Jon’s Legislation

Thank you for your interest in the bills that Jon has filed. Here you can view the bills that Jon has filed before the House of Representatives.

  • H1312, An Act to promote public health through the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund
    • SUMMARY: Imposes a tax on sugary drinks using a “tiered” system relative to the concentration of sugar per drink. A similar tax on syrups and powders is also included. The tax rate would be altered annually by the Commissioner on Revenue based on the Consumer Price Index. This tax would fund the newly created Children’s Health Promotional Fund for implementation, administration, and enforcement relative to Mass in Motion, Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, fluoridation of public water, nutritional programs, educational programs, water fountain improvement, and other evidence based methods of health improvement.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Health Care Financing
  • H1313, An Act relative to infection control in nursing facilities
    • SUMMARY: Provides funding for nursing facilities to employ an ‘Infection Preventionist’ through grants, reimbursements, and supplemental payments.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Health Care Financing
  • H1438, An Act setting a housing production goal for the Commonwealth
    • SUMMARY: Creates a statewide housing goal of 427,000 new units of housing by 2040, with 85,400 of those units being designated for households at or below 80% AMI (Area Median Income) and 8,500 designated for households at or below 30% AMI.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Housing
  • H1441, An Act to affirmatively further fair housing
    • SUMMARY: Requires municipalities to actively pursue affirmative housing policies, while defining affirmative housing as ‘taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics.” The bill also creates an oversight committee to provide recommendations and ensure compliance with fair housing.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Housing
  • H1869, An Act establishing medical civil rights
    • SUMMARY: This first in the country legislation would establish a right in Massachusetts law for a person who is under the control of law enforcement to have access to emergency medical services when that person is experiencing an emergency medical condition or when medically unstable. These protections apply both to physical and behavioral health conditions. While the law currently provides protections to person who is incarcerated or otherwise formally detained, this bill would extend protections in current situations where the law does not clearly establish a right to care, such as interactions prior to arrest where a person nonetheless feels that they are under the control of law enforcement.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on The Judiciary
  • H2051, An Act relative to physician assistant non-competes
    • SUMMARY: This bill would expand the prohibition on non-competes for physicians to also include physician assistants. Current non-compete laws prohibit physician assistants from securing new employment within a certain geographical region upon termination of employment with a prior employer. With a uniquely high concentration of high quality hospitals and medical facilities, non-compete laws hurt both the industry and labor force by preventing medical facilities and faculty from hiring qualified physicians assistants. This law specifically includes physicians assistants, a group currently not included in non-compete exemption, extending to them the same protections as physicians.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Health Care Financing
  • H2127, An Act establishing a commission to study the availability of a continuum of care for persons with substance use disorder
    • SUMMARY: This bill establishes a commission to study the availability of detoxification, stabilization, transitional support, reentry services, and medically assisted treatment options. Currently, there exists a misalignment of services regarding the availability of addiction recovery care services such that people who enter the continuum of care have difficulty transitioning to the next step due to a bottleneck of services. The commission must recommend an appropriate level of care and capacity for each level of care, reassessing its recommendations annually.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery
  • H2128, An Act to expand access to patient centered care for substance use disorders
    • SUMMARY: Requires DPH and the Board of Registration in Medicine to develop an educational campaign to adopt all FDA-approved medications for substance use disorder treatment with the goal of increasing MAT options alongside counseling and other support services. Awards 2 professional development points for engaging in training related to assessment, toxicology screening, treatment planning, detox, care coordination, length of treatment, and relapse prevention. Section II establishes a regulated peer mentoring program with trainings, materials, and team support delivered by highly qualified, well-credentialed, and licensed mentors. The mentoring program will prioritize and target geographic areas determined by DPH to have limited access to MAT. Section III establishes a grant program to incentivize expanded offerings of MAT options. Section IV designates an inventory of providers who utilize MAT to measure the rate of MAT expansion, culminating in a report submitted to several committees.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery
  • H2333, An Act to protect youth from the health risks of sugary drinks
    • SUMMARY: This bill expands Acute Treatment Services to include individuals who have been dual diagnosed with both mental illness and substance abuse.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2395, An Act relative to sickle cell disease
    • SUMMARY: This bill will create a special legislative commission to investigate and report on the standard of care for sickle cell disease patients throughout MA, create a statewide resource website including disease information and information on how to access treatment and providers, increase usage of community-based participatory research to determine the true number of patients living with Sickle Cell Disease and whether they have access to medication, primary care, etc, and forge partnerships with healthcare centers throughout the New England region that specialize in Sickle Cell Disease with the goal of setting a standard for a national approach to Sickle Cell Disease
