Malden Delegation Announces $249,750 Shared Streets and Spaces Program Award

BOSTON (September 6, 2024) —State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian are pleased to announce that the City of Malden has been awarded a $249,750 Shared Streets and Spaces Program grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

This state grant program provides project funding to help Massachusetts cities and towns design and implement changes to streets and intersections to make them safer and more welcoming for all community members.

The City of Malden will use their grant to construct a neighborhood pedestrian plaza in the Bell Rock neighborhood, new ADA-compliant curb ramps at seventeen intersections citywide, and to install crosswalks at fifty-nine locations citywide.

“I’m very pleased that the City of Malden is receiving a Shared Streets and Spaces grant,” said State Senator Jason Lewis. “This funding will expand accessibility in the community and increase safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.”

“It is exciting that Malden is a recipient of MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces Program Grant so that we can make our streets safer and accessible,” said State Representative Paul Donato. “This important funding will allow the community to create more citizen and walk-friendly zones, as well as ADA compliant ramps.”

“I am grateful that the City of Malden was awarded the MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces grant,” said State Representative Steven Ultrino. “The funding will construct safe and accessible infrastructure around Malden to promote road safety among pedestrians and drivers.”

“I am glad to see Malden receive this critical funding to improve the safety of the City's roadways,” said State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian. “The Shared Streets and Space program funding will improve the safety for vehicle drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists through improved, ADA-compliant curb ramps and new crosswalks across the City.”

“Malden is proud of being a walkable city,” said Malden Mayor Gary Christenson. “A big thank you to our State Delegation for their commitment to enhancing our road, sidewalk, and traffic signal accessibility! This grant ensures that our residents will continue to reap the benefits of safe access to shops, restaurants, parks, and recreation.”

The Shared Streets and Spaces grant program is funded by the Massachusetts legislature.

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Press Contact:

Hannah Li

Office of State Representative Steve Ultrino

Hannah.Li@MAHouse.gov

Malden Delegation Celebrates Passage of Massachusetts Parentage Act

BOSTON (September 6, 2024) —State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian joined their colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature to pass An Act to ensure legal parentage equality, also known as the Massachusetts Parentage Act, extending the full rights of parentage to LGBTQ+ families and families created via assisted reproduction.

This legislation dismantles archaic legal barriers to basic parenting responsibilities for modern families, enabling all parents to legally attend and make decisions during medical appointments, manage a child’s finances, participate in educational decisions, and provide authorizations for a child’s travel.

“All parents and families should have the same parenting rights and protections, regardless of the gender identity or sexual orientation of the parents or the use of assisted reproduction,” said State Senator Jason Lewis. “I’m proud that Massachusetts continues to be a safe and welcoming place for all families to raise their children.”

“As Chair of the Foster Care Caucus and the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Commission, I frequently see first-hand the challenges residents experience in attempting to build their families. The Massachusetts Parentage Act takes important strides in modernizing state law to reflect a common pathway to parentage for all Massachusetts residents, particularly for LGBTQ+ families,” said State Representative Paul Donato. “I want to thank my colleagues for prioritizing this vital legislation in ensuring that all Massachusetts residents have the same rights and opportunities to build their families.”

“The Parentage Act reflects and legally recognizes the many ways families are formed today. I’m grateful that the parental rights of parents and families are now protected regardless of martial status, gender identity, sexual orientation of the parents, or the circumstances of the child’s birth,” said State Representative Steven Ultrino. “This piece of legislation is a step forward in creating equality for families of all kinds across the Commonwealth.”

“I was proud to join the full legislature to vote in support of this bipartisan bill to protect and honor the diversity of families and parents in the Commonwealth,” said State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian. “As the nation’s leader in recognizing marriage equality 20 years ago, Massachusetts will continue to serve as a model for the country and the world in advancing human rights for all residents, including those in the LGBTQ+ community, with the passage of the Parentage Act.”

