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Learn about Jo Comerford
Jo worked regionally and nationally to serve the people of western Massachusetts long before entering public office in January 2019.
After earning a Masters of Social Work from New York City’s Hunter College School of Social Work, Jo moved to western Massachusetts to continue organizing around prison reform and housing and shelter policy. Focused on increasing equity and opportunity for people in western Massachusetts, Jo contributed to the work of the Center for Human Development, American Friends Service Committee, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, National Priorities Project (NPP), and MoveOn. During her seventh year as NPP’s executive director, the organization received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Jo was elected to the State Senate to represent the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district in 2018 as a write-in candidate. She is the first woman to hold the seat.
Jo’s work
In her first term as a State Senator (2019-2020), Jo served as the Senate Chair for the Joint Committee on Public Health and the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. That same session, the Senate President asked Jo to lead the Senate working group charged with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts. Jo also represented the Senate on the statewide, multi-agency Food Security Task Force which launched during the COVID pandemic to address spiking food insecurity.
In her second term (2021-2022) Jo again served as the Senate Chair for the Joint Committee on Public Health and as the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. Jo was also appointed to be the Senate Chair of the newly-created Joint Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management. During this session, Jo also co-chaired the Special Legislative Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health and the Senate Working Group on Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care established after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
During the 2023-2024 legislative session (Jo’s third term), she was appointed as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, Acting Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, the Assistant Vice Chair of Ways and Means, and a member of the Joint Committees on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion and the Senate Committees on Rules and Global Warming and Climate Change. Jo was also a Senate Chair of the Food System Caucus and a Senate Representative on the statewide Food Policy Council. She was also Senate Chair of the 21st Century Agriculture Commission. Jo was appointed to represent the Senate on the Higher Education Capital Working Group and the Commission on Higher Education Quality and Affordability.
Now, in her fourth term in office (2025-2026), Jo will serve as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education for a second consecutive session. She will also serve as the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, advancing from Assistant Vice Chair in the 2023-2024 legislative session. Jo has also been appointed as a member of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, and the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion. She also served on the Temporary Rules Committee which drafted new Senate and Joint Rules for the current session.
For the complete list of Jo’s appointments, committees, and caucuses, please click here.
The team’s accomplishments
During her first term (2019-20200, Jo filed multiple bills that were passed into law, including legislation to create a state program focused on carbon sequestration and soil health, a study of the restart of the passenger rail along the Route 2 corridor, a bill to establish a net zero energy stretch building code, legislation to evaluate the impact of the Proposition 2½ taxation cap on education, and more.
In the 2021-2022 session, Jo led the passage of legislation to create a Foster Parents Bill of Rights, legislation to modernize the state’s electric grid and create a consumer advisory board to oversee the process, legislation to increase the climate readiness and health of K-12 public school buildings, legislation to designate the Official State Dinosaur (which was discovered by a woman paleontologist from Mt. Holyoke College), and more.
In the 2023-2024 session, Jo and her team celebrated the passage of legislation to create the first-ever state disaster relief program, legislation to transform and strengthen local and regional public health, legislation to reduce embodied carbon in buildings, legislation to prioritize solar development on parking lots and the built environment, legislation to end corrosive practices related to MassHealth estate recovery, legislation to mandate a gender X option on all state documents, legislation to ease the burdens faced by free-standing birth clinics, legislation to make it easier for farms to develop and sustain micro businesses, and more.
Jo also focuses on earmark funding for her district and funding for state programs that matter at home and across the Commonwealth. During her first three terms, Jo brought home nearly $18 million in direct earmarks for her district.
During her first three terms, Jo and her team also resolved about 2,875 constituent cases and continued to work to make government more accessible to western Massachusetts residents through both direct service and legislative work.
Jo’s bills for the 2025-2026 legislative session
In the 2025-2026 session, Jo and her team are working to support people-powered progress, filing 65 bills in eight major areas. From health and health care to energy, environment, and agriculture, Jo is committed to advocating on behalf of her constituents and bringing western Massachusetts issues to the forefront of discussions on Beacon Hill. More on Jo’s bills here.
Jo’s wife, Ann Hennessey, is a public school teacher. Jo and Ann have two children, both of whom attend public school. The Comerford Hennessey family lives in Northampton with their two dogs and two cats.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Email: jo.comerford@masenate.gov
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Jo worked regionally and nationally to serve the people of western Massachusetts long before entering public office in January 2019.
