THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives' votes on one roll call and senators' votes on two roll calls from prior legislative sessions. There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week.

All roll call votes were on the proposal giving Gov. Deval Patrick the power to make cuts to local aid funding in order to balance the fiscal 2009 state budget. Under current law, the governor's power to cut is mostly limited to health and human services areas.

LIMIT LOCAL AID CUTS (H 98)

House 20-135, rejected an amendment that would limit Gov. Patrick's local aid cuts to 33 percent of any further fiscal 2009 budget cuts made by the governor. This would replace the section of the bill that limits local aid cuts to 33 percent of the total fiscal 2009 budget cuts which includes the $1 billion in cuts already made in October plus any further cuts. Supporters of the amendment said that this would reduce local aid cuts and offer some support to cities and towns that are already struggling during the recession. Amendment opponents said that the amendment is too limiting and will tie the hands of the governor. (A "Yes" vote is for the amendment limiting local aid cuts to 33 percent of any further fiscal 2009 budget cuts. A "No" vote is against the amendment and favors allowing local aid cuts to be 33 percent of the total fiscal 2009 budget cuts which includes the $1 billion in cuts already made in October plus any further cuts).

Rep. Thomas Calter    No                            Rep. Daniel Webster    Yes

NOTIFY LEGISLATURE BEFORE LOCAL AID CUTS TAKE EFFECT (H 98)

Senate 10-28, rejected an amendment prohibiting any of the governor's proposed local aid cuts from taking effect until the Legislature has seven days to review them. Current law makes the cuts effective immediately after the governor proposes them. The amendment does not require the Legislature to approve the cuts prior to their going into effect. Amendment supporters said that this would take some of the unilateral cutting power away from the governor and at least allow legislators to review them prior to their taking effect. They argued that this would give the Legislature the opportunity to take action to change any of the cuts. Amendment opponents said that this amendment would delay the cuts. They argued that quick action is necessary in order for the state to get out of this financial mess. (A "Yes" vote is for the amendment prohibiting any of the governor's proposed local aid cuts from taking effect until the Legislature has seven days to review them. A "No" vote is against the amendment and puts the cuts into effect immediately).

Sen. Robert Hedlund    Yes

GOVERNOR MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PAST LOCAL AID CUTS (H 98)

Senate 7-31, rejected an amendment requiring the governor, when making local aid cuts, to consider whether a city or town has recovered from the local aid cuts made in 2002. Amendment supporters said that 66 communities have not yet seen their local aid return to the level that it was at prior to the 2002 cuts. They said that the governor should take this into consideration and make fewer local aid cuts to these communities. Amendment opponents said that the governor needs total flexibility to make these difficult local aid cuts. They argued that if the Legislature ties his hands, the cuts will be delayed or will never happen. (A "Yes" vote is for the amendment requiring the governor to consider whether a city or town has recovered from the local aid cuts made in 2002. A "No" vote is against requiring the governor to consider this).

Sen. Robert Hedlund    Yes

 

ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL

STREET RODS AND CUSTOM VEHICLES (H 5194) - A bill that would set up a new system for registering custom vehicles and street rods was pocket vetoed by Gov. Patrick and is now dead. The measure defines a street rod as an altered vehicle manufactured before 1949 and a custom vehicle as an altered vehicle at least 25 years old and manufactured after 1948. A pocket veto occurs when the Legislature approves a bill and then adjourns for the year. If the governor does not act on the measure within ten days, it is considered to be vetoed.

The bill, supported by street rod and custom vehicle enthusiasts, would issue special license plates for these vehicles; hold these vehicles only to the equipment standards specified by law during the year that they were manufactured; prohibit these cars from being used for daily transportation but allow their use for occasional transportation, exhibitions, club activities, parades, tours and similar uses; exempt them from emissions inspections and permit them to display blue dot taillights instead of red taillights.

Supporters say that the bill is modeled after laws in several other states and balances the interests of these car enthusiasts with public safety. They said that the current system of registering these vehicles is confusing and often makes it difficult to comply. A statement from the governor's office said, "These vehicles are sometimes referred to as kit cars because the replica parts come in a kit and are used to build vehicles resembling antique cars.  The bill would have compromised public safety in that it would exempt these vehicles from having red tail lights, and compromised air quality by exempting these vehicles from emissions standards."

