 Greetings, everyone. Welcome to this episode of Talk of the Town. I'm James Milan, and this is a legislative update with our state senator, Cindy Friedman. Always, as everybody knows, one of my favorite Talk of the Town episodes that appears regularly throughout the year. Cindy, thank you for being here. Hi, James. How are you? Good. We made you wait a while as we were setting up. It's okay. And we do appreciate your patience, but it's always worth talking to you. You have your list of stuff there, and I have my list of stuff here, and we're just going to reconcile them. Sounds good. Let's start by the fact that we are at the moment in early February, and so just situate us in the legislative process in the state house, and then we can start talking about more specific legislation that might be pertinent for our viewers. We are at the beginning of a session, so the sessions are two years, and bills get filed during a session, and when the session's over, all those bills disappear. Is that right? Yeah. To start all over again. To start all over again. So, we are in the beginning of the process. Bills have been filed. There have been about 6,000 bills that have been filed. The deadline was January 21st, I believe. Now what that means is that any bill that comes in afterwards is considered a late file. So, it goes to the bottom of the list of something? So, it sort of goes well, and then it has to be, it's got to be accepted in, it has to figure out where it's going to go, what committees, but right now the clerks of both the Senate and the House have all the bills that have been filed, and they are putting them into packages, and they're sending them off to committees, which will happen once the committees are formed. So, the other activity that happens is the Senate do their rules for the session, the House does their rules for the session, and then they each do their version of the joint rules. So, how do the Senate and House talk to each other? The House did theirs. The Senate is doing theirs this week, and then there'll be a conference committee to reconcile the joint, and they might report some of them out and hold some in the back, but once those rules are voted on, they will, then the clerks will start the process of sending bills to committees. And I would expect that committee chairs will be appointed in the next two to three weeks. So I don't want to create too much of a digression here, but a couple of things that you said I just want to follow up on. One is that the idea that these rules, as you just said, are, you know, also have to be done at the beginning of every session, right? How much do those change session to session? I would assume that, you know, the majority of the rules are just like carry over. I mean, not literally because you're starting anew, but they're basically the same framework. Sure, they're similar, but here's an example. Committees change. So committee names change. So there may be, for instance, a certain set of Senate committees that are no longer relevant. For instance, we had a committee called COVID-19 and emergency preparedness. Well, we don't really, we're not really going to focus on COVID-19. So we're going to, the committee will probably be called, we just put it under emergency preparedness. Right, of course. And so, so there's changes like that. Another change is we had Senate rules around remote participation and remote voting that were put in because of the emergency. Well, now we have to, we're going to fix our rules, except some of those reject others of them. So there's always tweaking that happens within the body. And then you have the joint rules, which there can be more differences in those. So for instance, we Senate will probably vote to have all of their committee votes publicized. The House does not want to do that, right? So that's a difference in the joint rules. The Senate may say, we want all our bills to come back to the Senate. We want all the House bills to come back to the House. The House may not agree with that. Okay. So those things are the things that have to be reconciled. Yeah. That's, that's, that's really, that's pretty interesting. Fundamentals don't change. Right. There must be a corpus of kind of evergreen stuff comes up every session, we don't have to go over that again, et cetera. And then my second thing was you had mentioned that everything's a blank slate as you start the new session. All those old bills that didn't pass disappeared. How does that really, so how does that work? So you, for instance, we've talked about this in previous updates. It's a fact of life for all of you that you work hard on stuff and then it doesn't get passed. Are you starting from square one again truly with that legislation in the next session if you try and bring it up again? Or do you, is, do you, is there any advantage to that legislation conferred by the fact that you've gotten a certain, you know, made it a certain way? So yes and no. So I have filed about a 40 bills. That's, okay, it's, it's average. Some of those bills are refiles. All we've done has gone back and changed the, the dates from, you know, 2020 to 2022. And those were, we will refile, but or and the process starts from scratch. So I may have a bill that has gotten through the committees and is sitting in ways and means and the session ends. I start from the beginning. The bill gets filed, gets reported to a committee. There has to be a hearing. Hearing is scheduled, hearing occurs, then the committee has to decide whether to report it out favorably, goes to the next step. So anywhere it was in that process, it starts over. Right. Yeah. Which, you know, another theme of our conversations over the years have been the various frustrations that are kind of attendant to just being a politician in this state and in most states, I guess. But that sounds to me like that could be it. That's frustrating. I mean, you have to. Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's very frustrating. I would say it's very frustrating for me around our pharma or pharmaceutical bill, which is now the third time we filed it. It's very frustrating that we're not getting agreement on that from the house. And then there's other bills that are filed because they need to be out there and talked about their big or they're a really brand new idea. And so sometimes having those couple sessions really helps to refine the bill. We're doing a primary care bill. We did it last session. It wasn't really ready for prime time last session, but the process that we went through and the discussions that we have really helped to solidify that bill. So now it's been refiled. It's had a lot of changes made to it, but it's much more solid is the word I can think of. And we've had a lot of discussion. So it's in people's consciousness. It starts to get into people's consciousness. So it's very frustrating and it's also in a way really important because so many of these bills need we need attention and they make a difference. And so you can't just rush things through even though, you know, you should rush them through, but there is it's meant to be deliberative. It's set up that way. And I both understand it and find it frustrating. Yeah. Like our federal process, the structure of our federal government really was set right from the beginning to be slow, very methodical and very, you know, resistant to change in a lot of ways. But seemingly that makes for a more stable overall situation. And I like the idea. Thanks for explaining it just now because I like the idea that though you have to begin the process again at square one, you have all of that accumulated knowledge and that communication and that deliberation and that, you know, hashing out of things that you can bring right into it in the new iteration, I assume. So let's let's talk a little bit about the action. So we've been talking about the process and about bills and the abstract, but let's talk more specifically. And you know, I have my list here of things that I talked to you about each time because they're so important to you. That includes health care, both kind of physical and mental health care, housing, child care, family assistance, education, all these things that, you know, I know you're working hard at. So in whatever order you'd like, you know, just take us through some of the things that are really, you know, that are front and center for you at the moment. So as you said, my my big focus is health care. I mean, it's been what I've been doing in some form or the other since I've become a senator. And we are really looking at a couple of things. One is is is pharmaceutical and the cost of of prescription drugs. We're looking at the prime of the pharmacy benefit managers who are the middleman between the pharmacy companies and the insurers. Why you care about this is because they're the people that decide what drugs you have access to if you're a member of an insurance group and what you're not. And it's a real muddy, murky, opaque, yucky space. And we really need to fix that. We have a huge health care crisis right now, especially around workforce and the lack of workforce. There are many reasons for that. So we have some bills that we're going to address workforce, getting more people into the health care economy and making it easier for them to do their jobs. So there's a couple of bills and I'm, you know, I'm really focused on that. We have a bill that is looking at private equity and how that's changing the face of health care. And why you care about that is because private equity is a very short term game and health care can't be short term. So it's really changing the way we we do business and we deliver health care. A couple of bills from the past that I really am excited and interested about and think we might have a chance is we have a benefits for violent crime bill for police officers who have been attacked or harmed in the act of doing their job because of a violent crime. Right now, it's kind of up to the town to decide whether what kind of long term disabilities a police officer gets. And we want to make sure that it's the same across the board and that police officers get the maximum of the benefit. And these are for people who've been harmed and can't do their jobs anymore. So that that's one. And then we have a medically fragile children bill. So there's there the state supports families whose children are what we would call medically fragmented very significant complex physical health needs. We provide service to keep them at home. That has been woefully underfunded. These are kids that need full time skilled care. And so we're going to keep pushing to bring up those those rates so people get the care they need. There was another one and just went out of my head. Yeah, well, I'm just going to interject here for a second and say that one of the things that you were talking about really was reflected in in something that I was reading on your website. This idea of this crisis and it is a crisis in terms of just having enough people to provide the services and the care. And I know that you were happy to announce that their legislation that came through that would ensure that Massachusetts doesn't penalize people who fall behind on their debt, you know, student loans and other things like that in a way that that wouldn't allow them to get certification. