THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call continues a series of reports on how local legislators voted on legislation that was approved in the 2017-2018 session by the House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker
HANDICAPPED PARKING (S 2214): House 158-0, Senate 37-0, approved legislation cracking down on the misuse of handicapped parking placards including increasing the period of license suspension for wrongful use or display of a placard from 30 to 60 days for a first offense and from 90 to 120 days for a second offense. Other provisions include allowing the Registry of Motor Vehicles to revoke a handicapped plate or parking placard if it finds that the person was ineligible or that a placard was obtained falsely; prohibiting the obstruction of the expiration date or placard number and subjecting an offender to a $50 fine; prohibiting making a false statement on an application for a placard and imposing a fine of $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for subsequent offenses; and prohibiting falsely making, stealing or forging a placard and subjecting an offender to escalating fines or imprisonment based upon the number of documents involved.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (H 4032): House 155-1, Senate 37-0, approved a bill that would give public school districts the power and flexibility to offer other English Language Learner (ELL) programs in addition to or instead of the current sheltered English immersion program. The prior immersion program, approved by Massachusetts voters on a ballot question in 2002, requires all students, including those not yet fluent in English, to be taught English by being taught all subjects in English and to be placed in English language classrooms.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
$1.8 BILLION HOUSING PACKAGE (H 4536): House 151-2, Senate 38-0, approved a package funding various state programs to construct and preserve affordable housing in the Bay State. Provisions include $400 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund that funds a myriad of programs including help for first-time homebuyers; $100 million for the creation of rental housing that is affordable for working families whose incomes are too high for subsidized housing but are priced out of market rents; $600 million to rehabilitate and modernize existing public housing; $60 million for disabled persons and seniors to renovate and modify their homes; and $45 million for grants to non-profits for early education and out-of-school time program facilities that serve low income children.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
LIFE SCIENCES (H 4501): House 149-3, Senate 33-5, approved a package that would authorize $462 million in bonds for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund with an emphasis on capital grants to increase diversity and opportunity in the Bay State life sciences and biotech industries. Other provisions require that half of the consolidated net surplus in budgetary funds, up to $10 million, be directed to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund; raise the annual ceiling on the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program from $25 million to $30 million; require that funding and internship consideration be given to support minority populations in the life sciences industry; and extend the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program through 2028. The incentive was due to expire at the end of 2018.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Ye;s Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes
STATE MILITARY JUSTICE (S 2611): The House approved a Senate-approved bill that creates a state-specific code of conduct for National Guard members while doing their job in Massachusetts. When guard members are in federal service, they are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice but when in the state there is no Code of Military Justice governing their conduct. Other provisions increase the minimum daily pay for certain members of the organized militia performing state active duty from $100 per day to $200 per day; increase the age limit for some members of the state militia of the from 45 to 65; and allow all members of the military force under orders of the Commander-in-Chief, to enter upon and occupy public or private lands when on duty.
SHOULD MBTA SUBWAY CARS BE MADE BY A CHINESE COMPANY?: The MBTA unveiled the first two newly-manufactured Orange Line vehicles at a ceremony at the Springfield headquarters of China RailwayRollingstock Corporation (CRRC), the manufacturer hired to build more than 400 subway cards subway cars for the T. According to the MBTA, the new vehicles incorporate designs that accommodate improved passenger comfort, new technology that provides important customer-facing information and cutting-edge accessibility features, such as platform gap mitigation devices.
THE BAY STATE IS THE FASTEST GROWING STATE IN THE NORTHEAST: New data released today by the United States Census Bureau indicates that the Bay State is the fastest growing state in the Northeast,” boasts Secretary of State and Massachusetts 2020 Census Liaison Bill Galvin. He added that Massachusetts is growing twice as fast as it did in the previous decade. According to Galvin, the data suggests that the driving factor behind Massachusetts’ population growth is international immigration. While Massachusetts continues to lose population through residents moving to other states, that loss is offset by twice that number of people moving to Massachusetts from other countries.
GOV. BAKER’S INAUGURATION: The governor’s Inaugural Committee launched a website, MovingMAForward.com, which will allow the public to learn about the events and register to attend the multiple inaugural celebrations across the state on January Thursday, Jan. 3, and Friday, Jan. 4. The official swearing-in is at the Statehouse on the third.
BENEFITS FOR LOCKED OUT GAS WORKERS (H 4988 and S 2692): With the calendar for the two-year session winding down, the House and Senate finally agreed on a version of a bill to address the ongoing lockout of National Grid gas workers. Only final approval in each branch is needed before the measure goes to the governor. The utility locked out more than 1,200 workers in June during a contract dispute. The House originally favored tapping the utility responsible for the lockout to cover the unemployment costs while the Senate preferred using the existing unemployment insurance system to cover the costs. The House finally agreed with the Senate. House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) called upon Gov. Baker to give some guidance to lawmakers.
SHORT TERM RENTALS (H 4841): House and Senate lawmakers shipped Gov. Charlie Baker a bill extending hotel taxes to short-term rentals of the type offered by Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO. Approval of the legislation by the House and Senate on Thursday gives the governor a big decision to make before the new legislative session begins in January. Baker, who has supported taxing the short-term rental sector, objected to the particular language in a compromise bill that reached his desk in late July because he said it would be a burden to too many people who list their homes. The governor sent the bill back to lawmakers with a proposed amendment exempting those who rent out homes for 14 days or fewer. The latest version passed in a flurry of informal-session activity on Thursday would exempt those who rent homes for 14 days or fewer.
Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.
During the week of Dec. 17 through 21, the House met for a total of 11 hours and 27 minutes, while the Senate met for a total of 10 hours and 56 minutes.
Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com