MDDC Priority & Endorsed Legislation

Learn more about the MDDC's legislative priorities and endorsed bills for the 2025-2026 legislative session.

Each legislative session, the MDDC selects bills that aim to better the lives of people with developmental disabilities (PWDDs.) We also serve as an objective resource to policymakers and provide information about how policies impact the lives of PWDDs. Citizen Members have opportunities to share their lived experiences with lawmakers, participate in advocacy engagement activities, and present testimony at the State House and/or on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

2025-2026 Legislative Priorities

Housing

H.1481/S.1004 – An Act to create affordable homes for persons with disabilities. This bill will improve a housing program called the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP). The state runs the AHVP program. Many adults with disabilities do not earn or have enough money to pay rent. This program uses state money to help these adults afford their rent. This legislation would make it easier for people with disabilities to apply for help with rent and for the Housing Authorities to assist people with disabilities to live in safe and stable homes. Representatives Consalvo and Decker, Senator Kennedy.

H.2569 – An Act expanding the availability of adaptable housing for people with disabilities and seniors. The bill ensures more accessible housing units and workplaces are available in the state by bringing certain buildings under the purview of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (AAB) when newly built or when major renovations take place. Representative Barber.

Family

H.1852/S.1164 – An Act to prohibit the discrimination against adults with disabilities in family and juvenile court proceedings. Parents should not be denied the right to raise their children solely based on their disability. This bill requires courts to use evidence, not assumptions, to determine if a parent’s disability causes actual harm to a child. Courts will have to explain in writing if a parent’s disability is a negative factor in custody and parenting time decisions and assess if the harm can be avoided with accommodations (i.e., adaptive equipment or supportive services). Representative Livingstone and Senator Lovely.

Direct Care Workforce

H.2104/S.1325 – An Act relative to meeting human service demand by modernizing incentives for the direct care workforce. This legislation would require salaries for direct care staff and direct support professionals working in human services to meet or exceed the 75th percentile for comparable jobs, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It also mandates salary increases for other personnel categories, including front-line supervisors, directors, and clinicians, but excludes top-level executives such as CEOs and CFOs from these adjustments. Legislation would not allow reduced or delayed funding for social services or long-term support programs. Representatives Garballey and Cataldo, Senator Feeney. 

H.1394/S.886 – An Act relative to family members serving as caregivers. The unrelenting workforce crisis has made it hard and sometimes impossible to hire workers to support people with disabilities to live as independently as possible in the community. This legislation would allow MassHealth to pay family members for their caregiving service which would help people with disabilities to remain in their chosen home. Representative O’Day and Senator Lovely.

Community Inclusion & Participation

H.256/S.102 – An Act requiring universal changing stations in public buildings. The legislation would require at least one universal changing station to be installed and maintained in state owned and maintained public buildings or a place of public accommodation containing a public toilet that is newly constructed, reconstructed or remodeled on or after January 1, 2027. Representatives Lawn and Garballey, Senator Barrett.

Education

H.650/S.436 – An Act relative to affirming and maintaining equal access to public education for all children. This legislation requires assessments and materials used to evaluate a student to be provided/administered in the child’s primary language to show accurate information about what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally. Representatives Moran and Peisch, Senators Payano.

Choice

H.261/S.155 – An Act relative to supported decision-making agreements for certain adults. This bill would provide an alternative to guardianship by allowing adults, including individuals with disabilities, to maintain their rights and independence by making decisions about their own life with a team of chosen supporters. Representatives Livingstone and Finn, Senator Lovely.

Healthcare

H.1360/S.869 – An Act relative to preventing discrimination against persons with disabilities in the provision of health care. Everyone should be treated fairly at the doctor’s office and hospital. Too many people with disabilities are treated unfairly in medical situations. Some medical professionals believe that having a disability means these individuals have a worse quality of life or that the lives of people with disabilities are worth less than the lives of people without disabilities. This bill would prohibit doctors, medical providers and other public/private entities from withholding or de-prioritizing lifesaving care due to a person’s perceived quality of life stemming from a disability. If passed, people with disabilities would not be sent to the end of the line for treatment. Representatives Domb and Howard, Senator Gomez.

H.242/S.149 – An Act to enhance standards of care for those with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. This bill seeks to create an integrated state plan to develop training and education for health care providers, as well as establishing appropriate standards of care. Representatives Garballey and Barber, Senator Lewis.

H.1366/S.866 – An Act to protect medically fragile children. This would ensure children and adults with complex medical needs receive Continuous Skilled Nursing (CSN) services authorized by MassHealth as medically necessary. CSN services provide critical care to the most medically fragile children and adults at home/in the community who would otherwise need to be in a pediatric/elder nursing home or hospital intensive care unit. There is a shortage of a highly skilled workforce needed to care for this population. Low reimbursements rates have created barriers to access these services and there are extremely high staff turnover rates. Too often, providers are unable to attract the skilled nurses needed to do the job. Representatives Garballey and Haggerty, Senator Friedman.

