Eileen Donoghue

In March 2010, state Senator Steven Panagiotakos, then serving as chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, announced that he would not seek re-election to the First Middlesex District seat.[4] Donoghue entered the race to replace Panagiotakos shortly after his announcement.[5]

In the Democratic primary Donoghue squared off against Chris Doherty, a former Middlesex County assistant district attorney.[6] She won the endorsements of several local unions, NARAL Pro-Choice MA, Planned Parenthood, the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters, and the Sierra Club and won the primary with more than 61 percent of the vote.[7]

In the general election Donoghue defeated Republican candidate James Buba and independent Patrick O’Connor, winning more than 54 percent of the vote.[8] In a 2012 rematch against Buba she was she was re-elected with more than 70 percent of the vote.[9] Donoghue was re-elected in both 2014 and 2016, running unopposed in both years.

In her first term, Donoghue served as Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Arts, Tourism, and Cultural Development. She brought the committee on a statewide listening tour that included a stop in Lowell, where she highlighted how the local cultural community had fueled the city's renaissance. During budget deliberations, Donoghue filed amendments increasing funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Donoghue supported municipal health care reform legislation that allowed cities and towns to move their workers’ health insurance into the state's Group Insurance Commission.[10] After negotiating agreements with the 17 unions that represent municipal employees, Lowell shifted its workers into the GIC and saved $7 million as a result.[10][11]

Donoghue chaired the Subcommittee on Student Loans and Debt during her second term, traveling the state to hear testimony from students, graduates, and higher education experts.[12] The subcommittee issued a report describing the scope and impact of the student debt crisis in Massachusetts. It also recommended a wide variety policies that would reduce the financial burdens placed on students and their families.[11] Those policies include increasing funding for public colleges and universities, establishing tax incentives for college savings, building stronger pathways from community colleges to four-year universities, and expanding MASSGrant, the state's need-based financial aid program. Donoghue subsequently filed bills that would put the recommended policies in place.[11]

Donoghue also filed legislation creating a commission to study the feasibility, costs, and benefits of hosting the 2024 summer Olympics in Greater Boston. Governor Deval Patrick signed the bill into law in October 2013, and Donoghue was appointed to the commission, which issued its findings the following February.[13] The commission concluded that hosting the Olympics was feasible, provided that new construction fit into the region's planning needs in the areas of infrastructure, housing, and economic development.[14]

After Boston won the U.S. Olympics bid, Donoghue highlighted the international event's potential impact on Lowell, which was named a potential location for events like rowing and boxing.[15] She said she understood concerns about costs, but said that if the Games catalyzed improvements that had long-term benefits, then hosting the Olympics would be worthwhile.[16] When Boston withdrew its bid, Donoghue said she was proud that the process had started important conversations about Massachusetts’ future. “The real value of a Boston Olympics was going to be the legacy it would leave behind,” she said at the time.” I’m excited to work for that legacy—with or without the Olympics.”[17]

Donoghue became Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies during her third term.[18] In that role she helped usher through a billion-dollar economic development bill that invested in infrastructure, job creation, workforce training, and housing.[19] Donoghue and a colleague received praise for including an innovative approach to developing workforce housing in mid-sized cities.[20]

The economic development legislation also incorporated a Donoghue bill creating a tax deduction for contributions to 529 college savings accounts.[21] The tax deduction is intended to encourage more families to save for college. According to the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, Vermont introduced a similar tax incentive in 2006 and saw a 34 percent increase in the number of families opening savings accounts.[22] AICUM honored Donoghue for her work to create the deduction at its annual dinner on December 5, 2016, with the organization's president noting that "Senator Donoghue’s leadership and dedication were critical components in the creation of this tax deduction for Massachusetts families saving for college." [23]