptocurrency scams, and reins in the potential dangers of artificial intelligence by instituting responsible guardrails against catastrophes. 

DiDomenico secured several of his own proposed bills in the Economic Development bill

• ENOUGH Act bill that will create an innovative strategy to fight poverty by investing resources in high need neighborhoods and collaborating with community residents to help drive decisions that will ensure investments increase economic mobility.

• E-Bike classification bill that will classify and expand access to more electric bikes across Massachusetts.

• Physical Therapy Licensure Compact bill that will allow physical therapists from other states participating in the compact to practice in Massachusetts without having to endure the relicensing process, and for our physical therapists to do the same in those states.

DiDomenico secured $5 million in bond authorizations for these local infrastructure projects

• $2.5 million to the city of Chelsea for design and construction of a culvert.

• $2.5 million to the city of Everett for subsurface infrastructure improvements.

“I am thrilled to pass three important pieces of legislation I filed so that we can address poverty head on, support health care workers, and empower more people to bike safely across our state,” said Senator Sal N. DiDomenico. “The bond funding I got authorized for local projects has the potential to support my district’s cities in critical infrastructure improvement plans that will benefit residents in our communities and beyond. This package will do so much for our economy, small businesses, and residents across my district, and I look forward to fighting for all this language in the conference committee.”

The bill also surges the production of new housing units through automatic two-family zoning across Massachusetts, creates safety rules for fast electric scooters and e-bikes, and invests $100 million in immediate support for scientific research programs at public higher education institutions. 

With $575.4 million in authorizations, the economic development bond bill is poised to grow quality jobs in the Commonwealth, support innovation, and improve the quality of life for workers and families. 

The bill prioritizes bonding investments to boost every aspect of the Massachusetts economy, including: 

• $100 million to support and promote economic growth and job creation in the defense sector; 

• $75 million to support the development and application of AI; 

• $25 million to support downtown and main street vitality in Massachusetts towns and cities, in addition to $2.5 million to help convert vacant storefronts into pop-up opportunities for new small businesses; 

• $25 million for research and development of robotics technology; 

• $20 million to support construction of early stage and high growth business ventures; 

• $20 million to support community development financial institutions and small businesses; and 

• $25 million to support arts, culture, and the creative economy, building on recent successes of the Massachusetts tourism and cultural sector. 

The legislation requires major AI developers—known as large frontier developers—to account for their AI models’ risk of critical safety incidents by setting frameworks to avoid potential catastrophes. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) would be empowered to bring civil lawsuits against major AI developers if they violate these new safety requirements. 

The bill would create unprecedented levels of new housing units in Massachusetts by allowing two-family homes on all residentially zoned lots, subject to reasonable local limitations. 

Supporting the Massachusetts economy’s workers and their families, the bill goes further to boost the state’s housing stock by creating a new, easier process for converting commercial properties into residential units, and requiring timely review processes for housing construction projects. 

Recent e-bike and electric scooter technology has moved beyond older state laws into unregulated territory. This bill accounts for these developments by creating new safety standards that keep young children off these devices, some of which can speed at 30 miles per hour, and banning mopeds and similar devices from bike lanes and shared use paths.  

Scientific research drives a significant part of the Massachusetts economy. With federal research funding under threat, the legislation invests an immediate $100 million in bridge funding for public higher education institutions to help maintain the pace of scientific discovery and retain talented graduate and post doctorate workers. 

Over the course of two days of debate, the Senate built on the underlying bill by adopting amendments in critical areas related to responsible technological advancement, the hospitality industry and vibrant business districts, and the ability for certain professions to work across state lines. 

Safety in Technological Innovation 

Stopping Cryptocurrency ATM Misuse (Amendment 374): Responds to the use of cryptocurrency kiosks as tools in predatory scams by fully banning the operation of such kiosks in Massachusetts. Scammers in recent years have directed older adults to use crypto kiosks to send money which is often not recoverable when the fraud is discovered, leading some seniors to lose their entire life savings. 

Frontier AI Risk Reports and Independent Verification (Amendment 471): Verifies that large AI developers are complying with this legislation’s new safety requirements by requiring independent, third-party safety audits. Additionally requires large AI companies to undergo in-depth, independent safety testing every four months to identify any residual catastrophic risks. 

