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Accomplishments

Marjorie has dedicated her career to public service. She served seven terms on the Cambridge City Council, where she was the youngest woman ever elected to the Council and was first elected to the Massachusetts State House in 2012.

Throughout her career she has been a fierce advocate for housing and homeless families, labor, early education, maternal health and anti-poverty efforts.

GUN SAFETY

“We are going to save lives”
Rep. Decker is a nationally recognized leader in increasing gun safety and protections for the victims of gun violence.

Marjorie continues to file five common sense gun bills, including one that would prohibit gun manufacturers in Massachusetts from making assault weapons in our state for the purpose of selling to consumers in other states.

Last session, four bills that Marjorie filed were adopted as part of an omnibus gun safety package. Included were provisions regulating ghost guns, updating the red flag law to expand who could petition for an emergency risk protection order, updating prohibited spaces in line with the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, and incorporating better data collection on gun crimes. She also got an amendment adopted that added the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute to a commission studying gun violence prevention funding in the Commonwealth, in line with her longstanding commitment to center grassroots organizations run by survivors of gun violence.

 

In 2018, Marjorie was the lead sponsor of a “red flag” bill that she filed alongside a constituent. The bill, which passed and is the basis of Massachusetts’ “Red Flag” law, established the process to file an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) order resulting in the immediate suspension and surrender of any license to carry firearms or firearm identification card the respondent holds, as well as the immediate surrender of all firearms, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, weapons or ammunition which the respondent the controls, owns, or possesses. ERPOs last one year, emergency ERPOs 10 days.

 

Given her leadership on this issue, she was invited to the White House to celebrate passage of the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most consequential piece of gun legislation passed in the last 30 years.

TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is an existential crisis that will require aggressive and coordinated efforts from governments around the world to mitigate. That’s why as State Rep., Marjorie Decker has made addressing this one of her top priorities, and has successfully secured language from her bills in each of the climate packages that has passed while she has been in office.

  • Filed a bill that prohibits food establishments from serving food to customers in disposable polystyrene containers and retail establishments from selling or distributing polystyrene food service containers.
  • Filed a bill to establish updated lighting and appliance efficiency standards in Massachusetts, including a 2027 ban on the sale of compact and linear fluorescent lamps and mandates stricter energy and water efficiency criteria for various appliances such as faucets, gas fireplaces, battery chargers, and residential water softeners
  • Filed a bill requiring gas utility companies to implement a just transition plan detailing the training, retention, and prioritization of the company’s existing gas infrastructure workforce through the maintenance of pipelines and shifts towards alternative fuels. Also establishes a Just Transition Office to promote job opportunities for workers displaced by the phasing out of fossil fuels. This bill also establishes clean energy workforce standards for publicly funded projects.
  • Filed a bill that would establish a Healthy and Sustainable Schools Office, directing building authorities for public schools to conduct energy audits that measure opportunities for energy efficiency upgrades, ventilation improvements, renewable energy usage, and greenhouse gas reductions. Priority would be given to those in environmental justice communities.
  • Filed a bill to modernize the bottle bill, increasing the bottle deposit rate from 5 to 10 cents, expanding the types of bottles collected, and creating a study for a bottle return and refill system.
  • In the 2024 climate omnibus, Marjorie secured language to establish workforce standards for clean energy procurement to ensure a just transition.
  • In the 2022 climate bill, secured language to make 100% of new car sales be electric by 2035, electrifying MBTA buses, removing subsidies for biomass energy facilities.
  • In the 2021 2050 Roadmap bill, Marjorie secured language increasing the renewable portfolio standard to 40%, requiring that our electricity grid be powered by 40% renewable energy by 2030.
  • Fought for increases in offshore wind investments and helped establish Massachusetts as a leader in new energy storage and research.
  • Led House movement to divest public pensions from fossil fuel stocks.
  • Awarded 2019 Clean Water Action Legislative Champion Award

DELIVERING FOR CAMBRIDGE

Marjorie’s legislative priorities reflect the strong values she shares with the Cambridge community and constituents. She also has secured significant investments for Cambridge in the budget and legislative victories with home rule petitions. Over the past three budgets, Marjorie has secured well over $1 million for local nonprofits in addition to over $100 million for the Cambridge Health Alliance

