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In Washington, Ayanna Pressley has filed legislation at a rapid clip during the COVID pandemic and the anti-police-violence protests — bills covering everything from data collection to the qualified immunity standard that has compelled courts to let officers charged with murder beat their cases.
But in the early stages of the pandemic, when Pressley sought information on how people of color were being affected by the virus, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar initially declined to share data.
In April, Pressley and other lawmakers in the Massachusetts delegation helped secure $36.5 million for community health centers, funding that helped the state provide needed services to communities hard hit by the pandemic.
Pressley said the aid to community health centers can help them address some of the underlying causes of higher rates of infections in black and Latino communities.
Pressley and U.S. Sen Ed Markey introduced a bill that would end qualified immunity, the legal standard that shields police officers from being prosecuted for acts undertaken while they’re on duty.
