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Liz Miranda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liz Miranda
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
from the 2nd Suffolk district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 5, 2023
Preceded bySonia Chang-Díaz
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 5th Suffolk district
In office
January 2, 2019 – January 4, 2023
Preceded byEvandro Carvalho
Succeeded byChristopher Worrell
Personal details
Born (1981-06-29) June 29, 1981 (age 45)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
Alma materWellesley College[1]

Elizabeth Miranda (born June 29, 1981) is a Cape Verdean-American community organizer and politician.[2][3] She is a state senator representing the Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Suffolk district after winning a five-way Democratic Primary Election, and advancing to an uncontested race in the 2022 Massachusetts general election.[4] Prior to that, since January 2019, Miranda had served as the Democratic Massachusetts State Representative for the Fifth Suffolk district.[5] Her district comprises parts of the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston.[5] She is a member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.

Miranda has passed legislation that aims to close racial disparities in maternal health outcomes of Black women,[6] as well as legislation to advance environmental justice[7] and was a lead author in the police reform omnibus legislation passed in 2021.[8][9] In 2021, Miranda was named Best Politician by Boston Magazine and Progressive Legislator of the Year by Progressive Massachusetts.[10]

Early life and education

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Miranda was born on June 29, 1981, in Roxbury, Boston. Her mother was a high school junior at the time of Miranda's birth, motivating her to drop out of education and begin to work to support her family.[11]

Miranda is a graduate of the John D. O'Bryant High School of Math & Science in Roxbury. From 1998 to 2002, Miranda attended Wellesley College, from which she graduated after four years with a Bachelor of Arts in Africana studies and urban studies.

Miranda started her community organizing work as a teen organizer with Nubian Roots Youth Committee of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Association, working on vacant land issues and environmental justice.

Wellesley College's 143rd Commencement Speaker

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On June 4, 2021, Miranda returned to her alma mater, Wellesley College, to give the commencement address for the Class of 2021. She noted how she was only 1 of 16 Black women to serve in this capacity as the commencement speaker, noting, “I am now one of only 16 Black women who have ever graced this podium in 143 years of this address, joining trailblazers like Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the first to bless this stage. Others who followed, like Maya Angelou, Anita Hill, Oprah, Toni Morrison, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie." Miranda spoke about her experience growing up in Roxbury and Dorchester, and she spoke about her grandfather, Manuel Goncalves Miranda, who came to Boston in pursuit of the American Dream in 1976 from the newly freed colony of Cabo Verde on the west coast of Africa after a war led by Amílcar Cabral against Portuguese colonial rule.

Prior to commencement day, Miranda supported a collective action led by students to push the college into allowing an official land acknowledgement to recognize the Indigenous people and land that Wellesley College was built upon. Successfully, students got the college to agree and for the first time ever.[12]

Legislative Achievements

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Maternal health Miranda was the lead Senate author of the 2024 Massachusetts maternal health omnibus law, which established a licensure pathway for certified professional midwives, expanded insurance coverage for doula and midwifery services, created a statewide postpartum home visiting program, required coverage of perinatal depression screenings, and expanded access to community-based maternal health services. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter197)

Through the annual state budget process, she also secured funding for the Birth Center Grants Program and implementation of the Moms Matter Act. (https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2025) (https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2026) (https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2027)

Economic development Miranda sponsored legislation establishing 225 additional liquor licenses for historically underserved Boston neighborhoods, including Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, the South End, Fenway, and parts of Roslindale. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter202)

The legislation was intended to promote economic development and expand opportunities for locally owned businesses. (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/03/metro/massachusetts-legislature-225-new-liquor-licenses-boston/)

Miranda also shepherded an authorization of $50 million dollars to Nubian Square for life sciences and climate tech higher education.(https://baystatebanner.com/2024/07/17/state-funding-sought-for-life-sciences-training-in-roxbury/)

In 2024, Miranda and other leaders behind the legislation were recognized by The Boston Globe as "Bostonians of the Year." (https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/11/magazine/home-grown-star-climate-innovator-team-behind-new-liquor-licenses-other-bostonians-who-made-difference/)

