Press Release: 2025-01-22

Take Action: Just Say NO to Attacks on the Right to Shelter

Inauguration Day was rough. We know that we have our work cut out for us over the next four years to protect Massachusetts from Trump’s hateful agenda and to ensure that Massachusetts is a more just and equitable Commonwealth where “all” really does mean “all.”



You’ll hear from us soon about bills that we can advocate for this session to do both (we’ll be announcing our legislative agenda at our annual meeting), but beyond the work of protecting MA and charging forward, there’s one more critical piece: we can’t go backwards. 



And going backwards is exactly what Governor Maura Healey is trying to do with new proposed restrictions on emergency shelter access. 



Over forty years ago, Massachusetts passed a right to shelter for unhoused families, based on a moral belief that babies and children should not be forced to sleep on the streets. 



But over the past year, Governor Healey has been chipping away at this law bit by bit. After making tighter and tighter time limits for emergency shelter, her latest proposals combine new requirements designed to restrict access, limits as short as 30 days, and a Trumpian ban on undocumented immigrants and new arrivals.



As Trump demonizes immigrants and launches an agenda of cutting vital services to give tax cuts to the rich, the last thing that Massachusetts needs to do is tell him “We’re on board.” 



Tell your legislator to say NO to Healey’s attacks on emergency shelter access.



 





Progressive Mass 2025 Annual Meeting & Activist Conference 





Progressive Mass 2025 Member Meeting

Saturday, February 1

1 pm to 5 pm 

Lasell University, DeWitt Hall

80 Maple Street, Newton



RSVP here



 



Our Agenda for 2/1 



1:00 - 1:30 Registration & Socializing



1:30 - 2:00 Business Portion (Updates, New Legislative Agenda, etc.) 



2:00 - 2:45 Panel Discussion: “Winning Our Wins” 



Winning a policy by legislature or by ballot takes a lot of effort, but it is only step one. There’s a world of work afterwards focused on implementing, protecting, and messaging policy victories as well as capitalizing on them to build support for future ones. 



Panelists: 




  • Harris Gruman, Executive Director, SEIU State Council 

  • Laura Rotolo, Field Director, ACLU of Massachusetts 

  • Vatsady Sivongxay, Executive Director, Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance 



3:00 - 3:45 Breakout Sessions: Policies in Focus 





  • Achieving Housing for All 




  • Building Up People, Not Prisons




  • Climate Action: What States & Cities Can Do  




  • Protecting Our Immigrant Communities 



  • Public Health: The Fights Ahead



4:00 - 4:45 Breakout Sessions: Skills & Strategies 





  • Ballot Questions 101 




  • How to Build Support for Housing in Your community 




  • Progressive Communications in a Fractured Media Landscape 




  • What I Learned from Lobbying in Other States




  • Why You Should Run for Local Office 





Our Annual Meeting is open to everyone. However, you must be a member to vote for members up for election or re-election to the Board. You also must be a member to nominate yourself or someone else for election.