THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, MAy 23, 2025 Page 25 BEACON | FROM PAGE 24 must be considered at the beginning of the debate on the budget. The rule was followed, and debate on Lombardo’s amendments began at around 11:35 a.m., on Monday, April 28, the first day of budget debate, shortly after opening remarks about the budget. This timeline means that all members should have been aware Lombardo’s amendments would be considered around that time – thus allowing members to make plans to be in the chamber around that time and to stand up to request roll call votes if they chose to. Lombardo told Beacon Hill Roll Call, “Manager of the Republican Caucus, Brad Jones directed his lieutenants to remove themselves and caucus members from the chamber or refuse to stand in support of roll call votes on critical tax relief measures. Jones conspired with the Democrats, something I personally witnessed, to protect them from having to be recorded on these important roll calls. In exchange for his service to the majority party, Jones received $250,000 in earmarks [in the pending state budget for projects in his district].” Lombardo continued, “For 30 years, Brad Jones has sabotaged the Republican Party, its candidates and, most importantly, the taxpayers of Massachusetts. When the head of the House GOP conspires with Democrats to block roll calls on tax cuts, it is nothing short of a betrayal of the taxpayers. Brad Jones has been institutionalized. His loyalty is to the uni-party on Beacon Hill and not to taxpayers who so desperately need a strong opposition voice in the Statehouse.” Lombardo elaborated to Beacon Hill Roll Call about the $250,000 in earmarks that he said Jones received. He pointed to an amendment which included earmarks for many members’ districts including $250,000 for North Reading, Reading, Middleton and Lynnfield -- all of which are in Jones’ district. Lombardo said that the category in which the $250,000 was listed was Labor and Economic Development but noted that none of Jones’ earmarks fit that category. Lombardo contends that the $250.000 was inappropriately rushed into that category at the last minute to reward Jones for preventing roll calls on the tax reduction amendments. “How could that one-off recategorization happen?” asked Lombardo. “Wouldn’t it require cooperation from Ways and Means to do this unique maneuver? Would it benefit the Republican leader, who was under scrutiny for his collaboration with the Democrats, to not have earmarks awarded along the way and push it to the end in hopes of less attention. It’s not rocket science to figure out what happened.” Jones’ supporters say the charge that Jones received $250,000 in earmarks in exchange for preventing roll calls on Lombardo’s amendments is unfounded. They note that for years, including this year, many representatives have gotten money, earmarked for their districts, in the state budget. Beacon Hill Roll Call set out to find out if any of the other GOP members, besides Reps. Boldyga, Gaskey, McKenna, Pease, Sweezey and Thurber, were in the House chamber during the standing votes on requiring a roll call on Lombardo’s amendments. Beacon Hill Roll Call e-mailed each of these remaining 17 Republicans twice asking them if they were in fact in the chamber during those standing votes; if not, why not; if they were in the chamber, did they stand up to request a roll call vote; and if not, why didn’t they do so? Rep. Dave DeCoste (R-Norwell) was one of only two members who responded. Decoste’s first response to Beacon Hill Roll Call on May 2 was that he didn’t remember if he was in the chamber for those standing votes. Two days later, on May 4th, he revised his response and said that “having read the articles since our last correspondence, I was there for those particular votes.” In both responses he said that he has always stood to request a roll call every time it was requested by any member since he first took office in 2019. The other representative who responded was Rep. Paul Frost (R-Auburn), who serves as part of Jones’ leadership team. He told Beacon Hill Roll Call, “No one directed anyone to not stand or not be in the chamber. Rep. Lombardo has failed to attend caucus meetings to discuss his initiatives, and many members have grown tired of his antics in attacking fellow Republican caucus members on social media and in the media. He has shown he is not interested in helping the GOP House Caucus and needs to look in the mirror when caucus members may not be inclined to back him. I would also point out there were roll call requests we did not get because Rep. Lombardo wasn’t in the chamber himself.” Lombardo denied that he wasn’t in the chamber to request roll call votes on any of Jones’ amendments. He said, “Even after Jones coordinated to ensure no roll calls [on my amendments], I stood for his request for roll calls immediately after.” Lombardo continued in response to Frost’s criticism. “I would note that I e-mailed the entire [Republican] caucus Sunday night telling them of my amendments and request for roll calls,” Lombardo said. “I wasn’t at [the Republican caucus] as I was hosting three Billerica High School State Championship teams. Paul Frost is paid handsomely to blindly defend Republican Manager Jones. Both are truly institutionalized and work for the uni-party. I wish him luck as he goes back to his district and explains his vote in favor of a $5 million legal defense fund for illegal immigrants.” There were 15 GOP members who did not respond to Beacon Hill Roll Call. They are Reps. Donald Berthiaume (R- Spencer); Michael Chaisson (R-Foxboro); Kimberly Ferguson (R-Holden); Steven Howitt (R-Seekonk); Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury); John Marsi (R-Dudley); David Muradian (R-Grafton); Norman Orrall (R-Lakeville); Todd Smola (R-Warren); Michael Soter (R-Bellingham); Alyson Sullivan-Almeida (R-Abington); Marcus Vaughn (R-Wrentham); David Vieira (R-Falmouth); Donald Wong (R-Saugus); and Steven Xiarhos (R-Barnstable). Jones himself did not respond to Beacon Hill Roll Call’s request to comment on the entire situation. However, he spoke to reporters following the incident. “I’m not going to go waste my time working with people who just want to kick me,” said Jones. “It’s kind of human nature. It’s not Republican, not Democrat … it’s just human nature. [Rep. Lombardo] is obviously still hurting over the fact that he got smoked [in the election for minority leader].” Jones noted that in January he appointed Lombardo and Lombardo supporter Rep. Nick Boldyga to the Revenue Committee because he knew taxes were an “important issue to them, as evidenced by the amendments that they filed.” “They’ve never shown up to the Revenue Committee, as has been told to me by both my staff as well as others,” Jones said. “I think there’s also an element within the caucus that, I will say includes me, that you’ve seen some of the tweets and X comments both during the leadership fight and since then that, I think, frankly, people are tired of and don’t think it’s particularly productive and constructive.” Lombardo responded, “Jones is upset that he has been exposed as an institutionalized member who serves the Beacon Hill machine and not the taxpayers and he’ll say anything to distract from that truth being understood by the public. Jones failed to act like the Republican leader by holding the Democrats accountable for roll calls on important tax policy, received immediate backlash from the public, and is desperately trying to justify his conspiring with the Democrats.” HIRING FREEZE - Gov. Maura Healey announced that she will be implementing a hiring freeze across the Executive Branch, beginning May 27, in response to “widespread economic uncertainty at the national level and a tightening state budget outlook for fiscal year 2026.” The Healey Administration said that the hiring freeze will apply to all Executive Branch agencies and departments and there will be no formal waiver process. However, consistent with common practice during past hiring freezes, exemptions will be made for certain positions, including public safety officers and direct care providers. “The people of Massachusetts expect us to protect and maximize their tax dollars and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Gov. Healey. “Tariffs and funding cuts from Washington are causing so much economic damage and instability. We are taking this step to prepare for more uncertain economic times, protect taxpayer dollars and move our state forward while ensuring funding will be available for the vital services people need.” “As we navigate the close of fiscal year 2025 and prepare for the start of the new fiscal year in July, the governor’s action to implement a hiring freeze across the executive branch will give us added flexibility in the budget to respond and react to unforeseen program needs BEACON | SEE PAGE 26
26 Publizr Home