Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local representatives’ votes on roll calls from recent sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.
Medal of Fidelity license plate (H 5624)
The House, 157-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would authorize the creation of a license plate honoring Medal of Fidelity recipients and their families. This medal is provided to the next of kin of a Massachusetts service member or veteran whose death was a result of service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder; a service-connected traumatic brain injury; or a service-connected disease or injury related to exposure to harmful toxins, herbicides, agents or materials, where the exposure occurred while serving in the U.S. armed forces (active duty or reserves), or while serving in the Massachusetts National Guard. The new license plate created under this bill would be made available by the Registry of Motor Vehicles free of charge to recipients of the Medal of Fidelity.
“The Medal of Fidelity was established four years ago to honor our state’s fallen veterans and their surviving family members,” said sponsor Rep. Brad Jones, R-North Reading. “Providing a Medal of Fidelity license plate is a way to further recognize and thank our military families and their loved ones for their service and sacrifice on behalf of our country.”
A “Yes” vote is for the bill.
- Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes
- Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes
Expand the ‘move over’ law (H 5622)
The House, 154-0, approved a bill that would expand a current law requiring motorists to slow down and make every effort to change lanes if they are approaching a stationary emergency, maintenance or recovery vehicle with flashing lights on a highway. The bill would expand the law to require motorists to do the same when approaching a stationary utility truck — defined as a vehicle being used to install, maintain, repair, operate or restore communications service, electric or gas distribution, or transmission service in an emergency.
The Senate has approved a different version of the measure and the House version now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Rep. Jim Arciero, D-Westford, House chair of the Committee on Transportation, said the bill is a sensible change to an important law and updates the “move over” law to extend its protections to utility vehicles and workers at the roadside. He noted that the measure, which got overwhelming support in the Transportation Committee, also increases penalties for repeat offenses and requires an education component for motorists who commit multiple offenses. He said the Registry of Motor Vehicles would be required to produce a public service campaign on the law as well.
A “Yes” vote is for the bill.
- Rep. Aaron Saunders — Yes
- Rep. Susannah Whipps — Yes
Also up on Beacon Hill
Banning school and public library books and materials (H 5489)
Gov. Maura Healey signed into law a bill that supporters said would protect people’s access to library materials and guard against politically motivated book bans in school libraries and public libraries. The bill requires local policies to be developed using nationally recognized library standards and lays out a process around challenges to library materials. The measure also protects librarians and school library professionals from retaliation.
Provisions include ensuring that students have free and open access to library books and other school library materials by establishing clear standards for library teachers and other employees to follow as they select school library materials; requiring that school library materials be age-appropriate, serve an educational purpose and be chosen based on a teacher or employee’s professional training, leaving aside any of their own personal, political or doctrinal views that could affect whether they place the book on the shelf; requiring all school districts, charter schools and local education agencies to adopt their own policies on how to select library materials as long as the policies align with American Library Association standards; guarding against spurious or unfounded challenges to school library books by keeping a book in question on the shelves unless and until a public hearing has taken place and the appropriate authority has voted to remove it; and protecting school employees and public librarians from professional, civil or criminal penalties based on their selection of library materials.
“Politically motivated book challenges are dangerous acts of censorship that harm us all,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “This new law builds a firewall against such cynical acts, protecting students’ freedom to read and learn, and respecting the expertise of professional educators and librarians. All students should have access to a diverse collection of materials, reflecting a wide range of experiences, identities and challenges. This promotes free expression and helps our society build tolerance, empathy and understanding.”
Rep. John Gaskey, R-Carver, was the only legislator to vote against the measure when it was approved by the House and Senate.
“[The bill] makes it more difficult for school committees to challenge book selections made by librarians, especially regarding LGBT+ type books that are usually so explicit that they cannot be read in public meetings or even on YouTube without being age-restricted,” Gaskey said. “This is not about banning books, as they are all available in a multitude of locations, especially the public library. This is about protecting youth from explicit material, regardless of the topic.”
Abortion (H 5595)
Gov. Maura Healey signed into law legislation that would loosen restrictions on abortions that can be performed after 24 weeks of gestation. The bill removes existing requirements that limit abortions at 24 weeks of pregnancy or later to four specific medical circumstances, and instead allows licensed physicians and providers to rely on their best medical judgment when caring for patients.
Supporters said that under current law, the four specific categories do not account for the full spectrum of medical conditions encountered by women and their doctors: protecting the patient’s life or physical or mental health, or cases involving a lethal fetal anomaly or a grave fetal diagnosis.
“I’ve heard heartbreaking stories from women and families who were preparing to welcome a healthy baby into their family, only to receive devastating news later in their pregnancy,” Healey said. “Instead of being able to rely on the doctors they knew and trusted at home, they were forced to travel hundreds of miles and pay out of their pockets while navigating unimaginable grief. That should never happen in Massachusetts. This law continues our efforts to have the strongest abortion protections in the country because in Massachusetts, we believe healthcare decisions should be made between women and their doctors.”
