We’re in the dead of winter, which these days seems to mean 47 degrees and sunny on Wednesday and 10 degrees and windy by Friday. What can I say? Remember to wear layers and perhaps email your reps about getting MA to 100% renewable energy a bit sooner than 2090.
I digress. After weeks of criticizing Governor Baker for his lack of action during the omicron spike, the House finally took action of their own. Good things can happen when the legislature actually uses their veto-proof supermajority!
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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find all our previous Saturday Scoops archived on our blog.
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State House Scoop
House passes $55 million in covid relief…
In their first formal session since November 17th, the House unanimously passed a covid relief spending bill (H 4340) on Wednesday. The bill allocates $55 million for increased testing capacity, masks for schools, and efforts aimed at increasing vaccination rates among children. This bill comes on the heels of last week’s tense commission meeting in which Governor Baker doubled down on his administration’s response to the omicron variant. This bill is expected to be taken up by the Senate next week.
…and also some other stuff
Legislators took the opportunity of this spending bill to pass some unrelated legislation, including:
- Setting the date of the primary election on September 6th. Still no word on whether voting protections will be in place by then; recall that options for vote-by-mail and early voting in Massachusetts lapsed December 15th. The House is refusing to take up and pass the VOTES Act, passed by the Senate in October, which would address those barriers and more. The clock is ticking especially as spring municipal elections rapidly approach – “I don’t think the municipal elections should be held hostage by [uncertainty over an extension],” Secretary of State Galvin told the Globe. Indeed!
- Extending the deadline for the commission to design a new state seal and flag. Formed a year ago, this commission is tasked with designing a new state seal and flag to replace our current one, which depicts “a colonist’s arm holding a sword above the image of an Algonquin warrior.” (I know, I know, it’s really bad.) As you might recall from our Scoop from December 4th, the commission only met twice and blew past their original deadline. This new bill would extend their deadline twice over from July 31, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022.
Consolidated amendments: a major transparency problem
I realize I risk boring you by lingering on this one bill, but what’s life without a little risk? Here’s the deal: 23 amendments were filed to the covid relief bill. Instead of voting on each one individually, leadership consolidated them into something aptly called a “consolidated amendment.” This means all 23 amendments are squished into one, which will then receive a vote. Here’s the problem: the Speaker has total control over the content of the final consolidated amendment. He can change the language, add new stuff, and get rid of some of the original language altogether. As a rep, your amendment can easily get “consolidated away” - gonzo, dust, vaporized, sucked into a black hole - and there’s not a lot you can do about it.
Unsurprisingly, this process isn’t at all transparent to the public. For example, why did the amendment to allow municipalities to hold meetings remotely make it into the consolidated amendment, but the amendment clarifying the definition of a “high quality mask” didn’t? We have no insight into their reasoning.
Briefing on no cost calls bill
On Wednesday, the legislative Criminal Justice Reform Caucus held a briefing to discuss a bill that would make phone calls to incarcerated individuals free (S.1559/H.1900). You read that right: currently the state of Massachusetts charges a pretty penny for phone calls to incarcerated friends and family. After the first 10 minutes each month, calls cost $2.10 per ten minutes. Not only is this a needless barrier and burden for low-income families, we also know that having frequent calls with loved ones makes an incarcerated individual’s chances of re-incarceration far lower.
Lydia Edwards sworn in as Senator
Newly minted Senator Lydia Edwards was sworn into the Senate this week, making history as the first woman and person of color to represent her district. Her predecessor, Joseph Boncore, left the Senate to take a position as a registered lobbyist. As did his predecessor. And, yes, his predecessor's predecessor as well.
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Take Action
Rally for Utility Debt Relief: TODAY 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!
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Thank you for a phenomenal Prison Moratorium Forum!
Nearly 300 attendees crowded into our virtual meeting hall Thursday night to hear from legislators and activists about S.2030/H.1905, An Act Establishing A [5-year] Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium. Thank you to our amazing panelists, all of you who attended, called and tweeted your rep, and signed up to volunteer! We’ll have a recording of the event available shortly. In the meantime, it’s not too late to call the decision makers, tweet your rep, and sign up to volunteer.
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And last, a not-so-fun-fact to kick off your weekend
Big bills that are certain to pass are often the target of dozens or hundreds of amendments. Many of these amendments have little to do with the actual bill, but you can’t blame the reps for trying; the likelihood that any given bill will make it to the floor for a vote is minuscule (and essentially zero if the Speaker doesn't like you). On the other hand, amendments to a bill that is already coming to the floor for a vote must be addressed in some way. Unfortunately, amendments often get “consolidated away,” and even when they don’t, leadership has been known to threaten reps with retaliation to convince them to withdraw their amendments.
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Thanks for making it all the way to the end of this dense edition of the Scoop! Stay safe and warm (but not unseasonably warm) out there.