SENATOR SONIA CHANG-DÍAZ

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Massachusetts State Senate Passes Reform, Shift + Build Act

Jul 14, 2020

Bill enacts reforms to raise police accountability standards, shift resources to communities and build equity, justice and fairness

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Sonia Chang-Díaz advocates for the Reform, Shift + Build Act on the Senate floor

Jul 10, 2020

Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz speaks after the second day of delaying debate on the Senate's Reform, Shift + Build Act

State House News Service

Mass. Senate Leaders Propose Sweeping Police Reforms

By Katie Lannan | Jul 06, 2020

The Massachusetts Senate plans to vote Thursday on a wide-ranging bill that would create a process for certifying and de-certifying officers and impose new limits on use of force, including a ban on chokeholds and restrictions on the use of tear gas.

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Senate Introduces Reform, Shift + Build Act

Jul 06, 2020

Bill enacts reforms to ban aggressive police tactics, significantly raise standards for accountability in law enforcement and reprioritize public safety resources

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Massachusetts House and Senate members join together to file legislation to make Juneteenth a state holiday

Jun 18, 2020

On behalf of their constituents and in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, the legislators filed An Act to make Juneteenth a State Holiday.

The Boston Globe

‘I have wounds that I’ll never lose.’ The state’s top political leaders of color press for change across all levels of government

By Matt Stout and Dasia Moore | Jun 02, 2020

Mobilized by the social unrest gripping the country, the state’s top political leaders of color gathered Tuesday to urge action across all levels of government, their words underwritten by a docket of resolutions, policies, and legislation they say are designed to transmute anger into change, increasing police accountability and chipping away at structural racism.

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Massachusetts Elected Officials of Color Call for Reform, Justice in the Wake of Anti-Police Brutality Protests

Jun 02, 2020

Coalition unveils 10-point plan for policing reform and accountability.

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Senate Passes Bill to Collect Vital Public Health Data, Establish a COVID-19 Diversity Task Force

May 14, 2020

Legislation will study disparities in treatment among communities of color.

Jamaica Plain News

State Law Puts Moratorium on Evictions, Foreclosures During COVID-19 Emergency

By David Ertischek | Apr 23, 2020

“Ensuring people have safe, reliable housing throughout this crisis is one of the most important things we can do to flatten the curve and save lives right now,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz (D-2nd Suffolk).

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Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures Signed Into Law

Apr 21, 2020

The moratorium provides some of the strongest protections in the nation for renters, homeowners, and small business owners harmed by COVID-19.

WGBH

How Are People Who Don't Primarily Speak English Getting Information About Coronavirus?

By Esteban Bustillos | Mar 20, 2020

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz’s Twitter feed has been filled with information about local resources in both English and Spanish.

MassLive

Bill that calls for no-interest loans for Mass. marijuana social equity and economic empowerment applicants reported favorably by committee

By Melissa Hanson | Mar 05, 2020

“This is both a critical and efficient step in delivering on the requirement that money from marijuana tax revenues be spent on restorative economic development for communities harmed by the War on Drugs,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, the chair of the joint committee.

State House News Service

Baker Signs Landmark Student Opportunity Act

By Chris Lisinski | Nov 27, 2019

Massachusetts will invest an additional $1.5 billion in K-12 public education over the next seven years after Gov. Charlie Baker signed a funding reform bill, touted by supporters as a generational change, into law Tuesday.

Lowell Sun

Gateway Cities beneficiaries of ed-funding bill

By Editorial | Nov 22, 2019

The bill, dubbed the Student Opportunity Act, represents the most significant update to the funding formula since it was established as part of the 1993 Education Reform Act.

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Education Funding Reform bill released for final votes with full equity provisions

Nov 20, 2019

The bill would set a new national standard for equitable K-12 funding.

WWLP

Lawmakers work on changes to prison visitation policies

By Jodi Reed | Nov 16, 2019

Senator Chang-Diaz said the current policies in place make it hard for inmates to return to civilian life once they are released.

MassLive

Massachusetts Senate passes $1.5 billion education funding bill after lengthy debate

By Shira Schoenberg | Oct 03, 2019

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, a former Education Committee chair and a leader on education funding reform, said, “This bill stands as our commitment that, in Massachusetts, zip code must not be destiny.”

