Hello everyone,
I hope everyone had a great week! As summer officially begins this week, I want to welcome our summer interns to Team Velis, Ali and Brandon, who will helping out my District office for the next few months. Ali is studying at Westfield State University and Brandon at George Washington University. I am very excited to have both joining us and contributing to the team.
On Monday, Team Velis joined Senators Gomez and Oliveira in Chicopee to celebrate budget funding secured for safety improvements at the intersection of Chicopee Street and McKinstry Avenue. This intersection has long been a safety hazard with multiple obstructed views and reported accidents already occurring this year alone. I am grateful to Senator Gomez for his leadership on this funding, and was glad to collaborate with my legislative partners to help reduce the danger for both drivers and pedestrians in the neighborhood.
On Tuesday, I testified before the Joint Committee on Education in support of my bill S461, An Act to Protect Children’s Learning, Focus, and Emotional Health During School Hours, which would limit students’ access to their cell phones during school hours so they can focus on what is most important—their education! Giving children a break from the constant use of cell phones will not only help them focus in the classroom, it will also improve their mental health by reducing the anxiety and stress that comes from persistent social media use throughout the day. I am so grateful for those who testified in support of the bill, and I hope to see impactful improvements toward student education and their mental health from the State House this session.
On Wednesday the Senate passed a supplemental budget that, among other things, provides critical funding to hospitals throughout Western Massachusetts, including Baystate and Holyoke Medical Center. Keeping our hospitals funded is important to ensure that healthcare is accessible here in Western Mass.
Team Velis was also proud to join two community celebrations this week. The first was the Westfield Women’s Club for their annual tea party, where we presented official Senate citations to this year’s honorees (Rebecca Hart, Melissa Cahalan, and Jillian Battles). The second was celebrating Brandon Cekovsky and presenting him with a Senate citation to mark the achievement of becoming an Eagle Scout. It is always special to meet with the next generation of leaders and see how they have learned the importance of service through scouting.
This week Team Velis hosted office hours in Easthampton and Holyoke. Next week Team Velis will be hosting office hours on Monday at the Westfield Council on Aging from 12:30pm to 1:30pm, on Tuesday at the Russell Council on Aging from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, and on Wednesday at the Southampton Council on Aging from 9:30am to 10:30am. If you are unable to 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.  
Best,
John Velis