Page 26 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2021 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen GET A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO MASSTERLIST–Join more than 22,000 people, from movers and shakers to political junkies and interested citizens, who start their weekday morning with MASSterList—the popular newsletter that chronicles news and informed analysis about what’s going on up on Beacon Hill, in Massachusetts politics, policy, media and influence. The stories are drawn from major news organizations as well as specialized publications selected by widely acclaimed and highly experienced writers Chris Van Buskirk and Keith Regan who introduce each article in their own clever and never-boring, inimitable way. MASSterList will be e-mailed to you FREE every Monday through Friday morning and will give you a leg up on what’s happening in the blood sport of Bay State politics. For more information and to get your free subscriptions go to: www.massterlist.com/subscribe. THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local senators voted with their party’s leadership in the 2021 session. No additional roll calls in the Senate are planned until 2022. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 111 votes from the 2021 Senate session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not quorum calls or on local issues. The votes of the 34 Democrats were compared to Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem (D-Newton), second-in-command in the Senate. We could not compare the Democrats’ votes to those of Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) because, by tradition, the Senate president rarely votes. The senator who voted with Creem the least percentage of times is Sen. Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) who voted with her only 83 times (74.7 percent). Rounding out the top three who voted with Creem the least number of times are Sens. Walter Timilty (D-Milton) who voted with her 91 times (81.9 percent) and Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) who voted with her 96 times (86.4 percent) All in all, 31 of the 34 Democrats (99.1 percent) voted with Creem 90 percent or more of the time — including 11 (32.3 percent) who voted with Creem 100 percent of the time and six who voted with Creem all but one time. The votes of the two Republican senators were compared with those of GOP Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester). In 2021, as in 2020, none of the two voted with Tarr 100 percent of the time. In 2021, the Republican senator who voted the lowest percentage of times with Tarr was Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth) who voted with Tarr 82.8 percent of the time. Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) voted with Tarr 90 percent of the time. SENATORS’ SUPPORT OF THEIR PARTY’S LEADERSHIP IN 2021 The percentage next to the senator’s name represents the percentage of times the senator supported his or her party’s leadership in 2021. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the senator opposed his or her party’s leadership. Some senators voted on all 111 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll calls. The percentage for each representative is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted. Sen. Sal DiDomenico 100 percent (0) 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 fi led. 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 December 13-17, the House and Senate each met for a total of 24 minutes. Mon. Dec. 13 House 11:00 a.m. to 11:12 a.m. Senate 11:05 a.m. to 11:18 a.m. Tues. Dec. 14 No House session No Senate session Wed. Dec. 15 No House session No Senate session Thurs. Dec. 16 House 11:00 a.m. to 11:12 a.m. Senate 11:06 a.m. to 11:17 a.m. Fri. Dec. 17 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Sa enir Sa y Senior Senio BY JIM MILLER H Old Di Dear Savvy Senior, Can you provide any tips to help seniors reduce their auto insurance premiums? I just got hit with a 15 percent increase on my car insurance and am looking for ways to save. Fixed Income Frank Dear Frank, Unfortunately, auto insurance rates went up signifi cantly over the past year as the pandemic eased and more Americans got back on the roads. But there are plenty of ways to cut your premium. To fi nd out what discounts may be available to you, contact your auto insurer and inquire about these options, and any others that may benefi t you. Low mileage discount: Most insurers off er discounts to customers who drive limited miles each year, which is usually benefi cial to retirees who drive less because they don’t commute to work every day. These discounts usually kick in when your annual mileage drops below 7,000 or 7,500, which is signifi cantly less than the typical 12,000 miles most Americans drive a year. Drivers Ed discount: Many states require insurance companies to off er defensive driving discounts – between fi ve and 15 percent – to drivers who take a refresher course to brush up on their safety skills. These courses, off ered by AAA (aaadriver.online/register/roadwise) and AARP (aarpdriversafety.org), cost $20 to $30 and can be taken online. Monitored driving discount: Many insurance providers off er discounts based on how and when you use your car. To get this, the insurer would provide a small monitoring device that you would place in your car to track things like your acceleration, braking habits, driving speeds, phone use and when you drive. Drivers are rewarded between 10 and 50 percent for safe driving and for not driving late at night. In addition, many insurance providers also off er discounts to drivers who do not have any violations or accidents for three or more years. Membership discounts: Organizations that you belong to can also lower your insurance premium. Insurers offer discounts through professional nior C S ior How Older Drivers Can Save on Auto Insurance associations, workers’ unions, large employers or membership organizations such as AAA, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, AARP, etc. You could even qualify for savings based on the college you attended or the fraternity or sorority you belonged to decades ago. Bundle policies: If your auto policy is issued by a diff erent company from the one insuring your life or home, call each insurer and ask if bundling the policies would be cheaper. Improve your credit: You may be able to lower your car insurance premium by paying your bills on time and reducing the amount of debt you carry. Insurers look at how their customers manage credit to get an idea of risk and to price policies. Better rates are given to those with good credit scores, typically 700 or above. Increase your deductible: While it’s not right for everyone, paying a higher deductible could save you big on premiums. For example, raising your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce the cost of your collision and comprehensive coverage by 15 to 30 percent. Going to a $1,000 deductible could save you 40 percent or more. Consider your car model: If you’re shopping for a new vehicle, call for an insurance quote before you decide what to buy. Some vehicles are safer and cost less to repair than others. Insurance companies collect data about each make and model and use it to determine how much to charge customers. Comparison shop: To fi nd out if your current premium is competitive with what other insurers charge, or to help you look for a different provider you should comparison shop. Online brokerages such as CarInsurance.com, TheZebra. com and QuoteWizard.com let you plug in basic details – such as your age and your car’s make, model and year – to compare rates from insurance companies. 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.
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