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Sen. Chang-Díaz advocates for full FBRC reforms on Senate floor

Oct 03, 2019

"Our session today continues nearly a half-century of work for educational equity. And this bill would not exist without the generations of Bay Staters who tirelessly and passionately kept the cause alive. Who saw the work ahead and never gave up, even when political insiders believed the issue was dead."

Boston Globe

School funding bill will change the game for disadvantaged students

By Sonia Chang-Díaz | Sep 30, 2019

Fulfilling the promise of public education as the great equalizer is our next big goal. Bay Staters believe in it. It’s a goal our constitution anchors us to. Now, that collective effort in advocating, crafting policy, and working together has given us a chance to deliver on it.

MassLive

Massachusetts lawmakers consider bills to update state gun laws

By Shira Schoenberg | Aug 28, 2019

Chang-Diaz noted that mass shootings, especially those involving middle-class white children, make headlines. But she asked fellow lawmakers to have that same “sense of horror, unacceptance, urgency when shootings happen in Dorchester or Roxbury or Springfield or Holyoke or other urban communities, when the child’s riddled body is black or brown and their family is low-income, doing their best to make ends meet.”

Dorchester Reporter

Weekend shut-downs set on MBTA subway lines

By Katie Trojano | Aug 14, 2019

“There’s no reason it had to be this way, the situation we find ourself in now is due to years of deferred maintenance. Deferring maintenance is a habit that State leaders need to break,” Chang-Diaz said.

MassLive

Massachusetts lawmakers will leave for August break with major unfinished business: education funding

By Shira Schoenberg | Jul 31, 2019

“At what point does ‘we’re working on it’ become justice delayed and denied?” Chang-Diaz said the Senate has passed the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission multiple times. “The Legislature has had nearly four years to consider the recommendations — that’s half a kid’s elementary school years,” she said. “There’s no good reason that students will go back to school with no foundation funding plan in place.”

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Sen. Chang-Díaz joins system-wide canvass against #UnfairHikes

Jul 01, 2019

On July 1st, Sen. Chang-Díaz joined more than 300 volunteers across the MBTA system to canvass to stop the new #UnfairHikes.

Dorchester Reporter

Chang-Diaz seeks breakthrough for funding of education reform

By Jennifer Smith | Jun 27, 2019

In an extended interview during and after The Horse Race podcast last week, Chang-Díaz told the Reporter that the dramatic funding boost is necessary to fully meet the state’s obligation to provide a quality education to its students while grappling with the greater cost of educating disadvantaged children. It expands on the bipartisan though last-minute efforts of the last cycle.

MassLive

Public school advocates have $950 million incentive to lobby for education funding bill, study finds

By Shira Schoenberg | Jun 17, 2019

Chang-Diaz said the difference in funding between the PROMISE Act and Baker’s plan is “stark” and represents the difference between a school district hiring a fraction of a school counselor or starting a quality preschool program.

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Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz Announces Spring Neighborhood Office Hours

Jun 08, 2019

Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for June 2019.

The Boston Globe

To boost equity, give public loans to pot startups

May 17, 2019

The nascent legal pot industry is dominated by white players and out-of-state corporations. Enter state Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz.

Energy News Network

Massachusetts bill would restore net metering rate for community solar

By Sarah Shemkus | Apr 25, 2019

“I want to fix it because it is just plain unfair,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate.

Boston Herald

Officials, Patriots push for education funding hike

By Mary Markos | Mar 22, 2019

“Massachusetts still has one of the worst achievement gaps in the nation between rich and poor students,” state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said in her testimony. “Everybody knows that money alone won’t do it, but we also know that you can’t do it without money.”

Boston Patch

Hundreds Show Up At State House Education Funding Hearing

By Jenna Fisher | Mar 22, 2019

During eight hours of testimony, hundreds took to the mic to indicate their support for the PROMISE Act.

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Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz testifies in support of the Education PROMISE Act

Mar 22, 2019

It is past time to implement a sensible, effective plan to fix our broken education funding system.

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Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz Announces Winter Neighborhood Office Hours

Feb 04, 2019

Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for February 2019. Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.

Jamaica Plain Gazette

Sen. Chang Diaz uses the spirit of Martin Luther King Day to call for education funding reform

By Seth Daniel | Jan 27, 2019

JP Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz took the podium at the 49th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast in the South Boston Convention Center and used the shining light of Dr. King’s example to call for another local fight for justice – that being the justice of equal education funding.