Protecting Against CSAM (Amendment 94): Criminalizes the creation, possession, or sharing of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), in response to new AI technology and computer programs capable of generating synthetic images that are indistinguishable from real photos. Penalties for sharing such images go up to 10 years imprisonment. Creating or prompting synthetic CSAM is punishable by up to five years in prison, or 10 years if the image depicts a real child. 

Responsible Robotics (Amendment 118): Ensures the responsible use of robotics technology. Prohibits the possession, operation, manufacture, or sale of robots that are equipped with weapons—including firearms, chemical agents, weaponized lasers and explosives. Prohibits the use of a robotic device to criminally harass or physically restrain another person. Violations are punishable by up to five years in prison. Includes a waiver process for defense companies and contractors; an exemption for the military; and a process for law enforcement to use weaponized robots to destroy or diffuse bombs, with a proper warrant. 

The ‘Fun Agenda’ 

No Soccer No Party (Amendment 595): Convenes a working group to study the feasibility of a future international soccer tournament to be held in Massachusetts. The group, organized under the Office of International Trade and Investment, would study potential dates, venues, operational needs, and funding sources, and would coordinate with representatives of participating countries including the United States, Scotland, and nations with a significant diaspora in Massachusetts. 

Making music affordable by reining in predatory ticket scalping (Amendment 20): Institutes a 110 per cent cap on prices charged by ticket resale platforms for music concert tickets. 

Happy Hour (Amendment 78): Gives cities and towns the option of re-establishing ‘happy hour’ discounted alcohol sales policies, boosting bars, restaurants, and other licensed establishments. Municipalities would regulate happy hours by local ordinance. 

Conviviality Districts (Amendment 309): Builds on the success of a historic summer by permanently allowing cities and towns to permit public alcohol consumption in designated outdoor districts. Municipalities would be able to adopt the local-option districts for areas such as streets and parks, with the requirement that drinks be purchased from licensed establishments within the designated area. 

Public Arts and Entertainment Microgrant Program (Amendment 354): Authorizes $1 million for a new grant program to boost the cultural and economic vitality of downtown areas, commercial areas, cultural districts, gathering places, and nightlife destinations. The Massachusetts Cultural Council would distribute the microgrants to support public arts, performances, and programming. 

Cultivating Agritourism Across Massachusetts (Amendment 70): Authorizes $5 million for grants to support local farms, agriculture, and small businesses through agritourism. 

Massport Liquor License Flexibility (Amendment 441): Allows bars and restaurants at Logan Airport to continue serving alcohol as long as flights are arriving and departing from the airport. 

Networking Jobs Across State Lines 

Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (Amendment 11): Increases access to psychology services by adding Massachusetts to an interstate compact that recognizes the licensure of psychologists in other participating states. Allows licensed psychologists from those states to practice via telehealth across state lines. 

Social Work Licensure Compact (Amendment 222): Supports Massachusetts social workers by joining surrounding states in the social work licensure compact, ensuring they can continue to care for patients in other states. 

Establishing a Physical Therapy Compact (Amendment 402): Bolsters the physical therapy workforce by working toward the creation of an interstate compact, which would allow licensed physical therapists and assistants to practice across participating state lines.  

Fostering a Strong Local and Regional Economy 

Juvenile Jurisdiction (Amendment 495): Raises the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include residents who are 18 years old. The ‘raise the age’ initiative is proven to decrease crime, increase public safety and improve economic outcomes by allowing emerging adults who are 18 years old—the typical age of a high school senior—to be tried as juveniles instead of adults for certain crimes. 

Requiring Automated Criminal Record Sealing (Amendment 511): Automates and expedites the process of sealing criminal records, ensuring that eligible people are able to move forward without bureaucratic delays. 

Affordable Homeownership Pilot (Amendment 46): Supports the development and construction of permanently affordable homeownership units by aiding the creation of a pilot program. Authorizes $2.5 million to fund the creation of units for low- and moderate-income households, including units within mixed-use developments. 

Municipal Tax Relief (Amendment 554): Gives cities and towns the option of providing enhanced tax relief in the form of a rebate to lower- and middle-income taxpayers who already receive the residential tax exemption. Creates an additional tool on top of the established residential exemption, which gives property tax relief to local residents by shifting more of the residential tax burden onto vacation homes and investment properties. 

West-East Passenger Rail (Amendment 196): Authorizes $5 million for the development of the passenger rail station in Palmer, a key stop for West-East Passenger Rail to span the state from Boston to Pittsfield. 

