THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on roll calls from the week of June 20-24. There were no roll calls in the Senate last week.
$50 MILLION TO COMMUNITIES FOR SMALL BRIDGE REPAIRS (H 4424) — House 156-0, approved and sent to the Senate an $800 million package for transportation projects across the state. The package includes $750 million for highway improvements and $50 million for a new grant program to fund the repair of cities’ and towns’ bridges that are 20 or fewer feet in length.
Supporters said the bill would fund critical improvements to highways throughout the state. They noted the $50 million for bridge repairs would go directly to cities and towns in need of funds to repair bridges that are crumbling.
Rep. Stephen Kulik Yes
Rep. Paul Mark Yes
Rep. Susannah Whipps Lee Yes
ALLOW MORE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS (H 542) — House 151-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would allow donors to contribute the maximum $1,000 twice per year to a candidate who runs for the Legislature in a special election and a regular election in the same year. Current law only allows donors to give a maximum of $1,000 in any calendar year.
Supporters said it is unfair for a candidate who runs in a special election and then runs for re-election in the same year to be limited to $1,000 per donor for the entire year. They argued current law gives an advantage to some candidates who are only running in the regular election.
Rep. Stephen Kulik Yes
Rep. Paul Mark Yes
Rep. Susannah Whipps Lee Yes
DISCLOSE TOP FIVE DONORS (H 543) — House 146-10, approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would require the names of the top five contributors who donate over $5,000 to a super Political Action Committee (PAC) and other groups or political committees to be listed on all campaign billboards and mailers. Current law requires the listing of the top five donors only on television, Internet and print ads.
Super PACs are created to help candidates and are often run by the candidate’s former staffers or associates who use the PAC to fund positive ads about the candidate and/or run negative ads against the candidate’s opponents. There is a limit on how much money can be donated to a candidate’s own election committee but super PACs can legally accept unlimited donations.
Supporters said this will increase transparency and allow more voters to see who is funding these influential PACs. They said it will shine the light on this “dark” money.
Opponents said the bill does not go far enough on several counts to make true campaign finance reforms. They noted it still allows unions to contribute excessive money to campaigns.
Rep. Stephen Kulik Yes
Rep. Paul Mark Yes
Rep. Susannah Whipps Lee Yes
INFORMATION ABOUT BREAST RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY (H 3699) — The House gave initial approval to a bill requiring all facilities that provide mastectomy surgery, lymph node dissection or a lumpectomy to provide specific information to the patient in writing prior to the patient giving consent to the procedure. The information would include the advantages and disadvantages of various reconstructive options and the coverage of these surgeries under private and state-funded health insurance.
DIVERSIONARY PROGRAMS INSTEAD OF PRISON (H 1463) — The House gave initial approval to legislation that would allow persons of any age convicted of certain crimes to be eligible to be placed in a diversionary program instead of prison. Current law allows this only for persons ages 18-21.
These programs provide first-time nonviolent offenders the chance to participate in a program that would help them instead of being prosecuted through the court process.
REPEAL ARCHAIC LAWS (H 4392) — The House gave initial approval to a bill abolishing some archaic laws that are still on the books in Massachusetts. These laws include requiring that portions of the bible be read in public schools; declaring that the Communist Party is a subversive organization and prohibiting adultery, anal sex, blasphemy and vagabonds.
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