There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local senators voted with their party’s leadership in the 2025 session through Aug. 29.

Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 68 votes from the 2025 Senate session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not on local issues.

The votes of 33 Democrats were compared to Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, second-in-command in the Senate. We could not compare the Democrats’ votes to those of Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, because, by tradition, the Senate president rarely votes.

Eighteen (54.5%) of 33 Democrats voted with Creem 100% of the time. Fourteen (42.4%) of Democrats voted with Creem at least 90% of the time. Only one Democrat voted with Creem less than 90% of the time.

The senator who voted with Creem least frequently is Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, who voted with Creem only 57 times (85.0%).

Rounding out the list of the top five senators who voted with Creem least frequently are Sens. Nick Collins, D-Boston; Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford; and Michael Moore, D-Millbury, who each voted with Creem 63 times (92.6%). Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield, voted with Creem 64 times (94.1%).

The votes of four Republican senators were compared with those of GOP Senate Minority Leader Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. None of the four voted with Tarr 100% of the time.

Sens. Ryan Fattman, R-Sutton, and Kelly Dooner, R-Taunton, each voted with Tarr 62 times (91.1%); and Patrick O’Connor, R-Weymouth, and Peter Durant, R-Spencer, each voted with Tarr 66 times (97.0%).

The percentage next to the senator’s name represents the percentage of times the senator supported his or her party’s leadership so far in 2025 through Aug. 29. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the senator opposed his or her party’s leadership.

Some senators voted on all 68 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll calls. The percentage for each senator is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted.

  • Sen. Joanne Comerford — 100% (0)
  • Sen. Paul Mark — 100% (0)

Also up on Beacon Hill

Auditor uncovers fraud in public benefits

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio released a Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) report that uncovered $4.8 million of public benefit fraud in the final quarter of fiscal year 2025. BSI’s goal is to help make government work better by investigating fraud, abuse and illegal acts involving public assistance benefits across the state.

BSI investigated a total of 1,153 cases and there were overpayments in 143 cases, including fraud uncovered when paying for benefits for MassHealth/Medicaid, $3,812,331; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, $690,138; personal care attendants, $145,638; Department of Early Education and Care, $134,526; Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children, $23,179; and Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children, $8,568.

“Public benefit fraud can impact the lives of everyday people across Massachusetts who rely on these programs and services to access care or purchase food,” DiZoglio said. “That is why the work of our fraud examiners is critical to help ensure these services and programs are operating efficiently and reliably for all who need them.”

Vehicle batteries (H 2652)

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would require that vehicle repair and storage facilities display a notice that informs the public and first responders of the presence of vehicle batteries on the premises.

“This legislation will put safety first in the event of a fire on a property where lithium-ion batteries are present,” said sponsor Rep. Mike Kushmerek, D-Fitchburg. “These batteries are notoriously dangerous and difficult to extinguish. By having identifying signs on location where the batteries are present, it allows for more situational awareness for first responders who may be responding.”

Change language in law that created councils on aging (H 4301)

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would change some language in the 50-year-old law that created councils on aging in local cities and towns. Changes include deleting language that refers to “problems of the aging” and replacing it with “the needs of older adults”; deleting language that calls workers “clerks” and replacing it with language that calls workers “staff”: and adding “and delivering services” to the language in the bill that gives the council the authority to “carry out programs.”

Supporters said the bill modernizes the language in a 50-year-old law that created councils on aging at a time when there were very few senior centers. They noted that the number of councils on aging and senior centers has grown to 350 and said the bill updates the statute to reflect the modern functioning of these critical centers.

Rep. Kate Donaghue, D-Westborough, the sponsor of the bill, did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking her to comment on passage of her proposal and whether she thinks it will make it through the Legislature in the 2025-2026 session. The bill was given initial approval by the House in the 2023-2024 session but died when the House took no further action on it.

Ban the use of tinted license plate covers (H 4029)

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would prohibit the use of tinted or smoked license plate covers, along with any bracket, frame or covering that alters or obscures the license plate’s visibility. Specifically, the bill prohibits anything that obscures the license plate; the color of the license plate; the name or abbreviated name of the state; or any character or characters, decal, stamp or other device indicating the month or year in which the vehicle’s registration expires.

“I filed this bill after working with constituents who were concerned that tinted license plate covers may seem harmless, but in reality they make it harder for tolling systems, accident investigators and law enforcement officers to do their jobs,” said sponsor Rep. Bruce Ayers, D-Quincy. “With Massachusetts now relying on electronic tolling infrastructure, it’s critical that plates remain clear and fully legible.”

State hires company to run online Lottery

The State Lottery Commission voted to approve a five-year contract for the company that will launch an online version of the Lottery in summer 2026 that allows people to place bets online. It was a unanimous vote to authorize the Lottery’s Executive Director Mark William Bracken to enter into a deal for “a full-service iLottery platform and related services” with Aristocrat Interactive — a Malta-based company that had been recommended by the procurement team that reviewed five responses the Lottery got to its solicitation. Malta is an island country in southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa.

“This is a huge milestone,” said Lottery Commissioner Meghan Liddy. “I’ve been around for a while. The years passed by quickly, but at times it did not seem like a quick process at all, and it was a very arduous process to get this done. Just huge congratulations to the team.”

Bracken said, “You know, we’re saying summer of ’26. … I would love it to be early summer of ’26 as opposed to late summer of ’26. We’d love to get in the marketplace, meet our players where they are, you know, hopefully bring on some new players that aren’t exposed or aren’t in love with the products of our traditional retail because, like we’ve said before, online Lottery really is a different product line.”

The House and Senate approved creation of an online Lottery authorization in the fiscal year 2025 budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed in 2024.

$75.6 million rebate to health insurance consumers

Gov. Healey announced that five of the state’s health insurance carriers will return $75.6 million to more than 350,000 people covered by individual and small employer health care plans in Massachusetts under the state’s enforcement of the Massachusetts health laws. The five carriers are Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Fallon Community Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Mass General Brigham Health Plan and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company.

Massachusetts has the country’s strictest Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) law, requiring the state’s health insurance carriers to spend at least 88% of premiums on health care services for individuals and small groups — setting a higher bar than the federal standard of 85%. When an insurance carrier’s average MLR over a three-year period falls below the required threshold, it is required to rebate a portion of premium payments to individuals and small employers. The rebates reflect a portion of the difference between what the insurance carriers charged in premiums and what they actually spent on health care costs.

“Massachusetts has strong laws in place to make sure that the money that you are paying for health care actually goes to covering high-quality services,” Healey said. “That’s why we are able to approve over $75 million back to consumers and businesses. This is just the latest action we are taking to lower the cost of health care, housing and energy that people are facing every day.”

“These rebates are more than just numbers — they’re dollars back in the pockets of families and small business owners across the commonwealth,” said Division of Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw. “The enforcement of this law is part of our larger strategy of protecting Massachusetts health care consumers and encouraging insurers to be more efficient, reduce administrative overhead and focus on cost-effective ways to deliver care.”

The exact amounts of the 2025 rebates depend on the carrier and the premium paid by individual and small group purchasers.

Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day (H 3388)

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would establish Sept. 22 as Military Service Members and Veterans Suicide Awareness and Remembrance Day. The day would acknowledge that suicide is an epidemic among service members and veterans, would foster awareness, and would call for suicide prevention measures and support.

“We brought forward this veteran suicide remembrance and awareness bill in direct response to the tragedies that have left holes in the fabric of our communities and in order to build awareness to prevent future tragedy,” said bill sponsor Rep. Joan Meschino, D-Hull. “[The bill] is an important step in offering support to both our active service members and veterans.”