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Page 18 BEACON | FROM PAGE 17 school policy and will certainly lead to increased legal costs for school districts. It is essential that school committees retain the authority to make final determinations—by vote—on whether challenged materials should remain in or be removed from school library collections. If parents or students disagree with a school committee’s decision, the appropriate recourse should be through democratic engagement—by advocating for, electing or re-electing school committee members and officials who reflect their educational values, and not through costly and complex litigation.” “We strongly oppose [the bill] because it would keep vulgar and sexually explicit books on public school library shelves, where minors can easily access them,” said Michael King, President of Massachusetts Family Institute. “The bill strips local school committees of their ability to protect students and would expose districts to lawsuits simply for doing what parents reasonably expect — keeping children safe. This is not about ‘banning books.’ It’s about safeguarding childhood innocence, respecting parental rights and preserving local control.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Brendan Crighton Yes AUTHORS AND CREATORS CAN CHALLENGE A SCHOOL BOARD’S DECISION (S 2696) Senate 37-0, approved an amendment to the section of the bill that gives students, parents and guardians the legal right to challenge a school board’s decisions to remove materials from a school library. The amendment extends that right to the authors and creators and also creates a right for residents, authors and creators to go to court to challenge the removal. “I filed this amendment because authors deserve the right to defend both their livelihoods and their freedom of expression when their work is removed from libraries,” said amendment sponsor Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “Book bans suppress voices, erase perspectives and ultimately undermine our democracy, which relies on open access to ideas. By allowing creators to challenge these removals in court, we strengthen the bill’s protections for free expression and ensure that those most directly harmed have a path to justice.” Creem continued, “This issue is personal to me as my son-inlaw, Rob Sharenow, is the author of ‘The Berlin Boxing Club,’ an award-winning novel that was banned for featuring a minor, but historically accurate, transgender character. Freedom of expression should be an unmovable cornerstone of our democracy.” (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment.) Sen. Brendan Crighton Yes 90-DAY TIME PERIOD (S 2696) Senate 7-30, rejected an amendment that would have implemented a 90-day time period for a determination on whether challenged material in school libraries is devoid of any educational, literary, artistic, personal or social value, or is not age appropriate. As written, the bill itself does not include a time period for a determination. “If a parent has a concern about whether a book being taught to their child is age appropriate, that is not a concern that should be allowed to linger,” said Sen. Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “The timeframe … would set guidelines to help push officials to determine whether a book is appropriate within a reasonable period – quickly eliminating any uncertainty for students, parents and teachers.” Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow) said he voted against the amendment because it is an administrative redundancy. He noted that all policies adopted by school committees are adopted in accordance with the guidelines set by the Massachusetts General Laws, which are reviewed by the school committees when adopting policies. He said there was no need to add another administrative burden. Sen. Peter Durant (R-Spencer), the sponsor of the amendment, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on the defeat of his amendment. Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro), the lead sponsor of the underlying bill, did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on this amendment. (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Brendan Crighton No THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, NOVEMbEr 21, 2025 ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL SUICIDE AWARENESS AND REMEMBRANCE DAY (H 3388) – The House and Senate approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey a bill that would establish September 22nd as Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day. The day would acknowledge that suicide is an epidemic among service members and veterans and would foster awareness and call for suicide prevention measures and support. “We brought forward this veteran suicide remembrance and awareness bill in direct response to the tragedies that have left holes in the fabric of our communities and in order to build awareness to prevent future tragedy,” said sponsor Rep. Joan Meschino (D-Hull). “[The bill] is an important step in offering support to both our active service members and veterans.” INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER (H 2489) – The House gave initial approval to legislation, known as Marnie’s Law, which would integrate Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) education into the undergraduate curriculum of all approved nursing programs in the state. IBC