Boston.com

Here are the basics on the bill to reform how Massachusetts schools are funded

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa | Jan 11, 2019

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the lead sponsor of the PROMISE Act, says it “isn’t about providing ‘new’ or ‘extra’ funds. It's about making good on what we've already promised.”

The Boston Globe

Momentum Builds to Revise School Funding

By Victoria McGrane | Jan 10, 2019

Seeking to accelerate Beacon Hill’s often glacial pace, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz on Wednesday rolled out a revamped version of the Senate’s funding bill from last session alongside four dozen legislators, mayors, and other advocates gathered behind the podium.

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Educators, advocates, and legislators rally for 2019 passage of comprehensive education funding reform bill

Jan 09, 2019

Educators, local leaders, and state legislators united at the State House today to call for passage of the Education PROMISE Act in 2019. The bill is backed by a broad coalition of students, teachers, parents, superintendents, school committees, legislators, and experts from the heart of Boston to the outskirts of Western Massachusetts.

State House News Service

Reformers rallying around overhauled Senate education bill

By Katie Lannan | Jan 09, 2019

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat who was the main architect of the Senate's $1 billion school funding bill last year, Wednesday morning filed a similar bill -- dubbed the Education Promise Act -- that includes language addressing some concerns raised with the previous version.

WBUR

Another Push To Revamp School Funding: Will It Pass This Time?

By Max Larkin | Jan 09, 2019

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz has again put forward an ambitious bill to increase funding for Massachusetts public schools. Again, a large and vocal coalition has assembled behind it.

Politico

The Fight to Fund Education

By Stephanie Murray | Jan 07, 2019

"Every year that we wait as a legislature to act on a highly-vetted, highly-researched, highly-debated road map that this bipartisan group of experts has given us, is a year that students can't get back," Chang-Díaz told me in a recent interview.

U.S. News & World Report

States are turning to civics education in an effort to produce informed and active students.

By Lauren Camera | Nov 23, 2018

"I'm proud to see this important civics education bill signed into law," Massachusetts state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Democrat who heads the Joint Committee on Education, said during the signing. "In light of recent reports of voter suppression and the perilous state of our country's civic and political life today, this legislation is especially critical."

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Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz Announces November Neighborhood Office Hours

Oct 30, 2018

Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.

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Sen. Chang-Díaz responds to House education funding bill

Jul 11, 2018

How long should poor children have to wait while we continue “studying,” rather than simply giving them the resources they need to learn?

WBUR

What's Behind The Beacon Hill Battle Over School Funding

By Max Larkin | Jul 11, 2018

Chang-Diaz and others who served said emphatically that the FBRC did not rank its four priorities, and wanted all four met in one fell swoop.

State House News Service

Family separations spur massive rally, Trump issues new order

By Matt Murphy & Colin Young | Jun 20, 2018

Sen. Kathleen O'Connor Ives, a Newburyport Democrat, and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat, also addressed the protesters gathered outside Baker's office together. Chang-Diaz had her toddler son strapped to her chest.

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Sonia Chang-Díaz's statement on the MA Supreme Court's decision to block the Fair Share Amendment

Jun 18, 2018

"If anyone tells you that today’s Supreme Court decision means the end of the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) bill, they haven’t read the bill."

State House News Service

"Red flag" gun access bill easily clears Mass. Senate

By Katie Lannan | Jun 07, 2018

Stronger laws are needed to address illegally obtained guns, Chang-Diaz said, telling her colleagues that if they think the inconvenience of limiting individuals to purchasing no more than 15 firearms a year is too much then she would invite them to join her at next funeral of teen in her district.

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Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz Announces Summer 2018 Neighborhood Office Hours

Jun 06, 2018

Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for the Summer of 2018. Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.

Jamaica Plain Gazette

Senate unanimously approves education-funding reforms

By Sonia Chang-Díaz | May 25, 2018

Recently, I was thrilled to stand on the Senate floor as every single one of my fellow Senators voted in favor of passing deeply-needed reforms to our K-12 education funding system. The bill has now moved to the House.

The Boston Globe

Mass. Legislature sends Baker sweeping criminal justice bill

By Joshua Miller | Apr 04, 2018

“It’s a huge historical turning point for our state when you set it in the context of the last several decades,” said Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat and longtime proponent of many of the changes in the package.

The Boston Globe

For MassMutual, a big tax break for a short move

By Tim Logan | Feb 24, 2018

The state also could do more to track the effectiveness of the many tax credit programs it has, said state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz.