The House and Senate: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.
Allow the sale of lottery tickets online: Front and center up on Beacon Hill last week: Treasurer Deb Goldberg continued her campaign to allow the state’s Lottery to sell tickets online. She told a budget panel that Lottery sales have begun to drop, citing the record $1.035 billion it generated in 2017 and the drop to $997 million in fiscal 2018. Of the 44 states with lotteries, 11 of them now offer online purchases. New Hampshire started selling online in September and in just 12 weeks, the state posted over $1.3 million in net gaming revenue from online sales alone.
2016 Senate vote on allowing online lottery sales: Here is how local senators voted on the 2016 amendment that would authorize online Lottery sales. (A “Yes” vote is for allowing online sales. A “No” vote is against allowing it.) Sen. Adam Hinds (not yet a senator)
Protection for workers (H 4988): The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill requiring the state to set up an employer-funded benefit plan for employees locked out in a labor dispute. The bill was approved as more than 1,200 National Grid employees are still locked out of their jobs and whose unemployment benefits are scheduled to run out in January. Under the program, locked out workers would receive the same weekly amount they are now receiving under the state’s current unemployment system until the lockout is resolved. All costs of the program would be paid by the employer who would be prohibited from passing that cost along to ratepayers.
Millennials’ plan for 100 percent renewable future: Many of the state’s leaders from the millennial generation gathered at Boston University’s Build Lab for discussions on how to transition Massachusetts to a 100 percent renewable energy supply for electricity, heating and transportation.
Bills sent to study: Many legislative committees shipped off several bills to a study committee in the 2017-2018 session. 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 and will likely be refiled by their sponsors in 2019:
Deduct college tuition (H 1582): Allows taxpayers to annually deduct an amount equal to 50 percent of the cost of tuition and fee payments made to a college or university in which the taxpayer or a dependent is enrolled.
Tax incentive for employers to help employees with student loans (S 1516): Gives employers an annual tax deduction of up to $2,000 for helping an employee pay off his or her student loan.
Free college tuition (H 3000): Gives all public college students free tuition for one year, other than the first year. The scholarships would be available to Bay State residents in need of financial assistance whose family income is less than twice the state’s median family income. The state’s current estimated family income is $75,000 which would mean that students with family incomes of $150,000 or more would be ineligible.
Tasers (H 1249): Allows people who have a firearms license to also possess and use a Taser, also known as a stun gun, for self-defense. The person must be 18 years of age or older and have completed a 4-hour training session in the use of a Taser. The training session would include an explanation of self-defense, a review of the mechanics of a Taser and the effects of the weapons on individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. In March 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Massachusetts law that prohibits citizens from possessing and using a Taser violates the Second Amendment. Supporters of the bill say it would put the Bay State in compliance with the Second Amendment.
Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com