BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate to pass new energy affordability legislation that is projected to deliver billions in savings to ratepayers across the Commonwealth while keeping Massachusetts on track to meet its climate goals. 

An Act to save people money, repair the climate, and grow the economy tackles rising energy costs head-on by cutting unnecessary fees and surcharges, cracking down on predatory sales practices by energy suppliers, and steering the state away from expensive infrastructure projects that don’t deliver value for ratepayers.

“The surging cost of utilities in Massachusetts is straining budgets after a particularly cold winter and the beginning of an already hot summer,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “This legislation targets specific policies to reduce ratepayer costs while ensuring that our transition to clean energy remains a top priority.”

Key policies to save residents money in the Senate’s energy affordability legislation include:

• Cutting intermediary fees collected by utility companies when the state buys clean energy — up to $420 million in resident savings.

• Reviewing hidden fees by requiring regulators to reform these charges, particularly ones that spike during high-demand months — $750 million in resident savings.

• Evening out seasonal price spikes by giving regulators more flexibility in how and when prices are set — $780 million in resident savings.

• Investigating markups on electric bills by examining if and when customers have been overcharged when utilities didn’t actively shop for the best electricity rates — up to $1 billion in resident savings.

• Updating the state’s gas pipe repair program which is meant to incentivize utilities to fix aging, leak-prone gas pipes, but has ballooned in cost, making up an estimated 8-11% of a typical gas bill, while allowing companies to skip standard cost reviews. The bill narrows the program to focus only on pipes that actually need repair, phases it out by 2030, and restores normal oversight — $1.46 billion in resident savings.

• Cracking down on predatory energy suppliers by strengthening consumer protections and enforcement to protect residents from predatory energy suppliers that use aggressive sales tactics to lure customers in with low introductory rates only to sharply raise prices later — more than $650 million in resident savings.

• Helping utilities pay down debt without passing it to customers by allowing utilities to finance certain costs, such as storm recovery and grid upgrades, at lower interest rates instead of borrowing at higher costs and passing those costs on to residents — up to $7.1 billion in resident savings.

• Cutting red tape in energy projects by simplifying utility infrastructure project planning that often goes through multiple, disconnected approval processes, which can overwhelm regulators and often lead to duplicated or unnecessary spending, into a single, streamlined process — $1.7 billion in resident savings.

• Making solar and clean energy more affordable up front by creating a way for homeowners who want to install solar panels or battery storage but can’t afford the upfront cost, to finance that equipment through their utility bill over time — $540 million in resident savings.

The legislation also strengthens the Mass Save program which helps residents weatherize homes and upgrade to energy-efficient equipment, by making it more accountable and effective. The bill caps the program’s administrative spending, removes a requirement that utility companies automatically receive bonus payments, and creates a new oversight board to keep the program focused on results.

The bill preserves the state’s commitment to transitioning to clean energy by adjusting the pace of certain renewable energy purchasing requirements to reflect federal setbacks to offshore wind, supporting renewable natural gas made from food and organic waste, and allowing outside investment in upgrading the electric grid to handle growing demand. 

After passing 32-8 in the state Senate, the bill will now be reconciled with a different energy affordability bill that was previously passed by the House of Representatives before being sent to Governor Healey for her signature.

On the same day, the Senate also passed legislation to save municipalities and taxpayers money by requiring the creation of a new, reduced electric rate for low-wattage streetlights and parking lot lights. This bill was passed with bipartisan support in the Senate and sent to the House of Representatives for further review.

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature to pass legislation to strengthen early literacy education for young learners by ensuring reading instruction is rooted in proven, evidence-based practices.

Despite Massachusetts being recognized as a national leader in education and ranked best-in-the-nation for grade 4 reading on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress assessment—known as The Nation’s Report Card—only 40% of students scored proficient or advanced.

The legislation establishes statewide standards for evidence-based reading instruction, ensuring that every student from kindergarten to 3rd grade learns to read using phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and phonemic awareness, also known as the Science of Reading, which is widely viewed as providing the best building blocks for lifelong learning. 

The law also creates statewide standards for early literacy screening and reporting, improves educator training, and supports school districts with adopting new instructional materials and practices.

“It is completely unacceptable that less than half of children in Massachusetts are proficient in reading at their grade levels,” said Senator Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education. “We worked hard in the Education Committee crafting this critical legislation to ensure that educators use evidence-based early literacy curricula that are backed by science while leaving schools the flexibility to decide what curriculum is best for their students and teachers.” 

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is directed to create and maintain a list of high-quality early literacy curricula for school districts to select from. This ensures educators use effective curricula, while leaving schools the flexibility (including a temporary waiver process) to select the curriculum best suited for their community’s needs.

To support school districts with implementation, the legislation requires DESE to develop a high-quality, comprehensive K-3 early literacy curriculum to be made available to school districts at no charge.

The legislation also supports educators by requiring DESE to provide tools and resources that help school districts offer professional development that is aligned with evidence-based reading curricula for teachers, paraprofessionals, and reading specialists. 

It requires at least twice-yearly assessments to gauge every young learner’s reading progress, and requires schools to contact a parent or guardian within 30 days if a student has fallen significantly behind benchmarks and to propose a plan to support the student. It also formalizes dyslexia and literacy screening requirements by requiring schools to develop protocols for identifying potential neurological learning disabilities.

Many school districts in Massachusetts have already switched to evidence-based early literacy curricula with assistance from $35 million that the legislature provided for the state’s Literacy Launch program. To continue tracking progress, the law requires DESE to collect, aggregate, and publish annual statewide data on districts’ use of literacy curricula and instructional practices. 

After passing in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, this legislation was signed into law on June 26, 2026 by Governor Maura Healey.

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis is pleased to announce that the Massachusetts Legislature has authorized more than $5 million in Chapter 90 funds from the state to fund local transportation infrastructure in his district, as part of a $300 million allocation to support transportation-related improvements, including road and bridge repairs, that goes directly to municipalities across Massachusetts.

This funding is part of a larger multibillion dollar bond bill that also authorizes:

• $500 million to target and fast-track repairs to the roads that are in the worst condition, through the state’s Lifecycle Asset Management Program.
• $200 million to the MBTA for rail improvements, vehicle modernization, and the procurement of new vehicles.
• $200 million to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the repair and modernization of the roads and bridges under their care.
• $200 million to spur new transit-oriented housing construction with capital projects such as stormwater management, culverts, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

“I’m extremely pleased that the state legislature is providing these critical funds to our cities and towns for local transportation improvements,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “I know that this money will be put to good use in our communities improving roads, sidewalks, and other infrastructure.”

After passing in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, this legislation was signed into law on June 11, 2026 by Governor Maura Healey.

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature to pass a $1.56 billion supplemental budget primarily using Fair Share revenue from the state’s wealthiest earners to ease pressure caused by strained local school budgets and invest in education and transportation projects across the state, alongside new policy to lower housing costs and support immigrants.

Senator Lewis and the rest of the state delegation covering his district were able to include more than $2.3 million specifically allocated for projects in Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham, and Winchester, including various public school upgrades and road and sidewalk construction and repairs.

The legislation increases local reimbursements for special education services, sends significant funding to cities and towns to help with the costs of major winter storms, cuts taxes to jumpstart housing construction, and supports the operation of the MBTA, including the low-income fare relief program.

“This bill once again shows the amazing success of the Fair Share Amendment in action,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “The legislature is providing cities and towns with increased funding to support their local budgets during a difficult time, equipping the MBTA with critical funds to keep trains and buses moving, and addressing the literacy crisis with additional resources to support our students.”

Highlights of the supplemental budget include:

• $595 million to the MBTA for operational funding, commuter rail improvements, and the low-income fare relief program.
• $152 million to municipalities to help with the cost of special education services.
• $150 million to support high-quality and accessible early education and care.
• $100 million to help towns and cities recover from an extraordinarily costly winter.
• $40 million for early literacy initiatives.
• $10 million to address Massachusetts’ shrinking primary care workforce through scholarships for UMass Chan Medical School students pursuing family medicine if they commit to remaining in Massachusetts and serving populations in need for five years after graduation.
• $10 million for the Tomorrow’s Teachers program to encourage young educators to work in Massachusetts by investing in scholarships and loan forgiveness to educators who commit to teaching in Massachusetts public schools.
• $1 million to help public schools implement bell-to-bell cell-phone free school policies.
• $1 million for free legal defense services for immigrants (allocated from the state’s general funds), following the success of the legislature’s initial $5 million investment that created the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative.
• Incentivizing new affordable, moderate-income, and middle-income housing construction through a new targeted sales tax exemption for building materials in areas with the greatest need, designed to help offset rising costs driven by tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.
• Encouraging the use of sustainable aviation fuel through a new tax credit to help Massachusetts work toward its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

After passing in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, this legislation was signed into law on June 12, 2026 by Governor Maura Healey.