Massachusetts lawmakers are taking steps toward using taxpayer dollars to prioritize the hiring of American Muslims for state government positions through a permanent so-called Islamic commission, sparking concerns that the left is prioritizing a religion that contradicts its own political agenda.
If enacted, Bill S.2134, “An Act promoting the civil rights and inclusion of American Muslims in the commonwealth,” would create a “permanent” commission to help recommend Americans who practice Islam for appointed government positions in the New England state.
The commission, as stated in the bill, would consist of a panel of 11 Muslims appointed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey and other state officials to represent the Islamic faith on issues such as business, the economy, health care, and other concerns.
The commission will be responsible for executing eight different tasks, which include serving as a liaison between the Muslim American community and the government, researching “Islamophobia,” recommending Muslim Americans for positions in the government, and undertaking “activities designed to enable the commonwealth to realize the full benefit of the skills, talents, and cultural heritage of American Muslims.”
“The commission shall … [e]valuate the commonwealth’s hate crime statutes and whether any amendments would better protect residents from Islamophobia and other similar forms of hatred,” the bill says.
The Muslim commission would influence government recruiting and “identify and recommend qualified American Muslims for appointive positions at all levels of government, including boards and commissions, as the commission considers necessary and appropriate,” according to language in the bill.
Democrat state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who introduced the bill, said he did so because “Massachusetts has always prided itself on being a leader in equality and civil rights, a legacy this bill builds upon.”
“American Muslims in my district and across the Commonwealth enrich our communities as students, health care workers, educators, small business owners, and civic leaders,” Eldridge added in the press release on the proposal. “This commission will help the state better understand and address the challenges they face, while strengthening inclusion and civic participation.”
Senate Bill S.2134 currently sits in the state’s Senate Ways and Means Committee after clearing initial committee markups and votes.
The bill has already drawn conservative backlash, who claim the state is prioritizing a taxpayer-funded diversity, equity, and inclusion for a community that represents 2% of the population.
For instance, Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal that “this sounds like a sharia council,” pushed for by the “tactics of submission and intimidation” of the Islamic community.
“We’re not a Muslim country,” Fine added, before pointing out the left’s hypocrisy over their views on the seperation of church and state.
“These same people of the 10 commandments are in classrooms, but when it comes to Islam, they force it on you,” Fine stated.
The bill, if enacted, would contradict the recent ruling of a Norfolk Superior Court judge who had ruled in October that Article 3 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights states, “all religious sects and denominations … shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law.”
“The fetish of Islam by the left is truly remarkable. It is the one religion that directly opposes everything their party platforms on,” Fine continued. “They kill homosexuals, subjugate women, and rape little girls.”
Fine pointed out that the left will defend themselves against the allegations of church and state by saying that “Islam isn’t a religion, is it an ideology.”
Amy Mek, founder of the Rise, Align, Ignite, and Reclaim (RAIR) Foundation, expanded on Fine’s remarks and told the Daily Signal that this legislation is “the mechanism of special status.”
This is preferential treatment written into law,” she said. The commission, she added, will not select “qualified candidates or residents,” but “specifically American Muslims.”
“No other group in Massachusetts is granted a permanent government body with an official pipeline for placing its people in positions of power,” Mek continued.
By elevating the “preferred candidates” of “Islamic activist networks” that will now be protected under “a taxpayer-backed umbrella organization inside government,” those candidates will now be “expanding the ‘Islamophobia’ framework that will be used to silence critics.”
“It discriminates against every other resident by elevating ideology and identity over merit,” she added. “It installs a permanent institutional foothold for the Red/Green Alliance.”
This is not civil rights. It is state-sponsored preferential status for Islam and a deliberate back-door path to institutional power.
Eldridge and Haley did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
The Groups That Could Be Behind the Operation
In her statements to the Daily Signal, Mek slammed Eldridge, the bill’s sponsor, for not “merely consulting outside groups.”
Instead, Mek claimed, he worked directly with Jetpac, an “Islamic activist organization whose explicit mission is to advance Islamic political power, to develop and push Senate Bill S.2134 and its companion House Bill H.3351.”
“Jetpac operates in coordination with CAIR-Mass, the Massachusetts chapter of the Hamas-linked CAIR, and the Islamic Center of Boston (ICB) Wayland,” Mek continued.
“These groups have already partnered on projects designed to map and advance Muslims into political office. ICB Wayland has a documented history of fundraising for charities tied to designated terrorist organizations and institutional ties to the Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is a branch),” Mek added.
Mek also pointed out that in October 2025, ICB Wayland allegedly held a fundraising dinner for United Hands Relief (UHR). According to her, “UHR is intertwined with Baitulmaal, whose CEO, Mazen Mokhtar, previously served as Executive Director of the Muslim Brotherhood-tied Muslim American Society (MAS) and has stated that suicide bombings are ‘an effective method of attacking the enemy and continuing jihad.”
“Earlier this year, Faisal Khan, the Chair of ICB Wayland’s Religious Affairs Committee, claimed the death of the first Israeli astronaut in the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster was a sign from Allah,” Mek continued. “Just last month, citizens who wrote about these concerns and others with ICB Wayland were smeared in the local press.”
Jetpac, ICB Wayland, United Hands Relief and CAIR-Mass did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
