Newton Elected Officials | Senator Cindy Creem

Allows drivers to have the $25 fee for contesting a ticket waived or refunded, if they are successful in contesting the ticket. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Providing for the Waiver of Fees for Contesting Motor Vehicle Infractions

This bill would allow otherwise eligible individuals to register to vote on the day of an election or primary provided that the individual has complied with required identification and residency requirements. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Establishing Election Day Registration

Provides for leave -- either paid or unpaid, and with documentation -- at workplaces of 50 or more employees, to address issues arising from an employee's status as victims of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault. Up 10 to 15 days shall be available in a 12-month period, but only after the employee's regular leave has been depleted. See here for full text and history.

— An Act to Establish Employment Leave and Safety Remedies to Victims of Domestic Violence, Stalking and Sexual Assault

Grants a tenant protection from eviction and discrimination that is solely based on status as a victim of domestic violence, as well as the right to terminate a lease when necessary for safety -- all while preserving the rights of a landlord to maintain a safe, quiet building, to collect rent, and to initiate court proceedings. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Housing Rights for Victims of Domestic Violence

This new legislation corrects legislation enacted last year -- which closed a loophole in the law on distribution of harmful material to minors that had previously excluded on-line activity -- by clarifying that the sender must have intentionally sent the material to a minor. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Further Defining the Dissemination of Obscene Material

Adds new restrictions and reporting requirements to the state's gun laws, including a limit of one gun purchase per month. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Preventing Illegal Trafficking of Firearms

Joins 48 other states in granting a statutory process, with a judge's approval, for convicts to pursue testing of evidence that could lead to their exoneration, and that was not available at the time of trial. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Providing Access to Forensic and Scientific Analysis

Creates a 9-member Public Safety Oversight Commission to be appointed by the Governor, responsible for reviewing and analyzing the operation and management of the state’s public safety entities for purposes of making recommendations identifying ways to reduce recidivism, increase communication and cooperation among the individual public safety entities, reduce overcrowding of facilities, increase reliance upon evidence based criminal justice methods, improve reporting of data, and to otherwise increase efficiencies within the state’s public safety entities and improve overall public safety outcomes. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Establishing a Public Safety Oversight Commission

Would offer eligibility for parole to non-violent drug offenders after they have served two-thirds of a mandatory-minimum sentence. It would also allow them to take part in work-release and other programs while incarcerated, at the discretion of the warden or sheriff. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative To Drug Mandatory Minimum Sentences

This bill creates new requirements for state outdoor roadway and parking lot lighting. When roadway lights are being replaced or planned for new installation, alternatives must be considered, including: reflectors, roadway markers, lines, warnings and other signage, or other passive means. When new lighting fixtures are installed, they must be fully shielded to prevent light from shining upward and reducing visibility of the night sky. The law will not apply if: federal law pre-empts; lighting is in use by emergency or repair personnel, at airports, special events, or for historic illumination; urban areas with nighttime pedestrian traffic; prisons and jails; or when other compelling safety interests may occur. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Improving Outdoor Lighting and Increasing Dark-Sky Visibility

I believe there is a need for additional reform of our public employee pension system to prevent abuse and secure its long term financial viability. Towards that end, I have filed legislation to ensure that pension benefits are more closely calculated to reflect actual contributions to the system by minimizing spiking of benefits, pro-rating service from different pension classifications, eliminating enhanced early retirement benefits, and increasing the number of years used to determine the average salary for calculating pension benefits. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Pension Reform

In response to the abuses detailed relative to patronage hiring in the Probation Department, I have filed legislation that would require Legislators and Constitutional Officers to file a disclosure with the Ethics Commission any time they recommend an individual for a position as a public or quasi-public employee. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Disclosure of Job Recommendations

Provides Chief Justice of Administration and Management (CJAM) full budget transferability including over the probation department and also provides CJAM oversight of certain personnel decisions affecting probation department. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Management of the Probation Department

This bill would provide insurance coverage for scalp hair prostheses for people diagnosed with alopecia and other related conditions resulting in hair loss, when a doctor prescribes such prostheses as medically necessary, and extend coverage for people with hair loss from cancer and leukemia treatments. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Providing Health Insurance Coverage for Scalp Hair Prosthesis

Adds to the curriculum for law-enforcement training a requirement for a course for regional and municipal police training schools in the handling of complaints involving mental health emergencies and victims, witnesses or suspects with mental illness or mental retardation, as well requiring guidelines for law-enforcement responses to incidents involving such persons. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Training for Law Enforcement in Dealing with Individuals Suffering from Mental Illness

Reduce the special education circuit breaker trigger from 4x the per pupil foundation budget costs to 3x. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Circuit Breaker Reimbursement

Include transportation costs in the special education circuit breaker formula used to calculate reimbursement thresholds. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Relative to Special Education Transportation Costs

Ensure that high school graduation is not based solely on one examination. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Supporting the Local Determination of Educational Competency and Multiple Forms of Academic Assessment

This bill improves upon the Community Preservation Act's (CPA) 10-year success story of enabling nearly half of the Commonwealth's communities to create affordable housing, rehabilitate significant historic resources, develop parks and recreational facilities and preserve open space. See here for full text and history.

— An Act to Sustain Community Preservation

This bill would add non-carbonated beverage containers, including water, flavored waters and energy drinks, which account for 70% of the non-returnable bottles currently entering the waste-stream, to the deposit law. These 'take-away' containers are costly for cities and towns to dispose of as trash, and they result in non-recyclable trash in landfills. The current law has become outdated because consumers have changed their ‘on-the-go’ beverage preferences to types not covered under the law. Today, less than 60 percent of containers sold are redeemable, and this percentage is expected to decline further. The Massachusetts recycling industry - which has grown around this law - is now struggling faced with reduced supply, and increasing costs for redemption processing. The bill also restores the Clean Environment Fund. See here for full text and history.

— An Act Updating the Bottle Bill