In addition to the legislation highlighted in the January issue of The Stanley Report, Rep. Stanley sponsored the bills described below.

Rep. Stanley sponsored legislation to establish licensing requirements for appraisal management companies. A version of this legislation was engrossed by both the House and Senate last session. Rep. Stanley will once again work hard to pass this bill in the current legislative session.

Rep. Stanley sponsored a bill relative to the primary care workforce development and loan repayment grant program at community health centers. This legislation will ensure the continuation of community health center loan repayment programs funded by the state via the Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund in Chapter 224.

Rep. Stanley sponsored legislation to ensure minimum fair wages and employment stability for adjunct facility. The bill would require colleges and universities to pay adjunct faculty on par with full-time faculty. Specifically, the legislation requires schools to offer course assignments to qualified, available adjunct faculty before hiring someone off the street. The bill would also requires colleges and universities to give adjunct faculty sufficient notice of course assignments. If an assignment is subsequently cancelled, schools would have to pay adjunct faculty a percentage of what they would have earned for the course.

Rep. Stanley cosponsored a bill filed by Rep. Honan to establish a community health center transformation fund. This bill seeks to establish a dedicated pool of funding administered by the Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) for community health centers experiencing significant hardship and distress.

Rep. Stanley sponsored an act to explore alternative funding sources to ensure safe and reliable transportation. This legislation proposes a small voluntary vehicle miles traveled pilot program to identify alternatives to the gas tax. The pilot will evaluate ways to protect the data collected, ensure privacy, and vary pricing based on time of driving, type of road, proximity to transit and vehicle fuel.

Middlesex Human Service Agency Announces dates for its Mobile Market in Waltham

The Mobile Market is a farmers-market-style event that meets once per month and provides free, nutritious food to anyone in need. The Market serves fresh produce, dairy products, frozen soups and high-protein items, free of charge. The Mobile Market is run by MHSA - Middlesex Human Service Agency, the Greater Boston Food Bank and Eastern States Insurance. The Market is staffed by volunteers from Waltham and surrounding communities. There are no eligibility requirements to participate in the Mobile Market and food is available to all individuals and families in need. Learn more.

Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito and Secretary of Public Safety and Security Thomas Turco announced the release of $7.74 million in competitive Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr., Community Safety Initiative (Shannon CSI) Grant Program funds to communities and local partners to bolster their efforts to combat gang violence. The awards were made to 15 sites made up of 27 cities and 13 research partners through the Shannon Community Safety Initiative, which targets gang violence in the Commonwealth.

The grants provide funds to communities that demonstrate high levels of youth violence and gang problems, a comprehensive plan to work with multi-disciplinary partners and a commitment to coordinated prevention and intervention strategies. Funded strategies include social intervention and opportunity provision programs, as well as gang task force personnel costs and overtime.

The Baker Administration will re-file An Act Relative to the Harmful Distribution of Sexually Explicit Visual Material. First filed on April 25, 2017, this proposal modernizes the laws governing the distribution of sexually explicit images and empowers District Attorneys with additional tools to protect children. Under this proposal, the first step in an explicit images case involving minors will be to enroll in an educational diversion program rather than go through the juvenile justice process and potentially be committed to the Department of Youth Services. While District Attorneys and the Attorney General will still have the right to bypass educational diversion programs in certain instances, the focus will now be on educational diversion rather than legal punishment.

Massachusetts law as currently written, calls for minors who engage in peer to peer distribution of sexually explicit visual material to be subject to prosecution for the distribution or possession of child pornography. This legislation seeks to update the law consistent with our lives and 21st Century technology. Should a case proceed to the juvenile justice system, this bill affords District Attorneys the discretion to decide whether a minor should be charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony. The flexibility provided under this law will help ensure minors that do not belong in the juvenile justice system do not wind up there.