  • $1 million for the Alliance of YWCAs
  • $100,000 for the Cambridge Community Center
  • $200,000 for Cradles to Crayons
  • $100,000 for Food For Free
  • $25,000 for the Loop Lab
  • $100,000 for Science Club for Girls
  • $1 million for the Alliance of YWCAs
  • $150,000 for the Cambridge Community Center
  • $43 million/year for three years for the Cambridge Health Alliance via the inclusion in a federal Medicaid waiver
  • $200,000 for Cradles to Crayons
  • $110,000 for Food For Free
  • $1 million for the Alliance of YWCAs
  • $100,000 for the Cambridge Community Center
  • $200,000 for Cradles to Crayons
  • $100,000 for Food For Free
  • $1 million to re-open the Cambridge Health Alliance Birth Center
  • $1 million to support the Cambridge Health Alliance Dental Center

LABOR & WORKERS' RIGHTS

Marjorie is proud to be a strong supporter of unions and an advocate for the rights of all workers. She proudly walks picket lines, speaks at rallies, and strongly supports the right to organize. She has consistently received one of the highest labor voting records in the legislature during each of her seven terms in office.

Marjorie filed multiple bills that seek to protect collective bargaining and other rights for workers. Among them, are:

  • An Act protecting labor and abolishing barriers to organizing rights: Also known as the Protect LABOR Act, this bill is a top priority of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and is being uplifted as a national model to protect private sector organizing rights to workers should challenges arise to the National Labor Relations Act or National Labor Relations Board under a hostile federal administration. Specifically, the bill establishes state-level private sector organizing rights and uses our employee classification test rather than the federal standard already facing attacks. It also bans captive audience meetings, cements healthcare workers’ right to unionize and strike, and allows for both electronic card signing and electronic elections under Department of Labor Relations.
  • An Act providing opportunities for apprentices to complete their training and ensuring for a skilled workforce in the commonwealth of Massachusetts: This bill requires that a growing percentage of labor hours on public construction projects over $1 million be completed by registered apprentices. Starting six months after enactment, 5% of hours must be done by apprentices, increasing to 10% after one year and 15% after two years.
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    • This bill passed the House and awaits Senate action
  • An Act to restore collective bargaining for teachers and other school employees: This bill restores collective bargaining rights for teachers and school employees by repealing statutory limitations imposed under the state’s accountability laws. Specifically, it removes language that excluded certain employment conditions and practices from collective bargaining in underperforming and chronically underperforming schools, reaffirming that such rights are protected under Chapter 150E of the General Laws.
  • An Act relating to privileged communication between individuals and their labor organizations: This bill establishes a legally protected confidentiality standard between workers and their labor organizations, similar to attorney-client privilege.
  • Last session, Marjorie championed a bill that she strengthened through her capacity as Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health which prohibits the use of PFAs, a type of toxic forever chemical, in fire fighter turnout gear. 
  • Last session, Marjorie filed and passed an amendment that codified the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on public projects in the economic development omnibus. These provisions ensure that municipalities and state agencies have the option to sign PLAs to ensure that the work is high-quality and completed by well-trained workers who are paid prevailing wage.
  • Last session, Marjorie filed and passed an amendment establishing strong labor standards on clean energy projects in the climate omnibus.
  • Authored the 2020 law that bans use of eleven toxic flame retardants that are especially dangerous for firefighters, kids and pregnant people.
  • Sponsored legislation requiring state-sponsored and subsidized contractors to participate in apprenticeship programs.
  • Has fought multiple battles against privatization on behalf of Massachusetts unions.

MATERNAL & REPRO HEALTH

Marjorie is a longtime fighter for reproductive rights and has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund MA and Reproductive Equity Now for this election.

  • Championed the Shield Act 2.0 which extends protections for the privacy of providers providing and patients seeking gender affirming care and reproductive health care.
  • Continues to file legislation to increase access to nurse-midwifery services by mandating insurance companies reimburse services provided by certified nurse-midwives at the same reimbursement rate as physicians for equivalent services. The omnibus passed last session mandated coverage by MassHealth, but this would extend coverage to all health insurers.

