This legislative session, our allies at Families for Justice as Healing and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls filed groundbreaking legislation to establish a 5-year moratorium on jail and prison construction and expansion (S.2030 and H.1905).

The 5-year Moratorium would provide organizers the opportunity to focus on releasing women, implementing real alternatives, and investing in community-led solutions that create real safety and well-being rather than move forward with a new women's prison in Middlesex County or elsewhere. (Learn more at nonewwomensprison.org)

The House passed the Moratorium as part of the Infrastructure Bond Bill (H4790) on May 19 with only a few small changes from the original bills.

However, the Senate has passed inadequate Moratorium language that would not stop the women’s prison construction project as it’s currently written. It also fails to restrict jail construction.

These bills are currently in Conference Committee, where six legislators (3 state senators and 3 state representatives) are negotiating the final details. That means there's still time to make your voice heard.