Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. As we head into the new year, I’ve been feeling grateful for what we were able to accomplish in 2023, and I look forward to what’s to come.
As we end the year, my team’s schedule has been full of community celebrations of all the holidays. Tuesday morning, Team Velis visited Chicopee for the city’s second annual flag-raising ceremony to mark the first day of Kwanzaa, a truly special event that showcased the incredible culture of our community. Wishing a happy Kwanzaa to all who celebrate!
This Thursday, I was honored to receive the Extreme Esteem Award from Self Esteem Boston, an organization that has a proven track record of helping Massachusetts residents through self-esteem education and training in technical skills. It’s been a true pleasure to support the organization in the Legislature and I am incredibly grateful to have received this award. .
It is hard to believe, but we are already finishing the first year of the 193rd Session in the Massachusetts State Senate. Looking back at this year, we have accomplished a lot here in the Senate. This fall, the Senate passed the PACT Act 3.0, which will help to dramatically lower the costs of prescription drugs and keep them low. The legislation ensures that consumers pay the lowest price possible at the pharmacy, caps the price of insulin and certain drugs that treat asthma and heart condition at $25 for name-brand and $0 for generic, and adds important public oversight to hold companies accountable for price increases.
I and my fellow legislators also worked to secure the passage of a monumental tax relief package, which was signed into law this fall by Governor Healey. Among other pieces, the package increases the Child and Dependent Tax Credit, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. These legislative wins amongst others have made for a productive year in the legislature.
I have also filed more than 80 pieces of legislation of my own this session in all sorts of areas, ranging from a bill that updates our laws to better respond to cybercrimes and protect victims of online harassment, to a bill that makes veterans who were discharged due to sexual orientation before the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” eligible for state benefits here in the Commonwealth. I look forward to continuing to advocate for all my bills in the new year.
This week, my team hosted office hours at the Russell COA on Tuesday, and at the Southampton COA on Wednesday. Due to the Holidays, our regularly scheduled office hours in Agawam have been moved to January 8th at the Agawam COA from 11:00am to 12:00pm. If you can’t make office hours, I can always be reached by email, john.velis@masenate.gov, by phone, (413) 572-3920, and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com.
Happy New Year,
John Velis