PAST ACTION: ACE ACT HEARING ON SEPTEMBER 22ND

Advocacy: State
Written By Kelsey Rode

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Image of karen Krolak, co-artistic Director of Monkeyhouse, performing at Creative Sector Day at the State House in April 2025. Photography by Steph Craig Studios.

 

On Monday, September 22nd, the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities held a hearing on bills addressing accessibility in Massachusetts. The ACE Act, one of the Creative Sector Agenda priority bills this session, was included in the hearing agenda. 


H.224/S.160, An Act improving accessibility in the creative economy, or the “ACE Act,” would create a grant program so that arts, culture, humanities, and interpretive science organizations will have additional resources to make their programs and facilities more accessible to people with disabilities. The ACE Act would be funded through 1/10 of 1% of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services budget and would establish a commission to determine grant criteria and administer the fund. The commission would be made up of a majority of individuals with disabilities and experienced disabilities advocates.


Eligible uses for the fund would include training or comprehensive support for creative for-profit, non-profit and public organizations; individualized consulting services related to improving accessibility; and capital improvements such as installing ramps, elevators, power lifts, signage and Assistive Listening Systems, and curb cuts.

 
LEARN MORE - DOWNLOAD THE FACT SHEET
 
 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

 

This hearing was the next step in advancing the ACE Act. Thank you to all of the advocates who testified in support of this bill!

We still need you to take action in the following ways:

  1. Submit written testimony to the Committee

  2. Ask your State Representative and State Senator to co-sponsor the ACE Act

  3. Make sure that you are endorsing the ACE Act

Read more below:

 

  • We strongly encourage all advocates to submit written testimony to the Committee. You can still submit testimony, even now that the hearing has passed.

    We created guides and testimony template to make it easier for you to submit written testimony. The template is only meant to be a template - be sure to customize your testimony with stories and data of your own.

    Written Testimony Guide

    Testimony Template

    You can submit written testimony on the House Bill (H.224) by emailing Audrey Herrmann (Audrey.Herrmann@mahouse.gov).

    You can submit written testimony on the Senate Bill (S.160) to Olivia Mathot (Olivia.mathot@masenate.gov).   

  • Building support in the House and Senate is a crucial part of advocacy. Call or email your State Representative and State Senator and ask them to co-sponsor H.224/S.160.

    You can look up your State Representative and State Senator here.

  • By endorsing the ACE Act, you are joining a statewide coalition of arts leaders who are committed to building an inclusive creative sector and economy. Your endorsement helps us build a case with legislators that there is broad support for this proposal.

    Endorse the ACE Act

 
 
 

RESOURCE HUB: PREPARING FOR THE HEARING

 

We encourage you to use our series of hearing and advocacy resources to feel more confident about advocating for the ACE Act or other Creative Sector Agenda priorities.

 

TESTIMONY MATERIALS

 

RESOURCES FOR NONPROFITS

 
 
 
Resources
A Guide To Hearing And Giving Testimony

An important part of the governing process is public hearings. These occur on all levels of government (Federal, State, and Local). Understanding the hearing process and how you can participate will make you a more effective advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector.

INSIDE THE STATE BUDGETING PROCESS

Maintaining and increasing public investment in the creative community requires constant and broad grassroots activism throughout the annual budget process.

NonProfit Organizations & Advocacy

There is a lot of misinformation on what a nonprofit can and cannot do when it comes to advocating for its interests and the needs of the communities they serve. Check out our Nonprofits and Advocacy Resource on how your organization effectively and confidently advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector of all residents in the Commonwealth.

6/19/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we took time to honor Juneteenth and Pride Month, and talked about the status of arts education funding and voting protections.

6/12/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we discussed mapping our roles in a social change ecosystem, talked about proposed legislation to address COVID-19 voting options, the 2020 Census, and reviewed federal and state supports for the creative sector.

6/5/20 - policy & action update webinars

In this webinar, we had a community conversation about mapping our social change roles during times of crisis.

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Kelsey Rode
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