SENATOR SONIA CHANG-DÍAZ

​

State Hearing Focuses On Racial Inequities, Among Other Issues With Vaccine Rollout

By Greater Boston Staff | Feb 26, 2021

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Suffolk, and Atyia Martin, former chief resiliency officer for Boston, joined Jim Braude to talk about the key takeaways from the COVID Oversight Hearing.

​

Vaccine equity czar among new coalition's demands

By Chris Van Buskirk | Feb 19, 2021

A senior-level director in charge of COVID-19 vaccination equity and an allocation of $10 million to community organizations for outreach and engagement in communities of color are part of a list of five demands outlined Wednesday by a new coalition seeking to address what they say are serious racial injustices in the state's vaccine distribution plan.

​

State Lawmakers, Community Organizations Push For Vaccine Equity

By Paris Alston and Callum Borchers | Feb 18, 2021

Senator Chang-Díaz and the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition discuss Massachusetts' vaccine rollout

​

4 proposals to improve the Massachusetts vaccine rollout

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa | Feb 09, 2021

From pre-registration to a mobile vaccine program.

​

Massachusetts Creates New Police Accountability System

By Colin A. Young | Jan 06, 2021

"At the end of the day, when I zoom out and I look at what this bill accomplishes... there is a ton in this bill that is really going to set a new standard for the national policy landscape on police accountability that could potentially ripple through the other forty-nine states."

WGBH

Reform Advocates Cautiously Praise New Police Oversight Bill, Say More Changes Needed To Dismantle Systematic Racism

By Tori Bedford | Jan 01, 2021

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, who was one of the bills sponsors, said the law is a “mile-marker,” but not an end to an ongoing fight against racism in policing.

​

Baker signs police reform bill into law

By Sarah Betancourt | Jan 01, 2021

Gov. Charlie Baker signed sweeping police reform legislation on Thursday that will create a mandatory certification process for law enforcement and launch the nation’s first civilian-led police oversight board with subpoena power and decertification authority.

​

Massachusetts Senate agrees to Baker’s demands for key changes in policing bill

By Matt Stout | Dec 22, 2020

Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat, lamented that many things “over-policed communities pleaded for” are not in the bill, including binding definitions of use of force. But she said there was much for advocates to celebrate.

​

Rep. Russell Holmes & Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz On Passage Of Long-Awaited Police Reform Bill And What Comes Next

By Greater Boston | Dec 02, 2020

State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, who served on the police reform conference committee, and state Representative Russell Holmes, who has long pushed for many of the changes included in the bill, join Jim Braude to discuss the long-awaited police reform bill.

​

Mass. legislators reach compromise on police reform; officer certification a key component

By Chris Lisinski and Sam Doran | Dec 02, 2020

"I'm really satisfied with the total product of this bill," Sen. Chang-Diaz said. "...It is a final package that strikes a lot of wins for accountability, for community voice at the table of power, for changing our vision for what public safety is and means from one of force and punishment to one of de-escalation and helping and prevention."

​

Activists push legislation as budget debate winds down

By Morgan C. Mullings | Nov 26, 2020

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz filed an amendment to create more guidelines for the Department of Corrections when working to reduce harm and depopulate facilities during an outbreak.

​

Lawmakers Push DOC To Reduce Prisoners, Increase Testing Amid Pandemic

By Deborah Becker | Nov 20, 2020

The lawmakers say the Department of Correction will expand testing and take steps to release prisoners to home confinement.

​

Pandemic Pushes Debate Over Driver’s Licenses

By Chris Burrell | Nov 17, 2020

With immigrant communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the debate about whether to allow unauthorized immigrants in the state to get driver’s licenses is heating up.

​

Protest Held to Save MBTA Green Line's E Branch From Proposed Cuts

By NBC Boston Staff | Nov 12, 2020

Holding signs saying "No service cuts" and "Save the Mission Hill trolley," protestors heard from state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and Boston city councilors Kenzie Bok and Matt O'Malley.

​

State Equity Panel Focused On Data, Vaccine, Virus Spread Mitigation

By Katie Lannan | Oct 14, 2020

Data collection and reporting, vaccine distribution and funding for COVID-19 response initiatives are identified as "critical priorities" for the state to pursue, in a preliminary report approved Wednesday by members of a state health equity task force.

​

Electeds join effort to save Melnea Cass trees

By Yawu Miller | Sep 16, 2020

Roxbury activists have voiced opposition to the plan from the beginning, citing what they said would be unsafe street crossings and the loss of trees that help mitigate pollution and reduce extreme temperatures.

​

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

​

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.

​

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

​

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.

​

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.

​

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).

​

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.

​

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.”

​

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.”

​

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.

​

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 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.

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.”

​

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.

​

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.”