  • Last session, Marjorie – after serving as the Co-Chair of the Special Commission on Racial Inequities in Maternal Health – authored a comprehensive maternal health omnibus package. The omnibus bill, which passed and now serves as a national model for addressing racial disparities in birthing outcomes, mandates that midwifery care be covered by MassHealth, removes regulatory and staffing barriers for birth centers, requires postpartum depression screenings for new parents, and expands access to lactation support.

  • Filed legislation to increase the doula workforce through education grants.

  • Co-sponsor of legislation which would target barriers to abortion care including Crisis Pregnancy Centers and mandatory waiting periods. Recognized as a partner and leader on this issue by the Healey-Driscoll Administration; joined EOHHS and DPH at a press conference announcing a new public service campaign to warn of the risk of crisis pregnancy centers.

  • In response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, Marjorie’s bill, An Act to improve access to emergency contraception, served as the basis of the House’s response. The original bill established a statewide standing order for pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraception, and became the first shield law.

  • Co-sponsored the Contraceptive ACCESS Bill, which protects Massachusetts citizens’ access to birth control and became law in 2017.

  • Identified as a ROE Act (a bill that protects abortion in Massachusetts without restrictive barriers) Champion by the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund MA in 2020.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Marjorie is the leading champion for economic justice in the House, turning her lived experience and deep relationships with advocates to tangible increases in cash assistance and tax credits for the most economically vulnerable residents in the Commonwealth.

  • Co-chaired the Poverty Commission, a special legislative commission composed of state legislators, administration officials, and nonprofit service providers united in drafting a blueprint that would significantly reduce poverty in the Commonwealth over the next 10 years.
  • Following three statewide listening sessions and numerous Commission meetings, Marjorie co-authored a Commission report and a complementary anti-poverty omnibus bill that used the report as a legislative blueprint to identify and pull the many levers needed to holistically address poverty in Massachusetts.
  • In 2021, secured the first increases in cash assistance for families (TAFDC) and for the elderly and people with disabilities (EAEDC) for the first time in 21 and 33 years, respectively. Since, she has secured five increases, and successfully restored one of those increases after the Governor cut them through 9C cuts.
    • Marjorie still files An Act to lift kids out of deep poverty because rising inflation risks offsetting the cash assistance increases. The bill indexes the assistance to inflation, ensuring that the grants never let people fall below 50% of the federal poverty line, also known as deep poverty
  • Marjorie entered the legislature with the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) match at 15%. Thanks to her leadership, the match has increased to 23%, 30%, and then 40% in the most recent tax reform bill. She also secured language that made Massachusetts the first state to allow survivors of domestic violence to file for and receive EITC independently, whereas they previously had to file with their batterers
  • Led the creation of a new, streamlined Child and Family Tax Credit that is worth $440 per dependent, universal (no income minimum), inclusive of immigrants who file taxes using an ITIN, and does not have a cap on the number of dependents who can be claimed.
  • In 2019, Marjorie worked in coalition with many advocacy groups to Lift the Cap on Kids, ending the punitive cap on how many children a family could receive TAFDC for.

HOUSING & RIGHT TO SHELTER

Marjorie is a leading voice in the legislature fighting to protect the Right to Shelter. Massachusetts is the only state in the country that guarantees a right to shelter for certain vulnerable populations, but throughout her time in office, Marjorie has had to fight against efforts to restrict that right. She will always fight for an EA system that serves as a safety net and treats every participant with dignity and respect.

  • Marjorie was a strong supporter of the Rent Control ballot question. Although the SJC recently ruled it could not proceed to the ballot in November, she now works with colleagues to advance it legislatively.

  • Marjorie also files An Act providing upstream homelessness prevention assistance to families, youth, and adults, which would codify the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program in statute and expand access to include those not actively involved in eviction proceedings but at risk of eviction or foreclosure.