Opponents said the legislation allows elective abortions up to birth based solely on a physician’s professional judgment.
Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life said, “Legalizing elective abortion up to birth on healthy moms and healthy, pain-capable infants is not about a doctor-patient relationship but rather abortionists normalizing infant death and pressuring vulnerable women to permit their unborn children to die in heinous acts of violence.”
Firefighters (S 3251)
The Senate approved legislation that would establish serious criminal penalties for fire code and building code violations that cause the injury or death of a firefighter, construction worker or any member of the public. The measure was first proposed after the March 2014 deaths of firefighters Edward Walsh and Michael Kennedy who perished while fighting a fire that was caused by welders, working without a city permit, on a building next door to the brownstone in which they died.
Provisions include a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $500,000 if a person commits certain violations of the state fire code or building code that cause a death; up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if the violation causes serious bodily injury; and enhancement of the penalty for violations of the state fire prevention law related to hot work, increasing the fine for a first offense to $1,000 from the current $100 fine. Third and subsequent offenses for hot work violations could be penalized with up to two and a half years in a house of correction and a share of the building project’s total value.
Other provisions require the Department of Fire Services to administer an accessible electronic database that can be used to check a worker’s status; and require the establishment of a system of public notification and recording of non-compliance with regulations.
The measure also codifies standards for the training and certification programs used to prepare people for hot work, cutting and welding processes. It requires initial training to be in person, with subsequent annual continued-education programming to be either online or in person.
“This legislation is an important step toward setting clear standards for this dangerous work, strengthening accountability and creating stronger incentives to put safety first,” said Sen. Nick Collins, D-South Boston. “We learned from past tragedies, and we have a responsibility to carry those lessons forward to better protect workers, firefighters and the neighborhoods where this work is taking place.”
The House has approved a different version of the measure and the Senate version now goes to the House for consideration. Rep. Dan Ryan, D-Charlestown, the sponsor of the House version of the bill, did not respond to requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him to comment on Senate passage of the proposal.
Make Jurassic armored mud balls the official state sedimentary structure (H 3438)
The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would designate the Jurassic armored mud ball as the official state sedimentary structure.
Supporters said these mud balls are one of the rarest sedimentary structures in the world, representing a unique geologic environment, and they are only easily seen in Massachusetts. They noted that they can be found in Greenfield, Turners Falls, Gill and Deerfield. Famous Greenfield native and magician, Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, once said, “I may live in Las Vegas and travel the world, but my armored mud balls will always be in Greenfield. Let’s protect them.”
Richard Little, professor emeritus of Greenfield Community College, is leading the fight to preserve and publicize the Jurassic armored mud balls.
“The intriguing and amusingly named armored mud balls formed as mud rolled down flooding streams and became coated with pebbles — the armor,” Little explained. “These sedimentary structures are so rare that, in the whole world, they are only easily seen in the red sedimentary rocks of the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. Officially celebrating them as one of Massachusetts’ symbols will preserve them for future generations. After all, they are in the same Jurassic rock layers as our state dinosaur (Podokesaurus) and state fossil (dino footprints). That is why I am leading a working group of scientists and citizens to preserve these rare features.”
Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, the sponsor of the bill, did not respond to Beacon Hill Roll Call asking her why she filed the measure and how she feels about its passage.
Alcohol donations for charities (H 5351)
The Senate approved legislation that would allow local licensing authorities to issue temporary licenses to charities so they can accept donations of wine, beer and alcohol for their charitable events. These licenses were previously allowed under 1997 legislation, but the authorization has since expired.
In April, the House approved a different version of the bill and the Senate version now goes to the House for consideration.
“As the Senate chair of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, I worked with Senate colleagues on this legislation once it was passed by the House,” said Sen. Pavel Payano, D-Lawrence. “This bill would permanently codify the ability for local licensing authorities to issue and regulate temporary licenses for charitable organizations to serve alcohol at their events. We look forward to working with our House colleagues to finalize the legislation.”
Allow credit unions to pay their board members (H 1338)
The Senate approved a House-approved bill that would allow credit unions to compensate their board members for their service. Under current law, board members may only be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
“I was proud to sponsor this legislation, which would modernize current law by allowing credit unions to compensate their board members for their service,” said Sen. Pavel Payano, D-Lawrence. “This bill would permit compensation to be set and approved by the membership at an annual meeting, giving credit unions the flexibility to determine appropriate levels of compensation as needed. … Credit unions play a vital role in supporting our communities, and this update will help them attract and retain strong leadership, strengthen their institutions and enhance their ability to serve their members.”