Several of our bills had/will have hearings this fall. Below are testimony templates to support you in writing and submitting your own written testimony. Written testimony is one way to show legislators that there is public support for bills.

• *NEW* Testify in Support of the Rent Control Bill!  The bill would lift the current statewide ban on rent stabilization, letting cities and towns provide critical protections to residents in their communities who are being forced out of their homes due to unaffordable rent increases. The hearing was last Wednesday, 11/19.

• Dignity Not Deportations: The bill hearing will be coming up in a couple of weeks. Here is the testimony template you can use to write your testimony!

• People Over Energy Profits: Our clean energy goals, our energy bills, and our environmental justice communities are under attack. This bill prevents approval of new and expanded large gas pipelines and power plants within 5 miles of environmental justice communities. Here is the testimony template. 

Take Action here!

The Keeping Families Connected Coalition is excited to build off our success in winning No Cost Calls with our next campaign to improve family connections through visits to loved ones in prison and jail. Our bill will protect access to daily visits, eliminate draconian caps on the number of visitors someone can see, create child-friendly spaces, and reduce discrimination, especially regarding alleged dress code violations. This bill promotes the well-being of Commonwealth residents and successful re-entry to the community.

On October 15th, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security held a hearing about the bill. Multiple incarcerated people testified about why this bill is important to them. We are seeking co-sponsorship to generate support from legislators for this bill. Join us in taking action by either taking one minute to send an automatic email, or even better - use the guide on the same link to make a call!

Sign up for an event here!

THE PRISON MORATORIUM BILL MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE ON 10/21, AND NOW IT'S IN WAYS AND MEANS! ELDER PAROLE HAS UNTIL 12/3 TO MOVE OUT OF COMMITTEE! We can stop Governor Healey's plans to build a NEW $360 million women's prison project and move towards investing in our communities with these bills!

Join us for a People Not Prisons Canvass in November and December before the New Year to move these bills!

• November Canvass: Sat, Nov 15th from 11-2 in Framingham

• December Canvass: Sun, Dec 7th from 11-2 in Framingham

You can find all upcoming opportunities here!

Donate here!

BIJAN is reaching out again now because our funds are dangerously depleted due to ICE’s violence in our state, which has impacted unprecedented numbers of people.  Please donate today! 

So far in 2025, the Beyond/BIJAN Bond fund has more than DOUBLED the amount we paid in bonds in 2024. To date this year, we have paid 

• $965,000 in bonds, freeing 123 people. 

• $62,055 in commissary ($20/month) to directly support people in Massachusetts snatched from their communities and caged by ICE. This allows them to make phone calls, buy soap, clothes and needed supplies, send mail and try to get by while detained.

• $79,345.50 in emergency crisis response funds for families impacted by a detention or deportation. 

Despite the current administration’s efforts to end immigration bond and keep people in “mandatory detention,” lawyers are fighting back, filing habeas petitions and challenging court rulings . So we are paying more bonds, allowing people to pursue their immigration cases from the community instead of facing deportation. Without your donations, we will soon have to pause paying commissary and bonds. Please donate today, and consider becoming a monthly donor to increase your impact!

Since we are an all-volunteer network, we have no staff to pay, no rent for an office, and no overhead. This means that every dollar of your donation goes directly to help our immigrant friends and neighbors in this moment of trauma and crisis. Thank you for being part of this essential work and for choosing freedom!

Expanding private jet emissions will be devastating to our climate. See below for opportunities to take action!

1. Resolution: We are calling on Unitarian Universalist congregations in MA to adopt a Resolution urging Gov. Healey to stop private jet expansion at Hanscom Field airport or anywhere.  Learn more here! For questions, contact: faith@stopprivatejetexpansion.org  In the meantime, please take action as an individual by signing this petition to the Governor.

2. Youth Involvement: SPJE (Stop Private Jet Expansion) (SPJE.org) is launching a campaign by and for youth, where they can engage in climate activism. There are a variety of ways that youth can get involved, including joining the Youth Campaign Advisory Board, tabling at events, planning actions, and more. For questions, contact: faith@stopprivatejetexpansion.org.

3. Petition: Sign this petition to the Governor!

Medical Aid in Dying is a practice that allows a person with a prognosis of less than six months to live to be prescribed an medication that they can take at the time of their choosing to allow a peaceful painless death. The law has multiple safeguards, such as the requirement that two doctors agree on the prognosis, and that there be a written witnessed request and a waiting period, and that the person has to take the medication themself. This practice has been legal for many years in 12 jurisdictions and there has not been a single credible case of this law being abused.

Both the Senate bill (S.1486) and the House bill (H.2505) have passed the Joint Committee on Public Health and are now with the Joint Committee on Healthcare Financing. If it passes this committee there are several steps before a final vote, so it’s important that it move forward from this committee as quickly as possible.

Please consider contacting your legislators and urging them to support H.2505 and S.1486.  Calls to members of the Joint Committee on Health Care Finance are especially impactful if you are on of their constituents. Senate: Cindy Friedman, Chair, John Cronin, Vice Chair, Julian Cyr, William Driscoll Jr. Paul Feedy, Panel Payano, Kelly Dooner. 

House: John Lawn Jr, Chair, Meghan Kilcoyne, Vice Chair, Dawne Shane, John Francis Moran, Tommy Vitolo, Judith Garcia, Kip Diggs, Lindsay Sabadosa, Chyna Tyler, Christopher Markey, Hannah Kane, David Muradian, Paul Frost.                                       

Please contact Molly Walsh with any questions