The ENOUGH Act (Amendment 401): Creates a fund and framework to capitalize on public-private partnerships to lift families and communities out of poverty. Support would extend to community organizations to boost areas such as early education and care, affordable housing, public safety, and civic infrastructure. 

Zoo New England (Amendment 22): Authorizes $5 million for capital improvements at facilities of Zoo New England, which supports education and conservation through the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and Stone Memorial Zoo in Stoneham. 

Massachusetts National Guard Museum Birthplace (Amendment 366): Unlocks federal dollars to support the development of the Massachusetts National Guard Museum by giving an official designation to the museum. Designates the facility’s location as Salem, the birthplace of the National Guard where the first muster of the colonial Militia was held 389 years ago. 

The package is based on legislation originally filed by Governor Maura Healey. A prior version was passed by the House of Representatives. 

The Senate passed the bill and sent it back to the House of Representatives for further consideration. 

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The omnibus bill’s public hearing will highlight its focus on putting cash in people’s pockets, empowering workers, and fostering wealth building

BOSTON – Senator Sal N. DiDomenico and Representative Marjorie C. Decker testified before the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities on their legislation, An Act significantly alleviating poverty (S.3095/H.5085), otherwise known as the ASAP Act. The ASAP Act is comprised of a variety of policies that will lift up working families and individuals across the state by putting cash in their pockets, expanding their employment rights, and providing meaningful wealth building opportunities.

This bill is being heard amid the federal government’s unprecedented attacks on working people as they pull funding from safety net programs, strip away worker rights, and target our most vulnerable immigrant neighbors. The ASAP Act meets this precarious moment by ensuring our state steps up to invest in protecting our communities. As Co-Chairs of the Massachusetts Poverty Commission, DiDomenico’s and Decker’s efforts to pull this comprehensive legislative proposal together were informed by the Commissioners’ recommendations and by testimony provided by advocates and individuals with lived experience in poverty at a series of public hearings across the state. 

“As the federal government attacks the social safety net for our poorest residents, this ambitious bill would fill the gaps to protect our neighbors in need and make transformational investments that will set working people up for a lifetime of economic security,” said Senator Sal N. DiDomenico. “This commonsense legislation employs evidence-based policies that will create a new paradigm of economic justice in our state and improve the lives of residents in every zip code throughout the Commonwealth. It is a privilege to advocate for this bill alongside my friend and colleague, Rep. Marjorie Decker, and I am excited to fight for this historic investment that will ensure all our community members can access nutritious foods, live in a safe home, earn a stable income, and build wealth for themselves and their families.” 

"The most important role we have in government is to make people's lives better. From the testimony on this bill and what people are experiencing throughout the Commonwealth, we know that food insecurity is at an all-time high and that we are facing a housing crisis in one of the most expensive states in the nation," Decker said. "The ASAP Act offers a roadmap and an opportunity to do what we were elected to do. The state is already spending those dollars — the question is how we choose to spend them. This bill allows us to be more intentional about acting across the interconnected systems that create and sustain poverty so that we can meaningfully improve the lives of people in Massachusetts. It is far more cost effective to be intentional than reactive." 

The legislation focuses on three main policy levers that can lift Massachusetts residents out of poverty: direct cash benefits, worker rights and wages, and wealth building opportunities. 

Putting Cash in People’s Pockets 

Creating and expanding cash benefit programs for low-income residents: 

• Lifting Our Families out of Deep Poverty (S.118/H.214): increasing the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) cash benefits for pregnant individuals, families and caregivers, and increasing the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) cash benefits until every eligible person is lifted out of deep poverty (under 50% of the federal poverty line). 

• Protecting Maternal Health (S.171/H.272): guaranteeing that all pregnant people can access TAFDC cash benefits from the moment they know about their pregnancy. 

• Codifying TAFDC Clothing and Rental Allowances: ensuring that eligible parents and pregnant people can access $50 per month in rental assistance and the annual $500 clothing allowance for their children. 

• Codifying EAEDC Rental Allowance: guaranteeing that eligible elderly, disabled, and child residents can access the $50 per month rental assistance every year. 

• Updating child support policies (S.110/H.201): prohibiting the government from taking any amount of child support payments from low-income parents, and giving parents receiving assistance the ability to decide not to pursue child support if it could be unsafe or destabilizing for them or their children. 