Services & Supports

H.752/S.313 – An Act strengthening transitional planning and increasing accountability for persons with disabilities and their families. This legislation would improve reporting on people with disabilities approaching age 22 and create a commission to improve transition planning and outcomes. Representative Whipps and Senator Comerford.

H.276/S.150 – An Act relative to persons with developmental disabilities. This legislation adopts the federal definition of developmental disabilities. Representative Jim O’Day and Senator Joan Lovely.

Consumer Protection

H.1278/S.210 – An Act expanding wheelchair warranty protections for consumers with disabilities. This legislation aims to make the repair of wheelchairs more timely. Representative O’Day and Senator Cronin.

2025-2026 Endorsed Bills

Safety & Violence Prevention

H.243/S.139 – An Act updating terminology and investigative practices related to the protection of persons with disabilities. The legislature passed Nicky's Law several years ago, creating a registry of individuals who have been found to have abused individuals with IDD. The bill seeks to expand that to MassHealth Day Habilitation programs, where some of the most vulnerable individuals with IDD receive programming and services. The bill also aims to streamline the functions of the Disabled Persons Protection Commission. The language will update and strengthen the abuser registry by aligning it with the regulations of Nicky’s Law. Representatives Garballey and Cataldo, Senator Keenan.

H.3655/S.2348 – An Act facilitating better interactions between police officers and persons with autism spectrum disorder (a.k.a., The Blue Envelope Bill). This bill aims to make interactions between people with autism and police officers safer. Representatives Domb and Garballey, Senator Comerford.

H.2657 – An Act establishing a Purple Alert system in the commonwealth. This aims to establish a Purple Alert program throughout the state that will help when there is a person with a disability who is lost or missing. Sometimes, people with IDD have a tendency to wander or can get lost, and this system would notify the public and law enforcement with descriptions, photographs, and other information about the person with a disability who is missing so that they can be found and helped promptly and safely. Representative Jack Lewis.

Education

H.245 – An Act regarding the use of aversive therapy. This bill prohibits the use of physical pain to change the behavior of a person with a physical, intellectual, or developmental disability. It also prohibits programs treating persons with disabilities from denying them reasonable sleep, food, shelter, bathroom access, and other human needs. Representative Gregoire.

H.736/S.435 – An Act to establish de-escalation training in student transportation. This legislation requires training relative to de-escalation tactics approved by the commissioner of education for all school bus operators. If employed, the operator’s employer shall pay for the cost of the de-escalation training. Representative Vargas and Senator Payano.

History & Transparency

S.2102 – An Act relating to public access to historical records. This bill requires that all records from state institutions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental health conditions be open to the public for inspection. This includes permission to copy the record when it’s been 75 years since the record was originally created. Senator Barrett.

H.232/S.137 – An Act dignifying individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This bill shifts the language throughout multiple sections of the Massachusetts General Laws to use more up to date and respectful terminology and language that relate to individuals with disabilities. It replaces terms such as "handicapped," "disabled," and "the R word" with more accurate designations like "persons with disabilities," "persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities," and more. Representative Michael Finn and Sean Garballey and Senator Patricia Jehlen.

Community Inclusion & Participation

S.101 – An Act to require closed captioning in telecommunications in public areas. This bill mandates that public establishments provide accommodations of closed captioning (CC) on televisions that have CC capability during regular hours. Senator Barrett.

H.602 – An Act concerning athletic activities of students with disabilities. This aims to establish “Unified Sports Program” that are designed to combine groups of students with and without disabilities together. This would ensure that students with disabilities have the same chance to participate in physical education and try out for school sports programs with reasonable accommodations and supports to participate the most that they can. Representative Kevin Honan.

Healthcare

H.3946 – An Act relative to health insurance coverage for hearing aids. This bill will ensure health insurance companies cover the cost of hearing aids for adults and define them as Durable Medical Equipment. Representatives Garballey and Giannino.

H.1351/S.871 – An Act ensuring equal access to medical treatments essential for people with a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or autism. This legislation would require coverage for habilitative and rehabilitative medically necessary treatments for individuals aged 21 and older for people with developmental disability, intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder. It would also cover both dedicated and non-dedicated augmentative and alternative communication devices and/or tablets. Representative Christine Barber and Senator John Keenan.

H.282/S.168 – An Act to increase the safety of individuals with disabilities relying on life-support equipment. This legislation would require a hospital discharge plan and review to increase accountability for medical equipment use and monitoring. Representative David Rogers and Senator Patrick O’Connor.

H.1198/S.746 – An Act to improve patient access to non-emergency medical transportation. This legislation would improve patient access to non-emergency medical transportation. Representative Daniel Hunt and Senator Paul Feeney.

Services & Supports

H.4180 – An Act relative to intellectual disabilities for DDS services. This policy would amend the General Laws and shift the eligibility of Developmental Services in the State. It would make it that DDS can’t deny a person services on the basis of an IQ test alone but should also take other evaluations into consideration as well. This way, people with developmental disabilities who may have significant needs, but who don’t have an intellectual disability, are still able to get the services they need. Representative Colleen Garry.

Adopted 3/12/2025. Subject to change.