By: Senator Katy Ives – August, 2018 The Massachusetts Legislature recently passed a $41.88 billion state budget for FY19 and directs a $367 million deposit into the Stabilization Fund, to ensure our state’s fiscal health and protect Massachusetts’ future. It also prioritizes our cities and towns, education, and those most in need of help […]
By: State Senator Ives – July, 2018 One of my budgetary priorities this year was to increase funding for the Foster Care Parent Campaign line item in the Fiscal Year 2019 State Budget. The House Budget maintained the funding levels at $250,000. The Senate version of the budget allocated $750,000 to expand the Foster Parent […]
Bu: State Senator Katy Ives – June, 2018 School shootings are becoming too common an occurrence across the country. The discussion of gun control and mental health treatment has surfaced as possible solutions and safety drills are now as common as fire drills. During this surreal time, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about a […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives – May, 2018 The State Senate included funding in the Fiscal Year 2018 supplemental budget for the Municipal Naloxone Bulk Purchase Trust Fund, which allows municipalities to purchase naloxone for municipal first responder agencies at a discounted rate. I filed an amendment to this supplemental budget that would allocate $150,000 […]
By State Senator Katy O’Connor Ives – March, 2018 One of the most important issues limiting our state’s economy as a whole, and families and residents individually, is the issue of childcare. The state of our economy is directly connected to the state of child care options for the work force. Though Massachusetts was one […]
By: State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – Jan. 2018 In the 2017 legislative session, I worked closely with Representative Frank Moran to get $1 million in state funding released that Northern Essex Community College (NECC) needed to move forward with plans to create a Hospitality and Culinary Arts Center in downtown Haverhill. This was a […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – Dec. 2017 I recently testified in front of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture on a bill I co-sponsored, S448 An Act Promoting Awareness of Safe Recreation in Public Waterways requesting that it be given a favorable recommendation. This bill will institute a statewide sewage discharge […]
By: Senator Katy Ives – Nov. 2017 The State Senate unanimously passed a comprehensive bill that would require higher education institutions in Massachusetts to set in place requirements on how campus police report and disclose an incident of dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. S.2191 filed by Senator Moore. An Act Concerning Sexual Violence on […]
By: Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives – October, 2017 I recently testified on a bill I filed S733, “An Act Relative to Access to Housing for First Responders,” This legislation would allow MassHousing, an independent, quasi-public state agency focused on providing financing for affordable housing, to create a special home loan program for first responders who […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives I recently testified before the Joint Committee on Public Health to encourage the favorable report of H1170 “An Act to Protect Little Lungs,” filed by Representative Paul Heroux. This bill would ban smoking in a car if a child is small enough to be in a car seat and carry […]
By State Senator Katy Ives – Aug 2017 The Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Mental Health license youth group homes throughout the state that house adolescents removed from their families. Over the past few years, the City of Haverhill has seen a significant surge in calls from group home staff, […]
BOSTON – Today, the State Senate passed an omnibus property tax relief bill S2124 – An Act improving real property tax abatements, application deadlines, and deferrals. This bill improves the property tax deferral program for active military personnel, senior citizens and for persons who are deaf. O’Connor Ives filed a bill for an Amesbury resident […]
By: State Senator Katy O’Connor Ives – June, 2017 The Massachusetts State Senate debated the Fiscal Year 2018 state budget last month, where I advocated for key provisions that will be beneficial to the constituents of my district and the Commonwealth. One of the amendments in the Senate Fiscal Year 2018 budget, which I co-sponsored, […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives May, 2017 The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is responsible for the stewardship of over 450,000 acres of land which include parks, beaches, forests, pools, skating rinks and campgrounds. DCR lost nearly 400 full-time positions (31% of its workforce) in the last seven years. As such, we need to […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives – April, 2017 Early Voting passed into law in 2014 and this past presidential election was the first in which residents were allowed to vote before Election Day. This is an advantageous concept for many people that want to vote but can’t get to the ballot box on one given […]