Citizen’s Legislative Seminar

I was fortunate enough to participate in the Citizen’s Legislative Seminar in October 2019. I spent two days in the Massachusetts State House learning about how laws are made and the legislative process in Massachusetts.
I also had a unique opportunity to participate in a simulated session on the Senate floor with Senate President Karen Spilka presiding. We debated a current bill being taken up by the Senate this term, House Bill 3945 “An Act reducing plastic bag pollution“ and had the opportunity to propose amendments to this bill. Not only was my amendment adopted after the mock debate, the Senator’s staff will propose the amendment for adoption on the actual bill.

My amendments to the bill focused on evaluation: Miss Evelyn Gómez moves to amend the bill by inserting, in line 110, after “carryout bags.” the following sentence: “The department shall establish evaluation metrics to periodically assess the impact of the plastic bag ban, including but not limited to, economic impact on low- and fixed- income families, net greenhouse gas emissions, net carbon footprint, water use, damage to ecosystems, and air pollution.” I’m staying tuned for updates!