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THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, OCTObER 14, 2022 Page 19 BEACON | FROM PAGE 14 AGAINST: Written by Louis Rizoli Committee To Protect Public Access To Quality Dental Care www.Protectmydentalcare. com “This question will increase costs for Massachusetts families and employers — a 38 percent premium increase in one recent independent study — and could result in thousands of people losing access to dental care. With consumer prices soaring, we don’t need a new regulation that will increase costs and decrease choice. There is no law like this ballot question anywhere in the nation. The Massachusetts Legislature actually repealed a similar law in 2011 because it proved overly burdensome and provided no real benefits for consumers. Federal lawmakers excluded it from Obamacare, and a special commission in Massachusetts reviewed and rejected a similar provision. Further, the state already requires reporting from dental plans.” ALSO, UP ON BEACON HILL ALLOW CITIES AND TOWNS TO COLLECT CONDO FEES ACCUMULATED DURING FORECLOSURE PROCESS (H 3022) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that applies to cities and towns which have put a tax lien on a condominium property for the owner’s failure to pay property taxes. The measure allows cities and towns to collect, at the time of the foreclosure sale, any condo fees owed to the condo association, during the foreclosure process. Under current law, the city or town can collect only the back taxes but not the condo fees. Sponsor Rep. Brian Murray (D-Milford) recounted a case in which several commercial condos in Milford were placed into tax title because of failure of the owners to pay taxes. He said it took six years until the property finally went to foreclosure, auction and sale. Following the sale, the condo association successfully sued the town for the back condo fees and the town had to pay $60,000 out of its pocket because under current law, it was precluded from recovering the condo fees in the foreclosure and auction process. “I filed this bill to prevent such an occurrence from happening in the future, by providing a municipality the right to recover these [condo fee] costs as an addition to the tax title account and part of the terms of eventual redemption,” said Rep. Murray. “The bill seeks equity for cities and towns to be able to recover all known costs in situations where foreclosures of condominiums, which can take a great deal of time that translates into expense, become necessary due to the failure to pay real estate taxes.” ELECTION LAWS BILLS SENT TO A STUDY COMMITTEE – Several bills affecting the state’s elections laws were sent to a study committee where bills are rarely actually studied and are essentially defeated. It is a way to kill a proposal without holding a vote on the bill itself. Here are some of the election law bills that were sent off to a study committee: MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO PAY SOMEONE TO ATTEND TOWN MEETING (S 467) – Makes it a crime to bribe someone to attend or not to attend their local town meeting and imposes up to a 1-year prison sentence on violators. Current law makes it illegal to pay someone to vote at an election but does not apply to town meetings. “For the integrity of our local government, it is crucial there be no incentive for attendance or absence at a town meeting,” said sponsor Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxboro). “There remains a loophole in the statute that we must work to close. [The bill] does just that by ensuring no payments, or compensation of any kind is exchanged for attendance or absence to a town meeting, similar to a prohibition on compensation in exchange for a vote at the ballot box. I will continue to support this measure in the upcoming legislative session and hope to see this oversight addressed.” ALLOW RESIDENTS TO REQUEST ANONYMITY ON STREET LISTINGS (S 456) – Under current law, all Massachusetts households receive in the mail and must fill out an annual street listing (census) form that includes each resident’s name, address, date of birth, occupation, veteran status and nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, in January of each year. The information is used to maintain voting and jury lists, aid in school enrollment projections and for many other things including veterans’ benefits and proof of residency for state universities. This bill would allow any resident of a city or town to request that his or her information from each city or town’s annual street listing not be posted publicly and not be disclosed to anyone without the person’s permission. Current law allows a few people, including those who are under a court order granting protection or living in a protective shelter, law enforcement and public safety personnel, to request their information be kept confidential. The bill allows anyone to request the exemption. “This straightforward bill would allow town clerks to refrain from making public personally identifiable information about voters if they receive a request from said voter,” said sponsor Sen. Jo Comer ford (D-Northampton). “I was happy to introduce this bill on behalf of a constituent of mine. This bill will not become law this session, but I look forward to further action in this space in subsequent sessions.” REGULATE “PUSH POLLING” (H 821) – Would require anyone conducting a “push poll” to identify the candidate or organization for which he or she is working and inform the interviewee that the telephone call is a paid political advertisement. A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to manipulate or change voters’ views under the guise of conducting an opinion poll. During the call, the “pollster” asks questions related to an opposing candidate for public office which state, imply or convey negative and often untrue information about the candidate’s character, status or political stance or record, with the intent of “pushing” the interviewee toward adopting an - LEGAL NOTICE - unfavorable opinion of the candidate. Anyone violating the law would be fined up to $1,000. Supporters say that push polls are misleading and should be highly regulated. Sponsor Rep. Jim Murphy (D-Weymouth) did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call to comment on why he filed the bill and how he feels about its defeat. ALLOW SOME FELONS TO VOTE (H 829) – Would allow jailed felons to vote in elections unless they were convicted of indecent assault and battery on a child; attempt to commit murder by poison, drowning or strangulation; murder; manslaughter or assault with intent to commit rape; or any other crime for which the person may be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for BEACON | SEE PAGE 20 ENROLLED ORDINANCE PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 1 SECTION 4.5 OF THE REVISED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF EVERETT AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL LAWS Chapter 43, Section 23. ENROLLED:10/11/2022 DATE OF PROPOSED ORDAINMENT: 10/24/2022 CITY COUNCIL………………………………………………….No. C0400-22 IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY-TWO AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 4-5 (AFFORDABLE HOUSING LINKAGE FEES) SUBSECTIONS (d)(4)b. TRANSITION RULES & (d)(7)a. COLLECTION OF LINKAGE FEES Councilor /s/ Stephanie Martins & Stephanie V. Smith Whereas: To add this section to reduce the linkage fee payment period in order to expedite the City of Everett’s ability to invest in affordable housing; and Now, therefore, by the authority granted to the City Council of the City of Everett, Massachusetts to make ordinances: Be it Ordained by the City Council of the City of Everett, Massachusetts that the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett be amended as follows: A full copy of the proposed Ordinance shall be located at the City Clerk’s Office for public inspection. A full copy of the proposed ordinance may also be found beginning on page 70 of the agenda packet for the October 11, 2022 regular meeting of the City Council which can be found at the following link: Packet_20221006144939094.pdf (cityofeverett.com) This ordinance shall take effect upon passage by the City Council and subsequent approval by His Honor the Mayor. A true copy attest Sergio Cornelio, City Clerk October 14, 2022

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