• Enhancing Tax Credits (S.1957/H.3073): increasing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits for low-income workers and increasing the state’s Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC) for eligible parents and caretakers. This provision will also expand EITC eligibility to low-income workers of all ages, legal residents, workers with large families, and all children up to age 18. 

• Establishing a Guaranteed Income Pilot (S.161): creating a cash stipend of $1,000 per month for 5 years to any individual transitioning out of foster care between the ages of 18-23. 

• Replacing Stolen Food Assistance Benefits (S.147/H.254): directing the state to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cash benefits stolen by criminal rings through skimming or phishing. 

• Improving Language Access (S.2125/H.3384): requiring all public-facing state government agencies, and the outside service providers they rely on, to offer interpretation services and translate vital documents for non-English speakers. This will ensure all residents, regardless of the language(s) they speak, can better access the public services they need, including cash benefits and unemployment assistance. 

• Providing Menstrual Products (S.1549/H.2483): ensuring and expanding access to free menstrual products, without stigma, to all menstruating individuals in all public schools, homeless shelters, prisons, and county jails. 

Protecting and Empowering Workers 

Safeguarding and increasing wages for workers and empowering job applicants: 

• Protecting Workers’ Wages (S.1300/H.2094): enhancing the Attorney General’s ability to ensure companies pay their employees the wages they deserve and hold employers accountable when they steal workers’ wages, ensuring workers have remedies and relief when experiencing employer retaliation, and empowering workers to fight wage theft. 

• Streamlining Automatic Record Sealing (S.1114/H.1811): creating an automated record sealing process so that individuals with eligible past offenses who have served their time can find a job and access housing swiftly and without stigma. 

• Eliminating Subminimum Wage for Farmworkers (S.2012/H.2108): raising farmworker wages from $8 per hour to at least the Massachusetts minimum wage, which is currently $15 per hour. 

• Eliminating Subminimum Wage for People with Disabilities: prohibiting employers’ ability to pay a subminimum wage to individuals with disabilities and ensure these workers earn at least the Massachusetts minimum wage, which is currently $15 per hour. 

Building Wealth 

Guaranteeing every resident has the opportunity to accumulate assets and build financial security for themselves and their families: 

• Establishing a Baby Bonds Program (S.2146/H.3429): creating a trust fund for eligible children that can be used after turning 18 to pursue wealth building ventures like seeking more education, buying a house, or starting a business. Children who are born into families with low income or are in the state child welfare system will be eligible for this wealth building savings account seeded by the state.   

• Creating a Matched Savings Program (S.737/H.1158): establishing a state funded matched savings program, which will be available to people who are below 80% area median income. Participants will be entered into a program where they can receive financial education coaching and an account that will provide $4 in matching funds from the state for every $1 they save. Graduates of the program can use their savings on a wide range of wealth building activities, such as a down payment on a home, higher education for themselves or a dependent, and purchasing a car or other forms of transportation. 

• Building Community Wealth through the ENOUGH Act (S.3022/H.5187): implementing an innovative strategy to fight poverty by investing resources in high need neighborhoods and collaborating with community residents to help drive decisions that will ensure investments increase economic mobility. 

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Over the past month, Senator Sal DiDomenico has celebrated Pride with friends, neighbors, and allies at the Boston Pride Parade, at the State House, in Chelsea, in Cambridge and in Everett. Senator DiDomenico has always been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community and will always stand with them. Through sponsoring his legislation like the Healthy Youth Act, to securing critical funding for LGBTQ+ supportive organizations in his district, to supporting gender affirming care bills as recently as last year alongside his colleagues, Senator DiDomenico works tirelessly to put his values into action for the LGBTQ+ community.

DiDomenico also celebrated Chelsea native, Matt Frank, with an inaugural Commonwealth Pride Award, a newly founded annual event that celebrates the rich accomplishments and talents of Massachusetts’ LGBTQ+ community. “Matt has been a leader in our community, starting the first pride flag raising ceremony in Chelsea, and working tirelessly in his day job to improve and create housing for residents across the city,” said DiDomenico. The Senator was also able to congratulate and celebrate the other honorees from his hometown of Cambridge, including Puja Kranz-Howe and Mal Malme.

“I am proud to fight for a state and a country where all our LGBTQ+ community members and trans neighbors can live openly, safely, and with happiness wherever they are,” said DiDomenico. “I stand with them every day, and you can be sure that I will continue to speak up, defend and protect their rights in our Commonwealth as long as I am serving in the State Senate.”

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