Hello Everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying the summer like weather. This has been a packed week for us in the Legislature as I led the Senate in passing an expand HERO Act bill.
Monday evening, I had the honor attending a virtual summit to discuss how we can combat the spike in antisemitism happening at K-12 schools across our Commonwealth. Together Jewish students, parents, and teachers from across Massachusetts bravely shared their personal experiences of enduring antisemitic acts at their schools. During the virtual summit I had an opportunity to share information about my amendment adopted to the Senate’s FY’25 budget that would instruct the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to put together curriculum, resources, and professional development materials that can be utilized by teachers across our state to teach students about the harms of antisemitism. Our state is experiencing an alarming rise in this sort of hate, and we need to make sure that our Jewish neighbors, friends, and families feel safe and secure in their own communities.
On Tuesday evening, my office joined Westfield’s Bridge to Adulthood ceremony to celebrate 11 students who recently graduated from the community-based transition services this year. This is an incredible milestone in all of these young adults’ lives and I was proud to have had my office share citations with each student to commemorate their accomplishments. Congratulations, I can’t wait to see all that you each accomplish next!
This week the Senate debated an expanded version of the HERO Act. Very few are brave enough to raise their hand and pledge to defend our nation and the values that we hold dear, no matter the cost. It is on us – as a Commonwealth – to always remember, recognize, and honor that sacrifice however we can. The legislation passed by the Senate this week makes comprehensive and critical additions to the HERO Act to ensure that we are not only supporting Massachusetts veterans but also our active-duty service members and their families as well. Having passed both the Senate and House, I am looking forward to working with all of my colleagues to reconcile the differences and deliver this bill to the Governor’s desk before the end of session next month.
This week my team hosted office hours at the Chicopee COA from on Tuesday and at the West Springfield COA on Wednesday. Next week, we will be at the Easthampton COA on Tuesday June 18th from 10:30am to 11:30am and at the Holyoke COA on Thursday June 20th from 10:00am to 11:00am. 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.
Sincerely,
John Velis