17

THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, DECEmbER 8, 2023 Page 17 THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll call votes in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local representatives’ roll call attendance records for the 2023 session through December 1. The House has held 70 roll calls so far in 2023. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each representative was present and voting, and then calculates that number as a percentage of the total roll call votes held. That percentage is the number referred to as the roll call attendance record. In the House, 70.6 percent (113 representatives out of 160) did not miss any roll calls and have 100 percent roll call attendance records, while 29.4 percent (47 representatives out of 160) have missed one or more roll calls. There were 13 representatives who missed eight or more roll calls resulting in roll call attendance records below 90 percent. The four representatives who missed the most roll calls are Reps. Michelle Ciccolo (D-Lexington), Richard Haggerty (D-Woburn), Daniel Hunt (D-Dorchester) and Joan Meschino (D-Hull) who each missed 25 roll calls for a 64.2 percent roll call attendance record. Rounding out the list of 13 representatives who missed eight or more roll calls are the following: Reps. Tram Nguyen (D-Andover) who missed 23 roll calls (67.1 percent roll call attendance record); Mary Keefe (D-Worcester) who missed 13 roll calls (81.4 percent roll call attendance record); Kenneth Gordon (D-Bedford) and Chynah Tyler (D-Roxbury) who each missed 12 roll calls (82.8 percent roll call attendance record); Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield), Adam Scanlon (D-North Attleborough), Kim Ferguson (R-Holden), and Fred Barrows (R-Mansfield) who each missed nine roll calls (87.1 percent roll call attendance record); and Margaret Scarsdale (D-Pepperell) who missed eight roll calls (88.5 percent roll call attendance record. Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted the 13 representatives to ask why they missed some roll calls. Only fi ve of the 13 responded. The other eight were contacted three times but did not respond. The list of nonrespondents consists of Reps. Nguyen, Keefe, Gordon, Tyler, Farley-Bouvier, Scanlon, Ferguson and Barrows. Here are the responses: Rep. Hunt responded: “Up until this date I have not missed a roll call. Last minute, I had to go get my child from daycare Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen because they had a fever. I’ve previously voted in favor of the budget line items and the tax proposal.” Rep. Scarsdale responded: “On September 27 I had to leave the chamber subsequent to roll call #49 due to a preplanned meeting with fi rst responders in my district. This is the only day I have left the chamber during roll call votes during my tenure. I therefore missed roll calls #50 through #57. [Acting] Speaker Alice Peisch made a statement on the floor reflecting the reason I had to leave, and the fact that had I been present I would have voted in the affi rmative for all eight of those roll calls, and this statement is recorded in the House Journal for the day. All eight of those votes resulted in an affirmative outcome either unanimously or by a substantial margin.” Rep. Haggerty responded: “I missed a single day of voting this session on September 27, 2023, when I was unfortunately not able to attend a session due to a family commitment. The fi rst roll call vote was for the tax relief legislation which I had previously voted in favor of, and I would have voted in favor of again. The remaining procedural votes were overrides of the governor’s budget vetoes which were budget items I had previously voted in favor of. I would have voted in favor of each of those as well.” Rep. Ciccolo responded: “This session, I was away from the House chamber during [a] formal session on a single day: September 27th, to attend a work-related conference at which I was learning about single use plastic reduction strategies through reuse and refi ll. This was the day the budget overrides were being taken up and H 4104 was being enacted. There were an unusually high number of roll call votes on that single day. Fortunately, the vast majority of the items voted on were items on which I had previously voted during the budget and during H 4104’s original engrossment, so my record in the affi rmative on these matters should be clear.” Rep. Meschino responded: “I was traveling internationally in September when the House scheduled a formal session. I made the commitment well over 15 months earlier. I had no way to know [what] the session schedule would be. The House voted [for] two conference committee reports and a series of budget veto overrides. I only missed the one day of formal session, but the House took up quite a few votes that day.” REPRESENTATIVES’ 2023 ROLL CALL ATTENDANCE RECORDS THROUGH DECEMBER 1, 2023 The percentage listed next to the representatives’ name is the percentage of roll call votes on which the representative voted. The number in parentheses represents the number of roll calls that he or she missed. Rep. Joseph McGonagle 100 percent (0) ALSO, UP ON BEACON HILL BAN HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE THAT TARGETS THE HOMELESS (H 3963) – The State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee held a hearing on a proposal that would prohibit the state, the MBTA and cities and towns from constructing “hostile architecture” that supporters of the ban say targets the homeless and tries to push them out of certain areas. The bill defi nes hostile architecture as “any building or structure that is designed or intended to prevent unhoused individuals from sitting or lying on the building or structure at street level.” According to Robert Rosenberger, an associate professor of philosophy at Georgia Institute of Technology, who has studied and written extensively on the subject, hostile architecture includes armrests that divide benches so that the bench is not long enough to sleep on, sprinklers that are turned on at night and certain trash cans. “Garbage cans … serve several functions for people living unhoused,” said Rosenberger. “Some people use garbage cans as a source of recyclable materials [which] can often be exchanged for a small sum of money. Garbage cans are also sometimes approached as a source of discarded food.” He notes that many newer garbage cans are built so that people cannot reach inside them to obtain recycled bottles or cans or leftover food. Supporters say that family homelessness in Greater Boston has doubled over the last decade, shelters are overcrowded and waiting lists for aff ordable housing are in the tens of thousands. They note that policies that sterilize the homelessness crisis in public spaces are not only inhuBEACON | SEE PAGE 18 Sa nir Sa a y Senior Seni by Jim Miller Smart Home Devices to Help Seniors Age in Place Dear Savvy Senior, I’ve been talking to my mobility challenged mother, who lives alone, about automating her house with some smart home products to make it more convenient. She’s very interested but we’d like to get your opinion as to which types of smart devices are most helpful for seniors aging in place. Searching Daughter Dear Searching, If your mother is game, smart home products – such as smart lights, video doorbells and voice-activated speakers – can be very useful for aging in place. These devices can add safety and convenience to a home by providing voice and app-controlled operation, which is extremely helpful for seniors who have mobility issues or reduced vision. Smart home technology can also provide family members peace-of-mind by giving them the ability to electronically keep tabs on their elder loved one when they can’t be there. If you’re interested in adding some smart home products to your mom’s house, she’ll need home Wi-Fi installed, and she’ll need either a smartphone, tablet or smart speaker to operate them. To help you get started, here are some diff erent types of devices to consider that are very helpful to older adults. Smart speakers: A smart speaker – like the Amazon Echo, Google Nest or Apple HomePod – can serve as the brains of a smart home, controlling the devices with voice commands or automating them. These devices can also play your mom’s favorite music, read audiobooks, make calls, set timers and alarms, provide reminders for medications, appointments and other things, check traffic and weather, answer questions, call for help in emergency situations and much more – all done by voice commands. Smart light bulbs: To help prevent home falls – which are often caused by fumbling around a dark room looking for a light switch – smart light bulbs will let your mom turn on and off the lights by voice command, smartphone or tablet. These bulbs can also change brightness and color and be programmed to come on and off whenever she wants. Smart plugs: These small units plug into a standard outlet and connect to the internet. That means your mom can control whatever she plugs into them – from a space heater to a coff ee maker – using her voice or phone. Video doorbell: Safety is also a concern for older adults, especially those who live alone. A video doorbell would let your mom see and speak to visitors at the door without having to walk over and open it. Smart locks: For convenience and safety, smart locks would give your mom keyless entry to her home, provide customized access to family, friends and caregivers, and let you monitor who comes and goes from your mom’s house. Smart thermostat: This lets your mom preprogram or manually control the temperature in her home with voice command or via phone, and let you monitor it too. Smart smoke alarms: These will alert your mom when smoke or carbon monoxide is detected and will also send alerts to your phone if a problem is detected. Stovetop shut-off : To prevent home cooking fires, smart stovetop shut-off devices, like the IGuardStove, will turn off electric and gas stovetops when left unattended, and will alert you via text. Medical alert system: These devices provide wearable wrist and/or necklace emergency buttons that would allow your mom to call for help if she were to fall or need assistance. Many systems today also provide voice activated and fall detection features, and caregiver tracking apps that will let you keep tabs on her. Cameras and smart sensors: If your mom needs more in-depth monitoring, there are indoor cameras you can install so you can see, hear and talk to her from your phone. Or, if that’s too intrusive, you can install smart contact sensors on her doors so you can know when she comes and goes, or on her refrigerator door so you can know if she’s eating. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. nior ior

18 Publizr Home