17

THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, DECEmbER 19, 2025 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 2025 session through December 12. The House has held 116 roll calls in the 2025 session. Beacon Hill Roll Call tabulates the number of roll calls on which each representative voted 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. Oftentimes a representative is not able to attend only one or two sessions during which roll calls are held, but since there are sometimes multiple roll calls on each one of those days, the number of roll calls they missed can be high even though they only missed one or two sessions. Eighty-eight (55.3 percent) out of 159 representatives did not miss any roll call votes and had a 100 precent roll call attendance record. Seventy-one (44.7 percent) out of 159 representatives missed one or more roll call votes. The representatives who missed the most roll calls are Reps. John Lawn (D-Watertown) and Marcus Vaughn (R-Wrentham) who each missed 22 roll calls (81.0 percent roll call attendance record). Rounding out the top 15 representatives who missed the most roll call votes are: Nicholas Boldyga (R-Southwick) who missed 20 roll calls (82.7 percent roll call attendance record); Christopher Flanagan (D-Dennis); Judith Garcia (D-Chelsea); Richard Haggerty (D-Woburn); Mary Keefe (D-Worcester); Chynah Tyler (D-Roxbury; and Thomas Walsh (D-Peabody) who each missed 19 roll calls (83.6 percent roll call attendance record.) Marjorie Decker (D-Cambridge) and John Gaskey (R-Carver) who each missed 18 roll calls (84.4 percent roll call attendance record.) Patrick Kearney (D-Scituate) who missed 16 roll calls (86.2 percent roll call attendance record); Tram Nguyen (D-Andover); and Joseph McKenna (R-Sutton) who each missed 15 roll calls (87.0 percent roll call if I missed anything or not. If I attendance record). Lisa Field (D-Taunton) who missed 15 roll calls (72.2 percent roll call attendance record). Rep. Field won a special election to fi ll a vacant House seat. She has only been a representative for 54 roll calls, not all 116 roll calls, and therefore her percentage of roll calls attended is diff erent from Reps. Nguyen and McKenna who both also missed 15 roll calls but have been in offi ce for all 116 roll calls. Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted all 15 representatives and asked them why they missed some roll calls: Eight representatives did not respond last week to repeated requests asking them to explain their absences. They are Reps. John Lawn, Marcus Vaughan, Christopher Flanagan, Mary Keefe, Chynah Tyler, Tom Walsh, Patrick Kearney and Tram Nguyen. Seven representatives responded either last week and/ or when they were asked the same questions in August, when they were also among the representatives who missed the most roll calls. Nicholas Boldyga did not respond last week but responded in August: “A couple of days were missed due to health-related issues in my immediate family. My responsibilities as a father of three young children came fi rst on those days. Unfortunately, unlike the Senate that allows for fully remote participation on all levels, House rules make it diffi cult to even vote remotely.” Judith Garcia responded in August and last week with the same statement: “I missed two days due to illness and two days on official business with the Chelsea delegation, participating in the National All-America City competition in Denver, Colorado, which Chelsea won. One of those four days included 13 roll calls, so it’s important for readers to know that multiple roll calls in a single day do not equal multiple absences.” Richard Haggerty responded in August and last week: In August, he responded, “I missed a single day of voting this session on February 6, 2025, when I was unfortunately not able to attend a session due to a family commitment.” Last week he responded: “I have submitted statements of support for each piece of legislation the House passed to the House Clerk’s Offi ce after missing four engrossment votes this session due to a family commitment.” Marjorie Decker responded last week: “The votes I missed were due to family emergencies, and I sent a letter to the House Clerk’s stating how I would have voted for each of the two formal sessions I was not able to attend.” John Gaskey responded in August and last week: In August, he responded: “[Thirteen roll calls] were on the same day. I was out of town and unavailable. [Three more roll calls] were on the same day [that I was] involved with a delicate constituent issue and chose not to attend, determining it was more important to assist constituents in need than to throw a ‘No’ vote at something I don’t think should be legal.” Last week he responded, “The question has no context and is without merit. The way voting happens, as you know, missing one day has the potential to make it look like a legislator … has missed 20 percent of votes taken. That being said, I answered this question earlier in the year and since, not sure did, it’s likely because of personal reasons.” Joseph McKenna responded last week: “I missed a formal session due to a long-scheduled family trip where I visited immediate family from across the country who I see very infrequently. Though I only missed one day of session, it unfortunately was budget veto override voting, so [it] was a day with the highest number of actual individual votes. Unfortunately, leadership’s ongoing strategy of not scheduling formal sessions until late the Friday before, and further in holding the session agenda until the day before, makes it impossible to avoid such unfortunate occurrences.” Lisa Field responded last week: “In 2024, I committed to a trip to Rome and the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year 2025. The House scheduled a formal session while I was traveling. I missed one day of formal session, but the House took up several votes that day.” REPRESENTATIVES’ 2025 ROLL CALL ATTENDANCE RECORDS THROUGH DECEMBER 12, 2025 Here are the 2025 roll call attendance records of local representatives through December 12. The attendance records are based on 116 roll calls. The percentage listed next to the representative’s name is the percentage of roll call votes on which the senator 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 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ON DEATH CERTIFICATES (H 2383) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that would eliminate the current requirement that death certificates list the social security number of the deceased. “The idea for this bill was brought to me by a constituent who read about this issue and expressed concern,” said sponsor Rep. Rob Consalvo (D-Hyde Park). “Although death certifi - cates are not publicly available to everyone, removing social security numbers from them is a simple step the commonwealth can take to prevent any potential fraud.” Reps. Sean Garballey (D-Arlington) and Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) co-sponsored a similar bill that was also given initial approval by the House. Neither Garballey nor Gordon responded to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them why they fi led the bill and how they feel about its approval. ALLOW MBTA RIDERS TO PAY ONSITE FOR PARKING WITHOUT A MOBILE PHONE (H 3664) – The House gave initial approval to a proposal that would establish an 18-month pilot program requiring that three MBTA parking lots install automated payment machines that allow customers to make in-person payment for daily parking fees by cash or credit card, without the use of a mobile telephone or any other portable electronic device. The MBTA would fi le a report on the effi cacy of the program. The proposal was given initial approval by the House in 2020 but died when the House let it sit in a committee for ten months. Supporters say that people who don’t use a mobile phone or other portable electronic BEACON | SEE PAGE 18

18 Publizr Home