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, these important jobs, et cetera. And I was like, OK, that's another. Again, it shows how many different facets there are to, you know, trying to do something as broad as what you're saying. My health care is my my thing, you say. And that just the way that that gets refracted is in thousands of little ways in which, you know, the thing I just said was said poorly. But none of that was an example of that. No, it is a deeply complex and deeply broken system. And when you if there were there's not a magic wand, right, you can't just go, I'll fix this and then everything will fall into place. Every piece of it, every stakeholder, if you think of it as an onion, it's many layers and you got to keep peeling that onion. And, you know, you say, oh, this is what the insurers are responsible. This is what for the hospitals are responsible for. This is what the doctors. This is what pharma and TBMs and imaging and and nonprofit and profit and, you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So it's a very, very complicated. Yeah. And I, you know, I think you can say that to us. And of course, we're, you know, we think, yeah, I guess it is complicated. But I really like the fact that talking to you, you have the you have the the anecdotes, the illustration, you know, just just the concrete examples to say, when I say complicated, this is what I'm talking about. Yeah. Yeah. And that's an important thing, I think, for people to understand, especially because it taxes your patients as a legislator, just to do the work that, you know, the most important stuff to you, you still have to follow the same process. Well, it's also taxing all of our patients, right? That we're like, why can't these people? Right. Right. I want to get to my doctor or my provider when I need to. My my my costs can't keep going up. I can't afford it. And I can't work through the maze of all of the forms and procedures and stuff I have to do just to get my care. So help me. I want I want it to be affordable. I want it to be accessible. And I want it to be good quality. Right. And I want to be able to afford it. And that's only reasonable. That is only reasonable. And even if people aren't only thinking about themselves or thinking about themselves even primarily, but just instead kind of looking and saying, you're right, man, this system really is broken. We really suck. What can we do about it? Well, we need you got, you know, we need the legislators to do something. And again, I think these conversations, I hope, for the folks who are tuning in will clarify and illuminate to some degree what you're up against and why it's take why these things take so long. Right. Right. But anyway, well, thanks. Bit of a digression there. Other things that you that you do want to highlight, though, for us? And I want to highlight that we will be looking really carefully at bills that address the housing crisis. I don't have I'm going to have a few small pieces in that. But it's something that when you start to look at health care, you know, what do people need? They need a roof over their head. They need food on their table and they need access to health care. And really close behind that is education. But if you don't have a roof over your head, it's really hard to have food and it's really, really hard to stay healthy. And so we have to have a real concerted effort to not only and homelessness, but also to have a state that's affordable for people. I mean, we know we know people who are making two hundred thousand dollars a year together and they can't live in Arlington. You can't buy a house in Arlington if that's what you make. And that just speaks very, very poorly for how we keep maintain our state, how we maintain our standards of living. How do we get people to come here? How do we get people to stay here? We need all of these people. And a lot of people are leaving because they can't afford it. They just can't afford it. And certainly I moved here in nineteen seventy eight and I could never afford my house today if I had to buy it. You could have moved here 20 years after that, 30 years after that, even, and still not be able to afford it. So, you know, that's we've got to take, you know, it's so we are so dependent. Our economy is so dependent on bringing workers and keeping workers. So we'll be lending all of our support to how do we increase housing? It's also affects, you know, wages, right? We either have to make housing affordable or continue to increase, increase, increase wages so people can afford it. Right. You know, and that's going to be really hard to do, especially in a recession. Yeah. And these things, as you said, you know, the timeframe for all this stuff is just it doesn't go into your increments like the legislation does. So again, we are talking at the very beginning of a session now. So we're only talking about the the things that matter to you, the things you plan to be working on over the course of the session in future updates over the next year and two years, you know, we'll be able to chart your progress and chart the progress of those bills, etc. But I do think it's again important to remind people what these what the things are that you, you know, that you are working the hardest to make happen. I don't want to leave anything on the table. I have a couple of other questions that don't have to do with specific legislation. So I want to give you one last shot at, you know, one of the really good things about technology is if you go on to my website, you will see all of the bills and you will see explanations for what each one is, what they do and mean like 40 bills a year. The 40 bills are up there and they're broken out by subject. And I'm happy to talk to anybody who wants to know more. And but that's that's a great place to go. I have an amazing staff that keeps that up to date. So and I know from talking to you, you know, formally and informally that you really love sinking your teeth into this stuff, both explaining it to folks if they have questions, but also just kind of figuring out how to make a workable solution or policy around these these issues. So I'm sure you're going to be spending plenty of time in the trenches in these coming months and years. And, you know, I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year's break so that you've got, you know, you're refreshed and ready to tackle these things anew. Let me, you know, ask you something slightly certainly related, but off the the immediate topic. And that is historic election back in November. Really great stuff in a lot of ways, lots of stuff for us to as Massachusetts residents and voters to say, all right, including our first female governor, you know, voted in as such and our attorney, you know, on on and on. So what do you