Twenty years ago, Massachusetts led the nation by legalizing same-sex marriage. The Parentage Act continues this work by updating the Commonwealth’s laws so that common paths to parentage may be utilized equally by all families, regardless of marital status. It also creates a new path to parentage for individuals who are ‘de facto’ parents and ensures that every child and parent has the same rights and protections without regard to the marital status, gender identity, or sexual orientation of the parents, or the circumstances of the child’s birth.

The Parentage Act also makes critical updates to laws related to assisted reproduction, including surrogacy and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). It outlines rights, requirements, procedures, and safeguards for parents, donors, surrogates, and others involved in the process. Further, it establishes clear paths to parentage for individuals or couples utilizing assisted reproduction and surrogacy in order to provide legal recognition and status prior to the child’s birth.

For many families, non-biological parents are their child’s parent in every way except being legally recognized as such. The Parentage Act legally recognizes the importance of relationships between children and parents in modern families and affords individuals who have been acting in a meaningful parental role for a significant amount of time the opportunity to seek full legal rights befitting their relationship. It also provides notice, and an opportunity to be heard, to existing parents, and adds safeguards against abuse and protections for domestic violence survivors and military parents.

After final passage in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Parentage Act was signed into law by Governor Maura Healey on August 9, 2024.

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Press Contact:

Hannah Li

Office of State Representative Steve Ultrino

Hannah.Li@MAHouse.gov

Malden Delegation Joins Legislature to Pass Wage Equity Legislation

BOSTON (August 23, 2024) —State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representatives Paul Donato, Steve Ultrino, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian joined their colleagues in the Massachusetts legislature to take a significant step towards closing the gender and racial wage gap in the Commonwealth by passing An Act relative to salary range transparency.

Known as the “Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act,” after the first woman to serve as U.S. Labor Secretary, this legislation requires employers with 25 or more employees to disclose a salary range when posting an open position and protects an employee’s right to ask their employer for the salary range for a position when applying for a job or seeking a promotion.

“The passage of this important legislation continues our commitment to closing wage gaps for women and people of color in Massachusetts,” said State Senator Jason Lewis. “Improving salary transparency has been proven to reduce pay disparities and improve pay equity.”

“This important piece of legislation is critical in ensuring a competitive and equitable workplace for all in Massachusetts,” said State Representative Paul Donato. “Additionally, I am proud of my House colleagues for overwhelmingly passing this bipartisan legislation to help empower employees, while fighting the racial and gender pay gaps that persist throughout the Commonwealth.”

“This legislation is a step forward in ensuring equal pay and closing wage gaps, especially for women and people of color who face persistent workplace inequality.” said State Representative Steven Ultrino. “With this crucial piece of legislation, we will continue to strengthen the future of the Commonwealth by empowering our workers."

“I was proud to join the full legislature in supporting the Francis Perkins Workplace Equity Act, not only to close gender and racial wage gaps, but to empower workers broadly across the Commonwealth,” said State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian. “Greater pay transparency is a tool for correcting gender and racial wage disparities. Salary information further empowers all workers with greater leverage as they navigate the job market and seek income aligned with the value of their work.”

This new law makes Massachusetts the eleventh state to mandate pay transparency by requiring employers to disclose salary ranges, according to the National Women’s Law Center. It builds upon the Legislature’s 2016 passage of the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, which prohibited wage discrimination based on gender and brought long-sought fairness and equality to workplaces in the state.

In Greater Boston, the 2023 gender wage gap was 21 cents, according to the Boston Women’s Workforce Council. This gap becomes more pronounced when comparing white men and women of color: Black women face a 54-cent wage gap and Hispanic women face a 52-cent wage gap.

The bill also requires employers with more than 100 employees to share their federal wage and workforce data reports with the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, which would then be responsible for compiling and publishing aggregated wage and workforce data to help identify gender and racial wage gaps by industry.

After final passage in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the bill was signed into law by Governor Maura Healey on July 31, 2024.

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Press Contact:

Hannah Li

Office of State Representative Steve Ultrino

Hannah.Li@MAHouse.gov