All We’ve Accomplished Together in 2023

Dear Neighbor,

Happy New Year! I hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy during this holiday season. As 2023 comes to a close, I’d like to share a brief recap of our work together over the past year and highlight some of our collective accomplishments. 

My team and I have been humbled to work with constituents across the Massachusetts 7th to advance meaningful policies and budgets that center our shared humanity and lay the groundwork for an equitable recovery that leaves no one behind.

Delivering For Our Communities

In collaboration with constituents like Manya Chylinksi, we celebrated the enactment of the Post Disaster Mental Health Response Act. Passed and signed in December 2022, this law expands mental health support for survivors of natural disasters and terrorist attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing.

Earlier this year, my colleague Rep. Shontel Brown and I successfully pushed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to propose a ban on certain harmful chemicals in hair straightening products that put consumers and practitioners at risk of long-term health impacts.

In addition, we celebrated millions in federal funding I delivered for high-impact community projects that will help build a more just and equitable Massachusetts 7th, including: trauma-informed healthcare, workforce development, affordable housing, transit justice, equity in education, public health, and more.

Advancing Justice For All

As Maya Angelou once said, “no one of us can be free until everybody is free,” which is why I always seek to legislate in a way that is collaborative, intersectional, and centers justice for all.

To kick off this year, I unveiled legislation to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment and enshrine gender equality in the U.S. Constitution. We’re closer than ever to getting this done, and we won’t stop pushing because after a century since the ERA was first introduced, equality is long overdue.  

One year after the Supreme Court’s harmful Dobbs decision, I introduced the Abortion Justice Act, sweeping legislation that not only restores the abortion rights taken away from us, but also moves us closer to a more just America where abortion care is readily available to all who need it—without shame, stigma, or systemic barriers.

Our criminal legal system often neglects people with criminal convictions and prevents them from accessing the support they need to successfully return to their communities. My bill, the Housing FIRST Act, was introduced to help folks with criminal records access safe and stable housing. I also introduced the Inclusive Democracy Act to end felony disenfranchisement in Federal elections and guarantee the right to vote for incarcerated citizens.

And with the rise of book bans across the nation, I unveiled the Books Save Lives Act to push back against the harm of book censorship and help ensure an inclusive learning environment for all students. Every reader deserves to see themself represented in our literature and my bill would make that a reality for all.

Looking Forward

I am so proud of all we’ve accomplished together in 2023 and I look forward to building on that progress and continuing to deliver the relief our communities in the Massachusetts 7th need and deserve. As always, my team and I are ready to support you in any way we can, so please don't hesitate to give us a call at 617-850-0040 or visit our website at Pressley.House.Gov if we can be of assistance. 

Wishing you and your family happy holidays and I look forward to continuing our work together in 2024.

In service and solidarity,


Ayanna Pressley

Member of Congress