SENATOR SONIA CHANG-DÍAZ

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After years of debate, Mass. Senate passes bill to allow driver’s licenses for undocumented people

By Samantha Gross | May 05, 2022

“It has been a long, long road for this bill,” Sen Chang-Díaz said. “This bill means trust and dignity for immigrants in our state who lack federal status.”

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With Senate passage and veto-proof margins, immigrant licensing bill takes major step toward becoming law

By Chris Lisinski | May 05, 2022

“Without a license, a routine traffic stop can have a lasting and traumatic set of repercussions: arrest, ICE detention, deportation. It can tear families apart, and that is a heavy, heavy burden to carry."

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Legalization 2.0: Massachusetts Senate approves overhaul of marijuana laws

By Dan Adams | Apr 07, 2022

Cannabis cafes, crackdown on local fees among reforms headed to House

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Infrastructure bills are kicking off billions in construction projects. Will workers of color get the jobs?

By Chris Burrell | Feb 08, 2022

“The numbers here are lackluster, to put it lightly,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, head of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Racial Equity. “But I think that equally, if not of greater concern, is the lack of transparency."

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With Speaker Mariano’s backing, Mass. Legislature poised to advance marijuana reforms

By Dan Adams | Jan 30, 2022

“The gap between the law’s stated commitment to equity and the on-the-ground reality of the industry shows just how much work we have left to do,” said Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, the other co-chair of the cannabis committee.

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Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy to Advance Social Equity Bill

Jan 29, 2022

On Friday, January 28, the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy moved forward a sweeping bill to promote social equity in the cannabis industry.

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Advocates urge legislators to establish early education, child care system

By Stephanie Ebbert | Nov 24, 2021

“We need to come to terms with the fact that we are free-riding on the backs of women,” said state Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, a Boston Democrat.

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Pandemic relief funds give us a chance to get it right on racial justice

By Sonia Chang-Díaz, Adam Gomez, Russell Holmes, Segun Idowu, and Rosario Ubiera-Minaya | Oct 21, 2021

The American Rescue Plan funds could help close the racial wealth divide and to put an end to the inequities this pandemic has exacerbated.

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Racial Equity Scorecard Will Grade ARPA Spending

By Katie Lannan | Oct 18, 2021

A coalition of advocacy groups plus a handful of lawmakers on Monday released a scorecard they’ll use to measure whether the American Rescue Plan Act spending plans prioritize racial justice.

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Activists march against prison

By Anna Lamb | Sep 15, 2021

Activists and elected officials marched the three miles in support of a moratorium on construction of a new women’s prison in Norfolk.

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Legislators, advocates call for Mass. prison reforms after Spotlight investigation into excessive force allegations

By Mark Arsenault | Aug 16, 2021

"Across the Commonwealth, far too many people — and let’s be real: it’s disproportionately Black and brown people — are incarcerated in toxic conditions that place their health, safety, and human dignity, and the safety of the communities to which they will return, at risk," said Sonia Chang-Díaz.

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More local leaders call on Charlie Baker’s administration to reverse change to COVID-19 data reporting

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com | Jul 28, 2021

More local leaders are pressuring Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration to resume reporting the age, race, and sex of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts, as concerns about the impact of the Delta variant heighten.

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Sen. Chang-Diaz sees progress with justice reinvestment bill

By Morgan C. Mullings | Jun 02, 2021

Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz is advancing legislation that would reinvest savings stemming from criminal justice reforms back into communities.

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How George Floyd's death sparked major changes in Massachusetts

By Sharman Sacchetti | May 25, 2021

The new law, among other changes, set up a commission to certify and decertify police officers, banned the use of chokeholds by police and limited the use of no-knock warrants.

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Sen. Ed Markey: Proposed 1.5 million-member Civilian Climate Corps invests in planet-saving jobs in communities like Roxbury, Dorchester

By Benjamin Kail | May 03, 2021

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said that unemployment in Roxbury is “routinely double the unemployment rate in the rest of our commonwealth.”

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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.

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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.

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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

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4 proposals to improve the Massachusetts vaccine rollout

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa | Feb 09, 2021

From pre-registration to a mobile vaccine program.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Mass. Legislature must protect low-income and minority populations from coronavirus

By Sonia Chang-Díaz, Maria Robinson, and Liz Miranda | Apr 15, 2020

If we’re waiting for consensus, we’re waiting too long. Consensus is a luxury for politicians that poor and minority residents can’t afford.

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."