As we close out the year, take a look back at some of what my team and I got up to in 2025, through pictures.
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January
On January 1, I started off the year by being sworn in for my fourth term as the state senator for the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district. I am fifth from the left, in the rust-colored jacket.
February
On February 28, I joined legislative colleagues, municipal officials and many transportation advocates for a packed-room briefing from the MassDOT Secretary and representatives from MassDOT’s Rail and Transit Division on the progress made on Northern Tier Passenger Rail.
March
On March 24, I co-chaired a Ways and Means budget hearing focused on education and local aid funding. The largest room on the UMass Amherst campus was filled to capacity, and then some, with advocates from across western and north central Massachusetts pushing for fairer K-12 education funding throughout the state.
During the hearing, I pressed Education Secretary Dr. Pat Tutwiler about the inequities in the K-12 school funding formula. This continues to be a top priority for my team and me.
April
On April 25, I had the real honor of speaking to graduate students at UMass Amherst’s School of Public Policy. The students asked about topics ranging from my own career journey to the impact of current federal actions to life lessons for rising leaders. You can read my remarks here.
May
In May, I chaired a Higher Education Committee hearing where we heard from Governor Maura Healey and members of her administration on the BRIGHT Act, a higher education bond bill that she filed.
Higher education is under attack across the country and at the highest levels of government — but here in Massachusetts we’re committed to protecting our institutions, faculty, staff, and students, and to ensuring that Massachusetts’ historic leadership in higher education not only endures, but that we expand opportunity and access to our world-class higher education system.
June
In June, I joined with Representative Natalie Blais to host a briefing and discussion on a bill we filed, An Act to provide a sustainable future for rural schools.
Rural school districts in Massachusetts face unique and long-standing fiscal challenges. The 2019 Student Opportunity Act established the Commission on the Long-term Fiscal Health of Rural School Districts, to identify solutions to these challenges, and our omnibus bill incorporates the commission’s 36 recommendations, to ensure that students in every corner of the Commonwealth receive the resources and opportunity they deserve.
Listen to a recording of the briefing here.
July
No place else I’d rather be on July 4 than the Center for New Americans 17th Annual Naturalization Ceremony where cheers rang out for 53 new Americans from 27 nations.
August
In August, I traveled to Maine with colleagues to learn more about Maine’s approach to PFAS contamination in agriculture. Maine was the first state in the country to pass legislation to address the impact of toxic sewage sludge applications on farmland.
We met with Maine legislators, farmers, and other state officials to hear about the lessons they learned while enacting strong policies to protect soil and food from further contamination, as well as providing critical support to help PFAS-affected farms stay in business.
September
In September, I was delighted to join the launch of a new Campus Food Pantry at UMass Amherst. This long-time vision is now a reality — with thanks to all of the students, staff, and faculty who have advocated for it for years and to the Amherst Survival Center.
I’m grateful to have such steadfast legislative partners in Representative Mindy Domb, Rep. Blais, and Congressman McGovern, all of whom are champions for greater food security in the Commonwealth.
October
In October, the Senate passed a bill I filed in partnership with Rep. Blais, An Act relative to menstrual product ingredient disclosure, unanimously.
Currently, manufacturers of menstrual products are not required to disclose their ingredients, despite studies uncovering PFAS chemicals and heavy metals, including arsenic and lead, in various products, limiting the ability of consumers to make informed choices.
The bill was inspired by students at Frontier Regional High School in Deerfield and requires ingredient disclosure on any menstrual product sold within the Commonwealth.
November
Every November, hundreds gather for Monte Belmonte’s Walk for the Food Bank — trekking north for two days along the Connecticut River to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight hunger and food insecurity. On the walk’s second day, Monte walked as Fred Rogers from Northampton to Greenfield — a perfect choice for this time.
Hunger, food insecurity, and diet-related diseases are preventable. It takes care, courage, and action to change the status quo. It takes power — individual and collective power. We can and must leverage both.
December
In December, I was glad to join the joyous, love-filled Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage as thousands flocked to Northampton to support its work with courageous survivors and its mission for a world free of violence and relationship abuse.
