An Act supporting family caregivers, S.1938/H.3159, has been scheduled for a hearing in the Joint Committee on Revenue on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 10:30am in Hearing Room A1 and Virtual. This bill is supported by MCOA.
Staff members at Councils on Aging know that caregivers are often spouses, and they know that caregivers shoulder a massive responsibility that can lead to negative health impacts and financial strain. If you’ve witnessed caregiver challenges, your testimony can make a difference.
The hearing notice is linked here, where you can find all of the information you’ll need for providing oral and/or written testimony. The deadline to sign up to provide oral testimony is Monday, September 15, 2025 at 12 PM, (see instructions in the linked hearing notice on how to sign up). The deadline for submitting written testimony is testimony is 53 days from the date of the hearing.
Senator Joanne Comerford filed S.1938 in the Senate and Reps. Kushmerek and Rogers filed H.3159 in the House. Both bills have the same text.
Senator Comerford’s office prepared this short summary of the bill (please note that this bill contains language from a bill Senator Comerford filed in previous sessions, An Act allowing spouses to serve as caregivers):
Family caregivers provide care and support for a relative with a physical or mental health problem, allowing their loved one to receive dignified care and remain in their home. While providing this essential care and service, family caregivers often experience hardships including a loss of income if they have to leave their job, workplace discrimination, and their own mental and physical health challenges. This omnibus bill creates new benefits and policies to support family caregivers and their loved ones, including providing a tax credit to family caregivers, allowing spouses to be paid as caregivers by MassHealth, expanding unemployment insurance eligibility to people who leave their job to care for a relative, protecting family caregivers from workforce discrimination, and creating a permanent advisory council on family caregiving.
Thank you for considering sharing your important first-hand experiences with legislators and advocating for caregivers!
