Healthcare workers continue to suffer assaults and other incidents of workplace violence. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Division of 1199SEIU, the Massachusetts Emergency Nursing Association and the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians have come together to support meaningful, measurable and enforceable legislation addressing workplace violence in our healthcare facilities. Pass H.4767.
Anyone who’s ever skimmed through, say, a 420-page state budget knows it’s not always easy to figure out what any given part of a bill is trying to accomplish and why.
One amendment to the youth social media legislation the state Senate is set to debate Thursday is almost jarring for its lack of jargon. Quincy Sen. John Keenan titled it “Minors Need Sleep.”
The bill would require social media platforms to institute a new slate of default settings for younger users, including turning off notifications between midnight and 6 a.m. Keenan wants an extended notification blackout zone of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., presumably based on the argument that … minors need sleep.
That idea has been one point of unity as Beacon Hill navigates a complex mix of competing social media bills, all of which would restrict overnight notifications.
The House in April took the first stab at regulating youth social media access, passing a bill to ban kids under 14 from having accounts. State reps at the time pointed to sleep trouble as one negative side effect. When Gov. Maura Healey, days after the House vote, announced her own proposal to cap teen social media use to two hours a day, she was joined by Lynn Teachers Union President Phil O'Connor, who talked about kids struggling to engage in school after staying up scrolling until 3 a.m.
Some teens — 45% in a Pew Research Center survey last year — do report that social media hurts their sleep habits, but it's not the only obstacle to a restful night.
There’s also plenty of research behind a push to rearrange school start times to better line up with teenage sleep cycles. But that looks like a longer shot this session. Bills that would require Massachusetts high schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. are mired in the legislative process, with a House version stuck in the Education Committee and a Senate version sent to a dead-end study. Legislation creating a task force to study school start times did advance and is now pending before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Earlier this year, Senate President Karen Spilka endorsed what would be the biggest swing of all when it comes to legislative sleep aids: making Daylight Saving Time permanent to save kids — and everyone else — the sleep disruption that comes from changing clocks. But that’s a move that would require other states to do the same thing, a major change that would light up phones across the region with breaking-news alerts no matter what time of day it was.
What amendments are you watching when the Senate takes up its social media bill? And will you stay tuned in if the debate stretches past bedtime? Let me know at [email protected].
Recent polling shows that a strong majority of Massachusetts voters support closing the loophole in our vaccine laws. H.2554 helps keep routine childhood vaccination requirements strong, protects schools from preventable outbreaks, and gives families confidence that lawmakers are acting before measles has a chance to spread.
HAPPENING TODAY
10:00 | Massachusetts Families for Vaccines coalition holds an event urging the Legislature to pass a bill (H 2554) to eliminate the religious exemption for required childhood immunizations. There will be a briefing speaking program at Church on the Hill before attendees head to the State House | 140 Bowdoin St., Boston
10:00 | Gov. Healey, Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble and Public Safety & Security Secretary Gina Kwon attend the funeral of Massachusetts State Police Trooper Jacob Mick | Saint Rose of Lima Parish, 244 West Main Street, Northborough
11:00 | House meets in a formal session with plans to take up a $425 million economic development package (H 5562) that carries over many of Gov. Maura Healey's priorities while adding new housing policy to the mix | House Chamber
11:00 | American Heart Association holds an advocacy day to urge lawmakers to support a bill to require CPR education in schools (H 2552 / S 2863), telephone CPR training for 911 dispatchers (H 2510 / S 1589), and expanded access to automated external defibrillators at sporting events (H 4993 / S 1489) | Great Hall
2:00 | Essex County Superior Court Justice Matthew Nestor presides over a hearing on Anne Manning-Martin's appeal of the State Ballot Law Commission's ruling that knocked her off the primary ballot over her alleged submission of fraudulent nomination signatures | Courtroom 3 at 43 Appleton St., Lawrence | More Info
2:00 | Essex County Superior Court Justice William Bloomer presides over a hearing on Republican attorney general hopeful Michael Walsh's appeal of a State Ballot Law Commission decision that scrubbed him from the primary ballot over his alleged submission of fraudulent nomination signatures | Courtroom 4 at 43 Appleton St., Lawrence | More Info
3:00 | U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and primary challenger U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton debate live at 22News in Chicopee. The debate will air live on 22News Plus and will re-air on WWLP at 7 p.m | 22News Plus
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FROM BEACON HILL
DATA DUMP: In passing their energy affordability bill last week, state senators rejected a pair of Sen. Michael Moore amendments meant to address data centers’ impacts on energy costs and the environment. The Millbury Democrat says he'll refile the amendments when the Senate takes its turn with Gov. Healey's economic development bill. — Telegram & Gazette
STRIKING OUT: Gov. Healey gathered leaders from the Massachusetts Nurses Association and Mass General Brigham for a sit-down in her office this week, trying to help reach a deal ahead of what the union calls the largest nurse and healthcare professional strike in state history. More than 4,000 Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses, plus 450 MGB home care clinicians, plan to start their strike this morning. — State House News Service
FORMULA FED UP: Falmouth Sen. Dylan Fernandes pens an op-ed making the argument that Beacon Hill should create a new formula for distributing local aid to cities and towns. — Boston Globe
Join us for our fourth annual Meet the Media event, a timely gathering that brings together journalists and professionals in communications and government affairs for a morning of connection, conversation, and community. Hear from Boston Globe Power Play co-authors Shirley Leung and Jon Chesto, MASSterList columnist Jon Keller, Axios Boston’s Mike Deehan, GBH News Rooted host Paris Alston, CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso, NBC10 Boston politics reporter Matt Prichard, and MASSterList editor Katie Lannan.
NEWS NEXT DOOR
POSSIBLE CHARGES: State police applied for a hearing seeking an assault charge against Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues, in connection with a complaint from a 17-year-old girl who says he grabbed her by the waist during a May parade. — WHDH
THAT DIRTY WATER: A week after a sewer main burst in Haverhill, the Merrimack River is still posting unsafe bacteria levels at some test sites downstream of the rupture. — Eagle-Tribune
DETAINEE HEALTHCARE: The ACLU of Massachusetts and Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr.’s office faced off in court as the ACLU seeks records related to medical care for ICE detainees held in the Plymouth jail. — New Bedford Light
FOXBORO FIRES BACK: The town of Foxboro is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Kraft Group over Gillette Stadium licensing fees. — WPRI
PLATNER FALLOUT: Several members of Massachusetts’ all-Democrat Congressional delegation want Graham Platner, their party’s U.S. Senate nominee in Maine, to drop out of the race in the wake of a newly reported sexual assault allegation. That includes U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an prominent early backer. Platner denies the allegation but hasn’t said what’s next for his campaign. — GBH News
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