  • Last session, in the Affordable Homes Act, Marjorie worked with Representative Rob Consalvo to expand the Alternative Housing Voucher Program, a state program that provides mobile rental assistance to low-income, non-elderly people with disabilities. They were able to create project-based vouchers – in addition to the traditional mobile vouchers – to ensure that units for persons with disabilities are not lost when the original tenant moves.
  • In 2023, when the Healey Administration sought to cap the shelter system amidst an influx of migrants seeking shelter, Marjorie joined housing advocates and a rally at the State House calling on the Administration to stop its planned changes to the shelter system.
    • In response to the Healey Administration’s shelter cap, the Legislature attached an overflow site opening requirement in order for the Administration to unlock $250 million in additional funding for the EA shelter system. The East Cambridge Registry of Deeds building was selected to host families as an overflow site, and Marjorie joined local officials to engage in partnership with the state to operationalize it and ensure we are serving families with dignity and humanity. 
    • In late July, Marjorie once again spoke on the State House steps with several of her colleagues against the 5-day length of stay guidelines for emergency shelter. She reminded the other attendees that by imposing such a limit, we were not living up to the founding principles of our country, and that this new rule change would lead to devastating impacts on children and families, once again forcing them out onto the streets.
    • Later, when the House worked on to address the shelter crisis, Marjorie successfully filed amendments to secure extensions and maintain categorical eligibility for families with young children and survivors of domestic violence.
  • In 2019, Marjorie secured language to end the Patrick Administration’s punitive requirement that families spend “one night in spaces not meant for human habitation” that was previously promulgated for accessing the emergency shelter system.

MENTAL HEALTH CARE & ACCESS

Marjorie has been a driving force behind expanding access to mental health and substance use treatment, leading landmark reforms that improve care for children and families, strengthen crisis response, and ensure people can access timely, evidence-based services.

Marjorie files many bills that seek to expand access to high quality mental and behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and adults. They include:

  • An Act for supportive care for serious mental illness: Requires all health insurance plans in Massachusetts to cover coordinated specialty care and assertive community treatment for individuals with serious mental illness or first-episode psychosis.
  • An Act preserving access to treatment for patients with serious mental illnesses: This bill would forbid the use of prior authorization or step therapy for drugs treating serious mental illness by both private insurers and MassHealth.
  • An Act expanding access to mental health services: Requires insurance coverage for crisis, inpatient, and outpatient services without prior authorization. The bill also broadens the range of professionals who can authorize emergency mental health holds, updates rules on the use of physical restraints, and mandates reimbursement for emergency and telehealth behavioral health services.
  • An Act to establish the whole child grant program: Establishes a trust fund that would disperse funds to school districts through a formula grant. Funds would be provided per pupil based on the percentage of a district’s student population designated as low income.
  • An Act creating parity for mental and behavioral health services: Eliminates the distinction in mental health parity law between so-called “biologically based disorders” and “non-biologically based disorders” and ensures that all mental health conditions are treated in the same way as all other conditions in terms of health insurance coverage.
  • An Act establishing a pilot program for access to regulated psilocybin: Establishes a two-year Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy Pilot Program under DPH. The bill authorizes select universities to research the therapeutic use of psilocybin for conditions like PTSD, depression, and end-of-life distress in collaboration with community providers.
  • An Act reducing emergency department boarding: Limits involuntary psychiatric holds to 72 hours at facilities not authorized to perform Section 12(b) evaluations and requires legal counsel for individuals held more than 48 hours at such facilities.
  • An Act ending unnecessary hospitalizations: Requires professionals or police to first consider and document community-based alternatives (like Mobile Crisis Intervention or Behavioral Health Urgent Care) before pursuing involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. The bill also mandates justification if these alternatives are deemed inappropriate.
  • An Act relative to ensuring quality mental health services in state correctional facilities: This bill strengthens oversight of mental health services in Massachusetts state correctional facilities by placing them under the supervision of the Department of Mental Health.

 

Marjorie also fights for accessible care for individuals struggling with substance use disorder. 

  • An Act ensuring access to addiction services: This bill prohibits people committed under Section 35 for substance use disorders from being sent to jails or correctional facilities. It ensures access to secure treatment beds, requires DPH to maintain a public roster of available facilities, and clarifies that correctional institutions must continue to offer voluntary, evidence-based addiction treatment to incarcerated individuals.
  • An Act relative to preventing overdose deaths and increasing access to treatment: This bill establishes a harm reduction program framework to include overdose prevention centers with authorization from the Department of Public Health. It provides legal immunity for providers, users, and property owners of harm reduction sites.

