The House and Senate: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call begins 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. One vote was on the Legislature’s override of Baker’s veto.
Income tax will be reduced on Jan. 1: A law that reduces the income tax rate and long-term capital gains tax rate from 5.10 percent to 5.05 percent will go into effect on Jan. 1. These tax cuts do not need the approval of the Legislature. They are part of a system devised by the Legislature when it approved a $1 billion-plus tax hike package in 2002. The package set the long-term capital gains tax at 5.3 percent and froze the income tax rate at 5.3 percent instead of allowing it to drop to 5 percent in January 2003 — a reduction that was approved by voters in 2000.
The 2002 law also includes an automatic trigger that reduces both taxes by one-half of one percent each year that the state’s economic growth is at least 2.5 percent until each tax is reduced to 5 percent. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue last week finished crunching the numbers and confirmed that the required revenue metrics have been met to ensure the 2019 drop to 5.05 percent.
The cut is projected to reduce tax revenue by approximately $84 million in the current fiscal year 2019 and an estimated $175 million in fiscal year 2020.
The rate reduction was previously triggered for 2012 from 5.3 to 5.25 percent; 2014 from 5.25 to 5.20 percent; 2015 from 5.20 to 5.15 percent; and 2016 from 5.15 to 5.10 percent.
$200 million for local roads and bridges (H 3648): House 159-0, Senate 36-0, approved $200 million in one-time funding for the maintenance and repair of local roads and bridges in cities and towns across the state. The package is a bond bill under which the funding would be borrowed by the state through the sale of bonds. The measure also authorizes $70 million for the completion of the ATLAS, the Registry of Motor Vehicles’ technology system that will replace an archaic system that is 30 years old and difficult to maintain and use.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes.
Fairness for pregnant workers (S 2093): House 150-0, Senate 38-0, approved the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that prohibits an employer from discriminating against, refusing to employ or firing a woman because she is pregnant or has a condition related to pregnancy. The measure guarantees reasonable accommodations and safety measures for pregnant mothers. Reasonable accommodations include time off to recover from childbirth; more frequent, longer paid or unpaid breaks; acquiring or modifying equipment or seating arrangements; and a private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk – unless any of these would create an undue hardship on the employer.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes.
Regulate marijuana (H 3818): House 136-11, Senate 32-6, approved a bill changing some provisions and adding other provisions to the law, approved by voters on the 2016 ballot, legalizing the possession, growing and sale of marijuana. The measure taxes all marijuana sales with a 10.75 percent excise tax, 6.25 percent state sales tax and a local option allowing cities and towns to impose an additional tax of up to 3 percent. In addition, any agreement between a retail marijuana establishment and a host community for the first five years may include a community impact fee of up to another 3 percent paid by the seller to the city or town to cover the costs imposed upon the municipality by the operation of the establishment. Medical marijuana remains tax-free. If a city or town voted for the 2016 marijuana ballot question, the decision to prohibit or restrict marijuana establishments will be determined by a local city or town-wide referendum. If a city or town voted against the ballot question, the decision would be made by the municipality’s governing body until December 2019 and then by a local city or town-wide referendum.
Other key provisions: allowing persons over 21 to give an ounce or less of marijuana to others; possess up to one ounce of marijuana outside their home and 10 ounces in their home. Any quantity above one ounce in the home must be under lock and key; allowing each person to grow six plants per person in his or her home, with a maximum of 12 plants per household; prohibiting plants that can be visible by neighbors or from a public place and putting growing areas under lock and key; giving landlords the right to prohibit smoking or growing of marijuana on their properties; allowing advertising on TV, radio, billboard, print or the Internet only in markets where at least 85 percent of the audience is over 21; banning retail shops from being located near school zones.
(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.
Protection for workers (H 3952): House 151-0, Senate 36-0, approved a bill that provides all state and municipal workers with the same protections provided to private workers under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA).
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes.