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2400, An Act regarding racism as a public health crisis
    • SUMMARY: This bill mandates DPH study whether or not to declare racism a public health emergency and requires recommendations to be made outlining strategies to combat racism.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Health Care Financing
  • H2401, An Act relative to a kidney disease prevention and education task force
    • SUMMARY: The legislation charges the task force with examining racial inequities in care and impact, prevention, early detection, disease management, and barriers to the adoption of best practices. The task force will then have an opportunity to develop policy recommendations to improve prevention and care for CKD in the Commonwealth. CKD is s silent epidemic in the public health arena and we need to shed some light on this irreversible condition so that we can work towards prevention and providing the best care possible.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2402, An Act to ensure timely physician licensure
    • SUMMARY: This bill would require the Board of Registration in Medicine (BORIM) to implement administrative processes to ensure that full applications are reviewed and processed within 90 days from the date of submission, including for registration of qualified physicians who have been licensed to practice in another state. It would also require BORIM to issue a temporary license to any physician whose renewal application has not been reviewed within 90 days to allow for hospitals to complete their internal credentialing processes.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2403, An Act to establish a sharps stewardship program
    • SUMMARY: This bill streamlines sharps disposal by requiring manufacturers or retail establishments selling sharps to also have disposal kiosks.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2404, An Act to prevent gun violence
    • SUMMARY: This legislation requires medical professionals to ask patients about the presence of guns in their homes. The goal is to identify red flags that could indicate risks related to suicide, domestic violence, or child access to guns. Currently, medical professionals are not required to ask about the presence of firearms during medical visits. Implementing this law will increase safety by proactively gathering data on firearm ownership and allowing relevant authorities to take action should risk of harm exist.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Health
  • H2520, An Act relative to addressing disparities in gun violence and mortality
    • SUMMARY: This bill will establish a multi-agency illicit firearms task force to coordinating efforts to combat illicit firearm distribution, sales and possession.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
  • H2770, An Act relative to a COVID-19 presumption for law enforcement
    • SUMMARY: The bill creates the presumption that should a law enforcement official contract COVID-19, the contraction occurred while on duty and entitles them to benefits of
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Public Service
  • H2926, An Act to increase veterans earned tax savings
    • SUMMARY: Increases the earned tax savings by increasing cash abatements to real estate value.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Revenue
  • H2972, An Act to promote healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
    • SUMMARY: Imposes a tax on sugary drinks using a “tiered” system relative to the concentration of sugar per drink. A similar tax on syrups and powders is also included. The tax rate would be altered annually by the Commissioner on Revenue based on the Consumer Price Index. This tax would fund the newly created Children’s Health Promotional Fund for implementation, administration, and enforcement relative to Mass in Motion, Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, fluoridation of public water, nutritional programs, educational programs, water fountain improvement, and other evidence based methods of health improvement.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Revenue
  • H3738, An Act to ensure the rapid, accessible and equitable administration of the COVID-19 vaccine
    • SUMMARY: Directs the Commonwealth to stand-up a statewide central intake and scheduling center, allowing all Massachusetts residents to equitably sign-up for COVID-19 vaccinations, ensuring such services are provided with culturally competent and multilingual electronic and telephonic modalities; Requires that all state and local government agencies account for the accessibility of any designated vaccination site by populations disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly communities of color, elders, and communities with high population density, such as the many diverse neighborhoods of the City of Boston; Requires that the Commonwealth distribute COVID-19 vaccinations through community health centers across the state, ensuring underserved populations have equitable vaccine access; Statutorily issues statewide approval to all licensed ambulance providers to be engaged by the state or local public health authorities to provide door-to-door COVID-19 vaccinations consistent with the Commonwealth’s distribution and administration plans for prioritized populations; Directs the Commonwealth’s Office of Health Equity to advise state government in implementing this act; Establishes continual monitoring and transparency measures.
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Covid-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management
  • H4090, An Act improving drinking water quality
    • SUMMARY: Would establish a pilot program to provide grants to cities for replacement of lead water distribution pipes – cities would then distribute grant funds to residents whose annual income is at or below median
    • STATUS: Pending Before Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture