Governor & Legislature 

The GRP works for a government that is transparent, accountable, and responsive to its constituents. We need an open and democratic system that works for the benefit of the people rather than for the profits of corporations. 

• The legislature and governor will be subject to public records and open meetings laws
• All votes will be recorded and publicly available
• Any legislator stipends are not under the control of House or Senate leadership.
• The legislature will submit to a comprehensive financial audit at least every two years
• Re-establish a nonpartisan Independent Research Bureau with the goal of assisting the legislature to make informed policy decisions
• Require all legislators to hold in-district public meetings at least quarterly and at times and locations accessible to all constituents

Political Parties | Elections | Voting 

Elections must be open and fair, with all participants operating on a level playing field. Voting must be open and accessible to every eligible voter. 

• Ballot access will be fair and without burdensome requirements
• Elections will be publicly financed
• Election Day voter registration will be available
• Alternative voting methods (i.e. Ranked Choice, Approval, STAR) will be implemented at the state and local levels
• Same-day registration

Safe and adequate housing is a human right and not a commodity. 

• Limit speculative investment in housing 
• Ban corporate, for-profit single and multi-family home ownership 
• Build high quality, energy efficient public housing, instead of ‘public-private partnerships’ that have profit motives 
• Municipalities will be permitted to enact local rent control ordinances 
• Mortgage servicers will be required to implement alternatives to foreclosures
• Prohibit exclusive single-family-home zoning, i.e. eliminate R1 zoning
• Restore and expand the Right to Shelter law
• Implement Housing First policies
• Guarantee the right to counsel in eviction cases

Access to nutritious food is a human right. 

• Prioritize local agriculture and sustainable woodland management
• Support local farms and urban farming 
• Support free school meals for all 
• Fully support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Healthy Incentives Program 
• Support public food markets 
• Support Indigenous food sovereignty 

Healthcare is a human right. 

• Implement single-payer, tax-funded, cradle to grave, public insurance to cover healthcare, including but not limited to mental healthcare, end-of-life care, prescription medications, dental, hearing and vision needs
• Permit physician-assisted death for the terminally ill

Education 

High quality, public education, including preschool, vocational school, trade school, community college and public university is essential for a successful society. 

• Oppose paying for charter, for-profit schools and vouchers with public funds 
• Fully fund the Student Opportunity Act, keeping up public school funding with inflation
• Guarantee access to publicly-funded childcare and preschool 
• Public school funding will rely on state funds rather than on property taxes
• Public higher education, including vocational and graduate studies will be fully publicly funded
• Guarantee that public school transportation and special education are fully funded by the state in all municipalities

Gender Identity | Sexual Orientation 

The GRP supports equal rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons in all areas of life provided to all other citizens, including but not limited to marriage, healthcare, and parentage. 

Racial Discrimination | Immigrants | Indigenous Peoples 

The GRP supports efforts to overcome the manifestations of racial and ethnic discrimination.

• Driver’s licenses for all residents
• Massachusetts will be a sanctuary state for immigrants 
• Establish a commission to study reparations for indigenous peoples and descendants of enslaved people 
• Ensure Indigenous Representation on the Massachusetts Historical Commission Board and Recognition of Ceremonial Landscapes and Other Cultural Landscapes 
• Ensure that schoolchildren in Massachusetts learn about history, culture, and current issues of Indigenous, Enslaved and Immigrant populations
• Ensure Native objects held in governmental or non-profit collections are not sold for profit 

Criminal Justice 

An effective criminal justice system is humane, rehabilitative, and preventive. 

• Support mediation for resolving minor criminal matters 
• Support restorative justice, as opposed to the current dehumanizing prison system
• Greatly restrict the circumstances by which minors can be tried as adults and imprisoned in adult facilities. 
• End cash bail 
• Hire sufficient number of judges to guarantee the right to a speedy trial 
• Protect the right to due process including for non-citizens 
• Legalize, decriminalize, and medicalize drugs in order to eliminate the illegal drug trade
• All prisoners are entitled to voting rights and access 
• Oppose the death penalty 
• Establish public citizen police review boards with enforcement authority in all communities
• Establish alternatives to police as first responders 
• No new prisons 
• End solitary confinement

Reproductive Rights 

We believe in the right to bodily autonomy. 

• We endorse the right to use contraception and to have an abortion. It will be illegal to deny the provision of these services or insurance coverage for them
• Require and Publicly fund sex education in all public schools
• Publicly fund public health programs and family planning services

Workers’ Rights 

We support democracy in the workplace. A fair economy requires that all workers receive the value of their labor. 

• The minimum wage will be a living wage, adjusted to keep pace with inflation
• Eliminate sub-minimum wages 
• In industries regulated by the state, executive salaries shall be held to a reasonable ratio with the pay of their workforce 
• Equal pay for equal work 
• Support the right of all workers to freely and fairly form democratic unions and strike
• Increase penalties for union busting 
• Encourage and support worker-owned businesses 
• Extend National Labor Relations Act rights to all workers

Privacy | Consumer Rights 

Privacy is essential for a free society. 

• Support the strongest protections of personal and data privacy 
• No use of surveillance technology, or collecting and sharing data from any system for commercial or government use without explicit permission, including but not limited to Artificial Intelligence 
• Support Right to Repair 

Free Speech | Right to Protest 

Free speech is essential for a free society. 

• Support the right to protest 
• Support free speech
• Support the right to free expression and assembly 
• Support the fundamental separation of church and state 

Environmental & Climate Justice 

Our survival requires an understanding we are part of and not separate from nature. ● Recognize the rights of nature to exist, persist, and maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.

• Personhood rights for nature
• Ensure all people have access to clean air, clean water, and green spaces 
• Utilize economic policy and development to live within the Earth’s carrying capacity
• Require that the sourcing of raw materials for green infrastructure, construction, and technology is through environmentally safe practices and ensures human rights
• Declare a climate emergency

Plastics | Recycling 

The use of plastics has led to widespread environmental pollution and is a threat to human health. Plastic production and waste management significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. 

• Expand the bottle bill to a twenty-five cent deposit on beverage bottles, carbonated, non-carbonated and nips
• Ban single use plastic bags
• Ban single stream recycling
• No new virgin plastics
• Expand recycling infrastructure to move toward zero waste by 2040
• Corporations must take responsibility for recycling what they sell
• Develop a statewide plan with preferred methods for managing solar and battery end-of-life, including reuse, refurbishment, recycling, and procedures for the disposal of any hazardous waste

Artificial Intelligence 

Privately owned AI companies must be heavily regulated and inspected 

• AI programs and infrastructure shall be made environmentally sustainable and powered by green renewable energy only
• It shall not mine data or content without explicit consent of the content owner, nor be weaponized for mass surveillance or war
• AI used for furthering the health and wellbeing of the people and planet will be prioritized with public funds and made publicly owned, ensuring full transparency with public oversight

Development and use of essential resources must be in the public interest and with respect for the value and limits of the natural environment. 

• Move toward public ownership of essential resources and utilities
• Ban expansion of fossil fuel and nuclear infrastructure
• Decentralize energy generation
• Prioritize protection of natural resources and wildlife habitat
• Incentivize adoption of the stretch building code
• Incentivize adoption of renewable, sustainable energy infrastructure
• Mandate and provide funding for high-quality air filtration code improvements for all public transportation, public buildings, schools and businesses
• Ban fracking
• Divest MA pension fund from fossil fuels

We support an equitable, clean, publicly-owned mass transit strategy and bikeable, walkable communities. 

• Vehicle fuel and charging stations will be publicly-owned
• Invest in publicly-owned e-bike rentals
• Public transportation will be publicly owned and fare-free
• Complete MBTA West-East Rail
• Ensure handicap accessibility and language diversity on all public transportation and sidewalks

The public will own and control all essential resources. 

• Establish a public bank wholly owned by the commonwealth, to provide a safe depository for a portion of the public funds in the commonwealth and to support the economic well-being of the commonwealth, its cities and towns, its residents, its businesses and its state and municipal institutions, with an accountable and responsive governance structure that ensures community input
• Implement a graduated income tax and eliminate tax loopholes and other tax avoidance for corporations and the wealthy
• Fully enforce anti-trust laws and break up monopolies
• Tax multinational corporations to the fullest extent allowed by federal law

It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to our current patterns of violence at all levels.

Antiwar 

• Divest Massachusetts pensions from weapons manufacturers 
• Require a Congressional declaration of war prior to a governor releasing the MA National Guard for an overseas combat deployment 

Police Reform 

• Demilitarize the police 
• End civil asset forfeiture
• Require misconduct insurance to be carried by all municipalities