Dear Neighbor,
THE LAST NIGHT OF FORMAL SESSIONS
You have certainly seen numerous accounts of the last night of formal sessions for this year, which ended at 10 am the next morning, after suspending the rules to go past midnight. Many important bills were left on the table. Conference committees had been appointed on nine major bills but had not yet reported, while one was awaiting appointment of members. Conference committees of 3 members from each house are supposed to work out differences between the versions passed by the House and Senate.
After July 31 in even years, bills can only pass with unanimous consent. Theoretically, only bills that authorize bonding require roll calls, and therefore can't be passed in informal sessions.
Like many of you, I was extremely frustrated by the logjam at the end of formal sessions.
One of the important bills I've worked hardest on, to provide adequate funding and accountability in nursing facilities, is still awaiting agreement, though I am very hopeful we will send it to the governor very soon.
Other bills still awaiting agreement are: Boston liquor licenses, clean energy siting, economic development, hospital oversight and reforms, prescription drug prices, rainy day interest investment, and substance abuse disorder. Only the economic development bill includes bonding and therefore requires formal sessions with roll calls. Because that bill is perceived as very important, it is possible that a formal session will be called.
WHY THE LAST MINUTE LOGJAM?
1. Sometimes, committees report bills very late in the 19-month session. Then the Ways and Means Committees take time to analyze them and gather stakeholder feedback.
For example, of the nine bills in still in conference on August 1, five were passed by either the Senate or the House in the last two weeks of July.
2. There is a growing tendency to combine multiple bills in comprehensive ones, dealing with broad issues. Sometimes this leads to inclusion of many different issues, some of which are controversial.
For example, Speaker Mariano complained that the Senate on June 25 included an expansion of the bottle bill in the clean energy siting reform bill, which would streamline permitting for green energy facilities. The House version on July 17 didn't include the bottle bill. The House conference committee chair said that the agreement should be on a "skinny bill," focused on siting, apparently objecting not only to the bottle bill but to the Senate's consumer protections.
The opioid crisis response bill would license recovery coaches, make overdose reversal drugs more accessible, protect harm reduction providers, and remove barriers that new mothers in recovery face when giving birth. The Speaker said that a barrier to agreement on that bill was the Senate's inclusion of overdose prevention sites. Somerville wants to open such a site.
The Senate also had little time to review changes in bills sent by the House in July.
SUCCESSES
I was very happy that the wage transparency conference committee I co-chaired with Rep. Danielle Gregoire was able to reach agreement after several months. As I reported recently, the bill was passed and signed by the governor on August 31.
The last week of session, the conference committee chaired by Rep. Mike Day and Sen. Julian Cyr, reported a comprehensive gun safety bill, which was adopted and signed by the governor. I wrote about the bill here. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of a ban on untraceable “ghost guns” and 3-D printed guns.
That week we also passed a bill banning the use of elephants, lions, giraffes and other animals in traveling acts like circuses. Many of you have written to me for many years about the importance of this issue.
On July 29, we finally passed the FY 2025 budget. Thanks to the Fair Share Amendment, it continues grants for early education and care providers, continues implementing the Student Opportunity Act, and makes community college free for all students. Also thanks to Fair Share, it provides the highest levels of funding in 20 years to the MBTA, including doubling operational support, creating a first-of-its-kind Low-Income Fares, and providing free bus service in Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs).
It also includes my provision requiring a study of the possible costs and benefits of fare free buses on the MBTA. I was very disappointed that, despite successes in RTAs, the MBTA is not yet adopting this policy.
All of my amendments listed in this newsletter also survived conference.
On the very last day/night of formal sessions, a conference committee reported on the Parentage Act. The bill ensures that families have the same legal rights and protections regardless of marital status, gender, gender identify or sexual orientation of the parents or the circumstances of the child's birth. That includes whether the child was born as a result of assisted reproduction or surrogacy. It swaps out words like “paternity” for “parentage” and “child born out of wedlock” for “nonmarital child." It was adopted and signed by the governor. Arlene Isaacson said, "When we won the right to marry 20 years ago, many of us thought our children and families were safe. Then we learned that LGBTQ families still had major hurdles to surmount in order to secure legal protections for our families."
Also on the last day/night, a conference committee reported on the HERO Act for veterans. The bill was adopted and signed by the governor. I'm not going to summarize each bill; click on the links to find descriptions.
Many of you have also urged passage of a ban on PFAS, toxic "forever chemicals." And in less than a week since its first passage by the Senate and then the House, the legislature passed and the governor signed a bill banning their use on firefighter equipment. Cancer, which can be caused by PFAS, is the leading cause of death among firefighters.
After only two weeks, a conference committee chaired by Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge and Sen. Cindy Friedman reported an important bill on maternal health, Many of you have told me of the importance of making midwife and doula services available, and of free-standing birth centers and postpartum care, all parts of the bill. The legislature passed it quickly and Gov. Healey has promised to sign it.
SUCCESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT
Housing is the most urgent issue in our district and state. The Housing Bond bill, like the Economic Development bill, required action in formal session. I wrote about the Senate version here, and why the Affordable Homes Act does far too little to keep people in their homes here.
A conference committee was appointed July 8, and its agreement was reported at 6:43 a.m. August 1, and quickly passed and signed. The bill authorizes $15.1 billion in bonding over the next five years, although it will not all be spent. The state's plan for actual capital spending released last month dedicates $2 billion for housing over the next five years.
The bill has many policy initiatives: It includes allowing accessory dwelling units by right on single-family lots, eviction sealing, and expansion of the condo conversion law to include 2 and 3 family homes. It will prohibit most home purchase offers conditioned on the buyer waiving or limiting their right to a home inspection.. And it will create a pilot foreclosure mediation program in five communities.
But it didn't include many other extremely important initiatives, such as TOPA (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase), simple majority voting threshold for inclusionary zoning ordinances, and requiring broker's fees to be paid by landlords rather than tenants. Each of those had been included in the governor's version, the House version, or the Senate version of the bill. But none of them made it into the final bill agreed to by the conference committee. It also didn't include other ways to keep people housed, like rent stabilization.
DISAPPOINTMENT AND HOPE
I am still very frustrated but hoping to see resolution on extremely important bills, including energy siting, economic development, hospital oversight and reforms, prescription drug prices, substance abuse disorder, and the supplemental budget.
As well, of course, as our long term care bill.
SONG FOR TIMES OF DISAPPOINTMENT AND HOPE: Hold On by Sweet Honey in the Rock
QUOTE FOR TIMES OF DISAPPOINTMENT AND HOPE: "If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." -- Orson Welles
Stay in touch,
Pat Jehlen