Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ and representatives’ votes on roll calls from the week of April 9-13.
RULES FOR HOUSE BUDGET DEBATE (H 4399) — House 120-33, voted strictly along party lines and approved a set of Democratic leadership-sponsored rules to be followed when the House considers the $40.983 billion fiscal 2019 state budget beginning on Monday, April 23. Provisions include requiring all amendments to be filed online by Friday, April 13 and any proposed tax hikes or reductions to be considered early in the process.
Republican attempts to amend the rules failed on voice votes without a roll call. Defeated were amendments to give representatives until April 17 instead of April 13 to file amendments and at least two hours to review consolidated amendments prior to voting on them. The consolidated amendment system works as follows: Individual representatives file dozens of amendments on the same general subject matters including local aid, social services and public safety. They are then invited to “subject meetings” in Room 348, at which time they pitch their amendments to Democratic leaders who draft lengthy consolidated amendments that include some of the individual representatives’ amendments while excluding others. The House then approves the consolidated amendment.
Supporters said these rules are fair and responsible, and will help make the budget debate go smoothly. They noted the House has adopted many reforms over the years to make the process more transparent.
Opponents said the rules include several provisions that are anti-democratic and weaken the input of individual members. They noted legislators should have more time to file budget amendments and review complicated consolidated amendments which are often voted on before members can finishing reviewing them.
(A “Yes” vote is for the rules. A “No” vote is against the rules.)
Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes
Rep. Paul Mark, Yes
Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes
STUDENT LOAN BILL OF RIGHTS (S 2380) — Senate 36-0, approved and sent to the House a bill giving greater protections to borrowers in disputes with companies servicing their student loans.
Provisions include requiring that all student loan servicers be licensed by the Division of Banks; creating the position of Student Loan Ombudsman in the attorney general’s office; assisting in resolving complaints from students; allowing the Commissioner of Banks to revoke or refuse to renew a lender’s license if the company is engaged in abusive practices such as overcharging students or steering them into costlier repayment plans to make higher profits; and permitting the Commissioner of Banks to take enforcement action against companies that are violating any of these laws or regulations.
“A college degree has never cost so much,” said Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, the lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate. “As a result, students are taking on substantial debt, and they are being taken advantage of by servicers who use deceptive practices and wrongly steer them into costly repayment plans. While the Trump administration, led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, continues to side with large for-profit student loan servicers and strip away protections for student loan borrowers, we in Massachusetts are standing up to protect our residents from predatory student loan companies.”
“It is critical that we protect our students and student loan borrowers from predatory and unscrupulous loan servicers,” said Deirdre Cummings, legislative director of MASSPIRG. “The need for state oversight could not be more urgent.”
“With the cost of college tuition skyrocketing, more students and families are driven to seek student loans to pay for it,” said Theresa Soldan, a student at Salem State University and chair of MASSPIRG Students. “Data collected by The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) shows that in Massachusetts last year, nearly two-thirds of students in an undergraduate program graduated with student debt. This debt amounted to almost $30,000 per student on average — an astonishing 75 percent increase since 2004. Massachusetts students have the 11th highest average student debt in the nation, according to TICAS.”
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, Yes
$600 MILLION FOR LOCAL ROADS AND BRIDGES (S 2409) — Senate 36-0, approved a bill authorizing $600 million over three years to fund the maintenance and repair of local roads and bridges in cities and towns across the state. The package is a bond bill under which the funding would be borrowed by the state through the sale of bonds. Another provision reduces the term of the bond from 30 years to 20 years and will save an estimated $50 million.
Supporters said the $600 million would help cities and towns keep their roads and bridges safe and allow many vital municipal road projects to move forward. They noted that approving $200 million per year for three years is helpful to cities and towns who will now know the money is guaranteed each year.
The House has approved only one-year funding of $200 million and a House-Senate conference committee will now work out a compromise version.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, Yes
CRIMINAL JUSTICE CHANGES (H 4011)— Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a bill making major changes to the state’s criminal justice system including repealing mandatory minimum sentences for low level drug offenders, restricting the use of solitary confinement, allowing for the expungement of juvenile records, strengthening laws against fentanyl trafficking, raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 12 and decriminalizing a first offense misdemeanor if the punishment is a fine or imprisonment for not more than six months.
“It ranges all the way from the beginning of policing all the way through corrections and all the way back into the runway associated with return to society,” Baker said. “Viewed as a whole, this bill takes our criminal justice system and makes it better.”
“We are thrilled that the governor seized another opportunity for Massachusetts to lead the nation by … signing into law this landmark criminal justice reform,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts. “After years of hard work by Massachusetts leaders and advocates alike, this new law is a monumental achievement and a critical step toward a fairer and more equal Massachusetts.”
“This landmark legislation will make our criminal justice system significantly more equitable while enhancing public safety through a series of workable, real-world solutions,” said House Speaker Bob DeLeo, D-Winthrop. “I am proud of the unprecedented reforms we’ve made to support our youngest and most vulnerable residents, particularly children facing adversity and individuals of all ages battling addiction.”
Former Newton Mayor and current Democratic candidate for governor Setti Warren opposed the bill.
“Today, Charlie Baker signed a bill creating a new, discriminatory mandatory minimum sentence for non-violent drug offenses,” Warren said. “When are we going to learn that mass incarceration destroys families and does nothing to stem the tide of addiction in our communities?”
“Mandatory minimum sentences take the discretion out of the justice system, and give it all to prosecutors,” continued Warren. “That has created a system that punishes people of color and people who can’t afford powerful attorneys, while doing nothing to curb the underlying addiction crisis that fuels the illegal drug market.”
