MARCH 23, 2026
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —
In my last newsletter, I mentioned a save-the-date for:
Office Hours with Cambridge City Councilor Ayah Al-Zubi and the Staff of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
This is happening tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. Today we learned there was a need for a change in location — it's just been confirmed to me by Councilor Al-Zubi and Rep. AP's staff that we'll be meeting at Street Theory Collective, 541 Massachusetts Ave.
The Councilor and the Congresswoman's offices originally put this together, but it was canceled due to the blizzard. For the re-schedule, they've invited me to make introductory remarks with Councilor Al-Zubi. We and our staffs will be on hand, along with staff from Congresswoman Pressley's office, to answer your questions or to assist with any casework or district matters. It's a one-stop opportunity to discuss a concern or a policy idea or to seek help on a matter relating to either city, state, and federal government.
In other news, I was on Beacon Hill this afternoon for a briefing with the leadership of Science Club for Girls. SCFG fosters confidence and literacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for girls and gender-expansive youth from underrepresented communities. SCFG provides free, experiential programs with women-in-STEM mentors, making a profound impact for over thirty years here in Cambridge and beyond. I've pushed for more funding for SCFG and promoted their programs as examples of the proven value of investments in mentorship as a pathway to equity. I'm grateful to Rep. Decker and Sen. DiDomenico for hosting today's briefing and working to deliver state support to SCFG.
Last Wednesday it was Immigrants Day on Beacon Hill. I meet with several groups of constituents, immigrant advocates, and city officials to talk about the needs of our community and the House's plan to vote on legislation to address the ongoing ICE crackdown. The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security voted to advance the PROTECT Act last week, and it is expected to make it to the floor as soon as this week. I continue to push House Leaders and all my colleagues to do everything we possibly can to protect our immigrant neighbors and defend everyone's constitutional rights. My blog post, 9 things the legislature should do in response to the ICE crackdown, has been a reference point as I've worked to advocate within the building. I am more committed than ever to fighting for the strongest possible legislation to protect everyone from ICE.
Also last week, I worked to help organize a briefing to discuss the DUA debacle. The briefing was hosted by Labor and Workforce Development Chair Rep. Paul McMurtry, and dozens of representatives showed up to voice concerns, offer ideas, and perform oversight. Our guests were the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Lauren Jones, the Director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance, Kim Dishnica.
I let them know, as did several of my colleagues, that the breakdown of the state's unemployment system has been a disaster for so many of our constituents. In Cambridge and Somerville we've seen levels of layoffs or delayed hiring in the biotech sector, at universities like MIT and Harvard that have been targeted by the Trump Administration, as well as in certain seasonal jobs, retail and others. My colleagues and I continue to press the Healey-Driscoll Administration to bring major improvements to DUA. For their part, department leaders said some improvements have been made and they agreed with us on the need for much more improvement.
The centerpiece of last week's work on Beacon Hill was voting on a $1.8 billion supplemental budget. Included in this budget was some $1.3 billion in surplus Fair Share Amendment millionaires' tax revenues to make additional investments in transportation and education, and $507 million in general fund revenues which largely go to addressing gaps in Group Insurance Commission (GIC) health coverage and other state accounts such as low-income heating and fuel assistance and Division of Transitional Assistance (DTA) case workers.
Over several years, we in the legislature voted to put the Fair Share Amendment on the ballot. And in 2022, the voters delivered, passing the millionaire-income-earner's surtax. Now ever year, budget writers set an anticipated level of revenue from the Fair Share Amendment, but in each of the first two years of implementation, the annual Fair Share returns ran a bug surplus — a sign that the multi-million dollar earners and the billionaires especially are doing better than ever in this economy. These surplus funds must now be directed to transportation and education per the Fair Share Amendment.
I'm very pleased to report we used this surplus to pour an additional $740 million in the MBTA. We've seen big improvements on all our subway lines in recent years, the T continues to ramp up additional bus service and low-income fares as well. The combination of Fair Share revenues and GM Phil Eng's leadership, along with the commitment of T workers and riders, has offered real hope and momentum to the system after Gov. Baker's tenure left it literally in flames.
We also voted to pour an additional $150 million into Early Education Childcare and $150 million into Special Education, along with $20 million for clean energy upgrades to schools and tens of millions in addition funds for public higher education. And, the House adopted three of my amendments, to deliver additional funding to the Somerville Senior Taxi Program, the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House and the Community Art Center in the Port Neighborhood of Cambridge.
My video highlights of last week's State House activity is available here on my Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and TikTok.
My next newsletter will outline results of the recent House debate on energy affordability legislation. ICYMI, the final House bill represented a big improvement over the T.U.E. committee bill from the fall, but in the end, I still voted No because the legislation included a devastating cut to the Mass Save program without doing all that much to lower our out-of-control utility bills. We need real affordability andclimate justice, and the only way to get both is to hold the investor-owned, corporate utilities accountable. That was the lens through which I considered the overall bill, even as I worked with colleagues and advocates to make improvements and defend them on the floor. My video recap of this energy affordability session is available on Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, and TikTok.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or feedback on any of these items. I hope you can make it tomorrow at 5:30 pm for our joint office hours at Street Theory Collective. Feel free to reach out directly to find a time to chat if that time doesn't work for you. And thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent!
Yours in service,
Mike