think? What do you think of that? What do you think of the prospect of working with Governor Mora Healy? Because I think a lot and I'd ask you to address specifically the idea that maybe a lot of people would hold that, oh, wow, now there's a Democrat in the governor's mansion as well as the legislature, as usual, having its lopsided Democratic majorities. Either lots is going to happen or these guys are going to get along great, et cetera. I know that that's not how it necessarily works. So anyway, let me ask you. Well, first of all, I'm incredibly excited and very, you know, I love you guys, but it's really nice for for me to at this point in my life, look at a stage and see our governor, a lieutenant governor and our attorney general, all women and and especially a woman of color in the Attorney General's office. So it's very, very exciting for me. Um, can I just say one thing as a guy? It's really exciting for me to go ahead. The Democratic Party is a very, very large tent. And there are people in this state that are Democrats, true Democrats, who would be Republicans in other states. It's a very large tent. And so while people, you know, look at it and say, oh, it's all going to be easy sailing. It's never been easy sailing in the legislature. As you know, we the House and the Senate are very different. We have a range of people in each of those parties, you know, in each in the House and that are go from very, very ultra left to very, very conservative. So that's not changing because we have a Democrat in the in office, right? We don't know where Mora stands on a lot of things because she's never had to talk about it. And she's been the attorney general. We know she has a focus on certain things, but she certainly doesn't have it on everything and it's a brand new job and it's really different. So I think it's going to be good and I'm excited about it. But I don't expect that everything is going to happen like that because you still need the House, even if it did, even if she agreed with everything I believe in. You've got the House and you've got the Senate and that's where things get done. That's where policy gets really gets made and really gets laid on the table. So I have great expectations, but again, no guarantees at all. I, you know, I'm sure there are things we disagree on. And I have to say that it's hard for me to ever let you go without also kind of asking you to comment on things that are beyond your expertise, perhaps, but you're a knowledgeable, you know, an articulate person to ask, you know, things that are happening right now by with the Biden administration at the federal level with the new House majority as barely majority as as we've seen. Just share your thoughts on what's going on on the federal level here and what you see happening over these next couple of years. I think it's going to be a slog. I think it's going to be a big, a major slog because we really are, you know, I think we talked about this before. Thoughtful, well-researched people who do their work, who really care about an issue are really important. And we can all, I sit down with people across from me who are really, really smart, thoughtful healthcare experts and we don't agree. But I have absolute respect for them because what they want to do is solve a problem that I want to solve, right? And so we'll figure it out. But when people come in who either, it's all about their personal agenda or it's all about destroying something, that's when I get really upset. And I think that there just are a lot of people out there right now who really aren't interested in solving the problems. They're really interested in destroying the system. And that should be frightening for all of us. I will just point out one piece of this. Part of our healthcare problem is immigration. We have virtually stopped immigrating people into this country. We have never done that. We are a country of immigrants. They are the people right now who take care of your mother. They are the people that help our kids get food in schools. They are the people that do the jobs that keep our cities clean and safe. And they start doing basic work and then they work themselves up. And that's how it's been in this country. And it's just virtually stopped in the past eight years or whatever and we are suffering mightily for it. We need people to come into this country and help us fill our jobs. And it's not just healthcare, it's in every sector. And yet we can't have a real honest discussion about immigration without labeling everybody bad or everybody good or, you know, and we're in deep trouble, James, if we don't fix that problem. And we are certainly in deep trouble through healthcare. Yeah, and on that issue of immigration slash healthcare, because as you said, there is a strong, strong connection between those two, it's a spotty record for the Biden administration as well so far, so hard to, hard to. And Congress won't deal with it. And we have people coming into this country that have such incredible skills and we won't even acknowledge them at our, it's our loss. Yes, at our cost, yes, absolutely. All right, well on such a cheery note. Cheery note, yes. I do wanna thank you as always. I know you have got something to get to from here. It's been a long day already. You made the time. We really appreciate it. One thing I wanna say is that we are continuing to have virtual. Good. Office hours. Office hours. And if you go to my website, Cindyfriedman.org, you can, there'll be a thing to sign up for office hours if you're interested. So we're always happy to have people sign up and everybody knows where to find us. Well, everybody can tell I have a good time talking to this woman. I'm sure that you will as well. And I get answers and you will too. She is Cindy Friedman. She is our state senator. We really appreciate her taking the time to be here. We also appreciate your taking the time. I'm James Malan. This is Talk of the Town, a legislative update with our state senator, Cindy Friedman. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time.