Amy Mah Sangiolo

Arts / Culture

I support efforts to create a cultural district along Washington Street. Cultural districts enable cities and towns to expand their tax base and support the growth of their cultural sector. Learn more

Renewing our commitment to funding the Mass Cultural Council within the State Budget. The Mass Cultural Council was allocated 26.9 million in the FY2025 budget. Learn more

Establishing a percent-for-the-art program: levying a percentage against capital construction or renovation budgets for the purchase, commissioning, and installation of artworks; allocating a fixed amount of the municipality’s capital budget for public art. Learn more

Criminal Justice / Public Safety

Limit the use of solitary confinement. Learn more

Enact a moratorium on jail and prison construction. Learn more

Improve prison living conditions. I am aware of the living conditions and the anguish prisoners have reported regarding treatment within the facilities, and I strongly believe baseline conditions must be established to ensure the humane treatment of those incarcerated. Learn more

Support funding for municipalities to increase non-law-enforcement, unarmed, community-based emergency response options. Learn more

Increase the emphasis on restorative justice. Learn more

Increase the age of criminal majority and raise the age of incarceration to 21 for certain offenses to keep young adults out of the system. Learn more

Strengthen visitation rights to allow for those incarcerated to maintain connections between their families and community. Learn more

Revise the medical parole statute by separating the public safety assessment from the definition of medical eligibility, provide access to cognitively incapacitated individuals, clarify the timeline for the process and create an emergency process for considering petitions for those whose life expectancy is 6 months or less. Learn more

Decriminalize minor offenses. Learn more

Increase support for individuals after their release to reduce the likelihood of re-incarceration. Learn more

Economy

Creating more housing opportunities and workforce development to attract and retain talent. Learn more

Creating a business-friendly climate so businesses will want to locate and expand. Learn more

Supporting arts and culture as an economic driver. Learn more

Strategic investments in sectors that will make Massachusetts a global leader, such as life sciences and climate tech. Learn more

Education

As your State Rep, I will work to direct more resources toward social and emotional learning, mental health support, and funding to pay our teachers and aides competitive wages. Learn more

We need to ensure that we meet every child where they are so that they can master the skills they need to succeed in whatever they choose to do when they leave our educational system. Learn more

Environment / Energy

Assist communities with electric car charging stations. Learn more

Require emission reporting from existing buildings and set targets for reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions. Learn more

Newton and many other communities have adopted bans on plastic bags, polystyrene, and miniature alcohol bottles. Not only has this reduced the amount of toxic plastic pollution in our environment, it has reduced the amount of litter on our parks and roadways. As your State Representative I will urge prohibitions on these forms of plastic pollution statewide. Learn more

Promote more energy storage opportunities to increase grid reliability. Learn more

Support more wind and solar projects and ensure they are appropriately sited, minimizing impact on the natural environment. Learn more

Ban new fossil fuel hookups in all new construction, and increase incentives for clean energy upgrades in existing buildings. Learn more

Focus on the repair of leaky gas lines and cease investments in the replacement or installation of new gas lines; change financial incentives for investor-owned utilities such that they are financially rewarded for advancing renewable energy rather than methane gas. Learn more

Expand the bottle bill. Learn more

Increase our investment in the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). Learn more

Support food waste management and reduction. Learn more

Encourage retrofits through incentives and through the support of a green bank to provide funding for energy efficiency improvements for underserved communities. Learn more

Guns

More still needs to be done to further gun violence prevention. Learn more

The latest gun legislation signed into law establishes a commission to study the status and feasibility of utilizing microstamping and other firearm technology. I support this and other efforts to add microstamping and ballistic identification to our slate of gun violence prevention tools. Learn more

Restricting the sales or purchases of multiple firearms. Learn more

Housing

Support efforts to direct resources to upgrade and preserve existing affordable housing, ensure safe and livable housing conditions, and that housing is accessible for all. Learn more

Legalize Accessory Dwelling Units on a statewide basis but allow communities to decide how best to run those programs. (Newton took this step several years ago and it has led to dozens of new housing units). Learn more

Support eviction sealing for dismissed cases where tenants prevail and no-fault evictions. Learn more

Support legislation to authorize cities and towns to levy real estate transfer fees to fund affordable housing preservation and production. Learn more

Support funding to ensure new housing meets our climate action goals and is not fossil fuel reliant. Learn more

Give cities and towns the ability to adopt rent control or other measures to stabilize rents in their communities. Learn more

Increase funding for wrap-around programs and services to help tenants stay housed. Learn more

Support requiring mediation prior to foreclosures. Learn more

Allow cities and towns to implement locally-needed eviction protections to ban no-fault evictions and clarify for tenants and landlords what qualifies as a legal reason to evict. Learn more

Support reform of the Housing Development Incentive Program - a tax credit program that currently subsidizes market-rate housing so that it can support affordable housing as well. Learn more

Support the right to counsel and funding legal programs to provide that legal counsel. Learn more

Support investment and subsidies to create more truly affordable housing opportunities. Learn more

Infrastructure / Transportation

Create safe and accessible alternative means of travel - including bike lanes, pedestrian paths, and trails. Learn more

I will advocate for electrification of our bus fleet and rail system as soon as possible. Learn more

I will advocate for public transportation, not only to reverse previous cuts to bus and train service but to expand them further so they provide a real alternative that is useful for our residents. Learn more

Increase investments to upgrade and expand our public transportation system, and electrify our rail and buses - including school buses. Learn more

I will work with MassDOT/Mass Highway/ and the MBTA to ensure a coordinated plan is in place during the construction period and that we ensure the project will not impede meeting the Commonwealth’s Climate Action Goals. Learn more

I will work with state agencies to ensure potential bike and pedestrian trails are included in state infrastructure improvements. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

Using fees and taxes to generate revenue for the arts, such as a portion of hotel/motel fees, room or sales taxes, corporate filing or recordation fees, or gaming revenues. Learn more