NHCSL Held its Summer Meeting in Boston, Concurrent with NCSL’s Summit

View photos of the event here.

BOSTON, MA — Last week, the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) held its 2025 Summer Executive Committee and BBA Meeting in Boston Massachusetts, concurrent with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)’s 50th Annual Legislative Summit.

NHCSL held dedicated programming for Hispanic state legislators attending the larger Summit, that attracts more than 2,000 state legislators every year, to expand our membership’s experience and increase opportunities to connect and network.

To kick off our policy sessions, NHCSL President-Elect Rep. Juan Candelaria (CT) moderated a conversation on how to meet the energy demand created by the use of artificial intelligence while reducing pollution, with our host Avangrid’s Deputy CEO Kimberly Harriman, and Casey Bowers of the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund. This was followed by a dynamic and engaging bilingual media training with Dewey Square Principal and CNN commentator Maria Cardona, providing skills for our members to excel in being effective voices for our communities.

On the second day, Sen. Gustavo Rivera (NY) moderated a panel conversation with Dr. Glory Ruiz of Boston Medical Center, Amy Pisani from Vaccinate you Family, Northe Saunders from American Families for Vaccines and Michele Slafkosky from Families Fighting Flu. This conversation focused on the evolving vaccine landscape by providing insight on the critical role respiratory vaccines play in helping prevent severe illness, the impact that Federal shifts may have at the state level and what legislators can do to proactively support vaccine access.

Furthermore, Sen. Adam Gomez (MA) introduced presentations from Ben Bradford of MassBio and Scott McGoohan of Vertex that explained through the Massachusetts experience how states can play a pivotal role in cultivating and sustaining thriving biopharmaceutical ecosystems that have potential to drive innovation and advance public health.

This was followed by the Executive Committee Meeting, where seven resolutions were moved to the Annual Meeting for the consideration of the entire Caucus, including Draft Res. 2025-05 A Safe and Welcoming Learning Environment Free from the Threat of Immigration Raids and Violent Detention, sponsored by Sen. Dunixi Guereca (NE) and Rep. Diana Gonzales Worthen (AR); and Res. 2025-10 Protect Our Troops at Home, sponsored by Sen. Nilsa Cruz Perez (NJ), Del. Aijalon Cordoza (VA), Rep. Annie Menz (OK) and Rep. Janie Lopez (TX).

Additionally, the Executive Committee adopted Emergency Res. 2025-06 Enacting and Funding Community Violence Intervention and Firearm Dealer Accountability Programs to Prevent Gun Violence and Calling on Congress to Restore Successful Grants and Reorganize and Strengthen Gun Violence Prevention and Enforcement, sponsored by Rep. Carlos González (MA) and Asm. Jessica González-Rojas (NY).

To close the policy programming, U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts delivered keynote remarks and engaged directly with our state legislators to hold candid conversations on topics relevant to communities of color nationwide.

That evening, NHCSL was proud to co-host with the Latino members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Caucus a reception with live music to celebrate our shared heritage.

The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators will convene again in Oklahoma City for its 23rd and Annual Summit from November 20th to the 23rd.

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The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators (NHCSL) is the premier national association of Hispanic state legislators working to design and implement policies and procedures that will improve the quality of life for Hispanics throughout the country. NHCSL was founded in 1989 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to be the most effective voice for the more than 450 Hispanic legislators. For more information visit www.nhcsl.org.