There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.
For the second week in a row, the COVID-19 pandemic was front and center at the state capitol. Brief, informal, lightly-attended sessions were held on Monday and Thursday. Most legislators and staff are staying away from Beacon Hill and many are working from home to comply with social distancing guidelines.
At informal sessions, there can be no roll calls and it only takes one member to stop the proceedings if he or she disagrees with anything. The Democrats and Republicans worked together to craft bills relating to COVID-19.
This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on several pieces of legislation relating to the COVID-19 crisis.
The report also includes the percentage of times local representatives voted with their party’s leadership in 2020 through April 10. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 19 votes from the 2020 House session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not on local issues.
The votes of the 2020 membership of 124 Democrats were compared to House Speaker Bob DeLeo. A total of 101 (or 81.4 percent) of the 124 Democratic representatives voted with DeLeo 100 percent of the time. Another 17 representatives voted with DeLeo all but one time (94.7 percent.) The Democratic representatives who voted the lowest percentage of times with DeLeo were Reps. John Velis, D-Westfield, and Colleen Garry, D-Dracut. Velis voted with DeLeo only 63.1 percent of the time while Garry voted with DeLeo only 61.1 percent of the time.
The votes of the 2020 membership of 30 Republicans were compared with those of GOP House Minority Leader Brad Jones. A total of 20 (or 66.6 percent) of the 30 GOP representatives voted with Jones 100 percent of the time. Another nine representatives voted with Jones all but one time (94.7 percent.) The GOP representative who voted the lowest percentage of times with Jones was Rep. Marc Lombardo, R-Billerica, who voted with Jones only 84.2 percent of the time.
The percentage next to the representative’s name represents the percentage of times the representatives supported his or her party’s leadership. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the representative opposed his or her party’s leadership.
Some representative voted on all 19 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll call. The percentage for each representative is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted and does not count the roll calls for which he or she was absent.
Rep. Natalie Blais — 100 percent (0)
Rep. Paul Mark — 100 percent (0)
Rep. Susannah Whipps — No party affiliation
The House and Senate approved different versions of legislation putting a moratorium on most residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures until 30 days after Gov. Charlie Baker lifts the ongoing state of emergency. Both bills allow for “emergency for cause evictions” that involve allegations of criminal activity or lease violations that are “detrimental to the health or safety of other residents, health care workers, emergency personnel or the general public.”
Another provision in both bills prohibits landlords from charging late fees or sending reports to credit rating agencies as long as a tenant provides notice within 30 days of a late payment that their failure to pay was tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two bills now go to a conference committee, which will hammer out a compromise version. Members of the conference committee include Sens. Brendan Crighton, D-Lynn, Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, and Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester; and Reps. Kevin Honan, D-Boston, Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, and Peter Durant, R-Spencer.
The House and Senate approved and the governor signed into law a proposal that would allow changes to the state’s high school standardized testing requirements. The bill would allow Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley to authorize changes to the state’s high school standardized testing requirements, including suspending the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) test. The bill ensures that if a senior is required to pass the MCAS to graduate, he or she will be given a time other than this spring to take the exam.
The measure allows school districts who cannot adopt a budget by June 30 because of the pandemic to approve monthly budgets. It also prohibits a city or town from terminating any resident’s essential services — including water, trash collection or electricity — for nonpayment of taxes or fees if the nonpayment resulted from a demonstrated inability to pay due to circumstances related to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Other provisions include moving the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board’s budget deadline from March 15 to May 15 to give the board more time to meet budgetary deadlines; giving the authority’s board until May 15, rather than March 15, to approve a preliminary budget; giving the T until June 15, rather than April 15, to submit a final budget to its advisory board; and allowing applicants for housing assistance to obtain benefits without doing it in-person.
Gov. Baker filed legislation that would protect health care professionals, including doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians and some health care facilities from liability and suit when the care they provide is impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. The bill would also provide protections for the health workers staffing the unique field medical stations being put up at the DCU Center, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and other locations.
“Ensuring that our health care workers have the resources and protections they need has been a top priority for our administration since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gov. Baker said. “This legislation offers important protections for health care workers and facilities facing the unprecedented challenges that come with the outbreak of this virus, and we look forward to working with our legislative partners to enact this bill and take another step in our efforts to support the commonwealth’s medical system.
Gov. Baker issued an executive order that would require each grocery store to limit occupancy by customers and store employees to 40 percent of its maximum permitted occupancy level. Stores with a maximum occupancy of 25 persons or less are exempt from this requirement. If lines form outside the store, some of the store’s staff must monitor the lines to ensure customers are maintaining appropriate distance from each other.
Rep. Patrick Kearney, D-Scituate, filed a bill that would lower the number of signatures candidates must obtain to get on the ballot during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the bill, the number of signatures needed by U.S. Senate candidates would be reduced from 10,000 to 3,330; Congressional candidates from 2,000 to 660; state Senate candidates from 300 to 99; and state Representative candidates from 150 to 50.
“At a time when public health officials know that social distancing is vital to stopping the spread of coronavirus, candidates should not have to choose between endangering public health and being able to make the ballot,” Kearney said. “These lowered signature thresholds ensure we will have fair, competitive elections in November.”
Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik, D-Gardner, has filed legislation that would allow acting mayors to act with full mayoral authority for the duration of the governor’s declared state of emergency concerning COVID-19.
Gardner and some other city charters limit the power of the acting mayor. There can be issues that arise during this crisis that need to be handled quickly, and Zlotnik’s legislation would simplify that process and ensure the city government could act as required during this crisis.
“City officials brought this issue to my attention and I think it’s something the Legislature should be aware of and considering,” Zlotnik said. “In an effort to be prepared, I have filed this bill for review and to start the process. I think it’s important as we navigate through this unprecedented situation that the government at all levels be prepared to continue operations and do their best to anticipate complications that may arise.”
Also filed last week were bills that would prohibit price gouging of goods, services and supplies during a declared public health emergency (HD 4966); establish a grant program to provide funding for the operation of temporary shelters for homeless individuals in Gateway Cities (HD 4987); and allow notary publics to notarize documents using electronic video conferencing (HD 4999).
Attorney General Maura Healey and government regulators are calling upon auto insurance companies to give partial rebates or discounts to policyholders because of the sudden decline in driving caused by COVID-19 restrictions.
“It’s incredibly important that car insurance companies are responsive to consumers throughout this crisis and should consider reducing rates to reflect decreased risk,” said Alex Bradley, spokesperson for Healey. “This is an area that we will continue to monitor.”