Happy November, friend!
I’ve replaced my sundresses with wool sweaters, harvested the last tomatoes from my garden, and am now ending my work day in the dark. All this can only mean one thing: winter is coming.
Or, as they say on Beacon Hill: the holiday recess is coming. Lawmakers have until November 15th to complete any major business for the year until reconvening in January. (Hey, I work on Beacon Hill, sort of—where’s my six weeks of winter break?)
This means there are just two weeks left in the first year of the two-year session, and the only major bill lawmakers have sent to the governor’s desk thus far has been a massive permanent tax cut that disproportionately benefits the wealthy.
And while another year may sound like plenty of time to crank out some bills, the legislative calendar begs to differ; the last five months of the second year of the session (i.e. August through December of 2024) are reserved for informal sessions only, meaning all major business must be wrapped up by the end of July. Plus, budget negotiations will swallow up April through June, conservatively.
All told, this leaves our lawmakers about four months left to pass legislation, like the gun bill passed by the House last month or the long-promised prescription drug pricing and long-term care bills that are kicking around the Senate and House, respectively.
If last session is any indication, legislative leaders (the only ones who can bring a bill to a vote on the floor) will leave most of their to-do list to the last minute in a toxic political cocktail of inter-chamber hardball and incompetence. And when two years’ worth of legislating gets squeezed into two weeks, some good bills get left behind. And who suffers the consequences? The people who would benefit from that policy finally becoming law, and the advocates, who have their movement set back another two years.
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State House Scoop
Migrant crisis: updates + blame game
Last week we dove into how our cherished right to shelter law was in jeopardy as Governor Healey announced she would cap the number of migrant families accepted into our emergency shelter system. Lawyers for Civil Rights requested the Superior Court issue a temporary hold to prevent the Healey administration from turning families away, but a Judge ruled Wednesday that the governor has the authority to limit the scope of the right to shelter law because “the Legislature has failed to act.” To be fair, that does sound like them.
So, heads turned back to legislative leaders, who had a whole lot of nothing to say:
- House Speaker Mariano: “The House continues to work towards providing emergency assistance funding in the coming weeks. However, it is our understanding that the Administration's decision to institute a cap and waitlist has never been tied to the passage of a supplemental budget." (Translation: not my fault!)
- Senate President Spilka: "As the crisis with emergency shelter continues, I am once again joining those asking for help from the federal government to provide much-needed funding, expedited work authorizations, and the resources to establish a congregate site to provide shelter.” (Translation: not my problem!)
- House Ways & Means Chair Michlewitz: “Certainly a lot to consider with everything going on in regard to the money for the migrant shelters, and everything related to that…" (Translation: no comment!)
While the Biden administration offered to expedite the work authorization process for incoming migrants, they have rebuffed all requests for federal funding.
Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, State House News Service reported that the judge who decided the case, Debra Squires-Lee, was an early Healey supporter who even hosted a fundraiser for her in 2014.
AG Campbell rejects Auditor’s request to sue Legislature
This is why it pays to have a backup plan, friend. On Friday, Attorney General Campbell finally responded to Auditor DiZoglio’s request to sue the Legislature to require them to comply with her audit. The response? A resounding “nope.” The AG echoed Mariano and Spilka’s claim that the ambiguity in the law means the Auditor cannot audit the Legislature without their consent.
While this decision is disappointing, it’s not entirely surprising; the possibility of Campbell squashing DiZoglio’s attempt to take the Legislature to court was the impetus behind the Auditor’s ballot petition in the first place. And it’s worth noting that Campbell was endorsed by both Speaker Mariano and President Spilka during her AG bid last year. 👀
*cracks knuckles* Guess we’ll just have to do this ourselves, won’t we? If you aren’t already, join the hundreds of volunteers across the state who are collecting signatures for the ballot question to make explicit in state law the Auditor’s authority to audit the Legislature—even if they don’t like it. Find everything you need to start collecting in our Signature Collection to Audit the Legislature Guide. And don’t wait—the deadline to get the signature sheets back to campaign headquarters is next week!
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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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Housekeeping: THANK YOU! WE HIT OUR GOAL!
WE DID IT! Or more accurately, YOU did it.
Act on Mass supporters donated to ensure we reached our goal of $7,000 by our fundraiser last Sunday! Because of you all, and our generous matching donors, Act on Mass will receive $14,000 to fund our work. We could not be prouder to be a grassroots-funded movement taking on the concentration of power on Beacon Hill. Thank you for making this possible.
And thank you to everyone who came out to Concord for our Costume Party Spooktacular — and Spooktacular it was! Special thanks to Indivisible Acton Area for hosting the shindig, and to Senator Jamie Eldridge for speaking about the need for transparency and democracy reforms at the State House, and his support for our movement.
And one last thanks to the Senator for being an extremely good sport:
Take Action
Submit testimony for these progressive bills:
Ban Native Mascots (S.245/H.477)
- Hearing date: 11/13, 1PM
- Location: Room A-1 and virtually
- Details here
There are dozens of schools in Massachusetts that currently use Native American mascots, which reinforce racist and dehumanizing stereotypes about Indigenous people. They are known to be socially and emotionally damaging to indigenous youth, who have a suicide rate three times higher than their peers.
In addition to lowering self esteem of Indigenous students, these stereotypical depictions of Native Americans reinforce racist beliefs and attitudes in their non-Native peers. S.245/H.477 would ban the use of Native mascots in our schools. The deadline to sign up for virtual testimony is 3:00 PM on Thursday, November 9th.
Medicare for All (S.0744/H.1239)
- Hearing date: 11/14, 10AM
- Location: Room A-1 and virtually
- Details here
Massachusetts has the second highest healthcare costs in the country, with 16% of residents in medical debt — a concept that doesn’t exist in any other industrialized nation. The for-profit employer-based private insurance system in the U.S. leads to poorer outcomes than countries that have single payer universal healthcare.
This bill, first filed in 1986 and every session since 2011, would establish a publicly-financed single-payer healthcare system in the state of Massachusetts guaranteeing full healthcare coverage, free at the point of service. Despite widespread support, the bill has never even made it out of the first committee. The deadline to register to testify is 4:00 P.M. on Thursday, November 8th.
CHECK OUT THE TESTIMONY TOOLKIT >>
TELL MASS-CARE YOU’LL BE THERE >>
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That's all for today! Enjoy the rest of your weekend — especially that extra hour of sleep tonight.
Until next time,
Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass