Legislative Efforts

In meetings with former inmates of the Fernald School, students realized that a large amount of information about people from the institutions is held by the state, but not publicly available. At the urging of those residents, students presented to legislators on Beacon Hill and student Sara Shapiro (’20) has led an effort to provide information to legislators on H.2779, “An Act Relating to Public Records,” which would allow access to records in possession of the state that are over 75 years old provided that the person named in the records is deceased.

Partnering with the Arc of Massachusetts, emeritus Gann Board Member and co-founder Dr. Alan Lobovits, and others, Shapiro has successfully gained unanimous passage of the bill out of the House Committee on Administration and Regulatory Oversight. She is currently leading a similar effort with the House Committee on Ways and Means.