The legislation re-filed by the Baker-Polito Administration will also require schools to provide age-appropriate education on the risks and harmful effects of the creation, possession, and distribution of sexually explicit visual depictions of minors as they relate to cyber-bullying. Schools will be given the autonomy to use their existing cyber-bullying policies as a framework to incorporate education for their students on the harmful effects of distributing explicit images and any bullying associated with it.

This legislation seeks to close a loophole under current law by creating penalties for adults who distribute a sexually explicit image for purposes of revenge or embarrassment. While current law addresses non-consensual recording of an unsuspecting person, it does not address instances where someone distributes an image without consent regardless of whether the initial image may have been taken with consent. This legislation closes the gap in our law by creating a new felony offense and empowering judges in criminal proceedings to ensure an explicit image in question is permanently destroyed.

If passed, Massachusetts will join states from over half the country that have enacted similar legislation to protect their citizens.

Governor Baker announced a comprehensive plan to end youth homelessness in the Commonwealth which includes funding to local providers and a new housing pilot to support homeless youth. The plan will help connect homeless youth with education, employment, and housing supports and services.

Across the United States, there are an estimated 1.7 million - 4.2 million unaccompanied youth who are experiencing homelessness. In Massachusetts, it is estimated that there are at least 1,800 young adults every year who experience homelessness. Among unaccompanied homeless youth, students who are enrolled in the state's colleges and universities represent a population of unique interest and growing concern.

The 10 community partners, including Bridge over Troubled Waters which serves Waltham, will address youth and young adult homelessness in a variety of ways, targeted to meet the specific demographic and geographic needs of each region. Funds can be used for housing, transportation, education and case management support. Each region has developed a winter response for youth who are without housing during the cold months as well as specific strategies to address the unique needs of undocumented, unaccompanied youth.

Additionally, the Administration announced the Massachusetts Student Housing Security Pilot which will provide dorm rooms to homeless students attending community college. The Pilot launched at four campus sites earlier this month in partnership with local community colleges. Each of the four-year institutions will make up to five beds available for students experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. To participate students must be: enrolled full-time in a public college or university participating in the pilot; degree-seeking and in good academic standing as defined by home institution; age 25 or younger; and referred by campus staff or community service provider, or self-applied.

Governor Baker Unveils School Finance Proposal to Fully Fund the Foundation Budget Recommendations with FY20 Budget

The Baker Administration announced a multi-year school finance reform initiative to increase funding for school districts to invest in a quality education and fully implement the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission. An Act to Promote Equity and Excellence in Education will be filed alongside the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) state budget, which includes a significant increase in state education aid to fund the first year of the reform plan.

The reform bill filed updates the Foundation Budget formula to provide more support for school districts to meet the rising cost of health care and special education costs, as well as educating English language learners and low-income students, and will provide a significant influx of funding for communities with the highest need. The proposal will also target additional support for the lowest-performing schools to offer programs that give every student greater opportunities to learn.

The initiative also gives the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education the ability to support persistently underperforming schools, in part by utilizing a limited amount of Chapter 70 funds, if necessary, to implement needed reforms and investments with the district.

The Administration's budget for FY20 includes an increase of $200.3 million in Chapter 70 funds to implement the first year of the reforms, for a total of $5.1 billion in school aid next year.

Baker-Polito Administration Files Legislation on Impaired Driving

Governor Baker filed legislation to implement the recommendations made by the Cannabis Control Commission's Special Commission on Operating Under the Influence and Impaired Driving. The Special Commission was an important part of the 2017 legislation to legalize recreational marijuana and was comprised of a diverse set of stakeholders and experts, including police, prosecutors, medical and toxicological professionals, and representatives of the criminal defense bar and the civil liberties community.

The Special Commission recently released a report containing a series of recommendations, many of them unanimous, to improve how Massachusetts combats operating under the influence. The proposed adjustments encompass the entire process leading up to, during and following a motor vehicle stop for suspected driving under the influence. Many of the Special Commission's 19 recommendations require legislative changes, which are reflected in "An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Special Commission on Operating under the Influence and Impaired Driving."

Learn about winter home heating safety