Marjorie served as the Chair of the Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery Committee between 2019-2020, and quickly emerged as leader and point person on children’s mental health. She committed early on in the session to working on a substantial piece of legislation to revamp the behavioral health ecosystem to better support all patients, and especially children. Over the course of 81 meetings, she crafted comprehensive legislation which passed in 2022 and serves as a national model. The bill:

  • Codifies a statewide technical assistance center to assist in implementing behavioral health services and supports in each school district through UMass Medical School and the UMass BIRCh Center;

  • Requires schools to create an emergency response plan for behavioral health crises;

  • Restricts the use of suspension and expulsion in all licensed early education and care programs;

  • Ensures that children who go into the foster care system are screened for behavioral health symptoms;

  • Requires the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health to ensure that hospitals provide or arrange for the availability of qualified behavioral health clinicians during all hours of their ED including via telehealth;

  • Establishes a grant program to expand integrated care models that is designed to lead to full collaboration between primary and behavioral health providers;

  • Requires coverage for mental health diversionary or step-down services for children and adolescents without prior authorization;

  • Establishes and sets standards for a 988 crisis hotline center. It also establishes a commission to review best practices and guidelines and recommend strategies for implementation;

  • Requires coverage of services delivered through the psychiatric collaborative care model, a streamlined process that treats the whole patient; and

  • Creates an online portal that provides access to real-time data on youth and adults seeking mental health and substance use services.

Health care and access

As Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, Marjorie has helped shape some of Massachusetts' most significant health care reforms, advancing policies that improve affordability, protect patients, strengthen hospitals, and keep public health decisions rooted in science.

Following the attacks on public health led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and subsequent vaccine skepticism, Marjorie worked with the Commissioner of Public Health and Governor Healey to formally decouple the Commonwealth’s childhood immunization guidelines from federal recommendations. In doing so, she ensured that our health care is guided by science, not ideology. Marjorie is also the leading voice in the Legislature with regards to Medicaid and MassHealth, serving as a point person for the Assistant Secretary of MassHealth as they plan to respond to the President’s devastating funding cuts.

As Chair of Public Health, Marjorie also led a process of deep stakeholder engagement, authored, and passed legislation to save lives and increase access to epinephrine. The bill allows restaurants, camps, youth sports leagues, and other venues where people may interact with allergens to acquire and maintain a supply of epinephrine autoinjectors from a wholesaler approved by the Department of Public Health (DPH). It also establishes liability protections for employees at these venues to administer epinephrine if they believe someone is in anaphylaxis.

Finally, Marjorie championed a bill working with hospitals, nurses, and other healthcare workers to address workplace violence in health care facilities. Specifically, the bill strengthens protections for health care workers, establishes preventive and protective standards to reduce the risk of violence, improves health care facility incident reporting, enhances interagency coordination to safeguard privacy, and creates legal protections for certain employees harmed in the line of duty.

Marjorie continues to file bills that seek to make health care more affordable and accessible. She filed many bills to address these issues, including:

  • An Act relative to addressing the feasibility of in-state drug manufacturing: Establishes a Special Commission to study and report on the feasibility of manufacturing four commonly used drugs in Massachusetts.
  • An Act improving the health insurance prior authorization process: Requires prior authorization to be valid for the duration of treatment, or at least one year, and establishes a 24-hour response time for urgently needed care. Insurers would be required to honor prior authorization from a different insurer for at least 90 days.
  • An Act relative to patient financial protection: Requires health insurance plans in Massachusetts to set a separate out-of-pocket limit for prescription drugs, including specialty drugs, capped at the federal minimum annual deductible for high-deductible health plans.
  • An Act relative to telehealth and digital equity for patients: Expands telehealth access and digital equity across Massachusetts by requiring insurance coverage for e-consults, e-visits, and remote monitoring services. The bill also prohibits added prior authorization for telehealth, mandates interpreter services, and directs providers to support patients with low digital literacy through education and navigators.
  • An Act relative to capping the price of epinephrine: Caps the out-of-pocket cost of epinephrine autoinjectors (e.g., EpiPens) at $60 for a two-pack and prohibits deductibles or coinsurance for one brand or generic option. The bill adds anaphylaxis to the list of acute conditions eligible for cost protections under Chapter 342 of the Acts of 2024.
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CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE
As a lifelong patient at Cambridge Health Alliance, a safety-net hospital serving the community, Marjorie has always been the hospital’s strongest champion. 