“Drugs like fentanyl are certainly extremely dangerous and I would support increasing the recommended penalties for those who are truly trafficking them, but we have to be smart about this,” warned Warren. “We have to stand up for our beliefs and we need to recognize that the opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that won’t be solved by doubling down on failed strategies in the criminal justice system.”
PREVENT RISKY PEOPLE FROM OWNING GUNS (H 3610) — The 19-member Committee on Public Safety has recommended passage of a bill that would authorize courts to prevent people from owning guns if they are deemed an extreme risk. The proposal gained momentum following February’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla. It gives courts the authority to order an extreme risk protection order that would bar the person from possessing a gun for one year. The court must first find that the person “poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or herself or others by having in his or her custody or control, purchasing, possessing or receiving a firearm.”
In determining whether grounds for an extreme risk protection order exist, the court may consider any relevant evidence including a recent act or threat of violence by the person against himself or herself or others, whether or not such violence or threat of violence involves a firearm; a pattern of acts or threats of violence within the past year; any dangerous mental health issues; a domestic violence conviction; any prior arrest for a felony offense or violent crime; and corroborated evidence of the abuse of controlled substances or alcohol.
“(Polls show) it is abundantly clear that the people want their legislators to create a meaningful mechanism for intervention when a gun owner is determined to pose an extreme risk to themselves or others,” said Janet Goldenberg, chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. “We look forward to continuing to work with state legislators to move this bill forward to a House vote in the coming weeks.”
“This is exactly the kind of gun legislation that can effectively save lives from preventable daily gun violence and mass shootings,” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence. “I applaud the Public Safety Committee and look forward to bipartisan support on the House and Senate floors and with Gov. Baker.”
“After careful examination on the committee level, productive meetings with Speaker DeLeo, survivors of gun violence and hearing from countless individuals across the commonwealth, we feel it is important to report this bill out favorably,” said Rep. Hank Naughton, D-Clinton and co-chair of Public Safety Committee. “We look forward to continuing to work on this with Speaker DeLeo, House members, and various stakeholders in an effort to keep public safety in the commonwealth a priority.”
The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), the Massachusetts affiliate of the National Rifle Association (NRA), opposes the measure.
GOAL’s executive director, Jim Wallace said that this type of legislation is “both very cruel to the individual and his/her civil rights and extremely dangerous to the general public.” He noted that it is “extraordinarily cruel for the law to treat a person who is suicidal or depressed in the same manner as a potential mass murderer.”
Wallace continued, “Seeking to identify potential monsters among us (is something that) GOAL agrees is a worthy task,” Wallace said. “However, if we are identifying people who present such an extreme public safety risk, why are we setting them free, and why are we only taking away their ability to legally own or possess guns?”
The bill now goes on the House agenda and is expected to be up for debate and a vote soon.
OVERSIGHT OF MOUNT IDA COLLEGE ACQUISITION — The Senate approved a bill authorizing the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight to hold a hearing on the pending acquisition of Mount Ida College by UMass Amherst.
According to the bill, the hearing will be on “the merits of the pending acquisition of Mount Ida College by the University of Massachusetts as it relates to the fiscal impact of assuming debt and related impacts on the well-being of students, access to and quality of public higher education opportunities, existing student loans and scholarships, and impacts on other public institutions of higher education.”
UMass has promised current Mount Ida students in good academic standing admission to UMass Dartmouth next year. But skeptics said there are students at Mount Ida who are in programs that aren’t offered at the Dartmouth campus.
“We in the Massachusetts Senate feel as though we do not have enough information on this hasty acquisition,” said Senate President Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester. “I hope that more information is soon to come so that we can better analyze the diverse impacts of such an acquisition.”
“The pending acquisition of Mount Ida College by UMass came as a surprise to my colleagues and me,” said Sen. Mike Rodrigues, D-Westport. “There are a lot of unanswered questions about how this will affect the well-being of students and educators and impact the UMass system as campuses struggle to minimize costs. Protecting our students is, and must continue to be, our number one priority as we seek to learn more about the impacts of the acquisition on our public higher ed institutions.”
Over the past two months, various committees shipped several bills off to a “study committee.” Most measures that are sent to a study committee are never actually studied and are essentially defeated. Here are some of the bills that were sent to a study committee by the Education Committee and will likely be refiled by their sponsors in 2019:
EQUAL CHANCE AT ATHLETICS (H 273) — Ensures that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to try out for and participate in mainstream physical education and athletic programs. The measure also requires that each school make reasonable modifications necessary to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate, to the fullest extent possible, in these programs. Schools are exempt from these requirements if any present a safety risk to the student or to others or fundamentally alter the nature of the program.
“Every student should have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of organized athletic competition,” said the bill’s sponsor Rep. Kevon Honan, D-Boston.
REQUIRE HAND SANITIZERS IN ALL CLASSROOMS (H 317) — Requires each classroom and entrance to a school to have a wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispenser that dispenses liquid chemical germicide like Purell that is used to clean hands and reduce the spread of germs.
Supporters say the requirement would teach good hygiene habits and reduce illnesses.
“At the beginning of each school year, parents are asked if they can supply hand sanitizer for their child, specifically in the lower grades, and many do, but when the supply is exhausted it is not replaced,” said the measure’s sponsor Rep. Al Silvia, D-Fall River. “This would resolve the problem for educators, and parents. It is not an expensive project and could be instituted at a very low cost.”
STUDENTS USE OF SUNSCREEN AT SCHOOLS (H 229) — Gives Bay State students the right to use sunscreen during the school day without a physician’s prescription. Under current law, sunscreen products are regulated as “drug” products and cannot be used by students on school grounds without a prescription.