The bill has been filed! It’s HD.1520 (Reps. Ruth Balser and Liz Miranda) and SD.926 (Eldridge). You can find the bill text right here. The bill was drafted with the support and input of some 50 Safe Communities Coalition members. It’s far more succinct but as strong as the 2017 version, with better due-process protections and new language on training, implementation and accountability. To learn more please read this new factsheet.

The first step in our campaign is to recruit legislative cosponsors. Legislators are waiting to hear from constituents about priority bills, so let’s make sure they get lots of calls, emails and visits. The deadline is February 1, but we want to get as many cosponsors as we can by the end of the week.

Here’s what you can do:

1) Adapt and share this action alert with your networks ­– that’s the first priority!

2) Contact your own state representative and senator and ask them to cosponsor. You can do this by calling (find the numbers), sending an email (you can use this tool), or best of all, visiting their office. (Hint: You don’t need an appointment to stop by their district office.) If you can, bring other constituents, especially immigrants.

If you call, keep it short and sweet: “As your constituent, I’m calling to ask you to please cosponsor [ House or Senate bill # ], the Safe Communities Act, and to make it a priority in this legislative session. Thank you very much!”

If you have to leave a voicemail, make sure to include your name, address and phone number.

3) Join the SCA lobby day on January 30. We’ll meet in State House Room 437 and fan out across the building from 1 to 3pm. We especially need folks from districts outside Greater Boston – but everyone can make an impact! Sign up here and please encourage other members of your organization, friends and allies to join you.