  • In the FY24 budget, she secured $1 million for the CHA Dental Center, which serves patients across the hospital’s primary service area, including Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, and Revere. It allowed the clinic to upgrade facilities and equipment to address growing demand and access barriers to dental services for underserved populations.
  • In the FY24 budget, she also secured $1 million to re-open the CHA Birth Center, which had closed during the pandemic. The BIrth Center needed $1 million for crucial infrastructure renovations and operational updates, and thanks to Marjorie’s advocacy, just recently reopened. 
  • In the FY25 budget, she was able to get CHA included in the federal Medicaid waiver that the state submits, securing them over $150 million in much-needed federal funding

 

Last session, Marjorie was a leading voice in a session that saw five major health care bills pass. The Legislature passed bills that:

  • Increase health care oversight and regulate private equity in health care following the collapse of Steward Health Care;
  • Enhance oversight of the pharmaceutical industry through increasing regulations on pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs) and lowering out-of-pocket costs;
  • Transforms the long-term care sector by strengthening the Commonwealth’s oversight of nursing homes, builds the long-term care workforce, and expands access to basic health services;
  • Combats substance use disorder by expanding treatment options; and
  • Strengthens the maternal health system by expanding access to midwifery care, out-of-hospital birth options, and universal postpartum home visiting.

 

In 2024, Marjorie partnered with the US Pain Foundation to pass a bill that removes barriers to non-opioid pain management. Working with advocates who live with chronic pain and attuned to the fact that insurance coverage was difficult to attain for non-opioid pain management, Marjorie filed a bill to eliminate prior authorization requirements for such treatments. She secured language in a substance use disorder omnibus package that did eliminate prior authorization, and also required plans to make educational materials about pain management services available on their website and to annually distribute those materials to providers and members within their network.

 

In 2022, Marjorie successfully took on the health insurance industry to ensure that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, and not by insurers. Inspired by a story shared by a constituent who was denied life-saving drugs because she needed to go through the step-therapy process to be approved for the medications she actually needed, Marjorie filed legislation to protect patients. Step-therapy, also known as “fail first,” is an insurance policy where you are required to try lower-cost or insurer-preferred medications before your plan will cover the more expensive drug your doctor originally prescribed. Marjorie’s legislation protects patients by limiting step therapy requirements and creating a faster, clearer process for accessing medically necessary medications.

LGBTQ+ RIGHTS

Marjorie has been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights her entire career, protecting access to gender-affirming and reproductive health care, and ensuring every person can live with dignity, safety, and opportunity.

  • Working with colleagues Representative Sam Montaño and Senator Julian Cyr, Marjorie led the creation of the first-in-the-nation trust that enabled Massachusetts to continue to offer state-funded gender-affirming care when hospitals were being threatened by the Department of Justice and were closing their clinics. Together, they secured a $1 million investment in FY26 and an additional $3.5 million in a recent supplemental budget, and Marjorie secured a $4 million appropriation in the House version of the FY27 budget and will continue to advocate for its inclusion in the final budget.

  • As House Chair of the Public Health Committee, Marjorie has been a steadfast advocate of the LGBTQ+ community, playing a crucial role in protecting and promoting access to PrEP. For years, she has advocated for increased funding for Project ABLE, our vital statewide coalition of AIDS service providers, advocates, and individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Marjorie was also supportive of language in the FY27 budget that codified federal regulations to ensure that Massachusetts health insurers would continue to cover PrEP without cost-sharing or prior authorization, regardless of federal efforts to limit access to this life-saving medication.

  • This session, Marjorie championed an updated shield act with colleagues to further protect the privacy of providers providing and patients seeking gender affirming care and reproductive health care.

  • Supporting Youth on Fire: Marjorie is the fiercest champion for Youth on Fire, Harvard Square’s drop-in center for homeless youth. On numerous occasions, when the program faced catastrophic budget shortfalls and the threat of permanent closure, she stepped in to establish partnerships with new host organizations necessary to keep their doors open.
  • Building Support for Public Accommodations: Marjorie was a key strategist and leader in the House, actively whipping the votes necessary to pass the landmark public accommodations bill.
  • Securing Funding for YWCAs: For the past several years, Marjorie led the charge to bring the Alliance of YWCAs to parity in state funding with similar organizations, like the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club. This funding would enable each YWCA to serve more girls and LGBTQ+ young people and support adding and retaining essential staff, including mental health specialists and social workers.
  • Co-sponsored legislation that banned conversion therapy on minors, and was recognized by the MA GBLTQ Political Caucus as a champion of the bill, which became law March 9, 2019.
  • As a Cambridge City Councilor, approved a measure that led Cambridge to become the first municipality in America to pay public employees a stipend to offset the federal tax on health benefits for listing a same-sex spouse.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Marjorie has been a steadfast advocate for a more just and equitable criminal legal system, partnering with survivors, families, and advocates to expand access to justice, strengthen victims' services, and create second chances for young people.

