Happy New Year, Friend!
After their seven weeks of holiday recess, the State House is back in full swing. January also marks the beginning of the last stretch of the legislative session: while each session technically lasts two years, formal sessions end in July of the second year. That means the last five months, August through December, are reserved for informal sessions. The bottom line: all bills, including progressive priorities like voting access, immigrant protections, and medicare for all, need to be passed before August or they’ll be dead.
So as the countdown begins, we keep a keen eye on questions like: will the Joint Rules ever be released from conference committee? Will voting rights be addressed during this crucial election year? And most importantly, will Speaker Mariano finally get to resume his annual Labor Day Meatball Dinners??
State House Scoop
#EggGate2022As you probably noticed, egg prices here in Massachusetts did not spike drastically on January 1st, as they would have if a 2016 law went into effect in its original form. This looming catastrophe was avoided when the House and Senate came to an agreement over the holiday recess, just days before the bill would have taken effect.
Commission Watch: Missed deadlines & disappointments
When the State House sends a bill to “study” it almost always means they’re just killing the bill and no study will ever be conducted. Occasionally, however, legislation will pass that forms a commission to study an issue and make policy recommendations. These commissions can be helpful and lead to actual policy, but more often than not, they go nowhere at all.
- Facial Recognition Panel - As part of a police reform bill signed in December of last year, this group was tasked with studying the use of facial recognition technology and making policy recommendations by the end of 2021. No such report was released.
- Special Commission on Qualified Immunity - Another commission created in the 2020 police reform bill, this commission was tasked with studying qualified immunity (an astonishing legal doctrine that protects police officers from civil lawsuits). While this commission filed its report more or less on time, their recommendation was to wait two years before considering any changes to present MA law on the subject, a move the group Lawyers for Civil Rights called “deeply frustrating” and “a colossal failure.”
- Correctional Funding Commission - Tasked with recommending the appropriate level of funding for the MA Department of Corrections (spoiler alert: it should be lower), this commission has extended its reporting deadline twice. You can watch the hearing from this past Tuesday, as well as all their other recorded hearings about this crucial topic here.
As State House News Service said in their advances for last week (paywall): “Massachusetts has a full-time, staffed Legislature with a long menu of joint committees charged with reviewing public policy proposals and making recommendations, but lawmakers over the years have increased their reliance on a dizzying array of special commissions.” Dizzying indeed!
Upcoming Committee Hearings & How to Testify
Citizens United
Monday 1/10 at 11:00AM - Joint Committee for Veterans and National Affairs will hear testimony on a number of bills and resolutions aimed at addressing the influence of big money in politics. On the docket: H.3658 / S.2402, a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and H.3657, a bill to extend a 2018 commission to advance this resolution and other related policy. You can watch the hearing & find details on how to testify here.
Utility Relief for All
Tuesday 1/11 at 11:30AM - Joint Committee for Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy will hear testimony on a number of bills, including H.4045, which would cover 100% of utility debt incurred over the course of the pandemic. You can learn more about this bill here, and watch Tuesday's hearing here.
- To testify orally on Tuesday, fill out this form by 11AM on Monday
- Written testimony must be submitted via email to magdalena.garncarz@mahouse.gov and dina.nathanson@masenate.gov by Tuesday 1/11 by 5:00 p.m. When submitting written testimony, please use the following document title format: Bill# - Your Organization’s Name – Support/Oppose
Take Action
5 Years and $50 Million: Why A Prison and Jail Construction Moratorium Makes Sense for Massachusetts: Thursday 1/20 at 7:00PM, Zoom Forum
We at Act on Mass are proud to be partnering with National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, Families for Justice as Healing, and a number of other incredible organizations to bring you a virtual panel discussion on S.2030/H.1905, An Act Establishing A [5-year] Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium. Our panel of legislators, activists and experts will discuss the bill and what it would mean for Massachusetts to invest $50 million into communities, instead of incarceration.
Rally for Utility Debt Relief: Saturday 1/22 at 2:00PM, Parkman Bandstand in Boston Common
Investor-owned utilities should not be making a profit at the expense of ratepayers who are struggling to meet basic needs. That’s why the activists at Take Back The Grid, in partnership with lead sponsor Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, introduced H.4045. Join Take Back the Grid and allies as we rally for the passage of this crucial bill!
PETITION REMINDER: After 9 months of inaction, it's time to release the Joint Rules from Conference Committee.
In response to widespread pressure from our Transparency is Power campaign, the House and Senate voted in February to make more votes publicly available. But instead of working to swiftly implement these new rules, the final version has been tied up in a conference committee for the past 9 months. Committees have a deadline of 2/2 to take action on their bills. If we don’t have the new rules in place before then, we won’t get to see the committee votes after all.
We’re currently at 300 signatures - help us reach our goal of 500. The more signatures we have, the more pressure we put on the legislature to #ReleaseTheRules:
A Bit of Housekeeping
End of Year Fundraising Update: WE DID IT! Although our goal of $3,000 in EOY fundraising was ambitious, you stepped up and made it happen. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This was an unbelievable year for Act on Mass, and it’s all because of your incredible generosity and support.
Act on Mass is Hiring Interns for the Spring Semester! We’re currently looking to fill two internship positions: a Digital Organizing Intern and a Political Organizing Intern. If you’d like to come work with us, send me your resume at admin@actonmass.org :)
And last, a not-so-fun-fact to kick off your weekend
Our legislators are notorious procrastinators; there is usually a flood of bills that end up being passed just before the July 31st deadline, sometimes even extending the sessions into the wee hours of the next morning. This isn’t an accident; by saving up bills to pass at the very last moment, House leadership maintains firmer control over the process and creates leverage to wield against the Senate and Governor in negotiations. That’s a nice bill you got there, Senators. Would be a shame if it didn’t pass by July 31st…