April 28, 2025
Are you a wheelchair user frustrated with long repair delays and inadequate warranty coverage for your equipment? Now is the chance to get your voice heard when it matters the most. Tomorrow is the hearing for the Wheelchair Warranty Bill. Register to testify and/or submit testimony.
The bill passed the Senate last year. Sharing your experience with lawmakers can help get it through this time.
The hearing is Tuesday, April 29th at 10 a.m. in Room B-1 (a change since 4/25) at the statehouse in Boston. Register for the hearing here and no later than today, Monday, April 28th, by 5 pm. Written testimony should be submitted tomorrow (more on this below).
“For wheelchair users, this is our moment to be seen, heard, and counted,” reminds Destiny Maxam, Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) Community Organizer. “Showing up in person for the hearing–whether to give oral testimony or simply to be present–shows lawmakers the real faces behind these bills. It’s not just about policy; it’s about our freedom to move, to live, and to thrive. When wheelchair users come together, we make it impossible to ignore the urgent need for repair reform. Your presence speaks volumes–even without a single word.” Check out this reel on Instagram of Destiny talking about the bill.
REquipment CEO Adriana Mallozzi knows this issue well. “I broke a bracket on my chair last November that keeps me physically upright, and I still don’t have the parts to fix it. If I weren’t creative with other parts from other chairs, I would be stuck and unable to do my job. This issue is the reason REquipment was founded and we’ve just had our 10th anniversary. It’s more than time for the Wheelchair Warranty Bill to be passed.”
The Disability Policy Consortium suggests this general guide on testimonies, this template for written testimony, and this template for oral testimony.
Testimony should be submitted on Tuesday or within a week after. The sooner you submit, the more effective it will be with the committee. Email it to JointCommittee.
The subject line should be “S. 210 & H. 1278 TESTIMONY”
Onward!