  • Work closely with advocates in the Keeping Families Connected coalition to build on progress from No Cost Calls to pass a bill that expands visitation rights to
  • Partner with Citizens for Juvenile Justice on many bills, including those that would limit the use of GPS trackers on juvenile offenders; expand juvenile offenses that can be expunged; eliminate the use of fines, fees, and restitution in the juvenile justice system.
  • Marjorie is a very close partner of MOVA, and partners with them to ensure that survivors can access the resources they need to be supported. In 2021, after Congress failed to appropriate $60 million to restore funds necessary for VOCA programming in Massachusetts, Marjorie led the efforts to restore the full $60 million over three years. The VOCA Bridge has been a significant lifeline to survivors, with nearly 70,000 people supported that would have otherwise been left unassisted. 
  • Champion of No Cost Calls, a bill the legislature passed in 2023
  • In 2020, language from Marjorie’s expungement bill was included in the police accountability law making it easier for expunge juvenile offenses

Awards

Dignity Alliance Massachusetts: Outstanding Dignity Legislator
June 2022

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health Spirit of Compassion Award
October 13, 2021

Mental Health America Legislative Champion
Honored as one of two Legislators in the nation with the Legislative Champion award for championing access to treatment and support for mental health
July 28, 2021

​Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance (MOVA) Legislator of the Year
April 7, 2020 & April 16, 2021

Massachusetts Coalition for Addiction Services Certificate of Appreciation
September 23, 2020

American Heart/Cancer in honor of your legislative success protecting Adolescents and Youth
March 16, 2020​

Women’s Bar Association 2020 Public Official of the Year
Awarded for work on Lift the Cap and Civil Legal Aid funding in the state budget.
February 24, 2020

Cambridge NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Leadership Award
2019 ​

Equal Justice Coalition Beacon of Justice Award
Awarded for leadership and significant support of state funding for civil legal aid through the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.
November 12, 2019

Stop Handgun Violence Award
Honored for on ERPO and the crime gun data bill
Oct. 24, 2019​

YWCA Cambridge Tribute to Outstanding Women, Honorary Committee 2019
October 17, 2019

Emerge Legislative Leadership in Domestic Violence Award
June 27, 2019

Police Assistance Addiction Recovery initiative (PAARI) Government and Community Leadership Award
Recognizing dedication and leadership on local and national impact creating non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery
June 26, 2019

​Clean Water Action Legislative Champion Award
For working on behalf of children and firefighters by working to ban 11 toxic flame retardants from children’s products, bedding, household furniture, carpeting, and window coverings.
May 22, 2019

Phillips Brooks House Association SUP Impact Award
For being an advocate for housing and homeless families, labor, early education, and anti-poverty efforts throughout her career.
April 16, 2019

​Greater Boston Food Bank Public Advocate of the Year
March 10, 2016

Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants Thelma Rogers Award
April 30, 2016​

Riverside Community Care: Certificate of Appreciation
For her commitment to prevent domestic violence homicides in the Cambridge community
April 29, 2013

Cambridge YMCA 2013 Tribute Honoree
2013

Crittenton Women’s Union Certificate of Appreciation
In recognition of her unwavering support of low-income women as they strive for economic independence.
May 21, 2013

Massachusetts Nurses Association Freshman Legislator of the Year Award
October 9, 2013

​Massachusetts AFL-CIO Municipal Government Leadership Award
For a remarkable career in leading and advocating with passion and enthusiasm for working families

Transition House: Hero Award
In honor of your vision and plan to reimagine how a community collectively approached Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault 

Horizons for Homeless Children:
Legislator of the Year

Homes for Families “Big Cookie Award”: Advocate of the Year