Criminal justice As a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Miranda was a principal author of portions of the 2020 police reform law, which established the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, strengthened officer certification and accountability, restricted the use of no-knock warrants, and enacted statewide policing reforms. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2020/Chapter253

Miranda has also advocated for reforms to conditions within Massachusetts correctional facilities, including efforts to reduce the use of prolonged solitary confinement and increase transparency within the Department of Correction. (https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/L%20M0/193/Bills/Sponsored)

Violence prevention Following the homicide of her brother, Miranda has advocated for increased investment in community-based violence prevention and intervention programs. Through the annual state budget process, she has supported increased funding for gun violence prevention, trauma recovery, neighborhood-based intervention programs, and community violence prevention initiatives. (https://malegislature.gov/Budget) (https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/L_M2/191/PrimarySponsorSummary)

Environmental justice Miranda passed legislation establishing statutory environmental justice population designations in Massachusetts through the Commonwealth's 2021 climate law. The legislation requires state agencies to identify environmental justice populations and incorporate enhanced public participation and environmental justice considerations into environmental permitting and decision-making. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2021/Chapter8) (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/environmental-justice-policy)

Clean energy Miranda passed legislation establishing workforce equity provisions within Massachusetts' clean energy and offshore wind industries to expand employment and contracting opportunities for workers and businesses from environmental justice communities. Several of these provisions were incorporated into the 2022 climate law. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2022/Chapter179) (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S2995)

Voting rights Miranda passed legislation expanding ballot access for eligible incarcerated individuals held in county correctional facilities. The law requires correctional facilities to facilitate voter registration and absentee voting for individuals who remain eligible to vote under Massachusetts law. (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2022/Chapter92) (https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/voting-information/incarcerated-voters.htm)

RetirementPlus reform Miranda led Senate passage of legislation reopening enrollment in the RetirementPlus pension program for certain Massachusetts public school teachers hired before July 1, 2001. The legislation created a one-time enrollment period through 2027, allowing eligible educators to purchase enhanced retirement benefits after previously missing enrollment deadlines. (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S1884) (https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5114)

Immigration Since her first term in the Massachusetts Legislature, Miranda has led legislation known as the Safe Communities Act, which seeks to limit the involvement of state and local law enforcement in federal civil immigration enforcement while strengthening due process protections for immigrant communities. Many of the bill's core provisions were later incorporated into the PROTECT Act, a broader immigration rights package considered by the Massachusetts Legislature. (Safe Communities Act: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/Search?SearchTerms=Safe+Communities+Act) (PROTECT Act: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S1681)

Tuition equity Miranda has been a legislative advocate for tuition equity, sponsoring legislation to allow eligible undocumented students who attended Massachusetts high schools to qualify for in-state tuition and state financial aid at Massachusetts public colleges and universities. She supported enactment of tuition equity through the Fiscal Year 2024 state budget and implementation of the Massachusetts Application for State Financial Aid (MASFA). (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S836) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2023/Chapter77) (https://www.mass.edu/masfa/)

Health equity Miranda is the lead Senate sponsor, alongside Senator Pavel Payano, of An Act to Advance Health Equity (S.901), omnibus legislation intended to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in health care through workforce development, expanded access to care, improved data collection, and increased accountability. (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S901)

While the legislation remains under consideration, several provisions originally advanced through the Health Equity Act have subsequently been enacted through separate legislation. These include the Physicians Pathway Act, which created a streamlined licensure pathway for internationally trained physicians; the PACT Act addressing prescription drug affordability; maternal health reforms expanding access to doula and midwifery services; and requirements for health equity representation on the oversight council of the Center for Health Information and Analysis. (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/Search?SearchTerms=Physicians+Pathway+Act) (https://malegislature.gov/Bills/Search?SearchTerms=PACT+Act) (https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2024/Chapter197)

Death of her brother

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On August 20, 2017, Miranda's 28-year-old brother, Michael A. Miranda, was shot and killed outside a nightclub in Boston's theater district. He was pronounced dead at 7:17 p.m. EST.[13] This has inspired some of her campaign issues on stronger gun control, criminal justice reform,[14] youth education (by introducing alternatives to violence)[11] and the treatment of the distribution and oversight of firearms as a federal issue.[13]