After earning a Masters of Social Work from New York City’s Hunter College School of Social Work, Jo moved to western Massachusetts to continue organizing around prison reform and housing and shelter policy. Focused on increasing equity and opportunity for people in western Massachusetts, Jo contributed to the work of the Center for Human Development, American Friends Service Committee, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, National Priorities Project (NPP), and MoveOn. During her seventh year as NPP’s executive director, the organization received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
Jo was elected to the State Senate to represent the Hampshire, Franklin, Worcester district in 2018 as a write-in candidate. She is the first woman to hold the seat.
Jo’s work
In her first term as a State Senator (2019-2020), Jo served as the Senate Chair for the Joint Committee on Public Health and the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. That same session, the Senate President asked Jo to lead the Senate working group charged with responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts. Jo also represented the Senate on the statewide, multi-agency Food Security Task Force which launched during the COVID pandemic to address spiking food insecurity.
In her second term (2021-2022) Jo again served as the Senate Chair for the Joint Committee on Public Health and as the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education. Jo was also appointed to be the Senate Chair of the newly-created Joint Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Preparedness and Management. During this session, Jo also co-chaired the Special Legislative Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health and the Senate Working Group on Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care established after the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
During the 2023-2024 legislative session (Jo’s third term), she was appointed as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education, Acting Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, the Assistant Vice Chair of Ways and Means, and a member of the Joint Committees on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion and the Senate Committees on Rules and Global Warming and Climate Change. Jo was also a Senate Chair of the Food System Caucus and a Senate Representative on the statewide Food Policy Council. She was also Senate Chair of the 21st Century Agriculture Commission. Jo was appointed to represent the Senate on the Higher Education Capital Working Group and the Commission on Higher Education Quality and Affordability.
Now, in her fourth term in office (2025-2026), Jo will serve as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Higher Education for a second consecutive session. She will also serve as the Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, advancing from Assistant Vice Chair in the 2023-2024 legislative session. Jo has also been appointed as a member of the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change, the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, and the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion. She also served on the Temporary Rules Committee which drafted new Senate and Joint Rules for the current session.
For the complete list of Jo’s appointments, committees, and caucuses, please click here.
The team’s accomplishments
During her first term (2019-20200, Jo filed multiple bills that were passed into law, including legislation to create a state program focused on carbon sequestration and soil health, a study of the restart of the passenger rail along the Route 2 corridor, a bill to establish a net zero energy stretch building code, legislation to evaluate the impact of the Proposition 2½ taxation cap on education, and more.
In the 2021-2022 session, Jo led the passage of legislation to create a Foster Parents Bill of Rights, legislation to modernize the state’s electric grid and create a consumer advisory board to oversee the process, legislation to increase the climate readiness and health of K-12 public school buildings, legislation to designate the Official State Dinosaur (which was discovered by a woman paleontologist from Mt. Holyoke College), and more.
In the 2023-2024 session, Jo and her team celebrated the passage of legislation to create the first-ever state disaster relief program, legislation to transform and strengthen local and regional public health, legislation to reduce embodied carbon in buildings, legislation to prioritize solar development on parking lots and the built environment, legislation to end corrosive practices related to MassHealth estate recovery, legislation to mandate a gender X option on all state documents, legislation to ease the burdens faced by free-standing birth clinics, legislation to make it easier for farms to develop and sustain micro businesses, and more.
Jo also focuses on earmark funding for her district and funding for state programs that matter at home and across the Commonwealth. During her first three terms, Jo brought home nearly $18 million in direct earmarks for her district.
During her first three terms, Jo and her team also resolved about 2,875 constituent cases and continued to work to make government more accessible to western Massachusetts residents through both direct service and legislative work.
Jo’s bills for the 2025-2026 legislative session
In the 2025-2026 session, Jo and her team are working to support people-powered progress, filing 65 bills in eight major areas. From health and health care to energy, environment, and agriculture, Jo is committed to advocating on behalf of her constituents and bringing western Massachusetts issues to the forefront of discussions on Beacon Hill. More on Jo’s bills here.
Jo’s wife, Ann Hennessey, is a public school teacher. Jo and Ann have two children, both of whom attend public school. The Comerford Hennessey family lives in Northampton with their two dogs and two cats.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Email: jo.comerford@masenate.gov