Protect access to confidential health care (H 4256): House 139-14, Senate 38-0, approved a bill that would require health insurance companies to issue “Explanation of Benefits” (EOB) summaries only directly to the patient even if the patient is not the primary subscriber. Currently, most insurers send the forms to the primary subscriber, regardless of who the patient is.
(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.
Raise age from 18 to 21 to purchase tobacco (H 4784): House 146-3, Senate 32-3, approved a bill raising from 18 to 21 the age to legally purchase cigarettes and electronic cigarettes in the Bay State. Other provisions ban e-cigarettes and other vape devices from the workplace and prohibit pharmacies and healthcare facilities from selling any tobacco or vape products.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, didn’t vote; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, Yes; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes.
$18 million in pay hikes (S 16): House 116-43, Senate 31-9, overrode Gov. Baker’s veto of an $18 million pay raise package including hiking the salaries of House speaker and Senate president, by $45,000 from $97,547 to $142,547. The measure also hikes the pay of the Legislature’s two Republican leaders, Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) and Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) by $37,500 from $85,047 to $122,547. Another provision hikes the salaries of the state’s judges by $25,000 over an 18-month period. The measure raises the governor’s salary by $33,200, from $151,800 to $185,000; and provides hikes for the other five constitutional officers. It also requires that every two years the salaries of the governor, the other five constitutional statewide officers and the House speaker and Senate president be increased or decreased based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that measures the quarterly change in salaries and wages. It also requires that the same formula is used every two years to increase or decrease the stipends that more than 100 other legislators receive for their service in Democratic or Republican leadership positions, as committee chairs or vice chairs and as the ranking Republican on some committees. There is a caveat in all of these cases that the amount of money they receive can never be less than it was when it became law in February 2017. The measure puts an end to legislative per diems which are travel, meals and lodging reimbursements collected by the legislators. These reimbursements are given to legislators above and beyond their regular salaries. Another provision increases the annual general expense allowance for each legislator from $7,200 to $15,000 for members whose districts are within a 50-mile radius of the Statehouse and to $20,000 for districts located outside of that radius. This allowance is used at the discretion of individual legislators to support a variety of costs including the renting of a district office, contributions to local civic groups and the printing and mailing of newsletters. Legislators are issued a 1099 from the state and are required to report the allowance as income but are not required to submit an accounting of how they spend it. The package also gives a $65,000 housing allowance for the governor. Massachusetts is one of only six states that supplies neither a governor’s residence nor a housing allowance.
(A “Yes” vote is for overriding Gov. Baker’s veto and is for the pay raise. A “No” vote is against overriding the governor’s veto and is against the pay raise.) Rep. Stephen Kulik, Yes; Rep. Paul Mark, Yes; Rep. Susannah Whipps, No; Sen. Adam Hinds, Yes.
Jury duty notice (S 771): Senate approved and sent to the House a bill that allows the Office of the Jury Commissioner to communicate with jurors through e-mail, texting, other electronic and telephonic ways and in-person exchanges.
Confidentiality of mental health services (S 2684): The Senate approved and sent to the House a bill aimed at ensuring confidentiality for first responders who seek mental health services from a peer counselor.
Must have tenant on all towns’ housing authority board (H 4981): The Housing Committee held a hearing on a bill that would put some teeth into a 2014 law that requires all town housing authorities to have a tenant on the board. The regulations for appointing a tenant were never drafted.
Report attacks Beacon Hill’s record on funding public colleges: “Massachusetts has the fastest rising cost of public higher education in the nation,” according to a report released today by the New England Board of Higher Education. “These are the shameful results of decades of budget cuts on Beacon Hill that have shifted the cost of a public college education to students and families, especially those who can least afford to pay the fees.”
Costs employees face in reporting workplace sexual harassment: Nearly two-thirds of employees who report workplace sexual harassment face retaliation from their employers and 65 percent of employees who file sexual harassment complaints lose their jobs within a year, according to new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Center for Employment Equity (CEE).
Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at: bob@beaconhillrollcall.com