Hi Everyone,
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and holiday with your family and friends. After the crazy year we have had, it was so nice to sit down and spend time with my loved ones, but also fantastic to join our community for some events as well. On Wednesday I joined the Forum House in Westfield for their annual Thanksgiving Meal Pass-out. It was great to see so many residents volunteer and come by.
Although a shortened week with the holiday, I was still kept busy. On Monday I participated in a public hearing for the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. As Vice-Chair of this Committee, I try to stay as involved as possible, and this hearing focused on legislation related to the care and supports for individuals with disabilities. Later on in the day my team held office hours at the Westfield Senior Center. Our next office hours will be on December 6th, from 10:30-11:30AM at the Agawam Senior Center and later in the day from 1:00-2:00PM at the Southwick Senior Center. Call 617-722-1415 to make an appointment or feel free to stop by!
Tuesday morning I testified before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of a bill I filed, S.1151, An Act to Establish the Massachusetts Judicial Security Act. The legislation would prohibit publicly sharing the personal information of active and retired state judges without permission. On July 19, 2020, 20-year-old Daniel Anderl, the late son of Judge Esther Salas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jesey, was tragically shot and killed at his family’s home. The gunman responsible was an attorney who had appeared in a case before Judge Salas and who used publicly available information to track down the judge and her family. In response, The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act was filed in the US Senate and House of Representatives to prohibit such information about federal judges from being publicly posted online. Threats and attacks against judges continue to increase, and I modeled S1151 after this federal legislation to extend these same protections to state judges in Massachusetts.
Later on Tuesday I was thrilled to join Representative Carey in Easthampton to present $25,000 in state funding to the Easthampton Community Center to support their important work. The Center has about 1,200 children accessing their food pantry and this funding will help them continue to address food insecurity as the holidays and colder months approach. I am proud that the Rep and I were able to secure this funding in the FY’22 Budget’s food insecurity initiative.
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