Policy & Advocacy Newsletter
Seasons Greetings Everyone,
We hope you all are enjoying the snow on the ground and all of the festivities this time of year! For our last Policy & Advocacy newsletter of 2025, we’re going to keep it short and simple with a few brief updates.
The state legislature is out of formal session for 2025, wrapping up a long season of committee hearings and punctuated by an advocacy push at the beginning of December. A new change to the Joint Rules this session moved up the deadline by which committees had to report out about any bills submitted to them. This “Joint 10” deadline was December 3rd, two months earlier than in the previous session. Legislators and advocates alike are hoping that this earlier deadline will give the legislature and committees more time to move bills through the entire legislative process before July 1st, which marks the end of the formal session for the 2025-26 legislative cycle.
NOFA/Mass’ priority bills were largely concentrated in the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (ENR), which both had a long list of bills to consider. While the status of all bills haven’t been updated on the MA Legislature website yet, we’ve received some advance notice from allies informing us that certain bills have been reported out favorably. This essentially means they have gotten the “thumbs up” from the committee and move forward in the process.
An Act Protecting our Soil and Farms from PFAS Contamination (H.109/S.56), sponsored by Senator Comerford and Representative Arena-DeRosa, has gotten a lot of attention this session. We’ve been notified that this bill will move forward to the Committee on Ways and Means. This is thanks to efforts by hundreds of advocates and dozens of organizations working to keep our soil clean and our communities healthy. In case you missed it, check out the Boston Globe article linked in our October newsletter to read about the Massachusetts delegation that visited Maine to learn about their efforts to address PFAS impacts on agriculture.
The Mass Ready Act (S.2542), also known as the environmental bond bill, was passed favorably with no changes from ENR to the Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets. The bill is unlikely to see significant changes from this committee before heading to the Senate floor for debate and amendments.
Additionally, the Senate version of the Pollinator Protection bill, filed by Sen. Eldridge, has been reported favorably out of ENR and into Senate Ways & Means. Its new bill number is S.2746. The House version is still in committee because it had a later reporting date. Those are all of the legislative updates for now. We’ll provide another update in early 2026.
In other news, the USDA announced a new National Deadline for applying to NRCS programs earlier this week, as well as a new Regenerative Pilot Program. The USDA has established a national January 15, 2026 batching deadline for the first funding round of key conservation programs. This national batching date ensures producers have a clear, consistent timeline for participating in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), and Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA). In the press release, the USDA stated that “NRCS programs are continuous sign-up programs, but due to the government shutdown, the agency is implementing an initial national batching period to ensure producers have access to funding and support.”
This deadline includes applications for NRCS’ new Regenerative Pilot Program, which provides targeted Farmer First assistance through EQIP and CSP. The Regenerative Pilot Program is a new opportunity which provides assistance for whole farm assessment, soil testing, and the implementation of regenerative management practices, which can support organic farms in meeting their conservation goals while meeting organic standards. NRCS is investing $700 million in this initiative to further its mission of helping people help the land.
If you are interested in applying, reach out to your local NRCS office to get started.
This has been a challenging and turbulent year, but we’re incredibly grateful for all of the support that NOFA/Mass has received from our advocates, partners, farmers, and donors. We will continue advocating for healthy soils, healthy food, and healthy communities, and we look forward to new opportunities in 2026! Wishing you all a restful holiday season full of time with loved ones and delicious, nutrient-dense food!
Happy holidays,
The NOFA/Mass Policy Team
