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| Beacon Hill Roll Call |
| Sunday, February 22, 2009 09:14 PM |
|
THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives' votes on three roll calls from prior legislative sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. EQUAL REPRESENTATION ON ETHICS COMMITTEE (H 2009) House 22-133, voted mostly along party lines and defeated a Republican-sponsored new rule changing the current 11-member Ethics Committee to an eight-member one that would include four Democrats and four Republicans. Current rules provide for seven Democrats and only four Republicans on the 11-member committee. On the roll call, only six Democrats joined the GOP and voted in favor of the rule. Supporters of the new rule said that a balanced membership, regardless of which party controls the House, would create a truly bipartisan committee and ensure that investigations into any representative's or employee's conduct are fair and nonpartisan. They noted that the U.S. Congress' Ethics Committee has an equal number of members from both parties. Opponents of the new rule said that no one has challenged the fairness or integrity of the current Ethics Committee with its Democratic majority. They noted that it is illogical to have an equal number of members from each party on the committee when the makeup of the House membership is 144 Democrats and 16 Republicans. (A "Yes" vote is for the rule requiring that the Ethics Committee include an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. A "No" vote is against the rule). Rep. Thomas Calter   No                              Rep. Daniel Webster   Yes                          AUDIT HOUSE ACCOUNTS (H 2009) House 16-138, voted strictly along party lines and rejected a new GOP-sponsored rule requiring the outside, private company that annually audits the financial accounts of the House to operate in accordance with federal standards for audits of government. The proposal also requires that the company have access to the financial records of the House and its committees. Supporters of the new rule said that this would strengthen and improve the auditing of the millions of dollars that it takes to operate the House and ensure that money is not being wasted. They noted that recent audit reports are brief, useless ones which are just a few pages long. Opponents of the new rule said that the audits are already conducted independently and comprehensively and noted that copies of these audits are available to the public. They argued that the amendment goes too far and would destroy the flexibility of the company that performs the audit. (A "Yes" vote is for the rule setting conditions of the audit. A "No" vote is against setting conditions). Rep. Thomas Calter   No                              Rep. Daniel Webster   Yes                          REMOVAL OF COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND LEADERSHIP (H 2009) House 17-137, voted mostly along party lines and defeated an amendment that would change the current rule that allows the speaker to remove a member of the leadership, a committee chair or a vice-chair who has been criminally indicted by a court. Only one Democrat joined the GOP and voted in favor of the amendment that would require rather than allow the removal. The amendment also requires that the speaker remove any member who has been fined the maximum penalty by the State Ethics Commission or had the Office of Campaign and Political Finance refer his or her case of violation to the attorney general. Amendment supporters said that it is time to get serious with legislators who violate state ethics laws or whose cases have been referred to the attorney general. Some amendment opponents said that the amendment goes too far and removes legislators from these leadership positions without any actual indictment. Others said that legislators, not the speaker, should have the power to remove fellow legislators from leadership positions. (A "Yes" vote is for the amendment broadening the circumstances under which the speaker is required to remove a legislator. A "No" vote is against the amendment). Rep. Thomas Calter   No                              Rep. Daniel Webster   Yes                          ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL MORE LEGISLATION PROPOSED - More than 6,000 bills have been filed for consideration in the 2009-2010 session. Here is a look at some: ABORTIONS FOR WOMEN UNDER 18 - This measure would allow pregnant women under 18 to get an abortion, without parental permission, if they receive counseling on alternatives to abortion from a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, nurse, social worker, clergyman or teacher. Last year the bill was shipped off to a study committee where it died. INCEST - This bill would expand the definition of incest to include sexual relationships with adoptive parents and stepparents. The measure was first proposed in 2004 in response to a court ruling that a stepfather could not be charged with incest for having intercourse with his stepdaughter. Last year the bill was shipped off to a study committee where it died. PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TRANSGENDER PEOPLE - This legislation would prohibit discrimination against transgender people by adding gender identity protection to the state's non-discrimination and hate crimes laws. Last year the bill died in a study committee. LIMIT TRANS FAT - This proposal would require that public schools meet the nutrition standards set by the USDA by limiting fat, saturated fat and trans fat in all food products served to students, teachers and faculty. NO NAME CALLING DAY - This bill would designate the fourth Wednesday in January as "No Name Calling Day." This day would be set aside to educate the public about the "devastating effects of verbal bullying." The measure goes on to say that "encouraging positive dialogue and pledging not to name call on this designated day reaffirms the commitment of the citizens of the Commonwealth to basic human rights and dignity while respecting differences and promoting tolerance." OFFICIAL CANDY BAR - This measure, filed by Wakefield Brownie Troop 7391, would designate the Charleston Chew as the official candy bar of the commonwealth. QUOTABLE QUOTES "It’s a lot better when the speaker says he’ll work to see it passed." Marc Solomon, MassEquality executive director, in a State House News Service story about the prospects of the passage of a bill that would prohibit discrimination against transgender people. Solomon was referring to Speaker Robert DeLeo's announcement that he supports the bill. "That doesn't mean that I have a sock for $6 billion or $9 million and I get to decide who gets which portion of it. Most of it overwhelmingly comes through specific programs for specific purposes." Gov. Deval Patrick at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Breakfast and Business Forum commenting on the state's anticipated share of the federal economic stimulus package. "Did you actually come with your question written down? That is not a good idea." Gov. Patrick joking with a questioner at the chamber breakfast. "I think that the issue that he raises is one that is a very emotional one for people. I understand it. Frankly, you know what Jim, I think that we are in such a tough, tight economy that all these questions are on the table about where we spend our tax dollars and I understand why people get angry about this and I think it's all fair discussion." Attorney General Martha Coakley responding to a caller on the Jim and Margery Show on WTKK Radio. The caller said that the state rewards bad behavior by providing funds for housing, health care and food stamps for illegal immigrants. 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 February 16-20, the House met for a total of 25 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 15 minutes. Mon.  Feb. 16  No House session No Senate session . Tues. Feb. 17  House 11:00 a.m. to 11:08 a.m. Senate 11:01 a.m. to 11:13 a.m. Wed.  Feb. 18  No House session No Senate session Thurs. Feb. 19  House 10:59 a.m. to 11:16 a.m. Senate 11:05 a.m. to 11:08 a.m. Fri.  Feb. 20  No House session No Senate session |