MORE POWER TO COLLECT CITY AND TOWN FINES (H 4883) - The governor also pocket vetoed a local option bill that would have increased the power of cities and towns to collect fines for violations of local housing, sanitary and snow and ice removal laws. The measure, effective only in municipalities that adopt it, allows communities to place a lien on properties for outstanding fines. Another provision exempts anyone who in good faith, removes snow or ice from sidewalks abutting their property, from liability for any personal injuries unless the alleged misconduct was gross negligence.

Supporters say that millions of dollars in fines go unpaid under the current system that forces cities and towns to go to Housing Court to collect unpaid fines. They argue that allowing property liens will increase collections and help struggling cities and towns. They note that it should not be so easy to sue property owners when they make a good faith attempt to shovel snow and ice. A statement from the governor's office said, "We were concerned that the legislation would for the first time create different tort standards depending on the community an event occurred in which could cause great confusion in the legal process. It also would have made it much more difficult for those legitimately harmed through negligence of a property owner to obtain redress. "

ASSAULT AND BATTERY ON A FAMILY MEMBER (S 62) - Gov. Patrick signed into law legislation creating a new crime of assault and battery on a family or household member. The measure allows district attorneys to seek felony charges for repeated acts of domestic assault and battery. It would increase the potential maximum prison sentence for these batterers from 2.5 years to five years. Currently, prosecutors can only seek felony charges in domestic abuse cases that result in severe bodily harm. Supporters say that most domestic cases do not result in severe bodily harm and end up being handled as misdemeanors. They note that this perpetuates an ineffective system in which each case is treated as an isolated one rather than as a regular pattern of abuse.

ALLOW PHARMACISTS TO MANAGE PRESCRIPTIONS (H 5188) - The governor signed into law a bill that would allow pharmacists to engage in Collaborative Drug Therapy Management (CDTM) practice under the supervision and direction of a doctor. The CDTM includes giving the pharmacist authority to implement, modify and monitor a patient's drugs; order and perform laboratory and other related tests and provide counseling and education to patients about their medications. Supporters say that this would make Massachusetts the 44th state to adopt this practice that would increase patient safety and health and reduce medication errors and health care costs. They note that many patients enrolled in CDTM programs have improved health and require fewer emergency room visits than those who are not enrolled.

ALLOW POLICE AUCTIONS ON THE INTERNET (H 1981) - Gov. Patrick signed into law a measure allowing police departments to auction off unclaimed items on eBay and other Internet auction sites. Traditional auctions in a physical setting would still be allowed as they are under current law. Supporters say that police auctions should join the Internet revolution and auction items in an easier, streamlined and more cost effective manner. They note that currently many cities and towns spend more money to implement and conduct an auction than they receive in revenue from it.

QU0TABLE QUOTES

"We are currently experiencing an increased spike of fires due to the recession. Additional cuts will devastate the fire service and place firefighters and the people they protect at a great risk of injury and death, as well as greater monetary loss of property and valuables for the people of the Commonwealth."

Robert B. McCarthy, President of Professional Fire Fighters of MA speaking against any local aid cuts.

"Not those Yankees. Those Yankees suck."

Singer James Taylor who performed at the Obama Eastern Inaugural Ball that included the New England states. According to the State House News Service, Taylor was clarifying his remarks welcoming 'the yankees' of New England to the ball.

"I will confess to having sort of blurred vision a lot of the time because I feel like I've spent the last two-and-a-half days weeping, just being so moved."

Gov. Deval Patrick describing his trip to the nations' capital to watch the inauguration of President Obama.

"Under Rep. Brownsberger's proposal, I suspect birthday cakes, Easter and Halloween will need a federal bailout."

Massachusetts Republican party spokesman Barney Keller commenting on legislation that would tax sugared soft drinks, fruit or vegetable drinks containing fifty percent or less natural fruit juice and "non-nutritious" snack food.

HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK'S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature's job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.

During the week of January 19-23, the House met for a total of 11 minutes while the Senate met for a total of six minutes.

Mon.   Jan.  19     No House session

No Senate session

.

Tues.  Jan.  20     House  11:06 a.m. to 11:13 a.m.

Senate 11:03 a.m. to 11:06 a.m.

Wed.   Jan.  21     No House session

No Senate session

 

Thurs. Jan.  22     House  11:05 a.m. to 11:09 a.m

Senate 11:03 a.m. to 11:06 a.m.

Fri.   Jan.  23     No House session

No Senate session

 

Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com