Special to the Patriot-Bridge
Representative Marjorie C. Decker and Senator Sal N. DiDomenico published the Poverty Commission’s final report and filed a transformational anti-poverty omnibus bill, SD.2872/HD.4622, An Act significantly alleviating poverty (ASAP), which was informed by the report’s recommendations. The Commission report lays out a roadmap for addressing poverty over the next 10 years and the ASAP Act compiles some of the most immediately actionable recommendations presented in the report and policy proposals filed by legislators from across the state. If passed, the ASAP Act will lift up Massachusetts working families and individuals in the short- and long-term future by putting cash in their pockets, expanding their employment rights, and providing meaningful wealth-building opportunities.
As Co-Chairs of the Massachusetts Poverty Commission, DiDomenico and Decker’s efforts to pull this comprehensive legislative proposal together were informed by recommendations the Commissioners have developed over the past year, and by oral and written testimony provided by advocates and individuals with lived experience in poverty at a series of public hearings across the state. The Commission’s findings aligned with what DiDomenico and Decker have known from leading on anti-poverty issues in the State House for over a decade: we can significantly reduce the poverty rate in the Commonwealth by providing people with increased direct cash benefits and more economic opportunities.
“As the federal government abandons its role to provide a safety net for our poorest residents, this ambitious bill would ensure our state fills the gaps to protect those in need and takes a monumental step forward by lifting vulnerable individuals and families out of poverty,” said Senator Sal N. DiDomenico. “I am proud of our Poverty Commission report because it lays the groundwork for our sweeping legislation that meets the moment and importantly takes a longer view at what our state can do across all sectors and government bodies to methodically address the fundamental causes of poverty. The insight we have gained from leading the Commission has led us to develop this commonsense legislation which employs evidence-based policies that will expand our safety net and provide real pathways to economic security for low-income residents across the Commonwealth. It is a privilege to file this bill and report alongside my friend and colleague, Rep. Marjorie Decker. I am excited to fight for these transformative investments that will ensure all our neighbors can access nutritious foods, live in a safe home, earn a stable income, get the medical care they need, and build wealth for themselves and their families.”
“This bold and broad-reaching legislation offers a comprehensive approach, looking at the multiple root causes of poverty and identifying the many levers that need to be pulled at once if we are going to significantly reduce it,” said Representative Marjorie C. Decker. “The policies in this bill are the most effective tools we have to substantially alleviate financial hardship and build economic security, which we know not only from the recommendations of the Commission, but also from years of studies and pilot programs. These are challenging times as the federal government dismantles the social safety net, taking resources from us. We are now being asked to do more with less, but we are also in a moment when ambitious and assertive action is required to address economic distress in Massachusetts. This bill serves as a path to reducing poverty, which evidence shows is more cost effective in the long run. As someone who grew up in poverty and as a longtime champion for measures to lift up struggling residents and families, I am proud to file this bill alongside my friend and colleague Sen. DiDomenico, who for a decade has been my partner on these issues in addition to serving as Co-Chair of the Poverty Commission.”
Poverty Commission Report Overview
The Poverty Commission report, Pathways to Possibility: A Ten Year Roadmap to Expand Economic Mobility in Massachusetts, is an in-depth analysis that details the state of poverty in our Commonwealth, outlines the complex and overlapping root causes of poverty, and offers expansive and forward-looking recommendations that will drive major reductions in the poverty rate over the next decade.
The Commission’s policy prescriptions include potential legislative and regulatory proposals that address four key areas: Access to Essential Support, Stability for Individuals and Families, Opportunity for Economic Mobility, and Systems Coordination and Implementation. This report is intended to serve as a roadmap to greatly reduce poverty in Massachusetts by 2035. These recommendations are grounded in evidence, shaped by the experience and stories of community members that are most impacted, and can be collectively owned by leaders, advocates, citizens, and professionals who understand the urgency and possibility of this work.
ASAP Act Overview
The ASAP Act is a combination of some of the most effective anti-poverty policies currently proposed in the Legislature and new proposals informed by discussions with Poverty Commission members and testimony at Commission hearings. The bill focuses on three main policy levers that can lift Massachusetts residents out of poverty: direct cash benefits, worker rights and wages, and wealth-building opportunities.
Putting Cash in People’s Pockets
Creating and expanding cash benefit programs for low-income residents:
• Lifting Our Families out of Deep Poverty: increasing the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) cash benefits program for pregnant individuals, families and caregivers, and increasing the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) cash benefits program until every eligible person is lifted out of deep poverty (under 50% of the federal poverty line).
• Protecting Maternal Health: guaranteeing that all pregnant people can access TAFDC cash benefits from the moment they know about their pregnancy.
• Codifying TAFDC Clothing and Rental Allowances: ensuring that eligible parents and pregnant people can access $50 per month in rental assistance and the annual $500 clothing allowance for their children.
• Codifying EAEDC Rental Allowance: guaranteeing that eligible elderly, disabled, and child residents can access the $50 per month rental assistance every year.
• Updating Child Support Policies: prohibiting the government from taking any amount of child support payments from low-income parents and giving parents the ability to decide not to pursue child support if it could be unsafe or destabilizing for them or their children.
• Enhancing Tax Credits: increasing Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits for low-income workers and increasing the state’s Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC) for eligible parents and caretakers. This provision will also expand EITC eligibility to low-income workers of all ages, legal residents, workers with large families, and all children up to age 18.
• Establishing a Guaranteed Income Pilot: creating a cash stipend of $1,000 per month for 5 years to any individual transitioning out of foster care between the ages of 18-23.
• Replacing Stolen Food Assistance Benefits: directing the state to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cash benefits stolen by criminal rings through skimming or phishing.
• Improving Language Access: requiring all public-facing state government agencies, and the outside service providers they rely on, to offer interpretation services and translate vital documents for non-English speakers. This will ensure that all residents, regardless of the language(s) they speak, can better access the public services they need, including cash benefits and unemployment assistance.
• Providing Menstrual Products: ensuring and expanding access to free menstrual products, without stigma, to all menstruating individuals in all public schools, homeless shelters, prisons, and county jails.
Protecting and Empowering Workers
Safeguarding and increasing wages for workers and empowering job applicants:
• Protecting Workers’ Wages: enhancing the Attorney General’s ability to ensure companies pay their employees the wages they deserve and hold employers accountable when they steal workers’ wages, ensuring workers have remedies and relief when experiencing employer retaliation, and empowering workers to fight wage theft.
• Streamlining Automatic Record Sealing: creating an automated record sealing process so that individuals with eligible past offenses who have served their time can find a job and access housing without stigma.
• Eliminating Subminimum Wage for Farmworkers: raising farmworker wages from $8 per hour to at least the Massachusetts minimum wage, which is currently $15 per hour.
• Eliminating Subminimum Wage for People with Disabilities: prohibiting employers’ ability to pay a subminimum wage to individuals with disabilities and ensure these workers earn at least the Massachusetts minimum wage, which is currently $15 per hour.
Building Wealth
Guaranteeing every resident has the opportunity to accumulate assets and build financial security for themselves and their families:
• Establishing a Baby Bonds Program: creating a trust fund for eligible children that can be used after turning 18 to pursue wealth-building ventures like seeking more education, buying a house, or starting a business. Children who are born into families with low income or are in the state child welfare system will be eligible for this wealth-building savings account seeded by the state.
• Creating a Matched Savings Program: establishing a state-funded matched savings program, which will be available to people whose incomes are below 80% of the area median income. Participants will be entered into a program where they can receive financial education coaching and an account that will provide $4 in matching funds from the state for every $1 they save. Graduates of the program can use their savings on a wide range of wealth-building activities, such as a down payment on a home, higher education for themselves or a dependent, and purchasing a car or other forms of transportation.
• Building Community Wealth through the ENOUGH Act: implementing an innovative strategy to fight poverty by investing resources in high-need neighborhoods and collaborating with community residents to help drive decisions that will ensure investments increase economic mobility.
ASAP Act information
The bill docket numbers are SD.2872 and HD.4622, and they won’t receive an official bill number until they are released from the Committee on Rules and then referred to their respective committees.
Poverty Commission Report information
The Special Legislative Commission to Study Poverty was established by statute in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, enacted on September 30, 2021, and completed its comprehensive study between April 2024 and June 2025. The 34-member Commission, chaired by Senator DiDomenico and Representative Marjorie Decker, was tasked with studying poverty in the Commonwealth and developing recommendations to significantly reduce poverty over the next 10 years. This is the final report of the Special Legislative Commission to Study Poverty.