Daniel J. Connelly
Senior Vice President and Compliance Officer
+1.617.348.1685
Dan is Senior Vice President and Compliance Counsel for ML Strategies. He has been directing policy in Massachusetts and the New England region for more than two decades. Dan represents trade associations and businesses across industries with interests before the executive, legislative, regulatory and municipal areas of government. In addition, in his role as Compliance Counsel for the firm, Dan assists clients with the complexities of lobbying registration and reporting requirements in Massachusetts and beyond.
Prior to joining ML Strategies, Dan served as Legislative Counsel in the Boston office of a large, international law firm. He previously served as the chief legal counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means, where he was responsible for drafting the state’s multi-billion dollar budget, as well as reviewing all legislation referred to the committee. Upon returning to the private sector, Dan lobbied on behalf companies and trade associations in the New England region and held the position of executive director of the Product Management Alliance, a national organization of product manufacturers and organizations.
Dan is a lifelong Massachusetts resident, married with three children, and an avid golfer.
Education
- Western New England University (JD)
- Providence College (BA)
Case Studies
Case Study
ML Strategies helped a Massachusetts-based Fortune 500 Company change a decades-old Massachusetts state law that required a majority of a Fortune 500 company’s board of directors to be state residents. The proposed language was adopted by the legislature and became law.
Recent Insights
Viewpoints
Major Update in Data Privacy Laws Proposed in Massachusetts
February 3, 2022
News & Press
ML Strategies, LLC, the consulting affiliate of the law firm Mintz, today announced that Kaitlyn Sprague has joined the Boston office as Director of Government Relations.
Viewpoints
As part of the Healey–Driscoll administration’s continued efforts to ensure Massachusetts remains a state where people want to live, work, and raise families — and businesses want to start and operate companies — the administration announced the proposed Mass Leads Act earlier today. The proposed law calls for investments of $1 billion each in the life sciences and climate tech industries over a 10-year period, with the latter category of funding providing critically important support to the administration’s goal of making Massachusetts the global leader in climate tech and clean energy development.
Read about AI-focused task forces formed in the House of Representatives and by the governor of Massachusetts in the latest edition of AI: The Washington Report, a joint undertaking of Mintz and ML Strategies covering potential federal legislative, executive, and regulatory activities related to AI.
Major Update in Data Privacy Laws Proposed in Massachusetts
February 3, 2022|
On February 2, 2022, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity released a new draft of a bill designed to provide mechanisms for how personal information is used and to control how companies use such information. This 65-page bill, known as the “Massachusetts Information Privacy and Security Act” or “MIPSA”, would be the first major piece of legislation related to data privacy passed since the Legislature updated the data breach legislation in 2019.
Governor Baker Releases Eighth Budget Recommendation
January 26, 2022|
Today, Governor Charlie Baker released his Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) budget recommendations. This is the unofficial start of “budget season” in Massachusetts that will culminate with a legislative conference committee agreeing on a budget bill sometime around late June or early July.
Proposed Laws Are One Step Closer to the November 2022 Ballot
September 3, 2021|
On Wednesday, September 1st, Attorney General Maura Healey certified 17 out of 30 ballot proposals filed in August to continue on the path to securing a spot on the 2022 ballot. Of the 17 proposals certified, 16 were initiative petitions including, but not limited to, proposals relative to alcohol reforms, requirements for presentation of identification to vote, and the employment of app-based drivers. The seventeenth proposal is a constitutional amendment providing for no-excuse absentee voting.
Those seeking to amend Massachusetts law or the Massachusetts Constitution through the state’s unique ballot initiative process had until Wednesday, August 4, 2021 to file their proposals with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. By the time the deadline was reached, 30 proposals were filed.
How Will Dollars From the Federal American Rescue Plan Reach Local Businesses in Massachusetts?
March 26, 2021|
Congress has passed another coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which allocates significant funding to states to address shortfalls experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these dollars are specifically allocated – in other words, they are already earmarked for funding particular, specific public sectors like transportation or for private uses like the hard hit restaurant and hospitality industry.
Only a handful of states have sought to tax digital advertising, and the path forward is murky at best due to practical considerations, federal preemption and constitutional questions. However, there are at least 4 bills filed for the 2021-2022 legislative session in Massachusetts that would implement a tax on a company that advertises on a digital platform.
Governor Baker Releases FY2022 Budget Bill
January 28, 2021|
During his annual State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Charlie Baker highlighted the heroic work of frontline workers and first responders throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, while reminding the Commonwealth that though we are close, we are not out of the dark quite yet. Gov. Baker’s FY2022 (“H1”) budget recommendations support that perspective and indicates the state is still feeling the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Massachusetts FY2021 Conference Report
December 7, 2020|
The fiscal year 2021 (“FY2021”) budget process has been anything but typical. Shortly after Governor Baker’s budget proposal was released in January, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, reorienting the legislative calendar for the remainder of the 2019-2020 legislative session.
News & Press
ML Strategies, LLC, the consulting affiliate of the law firm Mintz, today announced that Kaitlyn Sprague has joined the Boston office as Director of Government Relations.