Hello Everyone,
I hope that you all have been able to stay cool this past week with the warm weather. Earlier this week I was at Army Reserve Drill training, so many of my meetings this week were held virtually.
Some of you may remember I was recently named a 2021 Opioid Policy Fellow by the National Council of State Legislators. In continuation of this work this week, I attended several meetings centered around addiction and opioid use. I spent time with Mike Tourville, Author of “Voices from the Fallen: True Stories of Addiction, Grief, Recovery, and Courage,” to discuss opioid addiction issues in our area. On Wednesday, I conversed with Dr. Alex Whalley, Director of Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit at Boston Medical Center to discuss new initiatives in the field. We must continue to explore and expand the ways we are helping those in our communities who struggle with substance use.
On Tuesday of this week, I met with the Office of The Child Advocate to continue discussing DCF and the tragic death of David Almond, a fall river teenager who passed away this fall. As the Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Person with Disabilities, I will continue to be involved in these issues moving forward. The meeting was centered around reforms that can be made to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.
This week I also met with the Hilltown Community Health Center to go over their legislative priorities and learn how I can help better advocate for them on Beacon Hill. It is important to me to ensure that our Hilltown communities have all the support they need to keep their residents safe and healthy.
On Thursday the Senate took up legislation to extend some of the COVID-19 policies we’ve had in place the past year that were set to expire on June 15th when the state of emergency is lifted. Among other things, the bill extends outdoor dining and outdoor alcohol service to 2022, continues cost protections for patients dealing with COVID related care, and allows for remote participation for public meetings and municipal governance into 2022 as well. A lot of these policies have been extremely useful for our communities and will continue to be helpful as we transition away from the pandemic.
I also want to shoutout the Stanley Park Wheel Walk that took place this Saturday in Westfield to raise money for accessible picnic tables in the park! Every year this walk highlights the need to continue work to ensure that all activities in the park are accessible to everyone and that we all can enjoy getting some time outdoors.
As always, if there is anything I can do to assist you, please never hesitate to reach out to my office. I can be reached at my email: john.velis@masenate.gov or by phone: (413) 572-3920, and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com, where you can also sign up for my newsletter.
Sincerely,
John Velis