2018 State House campaign

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Citing President Trump's 2016 election as an important motivating factor,[13] Miranda launched a campaign to seek the fifth Suffolk seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives after the incumbent, Evandro Carvalho, opted not to run for reelection, launching instead an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic party's nomination in the position of Suffolk County district attorney.[15]

She faced a largely contested Democratic primary, but garnered a total of 59.4 percent of the votes in a field of four declared candidates.[16] In the general election, she faced Republican nominee Althea Garrison, a perennial candidate for the seat who had previously served as the district's representative from 1993 to 1995.[17] Miranda won overwhelmingly in the general election, with 88.7 percent to Garrison's 11 percent.[18] Subsequently, Miranda was sworn into the State House on January 2, 2019.[19]

2022 State Senate campaign

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On December 9, 2021, Rep. Liz Miranda announced her campaign for State Senate of the 2nd Suffolk District, which was redistricted in 2021, becoming the seat of political power for Boston's black community. She announced after Senator Sonia Chang Diaz declared that she would be a candidate for governor in 2022.[citation needed]

Winning 33% of the vote in fiercely contested Democratic primary, Liz Miranda defeated Nika Elugardo, Dianne Wilkerson, Miniard Culpepper, and James Grant on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.[4] Liz Miranda earned a broad district-wide mandate—she secured at least 20% of the vote in 70 of the district’s 73 precincts in a 5-way race. Large portions of the neighborhoods are new to the Second Suffolk, which has been redrawn as a seat of political power for Black Boston.[citation needed]

She was endorsed by the Elect Black Women PAC, At-Large City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, District 7 City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, Representative Liz Malia, the Boston Globe, Boston Carmens Union Local 589, the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund, Boston's UNITE HERE Local 26, SEIU Local 509, Reproductive Equity NOW, National Association of Social Workers MA Chapter PACE, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.[citation needed]

The new 2nd Suffolk District includes all of Roxbury with additional neighborhoods in Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, South End, and the Fenway.[citation needed]

In the general election, Miranda ran unopposed and was elected senator for the 2nd Suffolk District.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Race for State Rep – Meet Elizabeth "Liz" Miranda, 5th District State Representative Candidate on Notorious in the Morning! – B87FM". Archived from the original on August 20, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  2. ↑ "About Liz". Lizmiranda.com. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Liz Miranda". Boston.gov. February 12, 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "Liz Miranda". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Representative Liz Miranda". malegislature.gov.
  6. ↑ "House approves commission to reduce racial inequities in maternal childbirth deaths - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
  7. ↑ "Massachusetts's New Climate Law: 5 Reasons to Celebrate!". April 6, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Mass. House Passes Sweeping Police Reform Bill on 93-66 Vote". July 24, 2020.
  9. ↑ "2019-2020 Massachusetts Black & Latino Legislative Caucus". mablacklatinocaucus.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Liz Miranda". July 6, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Chris Lovett (June 22, 2018), For State Rep. (5th Suffolk): Liz Miranda, archived from the original on November 12, 2018, retrieved January 7, 2019
  12. ↑ "Land acknowledgement delivered at 2021 commencement - the Wellesley News". June 7, 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 Cathell, Mia; Miller, Elias (October 28, 2018), Liz Miranda Interview, Gov't Center, retrieved January 7, 2019
  14. ↑ "On the Issues". Lizmiranda.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  15. ↑ "PD43+ " Search Elections". PD43+. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  16. ↑ "PD43+ " 2018 State Representative Democratic Primary 5th Suffolk District". PD43+. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. State Library of Massachusetts. Boston, Mass. : General Court. 1993–1994. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2019.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. ↑ "PD43+ " 2018 State Representative General Election 5th Suffolk District". PD43+. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  19. ↑ Reed, David Blewett, Jodi (January 2, 2019). "Massachusetts senators, representatives sworn into office". WWLP. Retrieved January 7, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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