is a rare and aggressive form of invasive breast cancer that often presents itself as swelling or redness of the breast, as opposed to a lump that is typically associated with breast cancer. Marnie’s Law is named after 37-year-old Marnie Elizabeth Cass Robidas who died from IBC in 2022. Supporters said that IBC is challenging for medical providers to diagnose. They noted that the inclusion of IBC training will effectively improve patient outcomes by reducing the chance of misdiagnoses, ultimately saving countless lives. ”My family was affected by IBC, and when I learned from working with Marnie’s Army and [co-sponsor] Rep. Diggs that its symptoms weren’t taught in nursing education, I was inspired to join their effort to save women’s lives,” said co-sponsor Rep. Hadley Luddy (D-Orleans). Marnie’s Army is a group, named after Marnie, which raises awareness of the disease and raises money for research and education on the illness at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “I filed this bill because inflammatory breast cancer is one of the most aggressive and least understood forms of breast cancer, and too many patients lose precious time due to delayed or incorrect diagnosis,” said co-sponsor Rep. Kip Diggs (D-Barnstable). “By ensuring that every nursing student in Massachusetts is trained to recognize the signs of IBC, we are strengthening early detection and saving lives. Marnie’s Law is about awareness, compassion and giving our future nurses the tools they need to protect patients and families across the commonwealth.” PROMOTE URBAN AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE (H3130) – The House gave initial approval to legislation aimed at promoting urban agriculture and horticulture by allowing cities with a population greater than 50,000 and all Gateway Cities to exempt property taxes for land used for commercial urban agriculture. The tax incentive applies to only the portion of land on a parcel being used for agriculture and only applies to portions that are two acres or less. Additionally, the parcel must have had at least $500 in gross sales of agricultural or horticultural products to be eligible for the tax incentive. “We filed this bill to support small-scale urban agriculture, which strengthens local food systems, improves environmental health and promotes local economic development,” said co-sponsors Reps. Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury) and Vanna Howard (D-Lowell), in a joint statement. “This bill allows cities to incentivize urban agriculture and gain these benefits through a property tax exemption.” COMMISSION ON LGBTQ AGING (S 2711) – The Senate approved and sent to the House a proposal that would replace the name of the current “Commission on Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Aging” (LGBT) with “LGBTQ” (the Q represents queer and questioning). The measure also adds four more seats to the commission -one each appointed by the Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the House and House Minority Leader. The commission was created to enhance the quality of life for LGBTQ older adults in the Bay State through state policy and program recommendations, collaborations, partnerships and advocacy. The bill also replaces several other terms in the language that created the commission including replacing “elders” with “older adults” and ”Elder Affairs” with “Aging and Independence.” Sponsor Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville) said she filed the bill after the commission’s current membership agreed that it was timely and appropriate to reflect the more inclusive terminology for the communities represented by the commission, along with name changes of numerous member offices and organizations over the course of the commission’s existence. DENIAL OF RIGHTS AND SERVICES TO DISABLED PERSONS (S 2714) – A bill before the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities would create a special commission to study the denial of rights and services of disabled persons. The commission would be required to submit a report on the volume of disability rights denial cases submitted and their impact on the disability community, the effectiveness of the enforcement of disability rights in the state within the last five years and education of disability rights awareness. Another report would also be required to be submitted to the Legislature with recommendations, including proposed legislation or regulations. “Discrimination has no place in Massachusetts, regardless of background or ability,” said sponsor Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem). “As we examine the best way to support our disabled population, it is imperative that we are armed with the best information and best recommendations from a broad array of stakeholders, from lawmakers to experts to advocates and, most importantly, those with lived experiences. I am hopeful that this commission and its recommendations will lead to lasting, impactful change for those with service animals.” QUOTABLE QUOTES “We unleashed an industry that now promotes betting on anything and everything imaginable and unimaginable all over the world, 24 hours a day, every single day. I want to publicly apologize to those who’ve lost the opportunity to sit and watch a game just for the enjoyment of the game. I want to apologize to those who find BEACON | SEE PAGE 19

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