On May 15, I received the Senate Legislator of the Year Award from the Disability Law Center.
It was a tremendous honor and meant a great deal to me personally—and in celebration of the work of our team and constituents. I was in the company of tremendous colleagues, like Rep. Jim O’Day and Rick Glassman who were also recognized.
Read on for the remarks I shared at the event.
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I am deeply honored to receive this award from the Disability Law Center.
This recognition means a great deal to me personally.
In celebration of the work of our team.
In the company of tremendous colleagues who are also being recognized.
And in honor of the many people and families whose voices and experiences inspired the legislation we passed and the advances we made, together, last year.
Let me start by acknowledging the incredible work the Disability Law Center does every single day. You are tireless advocates—fighting for dignity, and for equity.
You’re a watchdog when government fails, and a partner when it’s willing to do better.
This recognition is as much a reflection of your work as it is of mine.
When we set out to scale back Massachusetts’ Medicaid estate recovery program, the goal was simple: to bring fairness, compassion, and humanity back into a policy that for too long caused unnecessary pain.
That’s not who we want to be in Massachusetts.
We can be fiscally responsible without being punitive. We can support the sustainability of Medicaid without turning vulnerable families into collateral damage.
The reforms we passed bring us closer to that vision. They reduce the scope of estate recovery to what’s just federally required. They create transparency, clearer exemptions, and—most importantly—real protections for low-income families who already bear more than their share of hardship.
I want to take a moment to thank the people who made this legislation possible.
First, to the advocates—many of you in this room—who brought this issue out of the shadows. Your research, your expertise, your moral clarity—all of it was essential.
To the individuals and families who shared their stories: your courage changed minds. You turned data into truth and numbers into names. You showed legislators that estate recovery wasn’t an abstract policy—it was your mother’s house, your brother’s future, your family’s one remaining asset.
To my colleagues in the Legislature—Democrats and Republicans alike—who joined me in this fight. We proved that when we center our constituents in our policymaking, we can find common ground and move forward together.
Thank you to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for its willingness to engage deeply in the weeds of this policy and implement this law—amid every other single thing it’s juggling at this perilous moment.
As we know, this legislation is just one step. There is still so much more we must do.
We must continue to dismantle policies that deepen poverty, exclude participation, or treat care and dignity as nice-to-haves instead of the rights they are.
We have to better support family caregivers — especially spouses for goodness sake.
Strengthen and stabilize the turning 22 pipeline, and more.
We must redouble our lines of defense in the Commonwealth, endeavoring to shield our people from the worst consequences of current national actions.
So tonight, I accept this award not as a conclusion, but as an urgent call to keep going. Together, we will continue to fight for a Commonwealth where disability rights are human rights and where justice is not a promise, but a practice.
Thank you again for this incredible honor. I am proud to be in this fight with you.
