19 July 2026

Call and email your Senator NOW!
"please co-sponsor Amendment 11 to S.3178"
"stop making MA a licensing desert!"
"why are you encouraging professionals and corporations to leave the Commonwealth?"
"MA residents need consistent access to high-quality well-regulated mental health care, because emergency room visits cost the Commonwealth far more money!" 

Well, this is definitely not Schoolhouse Rock, but apparently, this is how the MA Legislature rolls.  According to our lobbyist, our best chance for getting PSYPACT enacted at this point is still the "Economic Development" (aka "must-pass pork-barrel") bill.   The effort two weeks ago to get PSYPACT attached to the House version of the bill (thank you to everyone who called and wrote! it helped!) was always a long shot, but the fact that we did attract 33 co-sponsors was valuable in showing that PSYPACT does have popular support, now the bill has gone over to the Senate side.

So, you know the drill!  Even if you've done it before, you need to do it again now!  (Legislators have short memories.)
Look up the contact information for your legislators here.
Write an email!  Pick up your phone!   Ideally, do both!

Tell them that you are their constituent, and say clearly just how important it is to you that they co-sponsor PSYPACT as Amendment 11 to S.3178, the Economic Development bill, ASAP! 

Include a short but vivid vignette from your own experience -- how has the legislature's ongoing failure to pass PSYPACT harmed you, or your clients, or someone you love?  

Apparently the legislators are also very interested in hearing about how their ongoing failure to join the rest of New England (and the country!) by avoiding *every* healthcare professional compact) is causing people to leave Massachusetts, both because healthcare professionals are incentivized to get licensed almost anywhere else, making it even harder for MA to staff its own healthcare facilities and thus making it more miserable for everyday citizens to get access to high-quality well-regulated treatment.  Compacts don't reduce state oversight, they strengthen it.  Tell them that!

Remind them that the cost is trivial and there is literally no opposition!  If you need more ideas for what to say, look in the Advocacy Toolkit or on the PsyPact Explainers page.

Once you've done that, tell everyone you know and get them to do the same!  Legislators need to hear from everyone, not just psychologists.

It's about not letting legal technicalities force vulnerable folks to stop treatment, just when it's working for them.  It's about not encouraging them to seek treatment from unlicensed folks anywhere on the planet, who might be well-meaning (or maybe not, or maybe just call centers, or maybe just AI chatbots), but in any case, who won't be held accountable if they cause harm.  

And we all need to tell everyone else we know to do the same thing!
Send this request to everyone you know who lives in MA -- everyone in your family, social contacts, group chat, house of worship, running club, knitting circle, parent-teacher organization, jam band, everyone.

No one realizes this is a problem until they or someone they love is bitten by it.  And those situations come up far more often than you might think.  Everyone assumes that the mental health licensure system can't possibly be this stupid... but it is.  The legislature needs to understand that this problem affects a lot of people, and that no one will be mad at them for putting this simple and well-tested fix in place.  In fact, we'll all be super-grateful!

Here is a basic phone / email script. 

Many more resources are available in the Advocacy Toolkit and under the PsyPact Explainers page.

“Hello, my name is [Name], and I am a constituent, living in [Town]. I’m calling to urge [Representative/Senator X] to help us pass the PSYPACT bills (H.2528/S.1487/Amendment 11 to S.3178).  Both bills were reported favorably out of committee on the merits, and now are in fiscal-impact review, but PSYPACT is also crucial for economic development in the Commonwealth.

PSYPACT is very important for Massachusetts residents.  It expands access to high-quality mental health care, maintains all of the legal protections we already have, and eliminates a huge source of disruptions to therapy.  This is particularly crucial to those who come from vulnerable populations or who need specialty care.  There is literally no known opposition to PSYPACT, and 45+ other states have already passed it, including all of the other New England states.  Even New York is sending it to their governor's desk!

Here's something terrible that really happened to me / someone I know / someone I love... (don't go on at length, but make it clear that real people are really being denied access to therapy and/or being forced to spend a lot of money and time and effort to get around this problem which has such an easy fix.  If you know someone whose therapist has left the state entirely, or a recent graduate who chose not to bother getting licensed here in the first place, because it was pointless to establish and maintain an expensive license that is so limited in its actual usefulness, say so! 

We need [Representative/Senator X] to help us move these bills forward ASAP, either by getting the standalone bill reported favorably out of Ways & Means, or by their co-sponsoring it as an amendment to the Economic Development Omnibus Bill currently in preparation.  Not only is PSYPACT not expected to present any substantial additional cost to the Commonwealth, it will likely save money and let the Board of Registration focus on their important work of protecting the public.

More examples of sample text you can use:

No one should be forced to lose their therapist just because they move to another state, whether to go to college, get another job, take care of family emergencies, or even just enjoy summer vacation..  But in Massachusetts, that’s exactly what happens — because we still haven’t joined PSYPACT, the interstate compact that 43+ other states already use to protect continuity of care and client choice.  

Massachusetts is behind the curve.  Almost all of the other states have already joined PSYPACT, a bipartisan solution that makes mental health care far more accessible across state lines and greatly increases the options for vulnerable clients who need high-quality specialty care.

Both sides of the Joint Committee on Public Health, as well as the House Committee on Health Care Financing, reported the bills favorably.  Now, we need to clear Ways and Means in both chambers -- the folks who take care to not waste our tax dollars need to understand that the direct cost of these bills is trivial (just $10 per participating psychologist per year, capped at $6000 -- that's couch-cushion money!) and that PSYPACT will in fact streamline administrative burdens, such that it will likely save money.

Both chambers’ Public Health committees have already agreed: PSYPACT is a good bill.  Now the fiscal committees simply need reassurance that the price tag is tiny — about $10 per psychologist per year, capped at $6,000 and soon to be zero! —and that the administrative efficiencies will likely save money in the long run.  A small investment unlocks huge gains in access, continuity, and client wellbeing.

Massachusetts families shouldn’t have to choose between staying with a trusted therapist and handling real-life transitions like college, job changes, or caregiving. PSYPACT offers a ready-made, bipartisan framework — already embraced by 45+  states — that protects continuity of care and expands access to specialized mental health services. It’s time for Massachusetts to finally catch up.

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Welcome! This site is a central hub for Massachusetts psychologists and allies who want to help move key legislation forward — especially the PSYPACT bills, which will expand access to mental health care, strengthen our profession, and bring Massachusetts in line with 43 other states (and counting!) which have already implemented this simple and inexpensive legislative improvement to the outdated and fragmented licensing system.

We know it’s hard to keep track of deadlines, drafts, and legislative updates. That’s why everything you need to take action — background info, timelines, scripts, letter templates, and one-pagers to share with colleagues and friends — is gathered here.

Quick Links:

• Key Towns and Committees

• Advocacy Toolkit

• PSYPACT Explainers

• Other Bills Related to Psychology in MA