I’m just here for the t-shirt.
or so Ways & Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz quipped at an event on Monday when he was asked by a reporter what the House would be voting on during the formal session three days later.
You heard right – the House finally held their first formal session in over 11 weeks on Thursday. So, what did they rouse the state reps back from their summer doldrums to vote on? Surely it must be the budget, which is already two weeks late. No? Oh, well, then it must be the big tax cut bill that has been in closed-door conference committee negotiations for weeks. Not that either? Nor the road and bridge repair bill that’s been hung up in conference committee, nor the joint rules, nor omnibus gun legislation that the Speaker has promised?
Nope. The House passed a supplemental spending bill on Thursday.
This spending bill was crafted, you guessed it, entirely behind closed doors. And as Rep. Michlewitz helped ensure by dodging reporter questions, the public (and rank and file state reps) only learned what was coming to a vote about 24 hours before the vote took place.
We at Act on Mass have advocated for years to require that bills be made public 72 hours before they come to a vote. This amendment died in 2019 with 103 voting against, 55 in favor. See how your rep voted here. A similar amendment in 2021 to require 48 hours to review a bill also died, this time 119 to just 39. See how your rep voted on that amendment here.
Why doesn’t legislative leadership want to give the public, activists, and even their fellow lawmakers more time to read bills and draft amendments? Because that’s exactly what they don’t want – amendments, debate, scrutiny. You know, democracy.
State House Scoop
House nixes disaster relief for Western Mass, includes funding for harmful housing incentive
The House passed a $693 million supplemental budget bill on Thursday including, among other line items, funding for strained hospitals and recent public employee collective bargaining agreements. Crafted largely by Speaker Mariano and Ways and Means chair Rep. Michlewitz, the bill was revealed to legislators and the public less than 24 hours before the formal session was scheduled to begin.
Despite the tight turnaround, a handful of reps were able to file amendments. Namely, several members of the Western Mass delegation requested emergency funds to respond to the catastrophic flooding in the region earlier this week. Unfortunately, these amendments never even got a vote; they were “consolidated away” by House leadership during private meetings in the Speaker’s lounge. (See a full explanation of the consolidated amendment process here.) Worse, the consolidated amendment they drafted mysteriously included a brand new provision. This provision lifted the cap on HDIP funding – a market-friendly housing program that has been shown to incentivize gentrification more than affordable housing (read more about that here). Only two Democrats had the courage to vote against this consolidated amendment: Reps. Erika Uyterhoeven and Mike Connolly.
It bears repeating: at every turn, House leadership made it intentionally difficult to give input or dissent. For one, this bill didn’t have a hearing. In addition to giving less than 24 hour notice before the vote, the Speaker gave the reps just 17 minutes to read the new consolidated amendment before voting on it. We, as Massachusetts residents, each have one representative in the House tasked with representing our interests. How are they supposed to advocate for us in a piece of legislation they did not get to participate in crafting? Hell, that they hardly got to read?
Bill highlight: The CHERISH Act
In 2014, the Higher Education Finance Commission released a bombshell report showing that public higher education in Massachusetts has been critically underfunded, and is actively being defunded; funding had dropped an astounding 30% since 2001 even as enrollment was rising. This has resulted in higher tuition, staff layoffs, increased “adjunctification” of staff, and a backlog of needed building repairs.
Enter: The CHERISH Act (or, An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system) (H.1260/S.816). This bill, which has been filed in the Legislature in one form or another since 2019, would fully fund Massachusetts public higher education and ensure that public higher education is debt-free for all. Unless we pass CHERISH, higher education will become increasingly inaccessible, especially for people from middle and low-income communities; tuition and fees have risen 52% since 2000. The increase in median household income during that same time? 13%. You do the math.
Luckily, we have reason to be hopeful: the Massachusetts Teachers Association (“MTA”) is considering putting debt-free college on the ballot in 2024. Even more luckily, 81% of registered voters would vote “yes” on a ballot question of the CHERISH Act, according to a recent poll. This is extremely exciting – we may finally make high quality higher education accessible to everyone here in Massachusetts. But this also throws into stark relief the Legislature’s brokenness; we’ve defunded public higher education by 30% over the last two decades, and yet Beacon Hill’s top priority this session has been cutting taxes for the wealthy. 81% of voters support the CHERISH Act, but it died both sessions it was filed in the State House. It’s no wonder the MTA is considering taking matters into their own hands.
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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.
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THANK YOU! We reached our fundraising goal!
WE DID IT. We raised $5,249 from our end-of-fiscal year fundraiser throughout the month of June, meaning Act on Mass began our new fiscal year in the black. To everyone who contributed: thank you. You make our work possible. Because of grassroots donors like you, we’re able to not just sustain but build the movement to hold Beacon Hill accountable to the people. And lord knows we need it.
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Take Action
Submit Public Comment for the Healthy Youth Act
24 years after the last time our sex ed curriculum was updated, and 11 years since the Healthy Youth Act, a commonsense bill that would require sex ed to be medically accurate, consent-based, and LGBTQ+ inclusive was introduced, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has introduced a new draft sex ed curriculum that is largely in line with its provisions. BESE has now opened up a 60-day public comment period, which means we have until Monday, August 28th to submit comments for improvements to the draft and advocate for approval of the new framework:
READ THE PUBLIC COMMENT TOOLKIT >>
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Email your electeds opposing ultra-rich tax breaks
Massachusetts needs to prioritize spending to ensure a labor force adequate to our economy’s needs, which requires that families have affordable housing, childcare, educational opportunities, and transportation to make it possible for them to earn a good living. Fill out the form to email your State Legislators NOW and urge them to reject permanent tax breaks for the ultra-rich and large multinational corporations and, instead, use tax dollars to help make Massachusetts more affordable, equitable, and competitive.
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Tell your electeds to cosponsor the Sunlight Agenda
The Sunlight Agenda is Act on Mass’s legislative agenda to restore democratic integrity on Beacon Hill. We have compiled a package of four bills put forward this session that would address our democracy crisis and improve transparency, accountability, and fairness in the State House. Read more about the four bills of the Sunlight Agenda.
ASK YOUR REP TO CO-SPONSOR THE AGENDA >>
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Tuesday 7/25 @7pm: A Panel Discussion with author David Pepper
We at Act on Mass are thrilled to cosponsor an event held by our friends at Indivisible Mass Coalition where author of Laboratories of Democracy and Saving Democracy David Pepper will be joined by panelists to discuss how to make Massachusetts a more robust democracy. RSVP HERE to Join this event:
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That's all for now! I'll be back in your inbox next week.
Until then, stay cool out there.
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass
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