BOSTON — The 60 bipartisan lawmakers of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators singled out their top five legislative priorities this week, along with three strategic priorities meant to guide the caucus’s work on behalf of women across Massachusetts in the new legislative term.
With an eye on issues that disproportionately affect women here, the caucus is backing bills to eliminate the pay disparity between human services workers employed by the state and those contracted by the state, to require free access to menstrual products in schools, to expand the workforce of mental health professionals specializing in perinatal care, to update state laws with gender-neutral language, and to create a program to prevent, detect, and treat pancreatic cancer in Massachusetts.
Along with the five priority bills, the caucus also endorsed 17 other bills in play this session.
It said its work will be guided by three strategic priorities: Elevating women’s economic opportunity and eliminating barriers; addressing racial and gender disparities in health care; and empowering women in government.
“Our legislative priorities reflect the urgent, real-world challenges facing women across Massachusetts—from pay inequity and inadequate healthcare access to gaps in representation,” caucus co-chairs Sen. Robyn Kennedy of Worcester and Rep. Christine Barber of Somerville said. “These priorities were shaped by the voices of our members and the communities they serve. We are proud to work together to champion bold, bipartisan solutions that will uplift women and families across the Commonwealth.”
A process led by Kennedy, Barber, Sen. Joan Lovely, Reps. Hannah Kane, Vanna Howard and Meghan Kilcoyne, and the caucus Executive Director Seble Alemu settled on the five priority bills, which the caucus summarized and said have no order of prioritization:
House and Senate bills filed by Rep. Mindy Domb and Sen. Cynthia Friedman would require the state to increase the reimbursement rate for human services providers over four years until the pay disparity between human services workers employed by the state and those employed by agencies with state contracts is eliminated. The caucus said an estimated 80 percent of human service workers in Massachusetts are women and that nearly a third are people of color.
House and Senate bills filed by Barber, Rep. Jay Livingstone and Sen. Patricia Jehlen would require all schools, prisons, and homeless shelters to provide free access to menstrual products.
House and Senate bills filed by Kane, Rep. Carmine Gentile and Sen. Jo Comerford would set up a group of medical experts, patient advocates, and health care professionals to improve hospital care, encourage research, and provide doctors with better resources all related to pancreatic cancer in Massachusetts. It calls a statewide data collection on pancreatic cancer cases, including how and when people are diagnosed and treated, and a public awareness campaign to teach risk factors, symptoms, and early warning signs. The legislation seeks to have the state review insurance coverage for genetic testing and update a previous study on the costs of screening for high-risk individuals. Rep. Carol Doherty of Taunton died in February after battling pancreatic cancer.
House and Senate bills filed by Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid and Sen. Liz Miranda would create a Perinatal Behavioral Health Care Workforce Trust Fund to improve mental and behavioral health care for people during and after pregnancy in Massachusetts. The fund would provide grants to programs that train and expand the perinatal care workforce of mental health professionals.
House bill filed by Rep. Natalie Blais would update language used in Massachusetts election laws to replace gendered terms including “he,” “his,” “chairman,” and “selectmen” with gender-neutral alternatives like “they,” “their,” “chairperson,” and “select board.”