We finally have a budget!
Well, sort of: legislative leaders announced Friday afternoon that the House and Senate negotiators have come to an agreement on the final version of the FY2024 budget. Does the final version include permanent free public school meals, debt-free community college, or ensure that undocumented students in MA can receive in-state tuition?
We don’t know. The details of the roughly $56 billion budget are likely to be revealed shortly before coming to a vote on Monday. And not a moment too soon; budget negotiations have been going on for eight weeks, blowing past the deadline by about a month.
Unfortunately, our lawmaker’s shocking lack of urgency isn’t specific to the budget; this session continues to be the slowest and least productive in a decade. Governor Healey has signed 22 bills since her inauguration, almost all of which have been minor local items.
All this leads me to ask: what in the Sacred Cod is going on in there?
“‘There’s a sense of complacency in the Massachusetts Legislature,’ Jonathan Cohn, political director for Progressive Massachusetts, told Playbook. ‘When you have a situation where most of them never face any type of electoral challenge — primary or general — if you don't finish something, you can get the band back together in the next legislative session.'"
Jonathan’s right: if our lawmakers have no fear of losing reelection, they don’t feel urgency to deliver victories to their constituents. Compare lethargic Beacon Hill to the Michigan and Minnesota legislatures who have been putting their newly-secured Democratic trifectas to work by passing a deluge of progressive bills.
Ah, Massachusetts exceptionalism.
State House Scoop
Senate passes supplemental spending bill
On Wednesday the Senate passed a slimmed-down version of a supplemental spending bill the House passed two weeks before. Totaling $513 million, the bill includes funding for hospitals, special education, and recent public collective bargaining agreements. Of the 30 amendments filed, 29 were killed on a voice vote (i.e. there was no vote, leadership just chose the outcome they wanted). The only approved amendment was a technical fix proposed by Senate leadership. Not exactly a riveting exchange of ideas.
And because the Senate used an unusual procedure to bring the bill to a vote, it’s possible that the bill will now have to go back to the House for another vote, rather than to a conference committee, the typical next step. This led to House Speaker Mariano and Senate President Spilka sparring in the press–just one of a number of points of mounting tension between the House and Senate this session, including the lack of compromise on the tax cut bill, the drawn out budget negotiations, the fractured TUE committee drama, and not to mention…
Omnibus gun bill punted to fall due to House-Senate dispute
A stated priority of Speaker Mariano’s, an omnibus gun control bill has become a major source of infighting on Beacon Hill, and not for the reasons you’d think; apparently, the House wants the bill to be assigned to the Judiciary Committee, whereas the Senate wants it in the Public Safety Committee. That’s right–they’re delaying a gun control bill that could save lives because they can’t agree on the committee.
Why the stalemate? It might have something to do with, you guessed it, transparency. Or should we say, the lack thereof. According to Politico Playbook, some Democratic reps are concerned that the Speaker will eventually bring the bill to a vote without a public committee hearing: “‘If you want to have greater transparency in government, which everybody wants, the minimal thing we need to do is have a public hearing,’ one Democratic representative, granted anonymity to speak freely about the situation in a chamber where openly bucking leadership can lead to consequences, told Playbook.”
It cannot be overstated how uncontroversial government transparency is as an issue, even among lawmakers. Similarly, it cannot be overstated how scared they are to support it publicly.
Auditor asks Attorney General to take Legislature to court
Months after President Spilka and Speaker Mariano refused to comply with the Auditor’s request to review the Legislature, Auditor DiZoglio has initiated plan B: suing the Legislature. But in order for one state entity to sue another, Attorney General Andrea Campbell needs to sign off, putting the ball squarely in her court. Time will tell if Campbell will greenlight the litigation, but if I know one thing about the MA Legislature, it’s that it could use an audit.
Senate staff renews union push, followed by raise from Spilka
Senate staffers announced their unionization in April of last year in the wake of two devastating reports of state house staff treatment, including accounts of low and unequal wages, poor working conditions, and harassment. Citing ambiguous state law, President Spilka refused to voluntarily recognize the union (which, in a Disney villain-like move, she announced three days before the end of the session last summer, a time during which state house staff were working overtime for no extra pay including a 23-hour long final session).
Senate staffers renewed their efforts on Monday by holding a virtual event on the bill to explicitly allow them to collectively bargain (one of our Sunlight Agenda bills!). And a little star power never hurts; U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley spoke at the event, giving her full-throated support for the union. Just two days later, Spilka announced a 7.5% wage increase for all Senate staff. This raise does not by any means alleviate the need for a union, but it goes to show: powerful people respond to pressure. Or as Rep. Pressley said, “When we fight, when we organize — we win.”
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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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Take Action
Testify in support of the Sunlight Agenda!
THANK YOU to everyone who gave written or oral testimony in support of two of our Sunlight Agenda bills during their committee hearing on Wednesday! Having a strong showing at the committee hearing is absolutely essential to build momentum for grassroots-led advocacy. Here are the two bills:
H.3121: An Act relative to the open meeting law
S.2064: An Act extending the public records law to the Governor and the Legislature
If you haven’t already, take a minute today to submit written testimony in support of these pro-transparency bills. Although the formal deadline has passed, you can still submit testimony through MAPLE. This means your testimony won’t be in the “official” record for that bill, but it will be sent to your lawmakers and the committee chairs, ensuring those in charge are feeling the pressure. Plus, by crowdsourcing and publishing testimony online, MAPLE allows us to create our own testimony record for the bill. In other words, if the State House refuses to make testimony public, we’ll do it ourselves!
Find the link to submit testimony, check out sample testimony, and find everything else you need to know here in our Testimony Toolkit:
CHECK OUT OUR TESTIMONY TOOLKIT >>
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Last, an actually fun fact to kick off your weekend
When they weren’t squabbling with their colleagues in the House, the Senate unanimously passed some important legislation on Thursday. One bill (S.2425) would make it easier for people to change their gender, including to a gender-neutral option, on birth their certificate–something already available in 16 states plus D.C. The other bill (S.2251) would require the RMV to establish a process through which people without a permanent address (i.e. unhoused Massachusetts residents) can apply for a state ID.
Although modest in their scope and cost, passing these two bills into law would have an enormous impact on some of the most marginalized groups in our community. But remember: they still must be passed by the House before getting to Healey’s desk, and that’s far from a sure thing. Last session the Senate passed similar bills which ended up dying as so many do: in House Ways & Means. Sorry, sorry, I know I said it would be a fun fact, but I couldn't help myself!
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That's all for this week! With the Legislature in recess all August, the next month will likely be a slow one on Beacon Hill--just when you thought it couldn't get any slower.
Hoping the start of your August is as relaxing as the Legislature's,
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass
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