Two weeks after the filing deadline, Rep. Dylan Fernandes, sworn in Jan. 4, announced that he had initiated six bills and co-sponsored 166 pieces of legislation focusing on the issues he said on the campaign trail were his priorities. Representative Fernandes, 27, is a Democrat from Falmouth representing the Cape and Islands.
According to a State House press release, among the bills Representative Fernandes co-sponsored were those that would establish a carbon tax, mandate free contraception coverage in the event of an Affordable Care Act repeal, protect the state’s undocumented immigrants, increase community preservation funding, create regional commissions on the status of women and girls, end mandatory minimum sentences, and more. See the full list here: bit.ly/2DylanLaws.
According to the press release, Representative Fernandes found co-sponsors for the six bills he filed. In particular, he worked with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to lobby legislators, securing 24 co-sponsors for his refiled bill to establish a commission to study ocean acidification.
