An Act to modernize funding for community media programming

001I was never a school teacher, but I guess that's being a school teacher, right? Uh, good afternoon. This is the second hearing of the joint committee on advanced IT, the internet, and cyber security. We have a lot of bills on the docket today and a lot of people signed up to testify. I'll ask that everyone respect the three minute time limit so we can hear from everyone. As is customary, we call legislators out of turn to speak. If you feel like you've already had if you've already heard testimony that reflects your position, please feel free to just say you agree and then submit your testimony in writing. A sign up sheet is outside in the hallway for anyone who is here today who wants to testify and has not already signed up. Uh the committee

002is accepting written testimony until Monday, July 14th at 5:00 p.m. instructions on submitting written testimony are on the website for this hearing. Um so I am Senator Michael Moore. I'm the chair of the joint committee on the Senate side and I'm also joined here today by committee member Senator Michael Barrett. Um I'm going to turn it over now to the vice excuse me the u the current chair on the house side is been delayed I guess flooding issues on the turnpike. So the vice chair on the house side represent Hawkins is going to be taking control for the house on their side. Thank thank you for the introduction. This is very flattering to be even even for a minute to be chair. So thank you. Thank you. Uh, I'd like to acknowledge the house members

003that are part of the uh, committee who are here, which would include Rep. Mowley, uh, Rep. Owens, Rep. Wlette, uh, Rep. Msino, and Rep. Fatillo. Thank you. It's it's a it's it's a small but dynamic committee. We're doing we're doing the most important work in our whole So, Um before we open the hearing, we had court officers come in on several occasions saying that we were too noisy. So out of respect for the people testifying when you testified, people in the audience obviously hold your conversations down and when you testify just announce who you are and what organization you are with if you are within organization. But again, you were told twice that another hearing going on they were having always hearing people trying to testify there. So, we are going to start off by

004taking the first person out of order who is also a committee member, Senator Garrett. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, happy to be here. Uh, thank you for taking me out of turn, Senator. Um, I'm here to testify on an act to modernize funding for community media programming. I apologize. that I have the docket numbers rather than the final members, but I know that you can cross translate here. It's House docket 326 and Senate docket 399 since I know they've been given their regular bill numbers. I want to associate myself with testimony you'll be hearing later today from Peter Padulla, the executive director of Chsford Community Television, uh, with whom I work on these issues. Fundamentally, as as you all know, a migration is under among consumers, Mr. Chairman, uh away from cable

005and toward streaming services and packages of streaming services. What we haven't done is permit the revenue streams to migrate along with the movement towards court cutting and towards reliance on independent streaming in l of reliance on table. So, we're seeing a an evisceration of funding sources as the cable cutting proceeds. We'd like to simply effect a a rather simple change in which streaming services are subject to the same levies currently uh appended to cable so that community TV can continue to function and continue to have access to revenue as customers uh change their preferences. That's essentially what this bill is about. Community cable in my district it varies by the city, but it's incredibly important where individual activists within the community have made it so and have committed a lot of volunteer hours to making

006it so. So, in Chsford, but also in Waltham and in several other communities, uh this this becomes an absolutely key source of information, especially given the disappearance of print newspapers. Community access is about all we've got as sources of community news and the revenue is going to decouple from the usage unless we affect a change in statute and so I commend the committee committee's attention to this particular legislation. Thank you. Any questions from committee members? Vice chair. Thank you. Thank you for being I'm sure you're not the last person to speak about this, but thank you for being first. And I'll ask you what's on my mind about this. Can you go more talk more about the availability availability of local news that that this will this will enable? Yeah, I uh we um have

007seen essentially the complete disappearance in the eight communities represented that I represent of what used to be the weekly newspaper. I had one daily 10 years ago, the Walt family news tribune and uh seven weeklys. Uh none of them currently publish effectively. Um the patch has taken over a few proform activities online, but essentially we get nothing. Now the good news is twofold. We are seeing the the appearance of independent weeklys uh that so far haven't figured out a business model that will permit them to sustain over years, but they're they're popping up. uh many of them are not advertising based which is means that there could be problems for them downstream. They're subscriptionbased. They depend on some philanthropic contributions. They're doing a great job but actually their future is uh is going to be

008in some question for a number of years until they get situated. Community access television is the one stable source of news and at a time when uh the old has been washed away and I'm talking about cable uh I'm talking about uh print media and the new uh streaming services and independent news publications um haven't quite come aboard. Uh community access is the only source of stability in this local news environment. It's crucial to my district and so I I thank you for the question. Well, it is to mine as well, but I wanted you to you're you're eloquent. I wanted to hear your your your description. So, thank you. I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate it. Thank you, Senator. Oh, any other questions? You run a tight ship. Thank you. Thank you.

009Thank you. Um we're also joined now by Vice Chair Piano. And and next we have we have and rep Rep. Flanigan just just got here too. Oh, Representative Flanigan just arrived. Um so next we have taking out of order to testify we have Representative McGregor also bring up Chair Moore and uh honorable members of the committee. Thank you for taking me out of turn and uh Mary Flare as well. Uh today I'm testifying in support of H4229 and S30, an act relative to limiting addictive social media feeds for minors and ask that the committee report both bills out of favor uh both bills out favorably. Right now, children across the Commonwealth are being targeted by social media companies who seek to take advantage of and profit from their impressionable minds and developing brains. There is

010a mental health crisis on on the rise amongst our young people fueled in part by social media addictions. Companies such as Tik Tok and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, are constantly tracking analytics on how long a teenager is spending on each post. what they like, what they comment on, and what they're searching for. And these insights are then used to feed endless streams of personalized content designed to maximize screen time. Currently, the average teenager is spending over five hours a day on social media. Uh, almost always scrolling through an algorithm algorithmic, oh my god. Uh, algorithmically generated feed. I should have not I should have admitted that word. uh on of some sort. That means the average teenager is spending approximately 15 days uh uh 50 uh 73 days on social media each year

011and at least 15 years of their lives on social media alone. More broadly, chronic social media usage has been linked to mental health issues like depression, suicide, social and mental anxiety, body image dis dysmorphia, loneliness, sleep problems, and attention issues. Is becoming increasingly difficult to get teenagers to do their schoolwork as well. They often appear to be in a state of withdrawal when they when away from social media. H4229 and S30 would address these predatory behaviors by removing a minor's ability to access an endless stream of content tailored to their interest by banning algorithms for users under 18. Instead, children would only be able to access the content that they search for as well as the accounts that they already follow. Companies already have systems in place to verify the age of their users, and

012the legislation before you today directs the Attorney General's office to enforce this law through feasible means available to developers. By passing this bill, we we would be taking a massive step towards alleviating addictions before they begin, which will help us tackle the mental health crisis facing our youth and help build healthy social media habits habits as children enter adulthood. We all know that social media here is here to stay. However, it's up to us to ensure that we're being responsible about how our children engage with it. It's my hope that by the time that my two girls, Eloise and Millie, are old enough that I end up caving on giving them a phone that I can do so knowing that we did our part in making their media landscape as safe as possible for them

013and their friends. They're four and two, so I got some time, but um I ask you to report age 4229 and S30 out favorably, and I'm happy to take any questions you may have. Thank you for your consideration. And um uh Mary Flity, who is obviously a a teenager, um is also wanting to speak in support of this bill, who obviously uses social media as well. Good afternoon, Chair Moore, and other honorable members of this committee. Um, my name is Mary Flity and I'm 17 years old and I've been on social media, primarily Tik Tok and Instagram, since I got my first cell phone at 11. In a world obsessed with beauty standards, especially around body image, it's easy for teens to spiral. This is something that's been made worse by social media algorithms. 30

014years ago, vanity came through things like magazines. Um, you could pick one up in the checkout line or not. Either way, it could disappear when you walked away. However, today, teens don't get that choice. The content follows you. It's constant, personalized, and often harmful. Apps like Tik Tok and Instagram track so many analytics that they can find out if one person is insecure. For many young people, including myself and people I love, this has contributed to body dysmorphia and eating disorders. As you scroll on Tik Tok, there could be one funny video, one video about your favorite singer, and then one video about maybe wanting to lose weight. If someone watches that video, relates to it, maybe likes it, or even just likes a comment, Tik Tok starts pushing more content like it. At first,

015I was shown workout routines and what I eat in a day videos, and Tik Tok knew I was going to watch these, so they kept going. Slowly, I was shown more videos promoting dangerous behaviors. However, they were intricately woven in between videos about new fashion trends and my favorite movies and singers and other things that kept my attention. All I did was scroll through and on Tik Tok the videos play instantly after each scroll. There isn't even a play button of sort. Soon I was taken on an inescapable spiral into an eating disorder almost passively. However, restrictions and content guidelines do exist on these apps, but they cannot and will not protect teenagers from these things. Pro eating disorder content creators speak in code words that fly under the radar of restrictions. This means that

016the only way to protect teenagers like myself is to completely ban content that operates in the form of an algorithm. By banning algorithms in other forms of short form addictive content, you take away the pathways to harming young people. I also ask that you report H4229 and S30 out favorably. Thank you so much. Thank you. Do we have any questions? Um to either one of you, do you know has any other state passed this version? Um so there has uh New York recently passed this last year and uh I believe Arkansas and um Utah. Uh but ours would be very similar to um New York. has has there been any legal challenges to it? I I mean I I believe that there was a big push to stop it, but um I I'm not I'm

017not sure about the legal challenges to be honest. I don't I don't want to speak out of turn. Thank you very much. Yes. No. And I also just I just want to mention your colleague uh definitely uh led on this Senator Cream. So um I think she's going to speak at some point later today. Yes, we're expecting her sometime today. Um hold on. Just one quick question. Um, have you uh had conversations with the AG's office about this at all? Um, I I personally have not. Um, we were actually speaking about that yesterday in our office and we plan to uh check in with the AG. I I'm not sure if Senator Cream's office has yet, but um we we plan to for sure. Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you. Okay. Next, we

018have a virtual We have Representative Barrett online representative. Sorry about that. I I thank you, Mr. Chairman. I uh I wanted to thank uh thank you for letting my father precede me today in his testimony. He gets very upset if he doesn't go first. Anyway, the uh sad sadly I think he's already left. He'd had to take a nap. Well, you know, he's getting up there. Anyways, I'm uh I'm I'm pleased to uh submit testimony in support of H72. And um my voice is uh gone with the uh allergies that are around, but my apologies. The the Department of Telecommunications and Cable is mandated by Massachusetts General Law 6166A and federal statutes to review and approve monitor and to monitor all cable licenses agreements between emiss municipalities and providers. Despite this fact, many communities, especially

019smaller or rural ones, face a significant disadvantage when negotiating with major cable providers. 872 addresses this imbalance by enforcing the DTC's oversight authority and encouraging a more consistent and transparent process by ensuring that all contracts undergo thorough and regular legal and regulatory review. This bill protects communities from unfair terms and helps guarantee access to essential services. Oversight is more critical now than ever. Cable and broadband remain core infrastructure for education, business, and civic engagement. At the same time, residents are facing rising costs and increased service complexities, such as a recent directive from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that imposes new sales tax charges on modern cable cable boxes with advanced features. Without strong regulatory safeguards, consumers may be left without recourse when confronted with unfair pricing or inadequate service. H72 does not expand DTC's authority

020so much as reaffirming, clarifying the department's role in improving transparency and effectiveness of cable contract oversight. will also help ensure that agreements are not only legally sound but fair and enforceable and that the interests of Massachusetts communities are protected. I'm very concerned about what is going on at DC DTC today. In the past week or so, we called over there and asked how many contracts have been settled or haven't been settled. Right now, the answer that we got yesterday was at any one time there could be over 500 contracts that are there for review, which is absurd when you think about it that there's only 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. So, there may be more in some of the other communities. I don't know. But that's an extraordinary number, which means that the contract,

021which might have been negotiated by a community, can wait as much as 12 months before it gets approval from the DTC. I think we've got a serious problem that has to be addressed, especially in this day and age. And I don't think there's a member of the legislature that hasn't heard complaints about the rising cost of cable, um, television, as well as broadband. it has gone out of sight and will continue to and it's time that the states step step into it and I believe as part of this legislation very quickly is that they should be reporting to your committee at least twice a year as to the number of contracts that remain unapproved. I thank you for your uh your listening to me today and I respectfully urge the committee to issue a favorable

022report on 872. Thank you. Any questions from the committee? Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, we're going to go to the list now. Uh, first we have a virtual testimony from Daniel Wolf, Alliance for Digital Innovation. Good afternoon, Chair Moore, uh, Vice Chair Hawkins, and members of the joint committee. Uh my name is Dan Wolf and I'm the director of state programs for the Alliance for Digital Innovation. It's good to see you all again. Uh we support Senate Bill 31 and we encourage you to report this legislation favorably from your committee at the appropriate time. So about ADI, we are a nonpartisan alliance of technology companies focused on accelerating change in the public sector through the adoption of commercial cloud technology. Our members are some of the most innovative technology firms in the nation,

023including many that already proudly serve the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Uh we believe that the Commonwealth's public agencies have to be equipped with the best technology and cyber tools available to deliver effective services to the people of Massachusetts. The unfortunate reality is that although EOTSs and agency partners perform excellent work with the limited resources available to them, there are still many outdated IT systems with weak security still in use across government. Um, trait digital transformation is a timeconsuming endeavor that typically crosses multiple budget cycles and even when planned judiciously, efforts to provide better, more secure citizen services are often hampered by inflexibilities in the appropriations process. This bill would establish the Massachusetts Innovation Fund to provide short-term loans to state agencies undertaking IT modernization projects. And we believe that Senate Bill 31 addresses one of the

024most persistent challenges in state government technology management, which is the lack of flexible upfront capital to invest in long overdue IT system upgrades. Too often, agencies are forced to rely on annual appropriations or capital bond legislation uh or fragmented funding streams that are insufficient to support comprehensive modernization. These delays and interruptions in project funding perpetuate the use of outdated technology systems that are less secure and more expensive to maintain. By providing access to centralized repayable financing, the TMF enables agencies to make uh strategic multi-year investments that replace obsolete legacy systems, reduce operational risk, bolster the Commonwealth cyber security posture, and improve service delivery. The fund would be governed by an oversight board with members of the executive and legislative branches to create strategic investment priorities and work with mass development to manage a loan program

025for qualifying IT projects at state agencies. The agency would then repay the loan over a 7-year period to promote fiscal responsibility. At the federal level, there's been a similar program known as the technology modernization fund uh that's been around since 2016. It's proven wildly successful and served as an important tool in modernizing federal IT systems and improving service delivery. Since its its inception, they have invested in more than 70 projects across 34 federal agencies with most addressing urgent modernization or cyber challenges. We believe that this model can be successful and effective in the Commonwealth. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you. Any questions from committee members? Mr. Wolf, um, have you identified a funding source for this that would

026Yeah, that was that was one of the things that I did want to talk about. It it is critical to identify that sufficient funding for the program to ensure that agencies can leverage this program. Um, we're still working in the background on this time. Uh, you know, it's a it's a long session and we hope to have have an answer for you uh the next time I speak with you to share more. All right. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. And we're going to go back out of order. We have representative Aero here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of committ. Thank you to the chairman and members of the joint committee on advanced information technology. I am here today to ask for your favorable consideration of House Bill 91, an act to modernize funding

027for community media programming. This legislation is an essential step towards ensuring that Massachusetts communities continue to benefit from locally driven, non-commercial media content that is responsive to the unique educational, governmental, and cultural needs of each municipality. Westford Cat, my hometown uh community access station in the town of Westford, is an essential part of civic life in my hometown. Whether it's broadcasting select board and school committee meetings, covering high school sports and events, or providing residents with important updates from town departments and community organizations, Westford Cat, which I'm hopeful you'll be hearing from some point during the hearing today, ensures that government is transparent and information is accessible to all in our hometown. These programs have traditionally been funded by cable franch uh franchise fees. However, with the shift to streaming entertainment platforms, traditional revenue sources

028have steadily declined and have put access in jeopardy, just as the demand for local accessible content continues to grow. This legislation appropriately recognizes that streaming entertainment providers utilize public rights of way and should therefore contribute to the public good in return. Just as cable operators have done for years, by creating a fair and modern assessment on streaming entertainment providers, the bill establishes a necessary revenue stream that will support community media centers, municipalities, and the Commonwealth as a whole. I urge the committee to swiftly advance this bill and ensure our community media centers are not left behind the digital age. Thank you for taking me out of turn, Mr. Chairman. And if there's any questions, any questions? Representative Hawkins. Chair Arero, thank you for your testimony on this. Uh, this is you're not the first one

029to testify, so I've already made comments, but this is a an issue in my community, but the local newspaper has been bought out by a big conglomerate and local access is the is what we have available for for good timely local news. So, thank you. Thank you, Representative. All right. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right, next we have online Liz Douly Liza Dy. Okay. Um, next we're going to go to in person. Briana January. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, esteemed committee. Briana January with Chamber of Progress. Chamber of Progress is a center-left tech industry association advocating for the progressive future of tech and inclusive access to that future. Our partners include household names and innovators like Apple, Amazon, and Google. But unlike traditional industry associations, they do not have a vote or veto on our

030positions. To start, I'd like to offer our strong support to H87 and H88, both of which will help further the Commonwealth's modernization and foster investment in blockchain and crypto. That said, we do have serious concerns with H4229 S30, the social media bill, which would require age and identity verification for all social social media users in order to access platforms and digital content committee. Today, there is only two ways uh to perform age verification. Either a platform can collect sensitive identifying data or they can contract out to a third party to collect sensitive identifying data. In either case, you have to collect a large amount of personal data. Things like driver's license or birth certificates or even things like biometrics of facial scans, hand movements. Uh either way, this is a lot of really sensitive data.

031This poses significant cyber security threats with uh the third party vendors that do exist, of which there are only a handful, having a poor track record of cyber security hacks and data leaks. But I'm going to be frank and I'm comfortable to do so in in Massachusetts and Boston as a center-left industry association. We have other concerns with the collection of this data. Um we are seriously concerned with the possible misuse of huge amounts of identifying data by the current federal administration to be used for wide sweeping immigration enforcement. And this isn't a hypothetical committee. The Trump administration has already used similar data from the IRS, from Social Security and Medicaid without court orders to identify immigration status, especially in blue states and cities like Boston where we've seen excessive enforcement. Lastly, as noted by

032the chair, every state that has enacted uh social media policies has been legally challenged with many of them being found to be unconstitutional recently, including Texas, Arkansas, California, and Ohio. And I'm happy to share an updated memo with the committee on the existing cases and their current status. And actual lastly, uh, regarding algorithms, I do want to caution the committee that banning algorithms actually makes kids safe less safe online as algorithms are a critical tool for platforms themselves to identify harmful content, either remove it, demote it, or even block the users that are promoting it. um without algorithmic feeds. You can imagine a situation in which a kid, say a queer kid at school, is bullied all day, comes home, seeks some refuge, some community on social media, but because his or her feed is

033not algorithmically designed to their personal interest, it's a forced chronological feed, and so they see posts one by one from their classmates targeting their community, for example. I'd like to caution the committee to please consider those impacts on what is otherwise a well-intended piece of legislation, but there are logistical concerns that would have serious consequences for the for the Commonwealth. Thank you. Thank you. Questions from look forward to working together. And I'm now going to give my co-chair the opportunity opportunity to introduce herself and and an opening statement if she wishes. Thank you, uh, Senator. Um, I'm very sorry um to be late. The turnpike was really not good to me today. It's five hour. If I beat a record, I know that you're jealous of this record. 5 hours and 22 minutes to get

034here today. So, it's crazy. Um, but your testimony is uh really very important. There's a important slate of uh bills in front of us today and I promise you, you'll have my full attention going forward. Thank you. And thank you to my vice chair for for handling things at the beginning. That was hard work. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, he was very stressed out by the whole um Okay, so next we have um Okay, we want to stay in person. We have Emila Goodwin. Oh, no. S I'm sorry. Virtually come on up. So Pamela, we'll be back to you right next. Chair Moore, Chair Fi Bier, and members of the Joint Committee on the Advanced Information Technology and Internet and Cyber Security. Um, I'm here today to testify in support of H101, an act establishing

035free broadband internet access in public housing in 2025. Connection to highspeed internet is no longer a luxury. U for those who can pay for it. Um access to internet is a requirement for the 21st century. While much of the state is digitally connected, the most vulnerable are still being left behind. Without readily available internet connection, public housing residents face obstacles applying for jobs, receiving and completing education, accessing teleaalth appointments. They lack the resource most necessary for being able to support themselves and their families. Uh this bill addresses this critical gap by requiring broadband access be available to residents in subsidized housing um and come to no cost to them. Uh this bill seeks to fix this problem through two functions or two ways or two methods. Um one it requires the public housing provide free

036broadband internet as part of uh offering a decent safe and sanitary dwelling. Um second, it names broadband internet as a human right um and authorizes the health impact um assessment by the department of public health for the negative health impacts, the lack of broadband internet access and the potential health um outcomes of broadband internet access could provide um the lack of um I also would like to ask the committee to please report this bill out favorably H101. Uh, and I'm here with um Stephen Laric from the Metropolitan Area Council uh who's also going to be testifying in support of this this bill. Thank you, Rep and and thank you chairs and members of the committee. Um my name is Steven Laric. I'm the digital manager at MAPC, the regional planning agency that serves people who

037live and work in the 101 cities and towns in metro Boston. uh which also includes roughly half the state's population and twothirds of the state's jobs. Uh I've been working on issues of access to information, technology, and the internet for over a decade now. And so H101 um is near and dear to my heart. Uh at MAPC, I lead our digital equity program, which includes helping communities to create plans to address the digital divide and working directly with housing providers to support the installation of free public Wi-Fi networks for low and moderate income families right where they live. I want to start by stating directly ensuring broadband internet be available and free in all public housing units as a requirement of decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling is a good idea and critically needed. This bill

038will benefit the lives of our neediest neighbors in big ways. And importantly, this idea is not just charity, but an investment. One that will benefit all of us in the Commonwealth by improving our economy, our health, and equal access to opportunity. So, I urge you to report this bill favorably. And now, here's the part where I'm going to tell you a bit about why. Um, access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet is crucial for Massachusetts residents to fully access social services, government, and healthcare services and to fully participate in school and the economy and broader society. The COVID pandemic really highlighted this and it also highlighted the inequities that people experience without home broadband access. We saw children fall behind in school, unable to get a clear video stream of their classroom or complete online homework

039assignments. And we saw the digital divide have an impact on the workforce as hybrid and remote work became the norm, requiring new digital skills and a reliable broadband connection at home. We also know that here in Massachusetts, unlike in other states, the reason for our digital divide is due primarily not to a lack of infrastructure, but to the cost associated with paying for service. With a report from a national nonprofit finding that over 81% of the Massachusetts digital divide is due to cost. This means that low and moderate income households are the most impacted. It also means though that we have an opportunity to solve the digital divide in the Commonwealth. It's more achievable than it might be elsewhere. We just need the will and the resources to make it happen. That's where you all

040come in. Um, you know, most of the federal funding that was made available in the American Rescue Plan Act, um, for Coronairus Relief and Economic Security Act, uh, has been exhausted. And, uh, with the Affordable Connectivity Program ended and the digital equity act jeopardized by the Trump administration, we have less ability to rely on federal funding to close the digital divide. Further support's needed from the legislature here to ensure that progress can continue. MAPC has been working on several successful projects in public housing in our region and across the Commonwealth. And we've currently completed work in Chelsea, River, and Quincy that's directly providing internet for free to low and moderate income residents. And we have more projects planned and underway in public housing across the Commonwealth in Boston, Somerville, Greenfield, and North Adams. We know

041from this work how much broadband is needed. Throughout uh our work, MAPC has heard directly from residents, community based organizations, and municipal staff and leadership about the barriers to access faced by the most vulnerable communities. We've heard from residents about how students were having to do homework in McDonald's parking lots, or how residents were having to interview for jobs or access health care at Dunkin Donuts or at the library without access to privacy. We know that without intervention, this problem will only get worse. As more crucial services shift from primarily in person to online access, the most vulnerable among us are at risk of being left behind. And we know that internet is crucial. A PBS survey in in 2020 found that 80% of Americans valued access to the internet at home as much as

042they value access to water and electricity. Without H101, low low-income seniors may lack access to health to telealth services. Residents may lack the ability for school and upwardly mobile jobs. And students may fall behind. I ask that you report this bill favorably and I'll be happy to answer any questions about the current program or about the bill. Thank you. I actually have uh three questions for you. Cost the funding source and how much infrastructure do we have or do not have? Yeah, I'm I obviously glad you asked about that. I'm not our our actuary. Um but there was a mass inc study that kind of looked into this. We have um something like 160,000 uh units of public housing in the Commonwealth. Um the Mass Inc. study was looking at numbers of approximately a thousand

043per unit to wire these buildings for modern internet connection. If you use an access point in unit, um we've seen uh the kind of ongoing operational costs uh anywhere between 30 unit uh $30 per unit per month um but could be lower than that with certain technologies. Uh and so the Mass Inc. report uh estimated that the cost could fall um in the low tens of millions per year. Um 19 million per year was their estimate. uh at at kind of the current costs in our pilot program. Um it's a little bit higher, but um yeah, with up upfront costs um under 200 million is what the Mass Inc. uh report uh found saying under 200 million. Is that 190 million? 160 million is what the report found. Again, I'm not our actuary and that's

044that's not our report. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um annually is that annually? No. So that that um 160 million was the upfront cost of wiring the buildings and installing that equipment of the the access points uh with uh the operational cost being much lower in the tens of millions a year low tens of millions. Any other questions? Uh, so you mentioned the cost of wiring from the curb to each unit, but of all of the housing authority buildings, state and federal, in Massachusetts, do they all have broadband at the curb? What happens if there's a building that physically doesn't have broadband infrastructure running from the rest of the world down the street to that building? According to this legislation, it means that building is no longer safe and habitable. And that's the housing authority

045executive director can't trench the street and run the wire down to to the next internet access point. So, is it the case that every single housing authority building, state and federal in Massachusetts, has broadband out at the curb? Uh so I would um kind of site we're a partner with the mass broadband institute on this work uh which is you know is the recipient of uh bead funding. The priority for bead funding is to ensure that unserved sites are completely covered and that underserved sites are then covered as well. So uh in Massachusetts we have upwards of something like someone here probably knows the figure but we we essentially have close to 100% uh coverage for what are called our broadband service locations and the bead funding from the federal government is the the goal

046of that funding is to get to 100 um 100%. uh and it is eminently feasible with that funding. And so I uh it is my understanding that all of our uh it's also my understanding that that uh public housing sites have been identified as what is called a community anchor institution which makes them a priority site for access to that bead funding to make sure that connection happens. Um and again I believe that our our our sites are already connected with at least one provider and it may not be 100% of them but this funding should ensure that it is 100% of them. not the funding from this bill, funding that's already happening. Representative. Oh, sorry. Thank you. Um, thank you very much uh to the two of you. Um, I believe that especially in

047public housing um internet and broadband internet should be um considered a utility. Um, we certainly experienced that in the pandemic where I thought, you know, Pittsfield is is the big city in the Birkers, right? Because, you know, we're surrounded by rural towns. Um, but my constituents um did not have access to internet um in order to be able to go to school and there was a huge digital divide and that had to do with affordability. Um, and then there was this whole fake thing that was going on where um certain companies um offered free broadband for three months for families to get them through that, but um anyone who had an outstanding bill did not qualify for that. And so it wasn't it wasn't real. Um so I thank you for bringing this forward. Um

048I do want to um underline what you said before about housing. um uh authorities and and those units being uh anchor institutions that was that was the case in Pittsfield is that when we were running uh the NBI lines as I'll call them the um housing uh sites because there's several in Pittsfield were considered community anchor um um sites. If I if I could add um I think there's another bill that would um um include low income residents. I I know this bill focus on the public housing um aspect and I I I do appreciate some of the comments and it's certainly a challenge to make it happen the first year. Um but certainly the the main cost is the beginning and then afterwards just maintaining. Yeah. Um um but the goal is really to

049just to get people access to um you know tellahalth appointments those are vital and we really should look into as a human right issue and not you know as a cost and a burden to the state. U certainly I think the positive um to it probably pays out you know pays off the um the cost. So, um I'm in agreement with you and of I think starting with housing authorities is the way to go. Scatter is much more difficult uh to to solve. Um I'm wondering where this should this be and I'm sure you wondered the same thing. Is this a housing bill or is this an AIC bill? Right. And so um and there's a whole bunch of bills in our committee that could be anywhere. Right. and and so I'm just wondering the

050kind of conversations you've had with the housing authorities um with the housing committee um secretary you know what what have those conversations been like housing authority they had some pilot program on this already I could try to get some perhaps some more feedback to the committee from their experience but we have worked some with some um maybe have an example yeah so we've we've done outreach to an extent extensive number of housing authorities and many of them have participated either in our program or free apartment Wi-Fi uh or in the Mass Broadband Institute's residential retrofit program. Um we've conducted interviews with a number of the resident service providers and with housing authority leadership who are overwhelmingly um recognizing the need to support their residents in this way and telling us that this program is a

051priority for them. Um we're we're planning to do some kind of report outs of the impact of our current work which again is not as encompassing. It will not cover all the public housing authorities. Um but uh happy to follow up with some of the the kind of quotes we've gotten from housing providers. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Representative. I just want to state that that ATK gets bills that could have gone somewhere else but comes to us and instead I believe speaks to the legislaturator's great confidence in the ATC chairs and vice chairs always willing to provide us comic relief. So we are going to thank you very much. Thank you. We are going to go back to a virtual testimony. online. Okay, moving on. Virginia Benzan. Okay. Kane Kane. Thank

052you. This I'm here to testify on three different bills. Go right ahead. Okay. Uh, Chair Moore, Chairwoman Farley Bouvier, members of the committee. Um, I'm here to express my strong support for H88, which would establish a special commission on blockchain and cryptocurrency in Massachusetts. This is a critical next step for the Commonwealth already at the forefront of blockchain technology. I'm a uh city council in Quinsey and I also started an organization called Cubic Labs in 2019. So, I've worked alongside public and private stakeholders to advance blockchain. I don't know why I'm so nervous today. I got to shake it for a second. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, you're among friends. So, I've worked alongside public and private stakeholders to advance blockchain use cases that directly serve Massachusetts communities. In just the last few years, Cubic

053has received the first blockchain focused investment from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. We've partnered with municipal leaders to launch the nation's first blockchain based municipal bond. We've explored a proof of concept with the Norfor County Registry of Deeds to deploy blockchainbacked land record storage. We've built an accelerator that has supported more than 75 startups advancing digital infrastructure, including blockchain. And we've convened national and international policy conversations positioning Massachusetts as a credible voice in the future of blockchain and digital assets. What we've consistently found is this. Massachusetts has the talent, the institutions, and the momentum, but it lacks a coordinated state level effort to connect these assets into a unified strategy. And H88 would change that. By bringing together a 25 member commission representing public, private, academic, and civic stakeholders, the Commonwealth

054can develop a comprehensive forward-looking roadmap for blockchain, addressing everything from regulatory clarity and tax frameworks to digital literacy, consumer protection, and economic opportunity. We've seen firsthand that siloed efforts only go so far, and to capture the full promise of blockchain and digital assets for Massachusetts residents, we need intentional coordination, which H88 lays the foundation for. Cubic Labs is eager to support the work of this commission as a partner resource and on the ground practitioner. Uh the second bill that I'm here to advocate for is H87 which would create a pilot program to explore digital innovation in government. Um you know this represents both smart policy but a chance for Massachusetts to lead from the front. Uh, as I mentioned, as a Quinsey city councelor and executive chairman of Cubic Labs and nonprofit innovation hub based

055in Quinsey, we've spent the last few years advancing these same goals. In 2022, we received a $2 million grant from Masstech. And with that funding, we built infrastructure, launched, and supported startups and forged public private partnerships that help Massachusetts build a durable competitive advantage in blockchain and digital infrastructure. Uh today we're actively engaged in the development of a proof of concept with the Northfor County Registry of Deeds exploring how we can collaborate to provide storage transparency and resiliency of land records. That project which is led with Blockwise Advisors Groma and the National Association of Realtors mirrors precisely the vision outlined in H87. And we're not theorizing here. We're actually putting uh practicality to test. And so that's why this bill matters. Moving on to 89. an act providing for consumer protection in the digital economy.

056Uh Massachusetts has been a pioneer uh from the nation's first blockchain municipal bond to exploring these land records that I just talked about. But at every turn, we encounter the same issues and the same questions from residents, community leaders, and local officials. And that's what does this mean for me? H89 answers this question headon. And by tasking the state treasures office with developing educational resources on digital assets, the Commonwealth would empower residents with the tools that they need to make informed decisions. And whether that's understanding the basics of cryptocurrency or recognizing the risks that come with emerging financial products. Critically, this is about inclusion and it's about trust. Without broad-based digital literacy, innovation risks become an insidider game only and it widens the divide that currently already exists. And again, we're very happy to support

057these efforts. I also want to thank Representative Caitlyn Brigger Beian for shephering these bills in her support for the blockchain industry in Massachusetts. Happy to take questions. Thank you. Uh any questions? Well, you get off easy. Yeah, because people are like, "What's blockchain?" Yeah. So, thank you for your support. Okay. Next, we have Rick Trilling. Rick Trilling. Moving on. Uh, this is virtual Julian Shelfo. Hello, that's me. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes. Okay, great. Um, hello chairs and committee members. Thank you for having me today. My name is Julie Skeleo and I'm a longtime journalist, a mom of three, and the founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction. MAMA is a grassroots movement of parents and allies fighting back against media addiction and creating a world where real life experiences and interactions remain at the

058heart of a healthy childhood. Kids in Massachusetts and across the country are being harmed by social media platforms that are designed to addict. This addiction has created what the American Academy of Pediatrics calls a national emergency in youth mental health. I started MAMA after reporting on that and on growing rates of suicide, not just in teens, but in twins. Today, more 10-year-olds die by suicide in the United States than from every form of cancer combined. For more than a decade, we've also seen elevated rates of youth anxiety, depression, self harm, eating disorders, and more. Attention spans are falling while reading and math scores go down. The effects of this on our families, our communities, and future workforce are profound. As social media company's own internal documents show, these problems did not happen by chance. They

059were the result of intentional algorithm design choices and data practices picked to maximize profit. Meta reports that it removed over 12 million pieces of suicide and self harm content from Facebook and Instagram just between April and June of last year. So a modest estimate is that kids are exposed to 48 million pieces of dangerous, unhealthy content on those two platforms annually. And that's not even including all the other very engaging but potentially harmful images and videos as you heard the young woman testify about earlier. Is it a is it a surprise our kids are suffering? Of course not. Today you have the power to do something. For too long social media companies have argued that they should be shielded from limits that apply to every other mass media publisher or broadcaster. They want us to

060believe that implementing standards to ensure their products are safe would somehow stall innovation or violate free speech or put marginalized groups at risk. You have even heard some of these arguments today. Don't fall for it. I'm here to say as a journalist, you won't find anyone who values free speech more. And these companies have the same responsibility as any other company. Children deserve to be safe. That's why there are laws that ensure cribs and car seats are manufactured to certain standard and that vehicles include seat belts. By law, we don't allow kids to purchase liquor, buy cigarettes, or visit casinos. Why should we allow social media companies to serve addictive products to kids unfettered? Keeping children safe online is something all parents want and something this elected body can do now by voting to enact

061Senate Bill 30 and House Bill 4229. Please don't wait for more Massachusetts children and families to suffer harm that is preventable. Thank you for this opportunity to testify and for putting our kids safety ahead of tech company profits. Thank you. Any questions from the committee? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. and thank you for your testimony and your work on this. There's nothing like mamas to get things done, right? I completely share your goal. I I completely share the end product of why we're trying to grow here. I do have some concerns on how we're going to get there and central to that is age verification. So, I just didn't know if you wanted to talk a little bit about age verification and how you think this is going to work and work in a way

062that actually is not harmful on the other end of this in what is often referred to as the dark web. Absolutely. So, you know, big tech unfortunately has been operating a lot like big tobacco and they will make any argument they can about why any safeguards at all um could potentially be harmful. But what they don't talk about is the fact that they are already collecting that data on our children. And we know that because of their own internal documents and the multiple whistleblowers that have come forward to say that, for example, Instagram was collecting data on the number of 10, 11, and 12 year olds who were staying up at 12, midnight, 1:00 a.m., 2 a.m. on school nights because these products were so addictive they couldn't get off. So even though these companies

063like to distract us by warning us that age verification might create new problems, they're not really being honest about the fact that they are already have so much detail in our children. They can tell not only how old they are, but their most intimate and detailed preferences even beyond what children themselves or we adults ourselves could identify. Yeah. So I'm going to agree with you on that that that they're already collecting that data. quite frankly, they are selling that data. Um, and so I I guess I'll point you to our data privacy bills that that um are being very actively uh discussed now and worked on. Um, and us treating both children as defined as under 13 and minors as defined as 18. Um, as that is sensitive data that cannot be bought and sold.

064They know who is under 18. They just do. Um, and so I'm curious if um, a known or should have known standard would be something that you think would be workable. I think that we've seen um, success in these approaches. For example, in New York that was mentioned earlier where last year we passed the safe for kids act or the stop addictive feeds along with child data privacy protections. And so I think that approach chair is really smart to make sure that both are enacted at the same time. And again, you know, we're differentiating between um minors and adults. While certainly we would like all of these products to be as safe as possible for everyone, we recognize there are differences between minors and adults and we don't allow our children to go into casinos

065or buy alcohol um because we recognize that they're addictive. So, I think when companies say that there are too many burdens in making their products safer, you know, we don't buy that argument from any other type of company. We don't allow baby formula companies to put wood chips in baby formula because they can make more profit. And similarly, I don't think we should allow these companies to profit off of our children using absolutely any technique um possible. And that's why these bills make so much sense. So again, you know, we're open to a variety of solutions. Um, but we have seen in New York that those bills that were passed in a bipartisan way and in conjunction with input from the attorneys the attorney general's office that there are enforcement mechanisms for families. Too many

066families are experiencing um just catastrophic harms to their children's well-being when these products, these companies are amplifying content designed only to for engagement and nothing else. and they are receiving um kids are receiving challenges that are resulting in deaths. Um on Snapchat uh there are record rates of fentinel sales and we now have record rates of fentinyl overdoses. So there's just too many harms and it's time it's time to correct things and protect our kids. Well, again, I thank you for your advocacy and I would welcome further conversations with you and the uh bill sponsors on this. Thank you so much and thank you. Happy to help. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions? Thank you. Uh, next we have in person I Arie Cohen, [Music] chairs Moore and Farley Bouvier, members of the committee.

067Uh, my name is Ari Conn. I have been a first amendment lawyer for more than a decade and I am currently lead counsel for the foundation lead council for tech policy at the foundation for individual rights and expression or fire a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that defends the free speech rights of all Americans. Hold on a minute. Okay. Uh, I'm testifying today in opposition to Senate Bill 30 and House Bill 4229, which while doubtless well-intentioned, would violate the First Amendment rights of all users, regardless of their age, and impose government control on how speech is published and distributed online. These concerns have led courts around the country to enjoin similar legislation in other states. Uh, and today I'll briefly focus on two primary concerns. First, as you've heard, this bill would effectively require all social media

068platforms, which are almost universally built around curated content recommendations uh to verify the age of every user. This necessarily requires users to hand over personally identifying information, eroding the anonymity that allows Americans to read and share information on sensitive or controversial topics, including political disscent and criticism of powerful figures, safely and candidly without the risk of reprisal. And this is true in practice regardless of whether the bill directly mandates collection of government ID. Uh as you've heard uh before the only really uh alternate meth method of age assurance is facial age estimation which still requires handing over biometric information. But beyond that facial age estimation can't reliably distinguish between a 17-year-old and a 19year-old. All systems have a buffer zone between two to five years within which a user will be rejected and forced to

069hand over actual identifying information including identity documents. And these systems also oftentimes falsely reject users for minority groups, particularly transgender individuals who might not have identity documents depending on where they are um and their uh personal situations and those with darker skin requiring them to show additional identification. courts. The first amendment protects the rights of minors to access constitutionally protected speech on social media. The Supreme Court has held that it similar similarly prohibits the government from regulating who may speak to minors and on what constitutionally protected topics. Content recommendations are themselves speech protected by the First Amendment and calling them addictive simply does not change that legal reality. At its core, this is a contentbased restriction on what speech may be conveyed to minors and how, and it will therefore be subject to strict constitutional

070scrutiny, which has been described as strict in theory, but fatal in fact. The bill compounds this problem, furthermore, by simultaneously prohibiting platforms from withholding or lowering the quality of their services to any user to whom it's prohibited from providing these recommendations, effectively requiring platforms to display content in a way that does not align with their own wishes. It adds compelled speech to compelled silence by requiring platforms to speak and distribute information to users, but only in the way the government approves of. And this is prot precisely the type of government entanglement with speech that the First Amendment prohibits. I would urge this committee to vote no on both of these bills. Thank you. Any questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um, we still have roughly 25 people have testified. I've been a little

071given a little leeway going beyond the three minutes. Um I apologize if I am going to try to strictly enforce the three minute to make sure that we move along and everyone gets a chance to testify. Okay? So please don't take it as being rude or trying to interrupt you. We just need to make sure that the hearing proceeds. Um next we have Suzanne Bernstein from Electronic Privacy Information Center. It's virtually. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Suzanne Bernstein. I'm council at the Electronic Privacy Oh, can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Sorry. I'm counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of S30 and H4229, an act protecting children from addictive social media feeds. EPIC is an independent nonprofit research organization focused on protecting privacy, freedom of

072expression, and democratic values in the information age. Existing protections for the privacy and safety of minors online are deeply inadequate. Many companies employ design features that use minor data to figure out the best way to manipulate each minor into staying on the platform as long as possible. This is regardless of content. These design choices lead to overuse and compulsive use of social media and harm minors by interfering with poor life activities such as sleeping, exercising, or socializing. All the while, evidence shows that company's behavioral engineering tactics are ruthlessly effective, preventing minors from controlling the amount of time they actually want to spend on social media. These design practices deprive minors of their autonomy, taking control of their online experiences out of their hands and subjecting them to heightened physical safety and data security risks. This

073bill will mitigate these harms in two ways. regulating addictive feeds, as they're called in the bill, and overnight notifications. The addictive feeds provision limits the personal data that a social media platform can use to curate feeds for minors. It addresses the current design practices of ordering feeds based on the passive surveillance of users, tracking clicks, time spent watching, or even spent hovering over certain media. And borrowing techniques from the casino industry, this induces overuse, and companies use this data to predict and design what arrangement of media is likely to keep a user on the platform longer, invading minor's privacy and contributing to this compulsive use. And while S30 regulates specific data management design practices that lead to overuse, it leaves open many channels for personalized delivery of the same media based on a user's express

074preferences, not passive surveillance. For example, subscribing to, liking, disliking, or otherwise explicitly interacting with a piece of media or media in a certain category. S30 also prohibits push notifications between 6:00 am between midnight and 6 a.m. These notifications are an important design feature encouraging compulsive use by incessantly reminding users of the app even when it's inactive. This is an intentional move. Uh, in Massachusetts ongoing lawsuit, for example, against Tik Tok, the company admitted that push notifications are key to drawing users attention back to the app, and they have sometimes sent thousands of not notifications to a day to minor. S30 protects miners privacy, enhances minor autonomy, and significantly improves their online safety by prohibiting abusive data and design practices. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Epic is happy to be a resource to

075the committee on the issues and I'm happy to answer any questions. Okay. Thank you. Any questions? Representative. Good afternoon. Thank you for your testimony today. Uh I was wondering if you'd be able to speak briefly uh about um you know, we we've heard some testimony today essentially characterizing the legal landscape as saying that this would be uh contrary to the protections of the First Amendment. Could you talk a little bit about that more specifically in relation to these these pieces of legislation? Sure. Thank you for the question. Um, so this uh piece of legislation is content agnostic. It regulates the kind of data that these companies can use to uh input into an algorithm to provide information to order media for miners. So it has nothing to do with the content that is actually shown

076to the miners. Instead, it's about data use. It's about the surveillance that of of our clicks and attention online and using that to in and design features that maintain attention regardless of what a minor is being shown. So in that way it's content agnostic. It doesn't regulate content at all. Um and also I I can respond to the to the other comments about the first amendment as it relates to age assurance in this bill. uh if so age assurance in the bill is uh something that uh is directed to the attorney general to do rulemaking to determine this balance between accuracy and privacy protections so that there wouldn't be an unconstitutional burden to access anything. Uh and so the other aspect related to that evaluation is what is the burden to accessing something. So if

077it's to access a design feature that's not been courts have not considered that to be speech. Um and so the age assurance methods to be determined by the attorney general will be a process with uh notice and and comment and be participatory with industry. And until then, the actual knowledge standard, which is common in the federal level, the Kappa uh bill, the Kappa law, excuse me, uh is something that many, it's a relatively low threshold that many companies already uh employ today. Thank you very much. Okay, coach here, thank you and thank you for being here. Um we appreciate the partnership we have with Epic and many of our of of the bills we have in front of us. um can you talk to me about how these bills compare to what's going on um

078in Vermont and um you know are there things happening in Vermont that we could apply here better um and how can Vermont learn from us? Sure. So Vermont uh recently enacted the an age appropriate design code that actually a portion of that law now law is very similar to what is in this bill. So, this bill is more similar to the New York Safe for Kids Act, which narrowly regulates um you know, surveillance-based feeds, which is defined in both of those laws as addictive feeds, as well as regulating overnight push notifications. And so, these this bill in in essence is a part of the Vermont age appropriate design code, but the Vermont age appropriate design code um goes a bit further to to more broadly regulate uh abusive data design practices for for minors in

079Vermont. So, uh, I think it'll be certainly interesting to see how Vermont, um, enacts this law. And there is rulemaking as well that's been assigned to, uh, by that legislature to the attorney general. Uh, and I think with the rule making in New York and on Vermont about age assurance, uh, as well as the recent Supreme Court decision, um, it'll become even more clear where where the line is in terms of how, uh, what burden is is may be appropriate or inappropriate. Um but the reality as as other uh witnesses have already indicated is that many companies already know the age of their users. Uh and this and what's very important to understand as well is that in each of those bills in Vermont, New York, and in this bill, there are statutory requirements related

080to the rulemaking to protect the privacy of any data that's used during the age assurance process. Thank you. And then just one more question. We talk about the definition of minor. Can you talk about like um where states are as far as age 16 versus 18? I'm going to just show my bias and say that I really like 18. So, but go ahead. Sure. there's uh there different legislators are are under trying to figure out what's the most developmentally appropriate way to regulate uh some of these uh more harmful uh social media platforms or other companies that many minors are on. And so some bills will uh distinguish between a child as 13 and under and a minor as 18 between 13 and 18. some bills that uh go further to put bans of 13

081to 16 or 16 to 18. Uh and I think it's important that legislators are doing this all at the same time and discussing with one another what might be uh the best uh way forward. I I look to uh you know pediatricians, other researchers doing uh a lot of very important work about what may be developmentally appropriate for minors and then as a privacy lawyer understanding how to best protect the privacy and online safety of of those minors relative to what's developmentally appropriate. Well, that's great. Thank you so much. And you know, you work Epic works, you know, all over the country. So, we appreciate the perspective that you have and and my co-chair and I work with legislators um AC, you know, many many other states on these issues. So, um seeing what's out

082there in other states is really important when it comes to this. So, thank you and thank you, Mr. Chairman. You're welcome. Uh and now we have two representatives that are going to join us as a panel. So we have Representative Scarsdale and Mr. Representative Machino. Good afternoon chairs Farley Bouvier and more and honorable members of the committee. Would you introduce yourself for the audience? Oh, pardon. Would you introduce yourself for the audience? Yes. Uh I am Margaret Scarsdale. I'm the state representative for the first middle sex district Ashby Dunable Graten Lunberg Pepper and Townsen. Um thank you for taking us out of turn in the spirit of the Daly Lama. I will say I am grateful for that. I am here today testifying on House Bill 91, an act to modernize funding for community media

083programming filed jointly with Rep. Machino and Senator Lewis. So simply put, this bill is about protecting a lifeline. One that keeps people connected, informed, engaged, and even entertained. Our community media centers, like the one in my district and your districts, are there to broadcast local government meetings, um, high school sports, concerts, and even cooking shows. and they are especially important to our seniors and residents who aren't always able to be in person. For them, our local access channels are a trusted and accessible way to stay connected. And even more as our local newspapers um go under or are gobbled up by other entities, it's really the only way for many of us to to to be a part of something and to stay connected. But funding has fallen sharply with the majority of viewership shifting

084from traditional cable streaming to um um the the uh streaming providers from traditional cable companies. So, it puts this lifeline at risk. And that's because unlike traditional cable companies, streaming providers do not pay anything for using local infrastructure to distribute their media to customers. By modernizing the law and having streaming services pay the same cost that cable providers pay for the use of local infrastructure, we can restore a vital revenue source to our municipalities that our local media centers absolutely rely on. Now, some will argue that the cost to keep community media centers running will somehow fall unfairly on communities. But in reality, what is unfair is allowing big streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu and HBO to profit while local media stations are forced to close their doors. Massachusetts has one of the strongest

085media center networks in the country and we would not be the first to enact such a law. Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota has such a law and I respectfully ask for a favorable report for H91. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much, Representative. And thank you to the chairs for me to come um around and testify today in support of our bill. I'm Joan Mosschino representing the third Plymouth District um the communities of Hingham Hall and Cohassid and I have fabulous um community media centers and um I've been engaging with Mass Access um and you're going to hear testimony from Mass Access. You're going to hear testimony from a lot of the um uh the community media centers here in person today. And I know you've already gotten a lot of written testimony

086and it's going to keep coming um because to uplift my um colleagues remarks um we are now at the point um where we've really hit um that that critical tipping point. I think the heyday of um the cable franchise subscriptions was probably 2013 2014 and we've started to see um a decline in those cable subscriptions which is why everybody else's um uh cable costs have gone up right to try to equalize that out and over that time over those 10 plus years um we've been seeing that decline in revenues um but what's come of it initially was innovations um a lot of efficiencies and and in fact it's a vibrant ecosystem that's out there um that is doing tremendous content as you've heard um from my colleague from Senator Barrett from Rep. earlier. Uh but

087we've now hit that point where um they're not going to be able to keep pace and it is at the same point interestingly enough when the demand for this public programming has really become um a premiere and in fact there are bills out there about you know requiring this kind of programming. So, I I just I think we're at an influx moment where um we really need to think about how we replace that revenue. And so, we made choices in this legislation to update the existing law. It worked really well. You're going to hear it and see it. You've already got the testimony and writing to to prove it. uh and it's at the point now where where we really need to start um keeping pace with the technology and the way that consumers are

088are consuming their entertainment media. Um, so that's all we're doing is we're following these new companies um to that innovation and we're replacing that revenue because that's the goal of this whole bill is to have a stable, steady, reliable source of income um for all of this important work um for transparency in government for fantastic programming um for the innovation and in fact um I'll just use my own community as an example um they are now starting to stretch into uh training and and creating uh career paths for students. And they're bringing people in for both content and for production. Um and they are meeting all of the demands of the traditional PEG and uh we just I don't want to get us to a point where we find out what happens if we lose

089this funding. So I feel that this is uh this is not this is a refile. We've worked with the committee in the past um and I' hope to work with the committee um to advance these. And I do just want to also give a shout out to um Senator Lewis um is uh Senate 41 and Representative Vieira also filed a bill on this um House 106. So um it's timely, it's relevant, and I think it's ready. So we look forward to working with you and uh you're going to hear some we're happy to answer questions, but you're going to hear some really great testimony um shortly. Any questions? repres. Thank you. You know, have asked questions from the first couple people that testified on this and it's important to my district, but do you have

090if you if you can, can you comment? One of the one of the issues we have now is can we believe what we're hearing or is what we're hearing on the news filtered? And I'm thinking that it would be better coming from a local source. It certainly is in my community. Do you have any comments on that? So we have seen um in in addition to this um one of the other confluences is is these media news deserts. Um the local we I we always used to have um so I had four um local um weekly papers and they were the ones that were sitting in those select board meetings. They were the ones at the high school, you know, hockey team. They were the ones that were at the plate. They were the ones

091doing the mans on the street at every event. And they're gone. They have there's only one left. It's the Hull Times and they're struggling. Um, we used to have the Patriot Ledger, Ganet Media. They're they're they're nowhere to be found. There is no local content in there whatsoever. WATD is our sort of regional radio. They try. There's only so much they can do. And the online papers that are starting to appear um are very they're lo they're they are local, but they're very focused on their own interests. It's not um it's not the journalism that we're used to when you know you know so the the the standard reporter was in that select board meeting staring you down and god forbid you said something and and they had all the history and and they and

092they would follow it and they would ask those penetrating questions and and I think from you know right now transparency is such a huge piece of of what the legislature is thinking about and these are all conf conflating here this is the last bastion of trusted news sources. And I just I think it's I think we're all at a crisis point and um I don't know how to save the the the weekly papers, but I know how to save this. Uh thank you. Great question, Mr. uh vice chair. I I just want to uplift my own communities. Um so I serve uh six small communities. Four of them do not even have a traffic light. And the newspaper that now services us, as Rep. Machino said for us you used to be you know at

093the select board and that reporter was there and they would ask you questions during the meeting or after like they were following it. Now the Lel Sun has bought up those newspapers and they cover 16 towns. So, you know, you get a fourpage newspaper and maybe something's mentioned, but there's not the detail about, you know, issues of importance to the community and um uh you know, just an attempt to educate. So, it it really is it's become a desert in my my area. And I'll just uh briefly comment, thank you for your uh long-standing work on on this issue. um you know in Pittsfield um and you know the center of the Bergkshire is Pittsfield Community Television without them I don't know they are they are literally set up in city hall they cover every

094single public meeting that we have they are very much a part of virtual testimony during during um COVID um they they're really a center of what we do and um and we are lucky enough to have a local daily um locallyowned local daily and um but we you know I very much think that this is a ve an important thing to do. How to get there is is uh is is the problem ahead of us. So anyway, thank you for your great work and I'm looking forward to further testimony today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, um like everyone else, thank you. This is a great cause and thank you for working with us last at the end of last session on the language which we now have before us and hopefully you'll have a very

095short positive stay in this committee. We're going to hold you to that, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. Thank you. Uh we now have Timothy Mcuade virtual. Yes. Uh hi there. Um first of all, uh thank you to all the members on the committee for letting me speak with you all today. Um, I'm speaking in support of S30 and H4229, uh, bills that aim to protect kids from the harmful effects of addictive social media feeds. Um, this is a serious problem that I don't believe can be ignored anymore. Uh, social media platforms are designed to pull people in, especially kids. Their algorithms are not neutral. They're built and designed to keep users hooked. And that is especially risky for younger minds that are still developing. These feeds can increase anxiety. They can fuel harmful comparisons

096and they keep kids stuck in endless scrolling. This bill is not about cutting kids off from technology. It's about making sure that social media platforms act responsibly when there are kids involved by requiring parental consent for algorithm-driven feeds targeting minors. We're creating a basic safety net. We already accept that kids need protection from addictive substances and addictive activities. We see this need in the form of age restrictions that have long been in place on things like the sale of alcohol and tobacco or age restrictions on activities like gambling. Numerous studies have shown that social media use uh use activates the brain's dopamine reward system and when combined with targeted algorithms, this can create a dopamine loop that leads to compulsive use. Therefore, it makes sense to offer the same kind of protection when it comes

097to digital products uh that we already have in place on other products and activities which have similar impacts on the mind. Uh some people are understandably worried about free speech and innovation and those are valid concerns. But this bill doesn't restrict what anyone can say. It just sets some limits on how content is delivered to kids. It's about protecting young users without getting in the way of creativity or business. Massachusetts has always led the way when it comes to smart digital policies and this bill is another step in the right direction. I urge you to move forward with it and help make the online world a safer and more transparent place for our kids. Thank you again for your time. Great. Thank you. U any questions from the committee? Representative. So this may be a

098bit of a rambler, but there is a question at the end, I promise. Uh, I have a 14-year-old and a 10-year-old. My 14-year-old has a cell phone and desperately wants, I don't know, one of the one of those apps, um, Instagram, because all the kids like to text each other on Instagram. Maybe because those messages erase after three minutes. Maybe not. I don't know. He doesn't have it yet. My daughter uh sat in the rain, stood in the rain for an hour today waiting for a bus that to summer camp that never came because she doesn't have a cell phone. I think she's too young for it. Um, nevertheless, where I'm struggling is this. You and others have compared um the addictive nature to alcohol and tobacco and pointed out that we as society have

099come up with a solution to that. And that is not that they can't have delicious alcohol or that they can't have just the tastiest cigarettes. It's that they can't have it at all. And that's not what this bill is proposing. Right? This bill isn't proposing you have to be 16 to use social media. It's saying we're not going to use the algorithms that figure out what you actually like the best and give it to you. We're just going to have to do it sort of an oldfashioned way. And I guess where I'm stuck is, you know, there's a reason that my son doesn't have access to Instagram and my daughter doesn't have a phone at all. I get it. I'm really frustrated by it as a parent. But where I'm struggling is the comparison to

100other things where we don't take half measures. We just say you can't have it at all. The reason my son wants Instagram is because everyone else has it. If nobody could have it until they were 16, this would not be a problem for me as a parent because none of his friends would be using it, right? And so I'm struggling with whether or not this half measure of controlling or thinking we're controlling, I don't actually think we as a state legislature have much influence on what Google is really going to do in the back end. We're never going to look at their code. um if that's really the right approach or if in fact we should be thinking about pushing further and saying social media is bad for kids there's no half measure. Shouldn't we

101just say if you're not x years old no for you? What do you think? I mean it's you know it's a very good question. Um I guess I hadn't even uh considered it yet. Um, you know, I I think um, you know, it's certainly worth worth looking at. I I don't know if it's something where if we did attempt these uh kind of smaller half measure half measures, you know, just to see the the impacts, if we're seeing um, you know, any changes in um, you know, uh, the effects that it's having on uh, on kids, you know, if it if it seems to be helping. um that way they still have access to certain content as opposed to, you know, having algorithms designed to bombard them with with um all these different things. Um

102as opposed to just outright banning it altogether. Um but yeah, I mean it's a very it's a good question. I'm not I'm not too sure. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next virtually is Kyle Se good afternoon. Afternoon. Uh good afternoon, Chair Farley Bouvier, Chair Moore, and members of the committee. My name is Kyle Sepi. I'm the state policy manager for the Northeast at the Computer and Communications Industry Association or CCIA. And CCIA is an international trade association representing communications and technology firms. Um, and today I'm speaking to respectfully oppose H4229 and Senate Bill uh 30. CCIA believes that children are entitled to greater security and privacy online and our members have designed and developed settings or parental tools to individually tailor younger users online use to their needs. And while we understand the intent

103of this bill, there are some concerns around the overall impact of uh free expression and access to information and the potential impact on marginalized communities in Massachusetts. So, here's what's going on in other states. Multiple federal and lower courts have held that recent state legislation that requires age verification violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. Um there's been some uh preliminary injunctions issued in some states, temporary stays as well. And this is because uh requiring users to produce let's say state approved documentation to prove their age imposes significant burdens on access to constitutionally protected speech. Um it can also be susceptible to data breaches. Courts have uh also held that statemandated age verification requirements were not only an additional hassle, but they also require website visitors to forego anonymity otherwise available on the internet.

104Also, age verification imposes a sweeping burden on access to speech by requiring verification mechanisms for all users. And uh this is the opposite of the bill's intended effect. The bill also carries compliance concerns. Um, for example, it doesn't specify which technologies the state would consider commercially reasonable as mentioned in the bill. Um, which would leave businesses unable to know when they're violating the law. Its verification requirements would also disadvantage smaller businesses as these tools are costly. Um, I did link a study in my testimony that addresses uh the impacts of cost for your efforts. Uh so if enacted, this bill will uh lead online services potentially to stop even serving users under 18 altogether, restricting their access to information and supportive communities. So what is the solution here? So CCIA believes that an alternative to

105solving these complex issues is to work with businesses to continue their ongoing efforts to implement mechanisms such as daily time limits or child safe searching so that parents can have control over their child's social media use. Um but also implementing digital citizenship curriculum in schools and I can share some of those uh state bills as well for your reference. Um, I know I'm out of time, but thank you for considering uh the comments and I look forward to uh working with you throughout this process. Thank you. Any questions? Mr. Chair, uh the gentleman referred to multiple states that uh have issues with the bill. Could he name some of the states just for our research, please, that he referred to? Absolutely. So, for example, in March of 2025, an in Arkansas federal court invalidated a

106state age verification law um which required users to produce state approved um IDs. There's also been um a preliminary injunction in the Georgia federal court and some of the states um that have been paused. I think um other uh witnesses have mentioned California, Utah. those bills very similar to Massachusetts um require age verification for social media and the issue of free speech has um or the first amendment has been raised as a serious uh concern that's po causing the pause for these uh measures thank you very much Mr. Chairman, you have such patience with me today. Um, thank you for your testimony today. I do have a few maybe comments more than questions. One, just noting that though I disagree um with the Supreme Court. Um, there was an age verification ruling, you know, just

107a few weeks ago. Um, so I'm concerned about that testimony. And the other is, you know, I'm I'm being very frank here. When I look at your membership, it is these these companies themselves that have worked very hard and very determinately to addict our children to addict all of us to social media. And so as a general rule, I do not see how we can trust these companies to work to make sure that children are kept safe. So I think with that, uh, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield my time. Thank you. Any other questions or statements? All right. Thank you very much. And next we have David McGary, Taxpayers Protection Alliance of Virtual Testimony. And I believe we are trying to quiet the the crowd down outside. Good job. No fun of any kind. So now

108you know what we sounded like before. Uh is David. Hello. Okay, David. Thank you very much. Go ahead. Thank you so having me here today. My name is David McGary. I'm the research director at the taxpayers protection alliance, a nonprofit that works to inform legisl legislators and the general public about the effects of regulation. Um I should begin by stating unequivocally that protecting children in every context is a fundamental duty of the government. Um on the other hand I urge you to remember that with good intentions but without proper execution we often produce quite flawed policies with quite dangerous consequences. I think this is the fault of Senate Bill 30 and House Bill 4229. the mismatch of intentions and executions. By instituting a deacto age verification mandate, these bills would require users of all ages

109to offer up substantial amounts of sensitive personal data to tech platforms and thirdparty verification services, which are both vulnerable to hacks and data breaches. And this would simply be as a precondition to accessing the basic conduits of free speech online. Now, you will likely hear advocates of online age verification argue that there's an analog to offline ID checks at, say, a bar or a tobacco shop. However, uploading and memorializing a photo of government documents or scanning one's face creates far greater threats to privacy than merely flashing an ID at a brickandmortar location. It should also be noted um that the kind of data that tech companies currently collect on their users with which they sometimes estimate those users ages is far less invasive than the kind of data needed to comply with these bills. If

110we complain that tech companies collect too much data currently on children, we surely shouldn't advance legislation to mandate affirmatively that those same tech companies collect far more personal and far more invasive data to conduct age verification. Now, obviously endangering the privacy and data security of children and adults in Massachusetts and thereby making those data more vulnerable to identity thieves and other criminals cuts directly against the intent of these bills supporters. But these new dangers, although would be utterly foreseeable effects of these bills becoming law. Um, quickly uh to address the constitutional connections, purportedly content agnostic or contentneutral bills are not immune to first amendment scrut first amendment scrutiny. Even such bills can heavily burden the first amendment rights of both children and adults. And to by way of conclusion, um the fate that these bills

111would not run a foul of the first amendment is entirely unearned in my view. Vermont's recent age appropriate design code enacted last last month was referenced as a partial blueprint for the bills in question here. But just in March, California's age appropriate design code, a very similar law, was blocked by a federal court in that state. And moreover, many other age verification bills have been uh halted over the years with federal just this year. Thank you very much and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Any questions? I guess your opinion on this may be a stupid question, but as a parent, it's your responsibility to control or to provide for your child. You provide them food, clothing, the right to other access to other types of material. Why wouldn't this be part of the parental

112your parental obligations? Yes, sir. In fact, I think I and I agree with you entirely and that um that premise is exactly what leads to my conclusion here. I think that parents, not the government, will be far more effective in both monitoring their children's online lives and parenting their children online and keeping their children safe online um than than any standard um than than any any bill like like the one um proposed today. There are numerous um safety tools that are available for parents. Um and this goes for all levels of the technology stack. This goes from um from the network level such as on Wi-Fi networks. This goes to to the device level um the the app store level to the app and platform level. Um and we've actually seen states um we've actually

113seen states education programs for parents, children's and children and families to educate them better both about what tools are available and how to use them. Um, in fact, I was just recently talking to um a parent in Florida about this and Florida has had a very good experience because it turns out that the problem with many of these tools is not that they don't work, but that parents don't know how to implement them or are unaware of their existence in the first place. And the more that parents have access to these sorts of things, the more that they are actually succeeding in um monitoring their their kids online activity and in um shaping their kids online worlds in a very effective way. Okay. But since we have the issue with parental education of the parents,

114government does regulate that a minor can't have um alcohol. That's you have to be 21 to drink. You have to be 21 to smoke. you have to be 18 to be considered an adult. Why can't we regulate this access to this? Yes, sir. Um the there there are with respect to free speech, there are um there are first amendment limits on how far the government not the parents but the government can intrude upon um especially older older minors such as 16 17 year olds access to um to speech. But I I think the I think the other issue I would point you to here which may be more significant is the ancillary effect of the of um age verification and burdens on speech on adult speech. Um the the fact is that age verifi places

115burdens on everybody to verify ages. You must verify the ages of all users. Obviously you can't know who is what age until you've carried out the process. Um, and so bills such as these would require adult users to submit uh very sensitive personal information simply as a um as a precondition to getting online and engaging in basic first amendment protected activities such as finding finding news, engaging in online discourse, and um all of the other sorts of things that um that we consider to be core first amendment protected speech. Okay. Thank you. Oh, actually, we do have another question. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I'm sorry I missed it at the beginning. Could you repeat who uh what organization you're with? I work for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. We're a small think tank out of

116the DC area. Okay. And do you do you work with some of the the industry folks that are uh involved in some of these internet uh companies as well? Um I've I've had conversations with some industry folks about this about some of these issues if that's your question. Yes. Yes. So I mean I was just thinking because your first argument was related to you know the risk that's posed by uh having some of the sensitive data. Uh you know the risk that's posed related to identity theft you know to uh cyber crime that kind of thing that you mentioned. uh and you know I know it's not it's not you but sounds like you've had some of these conversations with people who who are in the know uh related to just the lack of confidence

117in not only their own uh internal security measures but also the third party users uh third party verification companies that they use considering not only with potential for uh measures like these but the sensitive data that those companies already have and the total lack of confidence that there seems to be in maintaining that security as is if that's a main concern going forward. Well, I I would say I I I agree generally with the with your factual with your factual portrayal. I I would say I didn't get I didn't get those I I didn't base my comments on any opinions of of of any of the industry or any of the tech companies. It's just been I mean it's been widely and publicly reported that everyone from big tech companies to third party agent ident

118identity verifiers um even I mean even to state state and local governments and the f and federal agencies routinely experience hacks and data breaches. Yeah. I mean that I think that just goes to show why why we need some action in this area considering all the sensitive data that's out there. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Uh next, Holly Gross hands. Yes. Hello. I'm here. Hopefully I said that right. Uh Gross hands. Yes. Thank you. We're all yours. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm here today in support of S30 and H4229. My name is Holly Gross and I am senior counsel for tech policy at Common Sense Media. We are a nonprofit that is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice that they need

119to thrive in the digital era. In Massachusetts alone, more than 18,000 teachers teach Common Senses materials in over,900 schools. We are known in Massachusetts for our dig digital literacy programs. Today I come to speak to you on behalf of Common Sense Media and also as the mother of school-aged children my own of my own and I care deeply about the mental health and well-being of not only my own kids but also all kids and teens like them who depend on this committee and this legislature to establish deeply needed protections for their online safety, privacy, and overall well-being. You have already heard testimony today about how teens are reporting being on social media almost constantly. Additionally, our research at Common Sense Media reveals that kids and teens are struggling to set their own boundaries when it

120comes to fielding the barrage of notifications they're receiving from apps on their own smartphones. The successive usage and business model meant to increase our engagement is and should be raising concerns. As you have heard, kids and teens are struggling to manage their online habits, often feeling compelled to return to addictive social media platforms due to the features specifically designed by these platforms to maximize engagement, such as these addictive feeds and notifications, which are the focus of this these bills. You have already heard through testimony today about the increasingly devastating effect on children and teens these addictive features have led to. The bottom line is that for these companies, time online equals more money, regardless of the impact on our kids. Because of the negative impacts of these intentionally addictive features, S30 and H4229 are essential

121to enhance online safety for Massachusetts kids and families. These bills protect minors from the harms from addictive features on social media platforms while preserving their ability to use the internet to learn, explore, and find community, which I know is one of the questions from one of the members in your committee today. Specifically, by not allowing social media companies to provide addictive feed that subvert user autonomy and keep kids booed at their devices and by preventing companies from waking kids at all hours of the night with notifications and pings. This act is essential for safeguarding our children. As you said, Madam Chair, we cannot trust these companies to keep our kids safe. The people of Massachusetts are actually depending on this committee to do that. Miss Bernstein from Epic has already eloquently addressed the response to

122industry claims about the First Amendment and age assurance challenges to this law. In the interest of time, I adopted her response to this issue. But lastly, I want to mention that if this act becomes law, the Bay State would be in good company. As both New York and has been pointed out, California have taken similar steps in 2024. In the absence of federal action to safeguard children online, it is critical that Massachusetts joins these other states in passing this legislation. We strongly support S30 and H4229 and ask that they be reported out favorably. And I will also be filing written testimony to supplement my testimony provided here today. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Any questions? All right. Great. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. Next, Haley Hankley. Hingle. Hi there. Good

123afternoon. Thanks so much. Yeah, my name is Haley Hinkle and I am policy counsel at Fair Play. Thank you to the chairs and the committee for the opportunity to speak today. Uh Fair Play is a Bostonbased national nonprofit dedicated to children's online safety and well-being. Um, in the interest of time, um, I am going to forgo some of my, um, pre-prepared remarks and just sort of respond to some of the conversation, um, that's been going on this afternoon in reference to Bill S30 and H4229, which I'm speaking in favor of today. Um, I, uh, very much support the comments of my colleagues at Common Sense Media, Epic, MAMAS, and others who have spoken about the business model, the issues at play here, and the dire need for action. Um I just want to respond to

124some of the um concerns and issues that have been raised by some of the other witnesses, particularly those funded by industry. Um I really want to be clear about where this bill stands in the context of the First Amendment issues and arguments that we've been hearing on uh kids online safety legislation over the past few years. Um, age verification is not um there's no requirement in this bill that you're going to have to give over your personal data. Um, again, Miss Bernstein was um very detailed in sort of what the rulemaking process can look like for the balance between protecting privacy and and providing information. But the other thing I want to point out here is that if an adult does not want to participate in the age assurance processes that are established to be

125appropriate by the attorney general, the consequence here is that they won't get an algorithmic feed and they won't receive notifications from midnight to 6:00 a.m. So, um I really want to be very specific about what the burden and consequences really are here because I think that it is um quite measured in comparison to the enormity of the problem we are facing. The other thing I want to point out as we're talking about what kind of first amendment activity we're really pointing to here and what opportunities are really affected, kids are not automatically receiving affirming posts, um, communities on a silver platter and their feeds. They're receiving what corporate companies have decided is going to keep them online the longest, um, keep their eyeballs there and generate the most revenue. And so these feeds are not

126in and of themselves some kind of first amendment net positive. Um I just want to be clear about that too in terms of you know someone mentioned finding news engaging in discourse. Nothing about not receiving algorithmically recommended content affects your ability to do that online. Um you know to the contrary we know from lawsuits like those being litigated by Attorney General Campbell that these companies are choosing profit over what's beneficial to a child in their feed every single time. And so, you know, they've made infinitely clear they're not going to do the right thing on their own. And we urge Massachusetts to uh continue its great work in protecting kids online and joining the ranks of these other states that are um implementing common sense protections. And I'm happy to talk about these issues further

127and thank you for your time. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you very much. Uh next we have another virtual Zachary Lily. Hi there. Hello. Thanks so much. Uh co-chairs, members of the committee, thanks for the opportunity to testify. My name is Zach Lily and I'm the deputy director of state and federal affairs at Net Choice. We're a trade association dedicated to keeping the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression. I want to share some of the concerns we have about H4229 and its companion S30. While the bill uses language of addiction in order to establish a compelling state interest, at its heart, the bill is about age verification and content moderation, the goal, while well-intentioned, is to impose ownorous requirements in order to shift private content moderation practices of businesses and expression habits of

128private users. Both of these goals violate the First Amendment. Net Choice is actively litigating these issues at the state level. Uh, I've been sort of doing back flips for the past hour because all of the cases that have been discussed are Net Choice's own cases. Uh, just a month ago, uh, Arkansas and Ohio and and Ohio had their social media age verification bills permanently struck down by the US District Courts as unconstitutional. Uh those judges found the age verification is violative of users first amendment rights to access lawful speech and attempted content restrictions are violative as well. They represent the government deputizing private platforms to become sensors of the state. Algorithms are the way platforms can express their protected editorial discretion. Ironically, creating burdensome regulation around when algorithms could be used would be disastrous for

129children's online safety. Without an algorithm, you're left with a randomized feed, which would be which would greatly increase the likelihood of young people seeing developmentally inappropriate content. This bill would also prevent the promotion of new content that a user is not already familiar with. Um, you know, right, it's not always necessarily the most nefarious content. Um, so that would particularly harm the small creators and businesses and benefit the largest incumbents who are already on the platforms. We appreciate it. We're appreciative of the sponsor's intentions and agree more needs to be done to keep kids safe online, but violating platform and citizens first amendment rights isn't the way to go about it. We respectfully oppose. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. And now the long awaited testimony from Mass Access. Come on, David. I wonder what

130bill you're testifying on. Take your time. Good afternoon, chairpersons and members of the committee. Just announce who you are, please. Yes. My name is Rob Chapman. I am the executive director of Bevcam and Beverly, and I also serve on the board of directors and as clerk of Mass Access. I'm here to voice a strong support for H106, H91, and S41. Bills that aren't just about funding media. They're about preserving public trust, access, and civic inclusion. Across Massachusetts, community media centers are on the front lines of democracy. We don't just film meetings. We connect residents to their schools, town halls, zoning boards, and elections. We make government visible and participation possible. But our foundation is cracking. In the past two years, WCCA TV in Worcester has lost $287,000 in cable revenue. Focus Springfield has lost over

131$143,000. HC Media and Haveril is down more than $116,000. And it's not just dollars, it's impact. As one director put it bluntly, we are expected to do more with less. Another added, "The continuing drop in our cable television revenue has caused us to cut staffing." Fair Haven TV said, "We've seen a steady decrease due to customers switching from cable to streaming." That's the shift that this legislation directly addresses. H106, H91, and S41 do what common sense and fairness demand. They ask streaming companies using our public's rights of way to contribute to the civic infrastructure that keeps our communities informed. These aren't taxes. They're compensation for using public assets. Just like cable companies have paid for decades. And unlike vague state level funding, these bills direct funds to peg centers where they belong. They also restore

132fairness over time. Winchester's media center notes that their best year with was 2017 over 438,000 in support. Today it's significantly low. H106, H91, and S41 would help restore centers like these to peak funding through a datadriven assessment set by an independent board. We are not asking for charity. We are asking for continuity for the ability to provide or to continue providing accessible nonpartisan hyperlocal coverage of government and community life. When a parent can't attend can't attend a school committee meeting, they watch it on our channel. When a senior can't leave home, we bring the town to their living room. When elections happen, we're the only place to find unbiased local information. This is what's at stake. Not just programming, but public connection. On behalf of community media centers across Massachusetts, I urge you support 1

133H106, H91, and S41. Help us to keep democracy visible. Thank you for your time. I'm gonna go with the short version. David, president of Mass Access, uh, here to speak, as you probably predicted, in support of H106, H91, and S41. You may have heard the argument that this legislation, if passed, would result in a windfall for community media, more than we could possibly need. The reality though is that a recent informal study by the Department of Revenue shows that funds collected through this bill would merely make up for what we've already lost from declining cable franchise fees and would hopefully sustain funding as these fees continue to decline. This isn't about excess, it's about survival. Another perception is that this bill would burden your constituents financially. Excuse me. There is no law that I know

134of requiring companies to pass this cost down to consumers. And more importantly, if community media does not force change to its funding structure, the cost will shift to municipalities, placing that burden on all Massachusetts residents, not just those who utilize streaming services. Like many municipal services, community media works in the background and receives very little fanfare or notice until it's not there. The entertainment industry has certainly evolved over the years. Yet, the perception that community media has never experienced growth persists. It's unfair and it's ill-informed. We're not asking to reinvent the wheel. The system exists. The work is necessary. The impact is real. This is a simple change to the law to reflect changes in technology. So, I respectfully urge you to support the passage of this act for the benefit of the people and

135the communities that we all serve. Thank you. Thank you, Representative. Good afternoon. Thank you for your testimony today and for the for the work that you do. um you know as as the uh as you said the cable subscribership and viewership is going down which is having an impact on your bottom line but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of your members including uh you know a lot of our relative community u community stations have actually seen an uptick in some of their uh subscribership viewership in the various platforms because you know I can speak to at least found with Martha's Vineyard Nucket community TVs have been really innovative in the way that they reach people not just on cable but on the internet on social media and basically an all of the above

136approach. So I'm wondering if mass access has any uh specific numbers related to uh increase in uh access and viewership of community uh content. It's hard to say because we don't have access to any numbers on cable. We can certainly measure views uh online u but it's hard to make a comparison when you don't have data from one side of that. So um we do understand we're you know we've moved to that online presence because we're trying to meet the people where they are and make things accessible to people where they are. So, um, you know, I think all of us at this point or, you know, most of the community media centers across the Commonwealth do have some sort of online presence and offering, uh, both on demand and and social media type of

137video. Thank you. Sure. And just if you don't mind clar I want to just clarify that there isn't revenue on the streaming streaming side. So even though people are accessing it through streaming, they are not um there's no revenue attached to it. Sorry, Mr. I'll let it go this time. Yeah. Won't be the last. Representative. Yes. So uh a couple things. First, I want to acknowledge that I have a program on my local community access. I've had it for geez since the beginning of COVID. Um I've got a friend smiling in the background. She's the one who put me up to it in the first place all those years ago. And um and I want to say that community media is more than just filling the holes left by the gap in local media. And

138it's more than just ex adding transparency and accessibility for the public with respect to local government. It's also a whole bunch of other really important programming that is nothing to do with either one of those things, but still adds values to the community. And I want to say that out loud because I know the advocates are trying to find the strongest arguments, but there are other arguments that they ought to be making as well. In my opinion, uh we've got great programming that is just fun. We have great programming that's artistic. We have great programming where people of all ages are learning the technical skills on putting together the programming, right? All of that's also important. I want to say that out loud because um that hasn't been said yet. Maybe I've taken somebody else's

139thunder. apologize, but I feel like everybody's really been stuck on these these two facts. Um, well, I wanted to say it louder. Um, and I I also think it's the case uh I don't want to speak for anyone but myself, but my hunch is everyone on this committee values community media and recognizes the decline in revenue and wants to find a replacement. I say all of that because the question uh at least in my mind I think and some others is whether or not that revenue should come from streaming services or from some other place, right? And I say that because um you know the focus has been on why this is important and and keep saying it until everybody agrees. But I think the people on this side of the room do agree, right?

140I think we need to think carefully about what the right source of that revenue is. For example, instead of streaming, what if we tax the ISPs themselves, right? If I don't have any streaming services because I watch it all on YouTube for free and I watch my Brookline Interactive Group programs on YouTube for free, I'm not generating any of that revenue even though I am actually consuming those services because I'm using the internet, right? whereas someone else might have six streaming services because you know they got to have the Disney Plus and they got to have the Max now called HBO Max again as of today I think right and they got to have the Hulu and they got to have Right. Um, so, so my point is simply that I think it would be

141healthy for us to talk about different opportunities for revenue rather than be stuck on streaming because I think there are there's an interesting conversation to be had about different sourc and my guess is most of the folks here if we told them we're just going to write you a check from the legislature every year y'all would be like thanks and go home you it's not that you want to tax streaming you want the money right so let's have a conversation about where the money should come from. It doesn't need to come from streaming. It could come from somewhere else. And I think that would be a conversation that I would like to have. Um it to to a to actually ask a question. Am I correct in saying that if you guys were just getting

142a check with the money on it, you'd be perfectly happy like do you need to tax streaming? That's a difficult question to to answer frankly because you know we are looking for something that's sustainable and not fight for every single year and you know it is very much appreciated that go into alter any any revenue but um what we're trying to do is really to create that future and it's not just the streaming services now it's what happens after that you know what becomes the next so the big flaw with the federal funding is that they wrote all of this legislation under the cable and from day one those cable companies have been trying to sh and municipalities have been keeping some of the money for themselves instead of passing it along like mine for

143example not to name names well that's that's that is their uh that is their right to do so yeah thank you questions or statements I have a question Okay. All right. I just want don't I don't want to lose control of you guys. Um so not to throw a shot but unlike our colleagues in Washington, we're not trying to defund public access. So appreciate Thank you very much. Thank you. Elizabeth Dion. Good afternoon. I am Elizabeth Dion, member of the Belmont Select Board, which unanimously supports S41 and H91. I'm joined by Jeff Hanzel, executive director of the Belmont Media Center. Belmont's 27,000 residents rely heavily on the Belmont Media Center or BMC to provide access to their local government. Our town meeting has 300 members. We also have numerous town committees with another 300 plus

144volunteers. BMC is the media and communications hub for our government, schools, civic organizations, businesses, and the public. It is also a town technology hub, managing and maintaining all of the equipment used to broadcast various meetings, most notably town meeting. BMC is scrappy. Despite the reduction in table cable TV franchise fees, it has expanded services through innovation, fundraising, and community volunteers. Three days ago, my colleagues and I approved an agreement to move BMC operations into our new public library, again, reducing BMC's annual expenses. But we need this bill to ensure BMC's long-term viability. Cable TV companies pay a franchise fee to our towns to rent or use our public rights of way and telecommunications infrastructure, and those fees come back to our towns to sustain community media centers. However, our laws and regulations have not kept

145pace with the evolving market for content delivery. We hear of people cutting the cord, but that's not really what's happening. Many of us use streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. These streaming companies are using the same public infrastructure and they are using it for free. That is not fair and it degrades local government's ability to communicate with our constituents. Belmont's operating budget is tight. Despite despite passing an $ 8.4 million operating override last year, we continue to cut town staff. We don't have the money to cover lost franchise fees. Is this bill a new tax on consumers? In my opinion, it is a usage fee for public rights of way. It is a cost of doing business in our state just as franchise fees are. What about the threats to raise rates

146on Massachusetts customers? First, streaming services will raise their subscription rates to the level the market will support regardless of this bill, which adds a small fraction to their cost of doing business. Second, this bill is good public policy. It fixes an issue which Congress has yet to address, leveling the playing field between streaming services and cable TV providers, charging them both for use of public telecommunications infrastructure. Finally, it is poor public relations to threaten customers over a small usage fee. If streaming services provide me with high quality content, I will continue to pay for their services. This bill is an efficient and elegant solution that tackles the pro problem it is intended to solve directly supporting community media centers across the Commonwealth. I strongly encourage you to support this bill. Thank you. Thank you. Window

147dress are going to talk. [Laughter] You're more than welcome to speak if you like. Jeff Hansel. the executive director of the Belmont Media Center. And I only bring this up because uh it just came up this week in our community. In light of the tragedy in Texas and that we're in hurricane season, we've just started an initiative now just to show you what you can do with this technology to create an additional Belmont public safety information network that's going to address emergency management communications using all the technology we already have. combining that those resources to provide something that the town needs and at no additional cost and we're doing all that um you know under the current uh regime. Thank you. Thank you for your input. Just a quick comment, Mr. Chairman. Um so thank

148you for coming um as a select board member uh in particular and because I'm seeing that there's not a lot of you here on this list, I'm going to address this to you. A missing voice in this is support from the MMA. And I guess I would charge you since you're the one that showed up here um with gardenering more support about that because they're pretty wishy-washy about it and I think that would make a difference. I did not know that. That is very useful information. I happen to sit on the board of WEIMO women elected offic M municipal officials of mass of uh and we're a subset of the MMA and I will take that back to uh my colleagues. Thank you. Any questions? We have one more. I'm gonna uh just take the

149privilege and this this pains me as a as a Watertown resident to say, but I have to say Belmont Media Center has done great work. Um here and you forgot to say that you were and I didn't realize you're moving to the to the new library, which looks fantastic. Uh as we drive by, it looks like it's going to be fantastic. But um uh a great meeting space, community meeting space and a resource beyond just the the work that you guys do, you know, behind the camera and in front of the camera. Um, but having that space as a as a resource for the community has been uh something that even across the across Belmont Street I I I I have taken note of. So, thank you for the work that you do and I

150apologize for not asking a question. Thank you for your statement. Thank you very much. Um, next we have Peta Padulla, Town of Chelmsford. Oh, virtual. Yeah, virtual. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes, I'm Pete Padulla. I'm the um executive director of Chumsford Teleia. We're the public access center in Chumsford, Mass. You heard from our Senator Barrett, at the head of this meeting. And you also heard from one of our reps, Jim Rciero, who both spoke in support of an act to modernize funding for community media programming, which is no surprise. I am asking a favorable review from you all as well. Um, I'm not going to repeat a lot of you've heard a lot of my colleagues and other people have testified about all the good things that u our centers do around the state

151and I agree with all of that. I'm just going to single out two two things that um haven't gotten quite as much attention that that in Chsford we can talk about that we do. One was hit upon by representative Mosschino and also representative Vitomo and um that is that um in Chsford we have what we like to think of as like a vocational training program. We run a afterchool program for at the high school called uh CHS TV. So that that does provide content. It provides all the concerts and and and those types of things that people love. But what's more important about that is that that is staffed by students and uh they learn a ton of skill um a lot of skills in in working together to create these live productions. But what

152I'd like to um emphasize is that um I just have a short list of students that have come through our program and the jobs that they now hold to today. So I'll just give you their titles. One is senior technical lead in global production at Apple Music. One is a broadcast engineer at WCBB Channel 5 in Boston. Another is an engineer in charge at Game Creek Video. If you don't know, they make the trucks that go to the Garden, NFL, all these sporting events, the the mobile production units, which we have we have one that they trained on that that that that woman trained on. Head of arena operations at Bentley University. That's all the video boards and stuff for the sporting events. And we also um you know uh these kids work together and

153they learn all the communication skills. So one of our alumni is also the he the chief of communications and interoperability in the state of New Hampshire emergency services. A lot of that skills that that he got was you know all the communications that go into a live video productions whether it's a sporting event or others. So, um, I just wanted to point that out because I do think it's it's, you know, we've seen in Champsford 22% loss in funding. And so, you know, if we were to cut out this TV program, it would just it would kind of cut my heart out to have to do that. So, thank you for your support and uh, thanks for listening. I hope you give it a favorful recommendation. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. So by uh

154temporary power granted to me today by the the gavl I'm going to create a panel unbeknownst to them. Uh Sean sir who is going to be virtual and we're going to have Sam Pasqual from Pit both of Pittsfield and I'm hoping you are of the same opinion. So if you want to come up and testify and if virtually if if if Sean wants to come on virtually. We're we're actually advocating for two different bills. Oh two. Okay. So I don't know if go for it. Okay. Um so Sean first. Yep. Okay. Uh good afternoon. Um Chair Farley Bouvier, Chair Moore, and honorable members of the joint committee. My name is Sean S. I'm the executive director of Pittsfield Community Television. Pittsfield, close enough to hit New York State with a rock, and occasionally we like

155to do that, especially when we have to spend 5 hours and 20 minutes on the turnpike getting to the state house or a Red Sox game. I think you can identify. Uh, thanks for this opportunity to give testimony in favor of House Bill 106, House Bill 91, Senate Bill 41, an act to modernize funding for community media programming. I last testified to this committee two years ago in support of a similar bill. In only two years since that testimony, we have lost 12.4% of our cable revenue due to cable cord cutting. For this, this equal for us, this equals $87,529. The losses are accelerating and the pain is here now. Because of this, we had to eliminate one full-time employee out of seven on our staff. Uh that's while inflation is increasing our expenses, health

156insurance costs are going up 12 to 14% per year and employees still need cost of living raises to pay their own bills. We simply can't keep up with this. And I'm hearing from other centers across the state that they are downsizing, closing buildings, selling off equipment. We are not there yet, but at some point soon we will need to evaluate what we will cut next. Will it be our building? Lose more staff? What services will we have to stop providing? Something here is going to have to break. It's important to remember that our current funding model in place for nearly 40 years has allowed us to provide the community with local programming and services without requiring any city funding from Pittsfield. It's built on the fair principle that a company using the public's right of

157way should compensate the public for this use. And now that streaming has overtaken cable as the mo the way that most people get their information and entertainment, something that we've also participated in as well, I ask that you take this step now to modernize the way these local services are provided and funded. It must be done at the state level. Going forward, without modernizing the funding, cities and towns will be faced with a hard choice. Either pay for it with taxpayer funds or lose the services entirely. And this will lead to what I believe is a very uneven and inequitable distribution of local information where wealthy communities will be able to afford to pay for it and poorer and rural communities will be without it. We've been creative with our own fundraising efforts trying to

158make up for these cable losses. Uh but we can't bake sail our way out of this. At some point there needs to be a predictable and reliable method to fund our local programming, the impact of which is felt right here in Pittsfield. And doing some quick math, it's obvious to me that the revenue generated from streaming won't fully replace the cable revenue. Not even close really, but it will be one tool uh that we can use to stay in business and be true to our mission. But I ask for your support on behalf of our organization and our Pittsfield community. And thank you. Okay. Thank you. And stand by until after the next testimony in case there's any questions. Robert, my name is Samuel Pasqual. I'm the digital navigator at Pittsfield Community Television and um

159thank you so much uh Representative Provier and I'm sorry for the five hour ride. Um we're I'm actually here on a different bill for uh H100 for uh digital navigator uh digital navigator credentiing. Um, but I am housed at Pensfield Community Television and again highlighting the great amount of resources that media centers can provide. Um but I I'm here to speak about credentiing because uh as as I have worked in the past five years as a digital navigator in my community, I have a lot of trust um in being able to uh provide all kinds of services to my community where technology is confusing. Um, I worked in my comm in my church to be able to help anyone who needs help with their technology. And now I'm at Pittsville Community Television doing the same.

160Um, offering digital skills classes, uh, providing people with devices, uh, helping people navigate what are affordable internet connection um, uh, options, whether it's cellular or home internet. Um, but I come I'm lucky enough to come from a uh place of trust. I came from my church and I also have a background as a certified ethical hacker. I worked in government um pentesting government uh you know companies and I have a lot of trust within banks having worked uh to provide the security training for staff. Um, but there isn't currently a lot of credentiing for people doing the digital equity work that has been widespread all over the country. And I think that it's really important that we have more uh people that are um credentialed for this and and this commission that is going to

161be created under um H100 would help create that um that framework for creating uh credentiing for digital navigators. And um I think that uh the work that we do with being able to dispel a lot of misinformation um that can be you know a lot of the bills that we that you guys are um currently reviewing regard a lot of uh safety online and a lot of that involves things with misinformation with AI and I currently work a lot with the sheriff's department with um the district attorneys retail retail crimes department to help uh spread information about how to limit um scams. But overall, you know, the the information, the importance of this work is that we are able to um provide uh a career path for more people to do my work because I'm

162uh one person in the county, but I've often heard that I wish there was more of you helping out my grandma or or and this is a very timely and important bill. um tomorrow could be your grandma that gets scammed for $10,000. It it it's not something that is a theoretical threat. It's something that needs to be done now and there needs to be more of a a career path for people interested in going into digital navigation. Thank you. Any questions? Okay, thank you both. Thank you both. Really appreciate it. Uh next Oh, I'm sorry. Representative Sabadosa. Thank you so much, Chair Moore, Chair Farley Bouvier, particularly for taking me out of turn. I can be very brief because it sounds like you've heard excellent testimony already uh about the bill that I wanted to

163talk about today, which is um H100, an act establishing a commission to study a statewide credentiing program for digital navigators. Um, I know that you have amazing teams and they've already told you what the bill does in full. Um, but I just I I want to to stress a few things. I mean, first of all, we are at a moment where the federal government has pulled away a tremendous amount of funding for digital equity. The creation of this commission does not restore that funding. Um, but it does look for ways that the state can try to step up to to figure out how we continue to implement our digital digital equity uh roadmap that I think we we want to do that the digital navigators who've spoken today have underlined the importance of um and

164it um will help us figure out both how how do we fund people? How do we work on getting a credentiing roadmap? What does that need to look like? And it feels like I I think at this point a very small lift with again just a commission of people together talking about how we move forward. Um I've come to this work because I have seen firsthand in my district the need for people to have someone to give them a little bit of help in figuring out how to navigate technology. And I hope that this committee, which is really a very lovely, friendly committee, um will see that same importance to this issue and and help move this bill forward for us. So, I'm very happy to answer any questions, but I I do want to

165let the digital navigators do the talking for me. Thank you. Any questions, Vice Chair Hawkins? They they actually met with me before the hearing, which is good because I'm I need a slow description to understand it. We've had briefings and we were happy to talk to you again. Well, no, the things that struck me is I'm thinking of a lot of health care now for elderly people is done electronically. You got to have your vitals checked a couple times a day and of course the other things that the other gentleman from Pittsfield talked about but also this could have been in a couple different couple different committees. It could have been in it could have been in so many but it ended up in the good one. Um but it seems to me compared to

166some of the other issues we have with licensing uh with being access to third party payment to a lot of things. This is a much lower bar and to create a committee. I'm not generally in favor of committee. That means it's not going to happen for a while. But to come up with a workable description seems important because you're going to be looking for grant funding. You're going to be looking for funding in a bunch of different places to support what's what we understand is a very important role. But I I think in this case a committee would be good to to get it right. So thank you. Thank you for your work on this and I appreciate the comments. I I think you know the legislature often gets criticized. We put together commissions. But

167I think that in this case, if you look at the composition of the commission, we've been really thoughtful about who's to be included. And that speaks to putting together a commission to do work, not to just write a report that sits on a shelf. We want the if the federal government is going to leave this work aside for the moment, the state of Massachusetts can and should step up. And I think there are other states that are similarly interested in doing that as well. So, we should have good partners. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Alexander Lamach. Who was in person? Can everyone hear me? Guess who went to virtual? I am virtual. My apologies. I could not make it to the state house um this afternoon um due to a couple

168of uh meetings we to cover today. Okay. But to the honorable matter, members of the joint committee, uh, thank you for taking time to hear my testimony. My name is Alex Martian. I am the director of Hley Media, which is community media center as municip ran by the town of Halley and the 5,000 plus agricultural community. Uh, today I'm urging you to favorably pass um H106, H91, and S41 and act to modernize funding for community media programming. We currently cover 15 plus municipal force committees, arts and culture programming, news business thought life's hob academy sports and amongst other things. We have just finished drafting a municipal digital equity plan for the Massachusetts Broadway Institute which we will help guide us into bridging the town's digital divide and improve many lives in town. Um because we

169are municipal department of town, we run a bit differently. Um, just like our nonprofit neighbors, we see franchise fees from the cable company. But when it comes to taking in donations or wanting to monetize our YouTube channel, uh, we simply can't because of legalities and um, mitigating any potential risk that could harm the town legally. U, we are strapped to our, uh, cable franchise fees, which which will dwindle our subscribers to cut the cord. Next year, I predict our new subscribers to pass 1,000 and our cable subscribers will dip below 1,000. That's half of all dogs in the town of Halfway. Not to mention that our cable provider, Charter Spectrum, is not offering cable to new subscribers or subscribers who want to upgrade. If you go to their website and you click on cable TV,

170um you'll get more streaming options or actually only streaming options on their website. So, we will not have a chance for new subscribers to help help with our bottom line. We need help to continue the important work that we do and we need it now. We only have enough funding to last us until half of fiscal year 2028 for a small station be robust. The comm the community appreciates our work and I'm sure our community would be devastated to see this local institution go black. Hadley Hadley is a proud agricultural community. I'm sure we bought produce from time to time now it's grown in Hadley without knowing. Some of our produce is sold to Boston public schools and Springfield public schools which help many lowincome families through generous state and federal programs. Well, more state

171now. Um, I'm sure many don't worry about knowing where bare produce comes from. However, we have to worry about where our community media how long our community media centers have have to survive and what revenue we're going to get. I urge the joint committee to vote these bills out of committee favorably. Do this for our livelihoods. Do this for our communities. Do this for the greater good. I want to thank the joint committee for taking time to hear my testimony and feel free to ask any questions about about my operation. Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. Safe. Thank you. Thank you. Um next we have representatives from Westwood Media Center Urban Media Arts and Westford Community Access Television. So please introduce yourselves as you speak. Good afternoon. My name is Sarah Fletcher and I'm the

172executive director of Westford's Community Access Television Station and it's um a pleasure to be here. Thank you. Thank you for Um, we are facing an economic emergency. The 250 Massachusetts community media stations um are collapsing. This is a $104 million industry employing over a thousand residents. The cable subscriptions have crashed 50% in five years, destroying the funding that sustained 269 community media stations across every district that you represent. We're watching the systematic elimination of businesses averaging over $417,000 in annual expenses and nine about nine employees at each station averaging. This isn't just about media. It's about economic devastation rippling through every community. The economic domino domino effect when stations close is that skilled workers lose their jobs. Local equipment vendors lose hundreds of thousands in sales. Professional service providers, the CPAs, contractors, maintenance workers, they

173lose steady clients. Property owners lose reliable tenants and communities lose their economic anchors. The reality is we're losing everything. Right now, camera operators in Springfield are job hunting. Producers in Actton are looking out of state. Equipment suppliers in Worcester are watching their customer base evaporate. And these are your constituents. And they're losing their livelihoods. They're disappearing. Massachusetts built the nation's largest community media network. 269 stations that were economic success stories. Now we're systematically destroying this achievement through inaction. H91 and S41 are our last chance. These bills aren't about new revenue. They're about preventing economic catastrophe. They represent the only viable path to restore stable revenue streams before we lose this industry forever. Without this legislation, over a thousand jobs disappear permanently. $104 million uh economic activity vanishes. Decades of workforce development gets destroyed. Local economies

174lose critical anchors. The choice is binary. We can act now to save a thousand jobs and over 104 million dollars in economic activity, or we can watch it all disappear forever. The businesses that use our public infrastructure to reach Massachusetts consumers must pay their fair share, not as a windfall, but as the economic lifeline determining whether this industry survives or dies. Every day without action brings us closer to permanent loss. Please vote yes on H91 S41. Don't let Massachusetts throw away $104 million in economic activity because we failed to modernize outdated funding models. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, chairs and thank you chairs and members of the committee. My name is Tina Lagard. I'm the executive director of urban media arts in Malden. Uma is Malden's community media center with vital civic resource offering

175access to technology, creative tools, and educational opportunities for community members of all ages and backgrounds. And we've been proudly serving our community for over 30 years. But today, I'm here to tell you our model is breaking. Uma's cable franchise revenue dropped 23% in just the last three years alone. The impact of cord cutting isn't hypothetical. It's a financial crisis that's already here and it's dismantling the infrastructure of community media. Just last month, I was forced to make one of the hardest decisions of my career. I eliminated three full-time staff members at my facility. We lost our associate director, a 34-year veteran who helped build Ruma from the ground up, launched our art gallery, creating a decadel long citizen journalism program and partnership, excuse me, with our community and local colleges and trained hundreds in community

176storytellers and served as our accessibility coordinator. We lost our director of operations, who served for 25 years, maintaining our equipment and facilities, producing thousands of hours of civic coverage, launching our podcast services, and building a bridge with our gaming community. And we also lost our director of marketing, who led our digital presence, built a citywide event calendar initiative, and created inclusive pathways to engagement for communities often left out of traditional media media narratives. Together, these cuts saved us $230,000 annually. But at what cost? Their responsibilities now fall on just three remaining f full-time staff and one part-timer. We kept the lights on this year, but without structural funding reform, we might not be able to continue doing it. Despite aggressive fundraising and development efforts, grants, sponsorships, donor campaigns, it's simply not enough to close the

177growing deficit caused by declining cable revenue. That's why we need your support on bills H106, H91, and S41. They aren't just policy ideas. They're a lifeline. These bills would modernize funding for community media in the streaming era, recognizing that local access, civic transparency, and digital inclusion must not be lost to outdated funding models. Uma's story is not unique, but we want to be part of a better future. We want to continue being Malden's hub for creativity, dialogue, and democracy. Please pass these bills favorably and help us ensure that community media doesn't disappear with a cable cord. Thank you, chairpersons, members of the community. My name is Melinda Garfield and I serve as the executive director of Westwood Media Center for the past 10 years. I'm also a member of Mass Access Board. I submit this

178testimony in strong support of H106, H91, and S41. Westwood Media Center is a nonprofit PEG organization that serves the town of Westwood since 2007. While we may be a younger organization that uh some of than some of our counterparts shortly that had uh established shortly after the cable act of 84, we became an essential provider of local government meeting coverage, high school sports, community events, and educational training in video and digital media production. Despite efforts to diversify revenue through production services, facility rental, sponsorships, and donations, our funding continues to decline at an alarming rate due to the drop of cable subscriptions. Over the past 5 years, Westwood has lost 1,277 cable subscribers. In fact, our current subscriber count is now lower than it was when Comcast and Verizon first entered the town in 2007. This

179decline has translated into nearly $60,000 reduction in our operating budget. As of July 1, just a few days ago, Westwood Media Center can no longer afford to maintain our studio and our office space due to this budget shortfall. We are currently without a permanent facility. Our live meeting, municipal meetings are now being produced from a 300 square foot former jail cell in the basement of town hall and our reduced staff is operating remotely. As we approach the busy fall season, I am deeply concerned about our ability to continue delivering the highquality services our community relies on and deserves. On behalf of the staff, board, and residents of Westwood, I respectfully urge this committee to report these bills favorably. And Westwood Media Center is not alone. Peg centers across the Commonwealth are facing similar financial challenges

180and the time to modernize the funding structure is now. Thank you. Questions. Thank you. Your testimony is really compelling. Thank you for being here. Uh next is virtual Seth Albomb. All right. Uh, good afternoon honorable members of the joint committee. Uh, thank you for your time. I'm Seth Albam, executive director of the awardwinning Lynn Community Television. Lynn is a diverse gateway city of over a 100,000 people, many of whom cannot afford cable. And like Pittsfield, we're at a precedence. there's been a very sharp decline in cable subscriptions in our city and therefore franchise agreement funds that are allocated to us. Um so our mission at LCTV however remains to connect residents with city government, nonprofits and the arts and to offer digital equity in an economically diverse city. But with the steep revenue decline and

181a very lean budget, we can no longer afford rent. We're currently located in a very accessible storefront in a downtown shopping plaza. The rent has gone up too. It's way too high. So, we're searching for a new space in a city where accessible and suitable locations are scarce. At the same time, we're digging into limited reserves to keep going. Reserves we also need to pay for the move. We're cutting back. One full-time staffer moved away, so that made things a little easier. We didn't refill the role. Another has gone part-time. Weekday hours at the studio are reduced so that we can still cover essential community events. And the deadline to find a new location is fast approaching. We could very much um we could I don't know what we'd operate out of. Um we haven't

182been offered a space by anyone. If we find a space, we'll likely cut our square footage in half and end up in a less successful part of Glenn as well. Still, I want to say in 2024, our members produced 323 shows and episodes in Spanish and English. Staff covered 141 community events for LCTV News, award-winning LCTV News, I should say, and we covered 28 municipal meetings. And that was while we operated at a $63,000 deficit. F FY25 no better. FY26 looks worse. The rain is outlasting the rainy day fund and it's raining harder. We've kept up with our audiences. Twothirds of our viewers watch on their phones. They're streaming city council streaming school committee on YouTube, Facebook, andv.org. There are three ways to watch us online simultaneously. Our website translates content into 12 languages and

183carries programming in Spanish, English, Haitian, Creole, and Kami. Our LCTV News local election coverage is already underway for the September preliminary and November election. And it's there there's no no other. We have a daily newspaper, but it's getting thinner and thinner. That is how people find out their information. We host candidate forums ourselves. Our technology has outpaced the cell phone. Our cameras record in 4K. Our studio hosts podcasts, film screenings, and events. And we have a computer lab with robust broadband. And with a limited use grant, we launched the bilingual digital literacy program that teaches computer skills and loans out Chromebooks. But that grant doesn't fund our rent, government meeting coverage or access to the audiovisisual production tools that create modern digital equity. Municipalities haven't closed the funding gap and they can't. Foundations aren't supporting

184community media and I don't know why. Sponsorships are trickle despite our best efforts. Now we need support that reflects today's media reality. and we've modernized here at LCTV. Seth, I'm going to have to ask you to hurry up. Sorry. Thank you. Um, we ask for your support on H91, H106, and S41 so that we may continue. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? No. Thank you very much. Um and next we have a panel um from Pittsburgh Access Television and Focus Springfield. So just like just announce who you are when you speak. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Uh, I'm Stephen Carrie from Focus Springfield TV in support of H106, 91, and S41. I feel like I'm on Sesame Street when I say I'm here for the letter G. In PEG, it stands for government.

185Uh, we don't have a long history. Focus Springfield has been around for 10 years. Uh, but we made up for lost time. Initially, we were known for our coverage of sports, uh, especially basketball. a little plug for the invention in Springfield. Um, since March of 2020, however, we're known for municipal meeting coverage back when Zoom was new. Uh, they were scary days in 2020. We quickly realized that our city couldn't function if commissions, councils, and other open meeting laws waited it out. Uh, Focus Springfield worked with elected officials to meet or exceed OML requirements. In the past year, we've aired over 1,600 hours of government meetings. When we began in uh 2014, I looked around and noticed most of the equipment was the same as when I was an intern in the 80s. Uh the

186locks were to keep the uh museum curators out. Um we started visiting established peg stations and that convinced us that we needed to invest heavily in technology. We're all geeks. I could talk to you all day about the equipment. I promise I won't. Um, in December 2020, uh, we realized how lucky we were that we invested. Um, Springfield Public Schools wanted us to air a town hall and people are concerned about learning loss. Um, fears are returning to the classrooms. There's a lot of bad information and rumors around the city. The school department provided experts to share vetted information and have real Q&A um time for real time Q&A to address additional concerns from families. We're a diverse city. Uh we've got about 40,000 students. Um the effort was uh to broadcast in eight languages

187and frankly we were scared to death. We didn't know how to do it. Uh we pulled it off and um it started something really big. Schools established support groups. They had interpreters work with families. Homework health tips were delivered to homes. By the end of that school year, over a million meals were served to homes. The engagement continues today. In the five years since those interpreters are able to be replaced by this great kind of system of subtitles, shout out to State House News. Um I tell this story because engaging with these families was probably the most rewarding thing I've done in 40 years of television. remote participation, live um translations, they're all here to stay. Um the AI advancements in technology is absolutely amazing, but it's not cheap. In 2014, our annual budget was

188$1.2 million. We're down to about 550,000 now. I'm not asking you to vote in favor of this bill for me or for Focus Springfield. Um and really for for all of us, a way to look at it is um good government engagement in cities. uh towns like Springfield have to continue. We don't know what the future holds or how we need to communicate with our residents. And 10 more seconds, I promise. Whether covering legislation, following a basketball team to state championships, um or battling a pandemic, it's all important work, especially while uh local news is just waning. So, I'm asking you to support it, not because it's nice, but I think it's necessary. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, good afternoon, co-chairs Farley Bouvier, uh, Moore, and joint committee members. Uh, my name is Nathan Glenny,

189executive director of Fitchburg Access Television, which took 90 minutes. I'm sorry, uh, to get here today in Boston. Um, I am here to support H106, H91, and S41. Since 1987, FATV provides our 42,000 residents with a direct media connection uh, to our community. In 2020, we tripled the hours of hyperlocal community programming and featured nearly 700 hours of media content in 2024. But since 2016, Fitchburg has seen a 40% linear decrease of cable franchise fees to what is now a quarter of a million dollars less than what we had a decade ago. Um, FATV does not receive general funds from the city of Fitchburg. uh nor would that even be feasible. Our gateway city is already faced with inflation and growing needs, including all those lovely potholes. Um in FY27, the city will likely will

190have to have tough talks of budget cuts. They're not going to add a another line item for PEG services uh to their general fund. We urgently need your advocacy to support this bill. Otherwise vital PEG services will be facing cuts and will provide less information to the communities that we all proudly serve. Peg services should be viewed as a public necessity as well as a foundational right towards democracy. We broadcast over 300 annual hours from 20 different legislative bodies. Uh FATV secures facilitates a secure remote participation option for Fitsburg constituents. We also provide real-time closed captioning in English and Spanish to foster an inclusive yet informative community. This is a true testament on how transparent municipal governments should operate for greater civic participation. FATV has now become the only reliable and trusted source for local

191municipal meetings, debates, elections that are coming up this fall, and its results that we produce in 75 minutes from polls closing. These connections to our residents is an integral part of an informed and democratic election process. If a funding solution isn't realized soon, community media stations will close and that's a fact. And oh, by the way, the local newspapers who watch us to report upon it, it's going to be even more of news deserts. Um, in closing, I urgently request this committee's swift and favorable recommendation of these bills. We should assure the residents of the Commonwealth that we want you to be informed, connected, and included in a civic in civic pride and participation. This bill makes sense for Massachusetts residents and why we need to get this bill across the finish line. Thank you

192for your time today and I would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Uh Sandra Harris, Massachusetts Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness. Very nice to see you again, Chair Moore, Chair Arvier, and members of the joint committee. My name is Sandre Harris and I am the co-founder and co-leader of the Massachusetts Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness, a statewide network working to ensure that all residents of the Commonwealth feel connected to their community and enjoy a strong sense of social health. I am also host to connect a monthly community media program which is soon to enter its fourth year and I am here to urge you to favorably pass bill number Senate bill number 41 and house bill number 91 and act to modernize funding for community media programming. Connect was

193created to tackle the isolation and lack of lack of accessible information we observed during the early days of CO 19 especially among older adults, people living in rural areas and those who just cannot afford community or cable television. We were especially worried about the poor digital outreach such as online only access to vaccine appointments that excluded many individuals without internet access devices or digital literacy. In a society rapidly becoming digital, we must ensure that no one is left behind. Community television helps to bridge that gap. It connects with people who are often unseen by mainstream media, those who are relying um on community television for trustworthy local information. Former US surgeon general Dr. Vbec Murthy described us as a lonely nation. And just last month, the World Health Organization Commissioned on Social Health issued a

194landmark report identifying loneliness as a global public health priority and calling on all of us to take action now to help build a more connected world. Members of the joint committee, I am proud to say that Massachusetts is already responding to that call. Community media programming has been a vital partner of the Massachusetts Coalition to build community and loneliness and making this happen. Connect offers more than just background entertainment. It foster fosters real connection. We highlight resources, share strategies to combat loneliness, offer tips for healthier and happier living, and provide information and resources for living with Alzheimer's and related dementia. We encourage neighbors to check on one another. We offer strategic um methods or roles for managing the holiday and winter blues. But most importantly, we offer hope from caregivers to young people. We promote

195the power of intergener relationships. This partnership doesn't just inform, it uplifts. It includes, it heals, and it connects. Please modernize funding for media programming. In doing so, you help to invest in public health and equity and in the kind of the Commonwealth where everyone is seen, valued, and recognized. Let's answer the call. Let's show the world what Massachusetts can do to ensure that no resident feels invisible or alone in the neighborhood they call home. Thank you for your time, for your service, and your support, and thank you for taking positive action to modernize funding for community programming. Thank you. Any questions? Mr. Chair, I just really want to thank Sandra for your work. I think your work is incredibly important and it brings a new and different voice um to this issue and it's very

196valuable. So, thank you for being here. Thank you. Okay. Um our next is a virtual Nell Forax, League of Women Voters. Good afternoon. I'm Nell Forgus, legislative specialist for the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. I'm also a resident of Sudbury and a big fan of Sudbury TV. I would like to thank Chair Moore, Chair Fi Bouvier, and the honorable members of this committee for the opportunity to speak today on behalf of the league and our 44 local leagues serving over 100 communities from Cape Cod to the Birkers in support of H91S41, an act to modernize community media funding. The league believes it is of the highest priority that we secure the funding future. Emphasis on secure of our local community access stations. Many speakers today including representatives Machino and Scarsdale, members of this committee

197and officers from Mass Access have noted the positive impact of these stations in our communities. The league concurs with the many important points that previous speakers have made. The League of Women Voters believes that democratic government and a healthy democracy depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens at all levels of government and that governmental bodies must protect the citizens right to know. Your constituents rely on their local community access stations to stay informed and to participate in their local government. No one, not even those who work in local government, can attend every meeting in person, especially given that many meetings are scheduled at the same time. Massachusetts municipalities rely on community access stations to broadcast, stream, record, and preserve town meetings, town forums, public hearings, and innumerable board, committee, subcommittee, commission, and

198council meetings for the public. Your constituents also rely on the leagues of women voters around the state and their partnerships with their local community access stations. Together, we produce and make widely available programs that support an active and informed electorate. Lead programs consistently rank among community media stations highest watched video ondemand programming. Community media programming is integral to informed and active participation in local government, but will not survive unless the way in which we fund it is updated. We all heard the emotion of the previous speakers whose stations are collapsing. The league believes that passage of this bill is an urgent and intelligent investment in the future of our democracy. As Representative Machino asserted, funding has hit a critical tipping point, and this bill is timely, relevant, and ready. Demand for services are up, but

199funding is down. We urge you to pass this bill swiftly and favorably before it is too late and stations begin to not just downsize, but to close. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you so much. Now, any questions from the members of the committee? Thank you. And thank you to the league for your strong partnership on data privacy and all things good government. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Terrific. Um, we now go to Stephanie Sarah from NCTV and I don't know if Bobby is part of that panel also. Stephanie, hello everyone. Hello Stephanie. Hi there. My name is Steph Sarah and I'm the director of programming and grant writer at Nantucket Community Television. Um I am testifying in support of House Bill 106, House Bill 91, and Senate Bill 41 from home

200today with my three-year-old nearby. So if you hear a growing voice offcreen, that's just part of the reality. So many of us are living. Um Nantucket Community Television serves as one of the most um we serve one of the most remote communities in the Commonwealth. um on Nantucket, an island 30 miles out to sea, community connection is not just a convenience. Um public media access is essential to our well-being, our democracy, and our sense of belonging. I imagine that being on the receiving end of our individual testimonies and support of these bills, um you know, it might begin to blend together. Um but that's the power of independent voices. When layered, they form something greater, a multifaceted perspective that becomes a unified call for what our communities need. At NCTV, our mission is to empower

201Nantucket Voices. We create original programming that supports mental health, intergenerational connection, civic participation, and community identity. Our programs champion the power of creative expression, especially in today's climate. We are the Nantucket platform for teenagers finding their voice. We preserve elder wisdom through oral history traditions and children's programming. We bring meetings, celebrations, workshops, high school sports broadcasting filmed by and featuring students to those who can't always be in the room. Um, NCTV is a small but mighty team and what makes us essential is the trust we have earned from our community to serve them in these ways. I believe in the power of community-led storytelling as a healing art. That is why I chose to testify in support of these bills. We also have the unanimous support of our town and county select board. These bills

202are not abstract to us. They're personal. They're about making sure local voices don't get drowned out in the distance by disconnection or by profit margins. These bills are about empowering public access media to continue showing up again and again for the people who count on us. So, thank you not just for your time, but for your presence in hearing and reading each of our testimonies. My community is watching and just as I hold space for them, you are holding space for all of us by listening. In that spirit, I invite the committee to publicly affirm your support for these bills today or in the days ahead so that communities like mine know that we are not standing alone with peace and progress. Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh we're going to now move on

203um to Bobby Planser also virtually. Thank you very much. Oh, should I go now? Yes, please. Awesome. Uh thank you very much. Uh Bobby Clanszer, I am also here on behalf of NCTV. Uh good afternoon chairs Farley Bier and more and members of the committee. My name is Bobby Planser and I'm a talk show host with Nucket Community Television where I proudly host my show Bob and Around Town for the past 10 years. I started the show in 2015 with my late uncle Warren. When he passed away in 2018, I made it my mission to continue the show in his memory. NCTV has made it possible. Every episode, they help me with filming, editing, and making sure my show reaches the community. through MCTV's support, including a small but meaningful $100 an episode that I

204earn through MCTV's budget, I've been able to share local stories, connect with the people of Nucket, and continue to our island's creative voice. Without this legislation, I honestly don't know if I'll be able to continue. I would hate to lose the platform that I love. Bill S41 and 8, House Bill 91, is crucial to protecting community media across Massachusetts. With more people streaming instead of using cable, our funding is dying, is drying up, and stations like MCTV can't survive on hope alone. Please give this bill a favorable report so that people like me and so many others on Nucket and across the Commonwealth can keep doing what we love. Sharing V stories, perspectives that truly reflect our community. Thank you for your time, for your consideration to this important legislation, and I look forward to

205answering your questions. Thank you. Thank you, Bobby and uh Stephanie from Nantucket TV. Senators here and I had the pleasure of joining one of your uh high school uh hosts just uh just a few weeks ago to appear on one of your programs. Uh so not only for your programming uh and the creativity related there too, but also uh for your advocacy on this. It was actually through NCTV that I first heard about this bill. So, uh, thank you for being here. Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Right. Next, we have uh Glenn Williams, Boston Neighborhood Network. Good afternoon. Do you hear me? Yes. Okay. Thank you. I want to thank you uh for for having us on. I also want to thank all of my my uh comrades in in arms here.

206Not really in arms, but you know what I mean. Uh of the peg axles. My name my name's Glenn Williams. I'm the general manager of Boston Neighborhood Network. And one of the things that I want to do is I want to talk just a couple of seconds about the impact we have. We've heard a lot about what we need and what's going to happen and we need the this that and the other thing. But I want to talk about what happens to our community. The news four, five, and seven. Everybody sees it. The first 25 minutes of it is this kid got killed. This building burnt down. This country is trying to ruin this other country. Then the last five minutes they talk about a cow they found that has a picture of Elvis on

207its side. We've decided we've decided not to do that. What we do is we make sure that we get every city councelor in the studio here and we have them talk about what's great about being a Bostononian. What's so important about being one of being from one of the 22 different sections of the city and how fun it is to be a Bostononian. The other thing is we all cover football games and all of that. Well, few years back, couple of seasons back, we had a football game and was coming to the end of the game and I'm sorry, no. Okay. Uh was coming to the end of the game and everyone gets to play. They put the little kid in there and he miraculously puts his hand up in the air, pulls the ball

208down, and goes back for a touchdown. Right out of Rudy, right? I one of our cameramen rushes down, sticks a camera in his face, and interviews him. Didn't get a lot out of him. A week later, I got an email from his grandfather telling me that this kid is mostly nonverbal. And the fact that we put him on TV and we made a big fuss out of him, he now walks around talking about what a great experience it was for him. We also get emails from grandparents from all over the country that come and tell us about how great it was for them to see their grandchildren graduate from high school. How important it was for for Senator Nick Collins to have his St. Patrick's Day breakfast. We made sure we put it live on

209TV so that everybody can see our politicians, regardless of the side, regardless of the issues, spend time with each other and be human and have a good time. It's so important. I'm sure I'm almost done. I'm sure on the way in today or if you looked out your window, you saw our truck parked outside Boston neighborhood network. What we were doing there at the state house was covering the year of compassion, a tribute to uh uh uh some people, some religious organizations in the Delhi Lama that we partnered with Tibet and put it live on TV in Tibet. None of this will happen unless H91, H106 and the Senate gets together on 41. Thank you for your time. It's been a pleasure listening to all of my colleagues talk to you. I appreciate you. Thank

210you. Thank you. Questions? Have a good day. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next panel is from Boston's Children's Hospital. Hi. Hello. So, can you just identify yourself as you speak? Thank you. Yes, absolutely. Hello. just because I have anxiety do anything else speaking as a medical professional. Um okay. Um hello uh chairs Moore and chairs Farley Bouvier. Thank you so much and also thank you for the amount of time that it took to get here. Just think about with digital health how important that is coming from the 413 and how maybe weather would play a role. Um my name is Katrina Cook. I reside in Salem and I work at Austin Children's Hospital on the innovation and digital health accelerator. My job is to look at our digital products and say who has access to

211this, who doesn't have access to this, and how can we get them access? So, I'm here to speak to H100, the act establishing a commission to study a statewide credentiing program for digital navigators. Massachusetts has always been first and leading in healthcare excellence. But being first in healthcare does not mean having the best uh doctors and the best technology only. We also need to have the best experience for patients and families regardless of digital literacy, regardless of the language that they speak, regardless of socioeconomic status to be able to access that care. Having the best is not the same as being the best. And without this access, we are currently falling short. Today, that access is increasingly dependent on complex digital technologies that we're asking patients and families to navigate on their own. When people

212arrive at Apple stores, there's always someone there to help them out to figure out, oo, how do I use this phone and what is going on? Uh, why don't we have that same support when we could actually save lives with that technology? That's what I would really want to make sure that we know. This digital healthcare is life-saving. So, I can connect virtually to a specialist and I can decide, do I need to go to the ER right now or can I stay at home and navigate this care on my own? That's not only great for me and the community, but that's also great for managing the overflowing capacity in the emergency departments, something that I know everyone here has heard of and a nationwide uh issue. I would like everyone to understand who we're

213consistently leaving behind while we grow in this digital technology space within healthcare. We are leaving behind our most vulnerable populations, immigrants, seniors, children who rely on their parents for their care, rural communities, and uh low-income families. The digital healthcare initiatives that you are all hearing today and championing in this room itself, they are really making a difference. Chair Moore, when you stated that access to the internet is no longer optional in today's world, I understand that you understand the impact of this bill. This is where Bill H100 becomes not just important but essential. The digital navigators themselves are members of the communities that they serve. They speak the languages of our constituents. They meet patients and families and communities where they're at. They create sustainable community level change in professionalism, in confidentiality, and consistent support.

214We can continue to build the best technologies in healthcare, but if no one can use it, it truly does not matter. It is obsolete at that point. So, I really urge you to support bill H100. And thank you so much. I will hand off to my colleague, Christine Fallon. Thank you, Katrina. My name is Christine Fallon and I reside in Westwood, Massachusetts and I am the director of connected care patient experience Boston Children's Hospital where I manage our digital health support team and digital health navigator program. Chair Moore, Chair Farley Bouvier and esteemed members of the committee. Thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of H100, an act establishing commission to study statewide credentiing program for our digital navigators. Before entering healthcare, I spent over 20 years at Verizon where I witnessed evolution

215from dialup to high-speed FiOS. Even then, I saw how affordability didn't always mean accessibility, especially when speeds were slow and support was lacking. Today, I see the same digital divide in healthcare, and now the stakes are even higher. I joined Boston Children's during the pandemic to help stand up a virtual visit help desk. Previous to the pandemic, at Boston Children's, we were doing about 20 virtual visits a day. At the height of the COVID, that number surged to over 2,000 virtual visits. It was during this time that I realized we were helping people, but we could do better. And quite frankly, we needed to do better. As the pandemic wound down and we went back to working in person, we launched our digital health navigator program. Starting small, going roomto room to help families sign

216up for our patient portal. From there, it's grown to a robust program focused on making it easier for patients and families to navigate the health care system, feel comfortable with technology, and most importantly, advocate for themselves. If they don't have access to the tools they need, we help them find resources. Again, reiterating the need for affordable high-speed internet, access to devices, and digital education. At Boston Children's, we've developed a digital health navigator program to meet patients and their families where they are, particularly those who prefer languages other than English. Our navigators are stationed in the hospital lobby. They visit inpatient rooms and clinics and are available virtually. They speak seven languages and provide hands-on support with everything from setting up the patient portal to connecting to virtual visits to using remote patient monitoring devices and

217engaging with tools like Alexa for comfort and connection. I'd like to share a quick story. A navigator visited a room of a 17-year-old Spanish-sp speakaking patient during impatient rounds. Using an interpreter tablet, he helped him set up his own My Chart account, update his information, and learn how to use My Chart Bedside. He was thrilled. He even got more so when he we showed him how to play Spanish music through our Alexa devices in his room. What a great hands-on learning experience. This is just one example how digital health navigators bridge the gap between technology and care. They help patients access their records, connect with providers, and manage care remotely, especially when the language literacy and digital access are barriers. We strongly support H100 because a statewide credentiing program would help scale this impact across

218Massachusetts, ensuring consistency, quality, and equity in the digital health support. Again, thank you for your time today. Boston Children's Hospital will be submitting written testimony, and we welcome your questions today. Thank you. Question. Yes. Thank you for Thank you for testifying. Uh there's some pretty good testim testimony already today. Uh but I think it's important that you focus on the medical need of this because we're going through a big transition. So thank you. Thank you. Okay, we have another panel uh Alliance for Digital Equity. There's three individuals on this panel. Okay. And just identify yourselves. Okay. Then then the next the next panel after well the next person after this will be Rachel Wilson from Alliance for Digital Equity Bay State Health. I wanted to start by saying thank you to Representative Sabadosa for sponsoring

219H100 and to all of the members of this committee for listening to our testimony. My name is Rich Vaden and I'm a digital navigator with the United Way of Franklin and Hampshire region. I operate mostly in Franklin County, a very rural community. So, think of us as digital um digital navigators that we are community health workers for technology. We help people access essential services and build the skills they need to survive in an increasingly digital world. I'm here in person from Western Massachusetts because H100 is urgently needed. And I want to share a story underlining why. I recently helped Shelley, a former teacher and full-time caregiver, try to enroll in Medicare. We started by calling Medicare. They then directed us to Social Security and after being quoted an unacceptable 4hour waiting time. We were told

220to go online. So, I helped her set up a social security portal which required ID me verification, text links, selfies, ID photos, all with her phone. Shelley described herself as technologically illiterate. Thankfully, I was there to help. Even with my help, we failed six times with the identity identity verification and it locked her out. So, the next day, I used my computer to set her up with a virtual ID verification. Then we spent two more hours on enrollment. She shared her social security number, her income, her health conditions, and even more sensitive information. Fortunately, because of my background, I know how to handle that information. This is just one story. On a side note, I also helped someone at the library who came to try to get connected to Wi-Fi, and I uncovered through some

221questions that she had been scammed out of $3,000 in an elder uh an elder romance scheme. At the end of that session where I shed some tears, she described me as her guardian angel. So this these stories are not unique. From social security to paying utility bills, nearly everything now requires online access and identity verification. H100 and Senator Gomez's teleaalth bill are both vital. Digital navigators like me need standardized training, professional recognition, and sustainable funding. My grant pos my grant-f funded position is probably not going to exist next year. As people will face major benefit changes in the coming months, the need for digital navigation will only grow. H100 creates compounding long-term cross- sector benefits by helping real people like Shelley and the other woman that I helped navigate a world that is increasingly leaving

222them behind. Thank you. Good afternoon. Uh, good afternoon co-chair co-chair more and members of the joint committee. My name is Lasherie Williams and I serve as a digital navigation coordinator for the alliance for digital equity housed at Bay State. We cover the four western most counties of Massachusetts and I'm here today to express uh strong support for uh H100. In my role, I lead a network of digital navigators across many sectors, ensuring that they are equipped to serve our communities. I've seen uh firsthand the universal need of these roles as more industries embrace the digital world. Prior to this role, I worked in people facing roles in healthcare and pharmacy. These roles uh required rigorous training and credentiing like HIPPA. Just like those professions, digital navigators need proper support and standardization. Beyond my professional experience,

223I stand before you as a single mother of a team with special needs. I've personally experienced the feeling of being locked out of opportunity and sorry and overwhelmed by confusing online systems when essential services moved online. Thanks to programs like the ones I now help lead, I overcame those barriers. And my success story isn't unique. I want to share the story of my aunt Donna who after 13 years of working at Yankee Candle was recently laid off. She told me they closed the factory and moved it down south to replace their jobs with robots. She struggled with the unemployment portal working uh worried about making ends meet and had no idea how to claim her severance online. She was discouraged to even try to go and get her high school equivalency because she believed she

224wasn't good at standardized tests. Putting on my digital navigator hat, I guided her through claiming her severance, enrolling in unemployment, and introducing her to Northstar online digital digital literacy. The first time she passed an assessment, her face lit up with surprise. She couldn't believe she had passed a test like that. And now she was ready to do the next module. Now she's attending Northstar classes with Mass Higher and she's well on her way to getting back on her feet. This is what happens when someone takes the time besides another and helps guide them. They find confidence. They remember they are resilient and they realize they are capable of starting over again. As a parent, community member and leader, I know firsthand the instinct to protect those uh that we care about from the online risks.

225But no matter how many or how much regulation we put in place, online risks won't go away. They won't just disappear. That's why we must prioritize building digital resilience. And digital navigators are how we achieve that goal. They don't shield people from the digital world. They empower them to engage with with the online world confidently, critically, and safely. And House Bill 100 is essential to building the systems that support them. I urge you to report House Bill 100 favorably. Thank you. Thank you. A lot of noise in this chair. No worries. Um, thank you so much for all of you for your wrapped attention all day today. Um, I you must be exhausted. I know I am coming from Western Mass. um not quite as long as uh Terra Farley Bouvier, but um thank you

226so much for being here. I'm Kathy Bisby. I'm the director of the Alliance for Digital Equity. We're a coalition representing 200 plus community- based organizations across all four counties of Western Massachusetts and we're housed at Bay State Health in Springfield. I'm here to speak obviously in favor of uh House Bill 100. And I want to thank Representative Sabadosa and Senator Gomez for their leadership and for their partnership both in the region and statewide. I'm just going to ask um how many of you have ever helped somebody with a computer or a phone problem? Anybody in this room? How many of you have been helped by somebody else? Right. Okay. Some of you are willing to admit it. Um I bet all of us at one time or another have been helped or helped somebody else.

227And you get it. Digital navigators. You're digital navigators as well. We all are. Um like Rich said, we're community health workers for technology. And in a time when reduced funding is moving everything online, digital navigators are literally our frontline workers as trusted digital guides and the key ingredient to how we're going to eliminate digital inequities and ensure that everybody is able to participate in the digital world and across all the geographies that have been talked about today and I know you'll hear from some others um throughout the state and sectors. Digital navigators have a critical role in the economy and in the public health landscape. We need digital navigators that are well trained to support this new reality and help folks get the support they need. Four hours is way too long to be on

228a phone call to get help. We can do better with digital navigators leading the way. So why do we need a commission? Uh few folks have mentioned that and and a credentiing program. Well, there is no credentiing program across the country yet. Um but there are certifications that have been in the works. So we know it's possible and we know that it's needed across the country. It's not just here in Massachusetts that we see a huge need for the digital navigator skill set and it's a new workforce across the country. We know that it will work. We already are working with um all of our coalition partners across the state um to think about what are the things that we know digital navigators need to understand. How do we make them safe? How do we

229make the clients safe? Um, and there are other states like Pennsylvania who we're meeting with tomorrow who wants to talk to us about how we're implementing it in Massachusetts because they're interested in apprenticeship program similarly in Pennsylvania and national organizations as well. So many of the named commissioners are ready to go to work on day one um already partnering together and they've submitted testimony to that effect to show their willingness to serve. I want to make sure you hear this because we have talked about a lot of revenue things today. There's no cost at all to implementing this. This will give the emerging workforce of digital navigators the credibility, legitimacy and a plan to move forward that we need to really develop some rules and standards and training programs across the state. And lastly, oh

230lastly, we know digital navigators affect health outcomes. We are already seeing research just in three to six month periods of time that digital navigators help improve health outcomes including lowering patients A1C's and and uh improving blood pressure results. So we know that um this is important. I want to thank our digital navigators for the work that they do and our statewide partners. I want to thank all of you as our legislators that are doing work to make sure that no one is left behind. Um, Massachusetts was the leader 20 years ago on community healthc care getting a credential for that. That's now seen as indispensable and so we ask your leadership again today to move this bill favorably out of committee. Thank you. Any questions? We really appreciate you. Thank you. And thank you for

231reminding us that we face a lot of healthcare challenges over the next year or so. Thank you. Uh, so we have Rachel Wilson, Alliance for Digital Equity. I'll say so just each one of you identify yourself. Hello, I'm Rachel Wilson, Alliance for Digital Equity. I am going to talk about health care issues, but I'm going to yield my time at this moment because I there was effective very effective um testimony on healthcare. If there is time, I will speak, but I want to yield my time to two digital navigators who are here who work in Western Massachusetts. Hi. Uh I'm Hannah Cox, a digital navigator at Northampton Open Media. uh here in support of H100 which is an act to create a statewide digital navigation commission. Uh my job is to provide drop in tech

232help hours, workshops, computer classes. I do this at our local community media center. I do this at libraries, council on agings. Um and the main population that I work with is older adults. And I want to share a story of a woman that I helped recently. Uh she's an older adult. She's living on her own in low-income housing and she doesn't have much family support. And she came to me, she was in one of my classes. Um but she ditched her landline in favor of a cell phone because it was cheaper and more affordable, but she doesn't know how to use her cell phone. And um she really doesn't know how to use her cell phone. Um, but she's a fall risk and she fell out of her bed and luckily she was able to

233reach her phone, but she was injured and she needed to call 911. But because she didn't know how to use her cell phone, she had been hard shutting off her cell phone every single time she used it. And so it took longer for her to dial 911. And so I taught her we do we don't have to uh hard shut down our phone every time we use it and how to quickly dial 911. Um and I helped her add some favorites to her contact so she can quickly dial um her limited her limited family members. Um, and after we had this conversation of how to contact 911 quickly from her cell phone, um, she was ready to have a conversation about other methods, uh, she could take to help her safety. Um, and so I

234talked to her about the possibility of getting uh, a smartwatch because they can detect falls. She can use voice to call 911. Your smartwatch is always on you. Your phone could be anywhere. Um, and we talked about life alert buttons. um you know, she is not the only older adult that I help with technology. Um and so there's a lot more of people like her in my community that need help. Uh the point of having a commission is luckily I know about fall risks and how you can use your phone to help detect falls, but not everybody does. And so for people like me and other people that are going to testify, having a commission can give guidelines, rules, help, support on how to help somebody like this person um and to give us proper

235training. And so community members like her who don't have enough resources or family members to help so that they have someone they can trust in the community to help them, you know, with their safety. Um so thank you. Um and we're going to hear from another digital navigator. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Um, thank you for listening to us. I I want to share the sto of my story. Your name? Lewis Barios. Thank you for um for this this opportunity and um I appreciate it because I'm I started my journey two years ago. Um under the pandemic, I found out that I was illit digitally, right? and I worked for Local 7 building bridges. I I I needed an opportunity to learn what it was to go into the digital world because of

236the way we were going. This was my laptop at home. This was my my my workbook. And because of the things that I didn't know, I would lose connection, maybe fail a class. But the opportunity was given to me. I'm from Holio Media that the hub that helped me. I just found out maybe a month from now my is losing their um grants. Right. I'm back in Holio doing the same thing that was done for me. I'm helping the community. I'm bridging that gap that needs to be equitable for everybody. Not only for the populations of Eastern Mass or Central Mass, but for Western Mass. This commission will help build something that hasn't been done before. Massachusetts, they say, is an innovative state. Let's be innovative. Let's go forward. And you'll see that the product

237that came out of Holio, me, will continue to grow with others, especially with those behind me. Um maybe about a week ago, I finished one of my classes with one uh one of the person that had mental health issues. This person revealed to me that she had just been qualified for cyber security classes at Holio Community College because of the help that I gave her. And I told her, "No, you gave me the help. Now I have the confidence to go forward and continue to help the community, especially the Spanish speaking community." I turn it over. If there's time, I'll speak. But is that without? Okay. Um again, it's Rachel Wilson, Alliance for Digital Equity. Um with the introduction from colleagues on healthc care issues, um I won't go into the details on the portals

238and the apps and the remote patient monitoring as you've heard and you know about. Um, but I'll speak to specifically um, a specific story from a digital navigator in our region in Western Mass who works with folks and particularly on one story of a of a gentleman he helped. And I will also just tell you from my perspective and my personal relationship to this topic. Um, I'm married to a primary care physician who trained in Los Angeles, my hometown, and um, New York, where we both, um, you know, went through, um, training and, um, education. He now works in a small town in Massachusetts, his small town of of 3,800 approximately, and serves patients throughout the small towns in the region. Teleaalth um, portals Um, remote patient monitoring impacts all of the people in the

239regions out in um, western Mass and Central Mass and the rural areas. What the the distance between the capabilities of te of the technology which can improve efficiency um increase um access and um also create a whole new relationship with um patients and their doctors especially that came about in the pandemic is there's a gap and the gap is people actually don't have those skills or the access or the um um information about how to actually use this technology. And the doctors who want to use this don't necessarily have the capacity within their um staffing to work with every single patient on giving them those skills and providing those skills. and also just communicating like how to um download an app and keeping your email address up and making sure your device is actually compatible.

240So, specifically a digital navigator in Western Mass worked with a patient who received a remote monitoring device from their physician and didn't open it the box for three months. He his name is Andrew Fluitt. He works in the Springfield region and he was able to effectively download the app, set the person up, help them to monitor their glucose um readings for the first time and now the person is able to communicate with their doctor. Their their visits are much more efficient and has changed their lives. I just wanted to share that with you and it it is impacts all doctors and and caregivers throughout the the state. Good. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have Cheryl Saxs can communities. That's virtual. Yes. Hi there. I'm virtual. Um, thank you so much to the

241committee and also I am a member of the alliance. So, I'm appreciative of all the um testimony that has just been given and I'm reiterating those points and hopefully adding a little bit different. Um, I also work for Ken Code Communities as an as a computer instructor. So, um, let me start. Um, so my focus today is on supporting bill H100, which would provide certification for our digital navigators. As a digital n as a digital skills instructor at Ken Code Communities, I've had the privilege of working with individuals from all walks of life, different ages, not just older Americans, but also young people and new Americans. Um, many of whom have come into the classroom unsure of themselves and uncertain about their future. With direct individual support and access to technology, they leave not only

242with knowledge of Microsoft Office and the essential online techn online to tools, but with renewed confidence to apply for jobs, support their families, and participate more fully in today's digital economy. One student's story stands out. After surviving a devastating accident and an abusive relationship, she had been out of work the workforce for over 20 years. With her children now grown, she was determined to rebuild her life. As someone living with a disability who could not drive, she depended on accessible online courses and on instructors who could truly meet students where they are. That meant helping her get connected to the internet, set up an email account, providing patient, empathetic, non-judgmental support every step of the way. After completing two digital c two digital courses, she landed a remote job in the very field she had

243hoped for, opening the door to a much brighter future. Her success ripples outward. Her children are now inspired by her perseverance and now have more opportunities to further their own education. She also provides care for her aging aunt, making her achievements even more remarkable. While her journey is inspiring, it is not unique. Every day, people in our communities are held back by lack of basic tech skills. In today's world, digital literacy is not an option. It is essential for employment, education, healthcare, and civic participation. Yet, far too many are still being left behind due to barriers like cost, transportation, time, fear, or simply not knowing where to start. This is where digital navigators come in. They're trusted guides who work one-on-one with individuals to help them access the digital world. Whether that means setting up

244an email account, navigating a job application, understanding how to use a smartphone or tablet. Most people don't realize how many of their neighbors are still struggling with these basics. By certifying digit certifying digital navigators, we ensure that they have the training, recognition, and support they need to make a real difference. certification builds a statewide network of skilled professionals who are equipped to close digital equity gaps, especially in underserved communities. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Questions? Thank you very much. Okay, next we have Karen Hayden and Nancy Albertson. Thank you very much. I'm just glad I didn't have to follow Glenn Williams. So, my name is Karen Hayden. I'm the executive director of Methan Community Studios for almost 23 years. And in that time, I have seen that community media centers can

245change lives. We work with residents who want to tell their stories, cover issues, and do other important work. And each community has its own special story to tell. We've had a few. A local volunteer who led the effort to gather personal stories of World War II through Gulf War veterans, which would have been lost. Call to serve interviews now reside in the Library of Congress due to these efforts. When drug addiction was still very much kept in the shadows, a local man and his daughter, a recovering addict, came to the studio to talk openly about this issue. When they came to the state legislature and lobbied for additional support for people in recovery, they said that the show was one of the reasons why some of your colleagues listened to them because it gave legitimacy

246to the issues. Two people with disabilities came in to produce a program to talk about disabled parking laws, traveling, being in relationships, finding the right help. They did not have the resources to do this on their own. And as the host says, these programs have relevance for everyone because we are all just one accident away from being in the same situation. We've worked with young people who want to learn the skills, real skills, on how to produce effective media. They are going to be the ones running the media in the future. Who's going to teach them how to be a journalist? How to tell the truth? How to frame a story so that it is fair to both sides of an issue? This summer, we are working with the students at the Methooan Youth Center,

247helping them learn to use the tools and methods to amplify their voices. And this is very important to them. They are a real example of leadership in this generation. and we must support them. We know that the technology has changed and that's why people have dropped their cable subscriptions in favor of streaming. In Methuan from 22 to 23, we lost 11.3% of the subscriptions and in 24 it was another 11.2%. How do we keep going? The need for local information and a place to connect with community has not changed. In fact, it's probably bigger now that we've had co and it kept us apart for so long. We're seeing more people, volunteers coming back to the station. New people are getting involved right now, creating new shows, changing more lives. It's not the time to

248shut it off. Please help us out by supporting H106, S41 at H91. Thanks. Thank you. Hello, my name is Nancy Albertson and I am the executive director of Bria Access Television or BATV and uh we are the nonprofit community media center serving the town of Bil Rick Mass. I'm here today in support strong support of H106, H91 and S.41 41 bills that would modernize funding for community media and help ensure that PEG access centers like ours like BATV can continue to serve our communities and towns in meaningful sustainable ways. BATV has proudly been serving Bora for over 35 years, providing full coverage of local media meet uh uh local government meetings to keep residents informed and engaged, educational opportunities for students and adults through workshops, internships and hands-on training, free access to media tools um

249and support as well as meeting space for nonprofits, civic groups and individuals, and a platform for local stories, cultural, and civic connection that simply wouldn't be told anywhere else. A few years ago, BATV was invited to be part of a unique partnership. The town of Bil Ricka approached us to take part in a building project that would restore a historic school building in town. Um, it was built in 1852. It's called the House School Building. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, but sat vacant and deteriorating for years. Thanks to CPA funding, Billa Town meeting support, and BATV's capital investment, we were able to help preserve a beautiful historic building and transform it into a fully restored community media center and meeting house. We now lease the building from the

250town and operate right in the heart of Bill Rick Center, steps from town hall, the library, and the senior center. None of this would have been possible without PEG funding from cable franchise fees. That funding gave us the ability to commit to a lease with the town of Bilka, a long-standing lease, uh partner with the town on a building preservation project and continue to provide community resources and media services at no cost to the public. Unfortunately, in recent years, we've seen a substantial decline in cable franchise revenue, and the continuing downward trend is threatening our ability to maintain staff, produce programming, and even cover our lease of this beautiful historic building. This is more than just a financial issue. It's a threat to the infrastructure our community depends on for government access, media education and

251literacy, and local identity in our town. That's why I'm urging you to give favorable support to H.106, H91, and S41. These bills would modernize the outdated funding model and ensure that streaming providers contribute their fair share to the communities they serve. Um, community access stations, BATV and PEG centers across the Commonwealth are not relics of the past. We are vital part of our community stories and just like the be beautiful historic how building, proud home of Bill Access Television. We're worth preserving. Thank you for your time and support. Thank you. Questions? Thank you. Okay. Uh we're now going to through the the remaining list of individuals who signed up today to testify. Um and last call. All right. So first we have I think it's Mason Grinoff. Okay. Beth Israel Deaconess. Yes. Beth Israel Medical

252Center. Um I'll try to keep it brief in the light of the time. Uh thank you for having me here today. I am a clinical research coordinator at the division of digital psychiatry and I also work as a digital navigator at a number of sites around the Boston area including the inpatient psychiatric unit at the hospital itself. Um our lab has been working with digital navigators for over half a decade. We use them as part of our digital clinic program which integrates digital navigators into care uh to make sure that the general divide between the population that is not able to use devices does not have access to devices and those who do is bridge. So digital navigators are very essential to bridging this divide. Um the digital transformation of health care has brought about

253convenience for some and it has left many people behind. uh access accessing patient portals, hopping on telealth visits, and viewing test results are all uh things that require basic digital competencies, having someone on site at community health centers, uh in psychiatric units, in hospitals is incredibly essential to making sure patients actually get access to their care. Further, digital literacy is in itself a form of well-being. Um, for example, a patient that I work with in the psychiatric unit came to me with a flip phone that she had no no idea how to use. She wasn't able to contact her family, her friends, but she had this device. I was able to work with her for three weeks and then three weeks into that program, she was independently reaching out to people who she had not

254spoken with in months or years. This type of work is incredibly important for making sure that people have access to health care, access to community, access to the things that they need to improve their lives. Um, so I'm speaking in support of this bill because it will enable the further funding and expansion of digital navigation programs like ours in the future. Uh, a commission to study this program is an important step. Um, to that end, and I've spoken to Representative Sabadosa about this, our office is very interested in being involved in this commission. So when supre when it is procedurally appropriate uh we would like to offer an amendment to uh add ourselves to this commission so we can contribute our knowledge and expertise of half a half half a decade of working in this

255field to this process. Uh I yield the rest of my time. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Okay. Um Robert Green with Bingen. Thank you, chairs and honorable members of the committee. My name is Rob Green and I work at Vinfen, which is one of the largest human services nonprofit agencies in the Commonwealth, providing community-based support services for individuals with disabilities. We lead a tech connect program where digital navigators across Vinfen and six other human service agencies provide devices enrollment support for internet and digital skills training. As an alliance, we've served over 3,000 individuals across the state over the last two years. By now, I think it's fair to say that if you're not online, you are left out. We may take for granted that we are all part of this digital world,

256but that's not the case for some in our communities. Even if you have access to costly internet enabled devices and a reliable connection, which many still do not, you still need the skills to be able to use them. Our digital navigators have helped some of the community's most vulnerable citizens gain access to housing, government assistant programs, education, employment, banking, teleaalth services, scam preventions, and so much more that they otherwise would either have had a much harder time accessing via telephone or in person or be shut out of completely. These skills are essential in today's digital world. At Vinfen, we established a learning collaborative where our tech connect digital navigators from across the Commonwealth meet regularly to discuss digital training topics, emerging issues, and use their expertise and experience the individuals they serve to broaden the

257knowledge of the whole group. These learning collaboratives are led by the digital navigators and improved an invaluable way to help these digital navigators as they provide essential services and skills training to those who need it. A statewide credentiing would provide something similar for digital navigators, a baseline of knowledge and a network of resources to support them in assisting those in need. I ask for your support of House Bill H100 and let's have Massachusetts lead the way once again to close the digital divide. I'd also like to introduce my colleague, a digital navigator at Vinfen, uh Justin Stewart. How you guys doing? My name is Justin Stewart. I'm a digital navigator in the uh Marramac Valley region of Massachusetts. Um so I am honored to have the opportunity to speak with you today about the work

258we've been doing to improve the digital literacy and promote access within Massachusetts. Over the past three years, our efforts have been focused on empowering individuals with disabil by providing them the tools, training, and support they need to navigate the digital world confidently. Through community workshops, partnerships with local organizations, and outreach programs, we have helped bridge the digital divide, enabling more people to access online resources, educational opportunities, and job prospects. It's hardening. It's heartening to see how these initiatives have transformed lives, opening new doors, and fostering greater inclusions. Um, a lot of my work happens in clubouses, um, psych units, kind of just meeting with people one-on-one and having that personto person connection and teaching them how to use that technology, whether it's an iPad, phone, laptop, etc. Um, that could range anywhere from 20 to

25980 years old. Um, but however, our work is far from over. As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, there are still many individuals and families who lack the basic digital skills or reliable internet access they need to thrive. To continue this vital work and reach even more people, additional investment in digital navigators is needed. The digital navigator commission would be the first step to providing the credentiing and knowledge knowledge for the this important role across the state. Continued investment and collaboration are essential to ensure that no one is left behind in our increasingly digital world. Together, we can build a more equitable digital future, one where everyone in Massachusetts has the opportunity to succeed. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Thank you for hanging around. Um Ryan Coleman. Okay. Uh, Peter L.

260I think it's Williams. Yes. Thank you. Oh. Uh, thank I'm right here. Uh, thanks for the opportunity to speak with you today. I applaud and recognize your work. It's Yman's work and not always recognized. I'm Albert Williams. I'm the director of Northampton Open Media and Northampton Mass. And I'm here to speak to two bills. Um, H91S41 and also H100. Those are the act to modernize funding for PEG programming and credentiing for digital navigators. I know you've heard a lot of different things today, so I'm just going to try to touch on some things we do that are maybe a little bit different. Um, some outcomes. One is a student program we run. Um, it's we provide all of the capital funding for an incurricular program inside of our our Northampton public school program. Cameras, tripods,

261lights, microphones, software licenses. That program wins five to six regional student Emmy awards every single year. It's won the National High School Film of the Year Award, the National High School Film Director of the Year of the Ward, the best editor in the nation award. Um, there are tons of students who work professionally out of the program and it never would exist without us and would would would go away if we were to go away. Um, we're also an essential arts organization, our community. Um, we give we've given out over $100,000 in grants in the last decade to emerging multimedia filmmakers. We helped launch the career of a filmmaker who's gone on to win the New England filmmaker of the year. We launched a film production career of a then houseless man, excuse me, who

262since screened at the Sundance Film Festival. We run a communitywide program called Crowd Cinema in its 11th year that remakes a famous Hollywood feature film every year. So, we've remade Raiders of the Lost Arc. We've remade Star Wars, The Princess Bride. We remade Castaway during the pandemic, Toy Story, Back to the Future. Our local newspapers participated. Our local governments have participated, families, neighbors, professional kids of all ages, summer art programs, local musicians and composers. We remake the entire film from scratch. We're not just a government transparency organization. We're an arts organization and an education organization. And more importantly, we're a community organization. We operate beyond television in the old legacy sense. So funding us through television no longer makes sense. There aren't other organizations with both fluency in technology and with a connection to community

263that Peg Media has. To that end, because of that position, we're also involved in digital equity work. We are a partner with the 200 member Alliance for Digital Equity in the four counties of Western Mass. We have a full-time digital navigator who spoke to you earlier um who teaches now essential digital digital life skills that you've already been told about. Um these have fundamental and deep personal impact to the people around us. It's brought new people into our fold. We're um interacting with nonprofit organizations in new ways. Um and we're doing pioneering work. Um so I'm asking the state to support this work. Uh we need the statewide credentiing program to continue to codify and professionalize the emerging digital navigator field and we need to ensure sustainability of PEG media. I want to add there's

264multiple ways forward to funding PEG or community media. Um and that's been touched upon. Um but this is an emergency. We've lost half of our subscriber base in the last 20 years. Um, some people might say 25% of funding, but that's not inflation adjusted. This is something we need a solution to now. Thank you. Thank you. Questions? Thank you very much. Okay. Next person we have online um is Pamela Goodwin. [Music] Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes. Thank you, uh, Chair Moore and Chair Farley Bouvier. I've listened since on in this afternoon um and been in my car part of the time. So, I really know how tired you are because I love being there in person. I'm going to try to clarify a few things. Um the mayor of the city of Greenfield,

265where I live, put me on what's called GET. It's Greenfield Community Energy and Technology Board. Um I'm a commissioner appointed by the mayor. Um, and I I'll remind I think all of you know that in the past we were given old people anyway cuz I'm 77. Uh, we were given ARPA money and so we could um lower our internet cost. I don't watch television. I don't want it. And um, so um, we don't get any ARPA money and I lowered we are stuck with a monopoly right out here now by Comcast sometimes called Expinity. And that one is um I pay $29 um and I was worried about it being almost like dialup uh because I am um remotely attending a whole lot of things both citywide and statewide. So um we lost our AR

266for money and I am in a HUDfunded building thankfully once I sold my house and it's privately held by a company called Shocket. We had to go through hoops and bells and whistles in order to get the Brainreeowned shocket building to be able to have us uh compete with Eversource and um Verizon polls and we have a ton of grants. So, we're going to put our local internet company in this what used to be an old historic building. It's now HUDfunded and we're starting that process very soon. We didn't have to do a whole lot of grant writing and then we're using, if you've ever heard of municipal broadband institute, Chelsea did it in public housing. So, I just wanted to clarify. I'm for H100. Rich you've heard this more this afternoon. He um helped

267me with my iPhone. He's helped me with my laptop. He is funded partly through the United Way. and you've heard many people testify how we d badly need the navigator and the commission to help everybody across the board. I'm also in favor of H101. I believe that's broadband uh free broadband in public housing. There is a difference between public housing and federally funded housing. Happened to know that because I used to be on the state board for public housing. Um, and the last thing I want to tell you is I'm a grandmother of six kids, grandchildren. I have three kids, six grandchildren. I have a Framingham family and they, every one of those people, the freshman at Suffach and the 16-year-old are badly addicted to their phones. They use the phone instead of hauling upstairs

268saying, "Supper's ready." I'm not kidding you. This is my oldest son and his wife and they keep their voicemail filled up and they're gaming and texting and Instagramming and I'm so annoyed by that. My other family has monitored what they do with their phone. Yeah, it's really I I love your comments. Um because the other family I can text the senior at Bridgewwater U. He's my oldest. his daughter, his si, sorry, his sister is going off to Westfield out this way as a freshman and they answer my text. They acknowledge a picture. I don't FaceTime them most of the time, but those two families live in Framingham and Oxbridge. I'm also taking care of an eight-year-old and a 10year-old, and I switched to an iPhone so we could FaceTime, which is rarely happening, but I

269happen to see them because they do live out here in Shelurn Falls. I am so opposed to the pro. I mean, I really want these cell phones to go away unless it's totally necessary because it is addictive. We all know the statistics. You know, it medically the frontal lobe is affected by the use of these cell phones. And I wish parents would control it and set limits, but I've seen young toddlers scream and yell when that cell phone is taken off of them by the parent. And that's how young they are starting to get addicted. It's become a babysitter. So, whatever Massachusetts can do, I would greatly support that because we've got to do something. Parents are busy trying to just pay the bills, have their jobs, and I I don't know. My kids know,

270my grandkids know, you do not even look at that phone if you're in my presence because I'm stern about that. I taught school for years, so I really know how hard you are working. I think you'll do the best. And I don't care if it ends up at the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. If they can do it in New York State, then why can't we do it here? I appreciate all your time. I'm sorry I'm over. Thank you. You're welcome. [Applause] Thanks, Mr. Mr. Chairman, I think that we can agree that her digital navigator did a really good job teaching. I only found him recently. I know. Thank you. So, last call for testimony. There's only one person in here. I've been trying to figure out who you are. Bring it. Bring it. I'll make

271it quick. I'm Michael Deier. I'm the co-founder of the Alliance for Digital Equity. I live in Shootsbury. Um just to bring things up to speed, I was looking at the Boston Globe today and um the Medicaid cuts, Mass Health in Massachusetts. We're going to lose 300,000 people. And what the plan is, Mass Health is going to do outreach and send out notices, but you know what the feds did was basically not cut the funding, but they increase the bureaucratic hurdles. So you have to report twice a year as opposed to once a year. So, in terms of digital navigation, how are all those people who are not as well connected in many ways? Um, you don't have an address, you're moving around, etc., etc., being able to keep your healthcare and your mass health is

272going to be directly related to checking in online and updating. Same thing with SNAP. And so it really is urgent that for all the other things that we care about um in the state, getting people connected and staying connected um it's as relevant as this morning. So thank you. Thank you. Last call going once.