Senator Markey also believes that we need to support and re-invest in these communities, through affordable housing and transportation, access to mental health and substance abuse treatment, and enacting sensible gun safety measures to combat gun violence.

At the federal level, Ed supports programs that invest in prisoners so that they are more likely of rehabilitation and successful reentry post-sentence. These include expanding access to Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals, ensuring video and phone calls are available to prisoners so they can better maintain ties to their families and communities, and expanding programming that provides prisoners with vocational skills, occupational education courses, and financial literacy.

Ed has advocated for reform of the nation’s unjust sentencing laws, and that is why he supports the First Step Act, which eases mandatory minimums and includes a number of reforms to reduce recidivism, improve prison conditions, and end federal juvenile solitary confinement. Because Senator Markey knows we have a lot more work to do, he immediately co-sponsored Senator Booker’s Next Step Act of 2019, the only senator to do so.

Those who cannot afford to post bail and remain detained for pretrial, lose Medicaid eligibility. That’s why Senator Markey wrote the Equity in Pretrial Medicaid Coverage Act, which allows Medicaid benefits to be accessed for individuals who are in custody awaiting disposition of charges. He also introduced the Supporting Positive Outcomes After Release Act, legislation that would require states to suspend, rather than terminate, an inmate’s Medicaid coverage while they are incarcerated.

Senator Markey understands that if we are serious about breaking the cycle of recidivism, we need to adequately support prisoners post-release. This means restoring the right to vote to everyone who has completed their prison sentence, providing formerly incarcerated individuals a fair chance at employment by “banning the box,” and reducing barriers to obtaining identification documents and occupational licenses. Ed also believes in better utilizing residential reentry centers and facilitating the expungement of low-level drug offenses to better aid citizens impacted by the justice system. He is also a strong advocate for expanding access to housing for people with a conviction history, so that their release can truly usher in a meaningful, constructive re-entry. Ed understands that true criminal justice reform requires bettering communities and putting support structures in place beyond bars as well as improving conditions for individuals behind them.