Page 16 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE – Friday, July 12, 2019 employee must provide his or her work telephone number and work email address. Amendment supporters said that requiring the employee’s personal information is an invasion of privacy. They noted that unions have many other ways to contact new employees without using personTHE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senator's votes on roll calls from recent sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. SUBSCRIBE TO MASSTERLIST–IT'S FREE! Join more than 17,000 other people from movers and shakers to political junkies and interested citizens who start their morning with a copy of MASSterList! MASSterList is a daily ensemble of news and commentary about the Legislature, Politics, Media and Judiciary of Massachusetts drawn from major news organizations as well as specialized publications selected by widely acclaimed and highly experienced editor Jay Fitzgerald. Jay introduces each article in his own clever and never-boring, inimitable way. Go to: www.massterlist.com/ subscribe Type in your email address and in 15 seconds you will be signed up for a free subscription. With no strings attached. ALLOW UNIONS TO CHARGE NON-UNION MEMBERS FOR SOME COSTS (S 2273) – The House and Senate approved on a voice vote without a roll call and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker a bill that would allow public sector unions to charge non-members for the cost of some services and representation. The bill was filed as a response to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that public employees cannot be forced to pay fees or dues to a union to which he or she does not belong. Freedom of speech advocates hailed the decision while labor advocates said it was an unjust attack on unions. “The bill levels the playing field for organized labor in the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions,” said Rep. Paul Brodeur (D-Melrose), a key sponsor of the legislation. “Gov. Baker should sign it without amendments to protect collective bargaining rights and prevent free riding.” “The Legislature sent the governor a bill that puts the interests of union bosses ahead of workers,” said Paul Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance which opposes the proposal. “The government has a responsibility to protect its workers and this bill exposes workers to harassment from union bosses and without their consent, provides the personal contact info of state workers to union bosses. The governor would be wise to veto it.” Here are three roll calls from the recent debate on the union bill: USE OF EMPLOYEE’S E-MAIL (S 2273) Senate 6-32, rejected an amendment that would require that all union emails to public employees are “consistent with any e-mail or information technology usage policies of the employer and consistent with all state and federal laws and regulations.” Amendment supporters said it is important to avoid chaos and ensure that when unions use work email addresses of employees, the union follows the same rules that the employers have instituted. Amendment opponents said unions should be able to communicate with its members without interference by employers. They noted that nothing in the bill allows e-mail use by unions to violate state or federal laws. (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Jason Lewis No GIVE PRIOR NOTICE TO USE GOVERNMENT BUILDING (S 2273) Senate 6-32, rejected an amendment to a section of the bill that allows unions to use government buildings to meet with union members. The amendment would require that the union give reasonable prior notice to the government entity. Amendment supporters said this will simply make the rules on using these government buildings the same as the rules that currently must be followed for usage of a room at the Statehouse. Amendment opponents said the amendment is not necessary because the bill already requires that any use not interfere with governmental operations. (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment. A “No” vote is against it.) Sen. Jason Lewis No MAKE PROVIDING PERSONAL CONTACT INFO AN OPTION (S 2273) Senate 6-32, rejected an amendment that would eliminate the requirement that employees give the union their home address, home and cell phone number and personal email address. Instead, the amendment gives new employees the option of providing the union with that personal information. The amendment would leave in place the requirement that the al information. “The amendment … allows a new hire to decide whether his or her personal information can be disclosed to the unions,” said Sen. Dean Tran (R-Leominster), the sponsor of the amendment. “This is an opt-in option for the new employee. “[It is] a common sense amendment simply changing the language within the bill to ensure that personal info, such as an employee’s home address, cell phone number and personal e-mail are kept private, while still allowing union representation to access key work-related contact information.” Amendment opponents said laws have to keep up with the technology and the times. They noted that today’s communication is done via personal cell phone and personal email address, not oldschool home addresses and landline phones. (Readers: Please read carefully what a “Yes” and a “No” vote mean. On this roll call, the vote can easily be misinterpreted. A “Yes” vote is for deleting the requirement that an employee provide personal information and replacing it with an option for the employee to provide it. A “No” vote is for requiring the employee to provide the personal information.) Sen. Jason Lewis No 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 filed. 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 July 1-5, the House met for a total of eight hours and 42 minutes while the Senate met for a total of nine hours and 23 minutes. Mon. July 1 House 10:59 a.m. to 4:02 p.m. Senate 11:09 a.m. to 4:24 p.m. Tues. July 2 House 11:00 a.m. to 12:59 p.m. Senate 11:05 a.m. to 1:33 p.m. Wed. July 3 House 11:04 a.m. to 12:44 p.m. Senate 11:07 a.m. to 12:47 p.m. Thurs. July 4 No House session No Senate session Fri. July 5 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Savvy Senior How Seniors Can Spot Fake News Dear Savvy Senior, I recently read that seniors are the number one purveyor of fake news on the Internet. Is this true, or is it fake news too? If it’s true, how can seniors go about spotting fake news? Faked Out Senior Dear Faked Out, Yes, it’s true. According to a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, people aged 65 and older are almost four times more likely to share fake news on social media than younger people. Why do older users share fake news more often? There are two theories. The first is that seniors, who came to the Internet later, sometimes lack the digital literacy skills of their younger counterparts to identify false or misleading content. The second is that many older people experience cognitive decline as they age, making them more likely to fall for hoaxes. What is Fake News? Fake news is not new, but it is more prevalent than ever before because of the Internet and social networking, which enables it to spread like wildfire. Fake news is false news stories, hoaxes or propaganda created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers. Usually, these stories are created to either influence people’s views, push a political agenda or cause confusion and can often be a profitable business for online publishers. Also note that some fake stories aren’t completely false, but rather distortions of real events. These deceitful claims can take a legitimate news story and twist what it says, or even claim that something that happened long ago is related to current events. How to Spot Fake News Here are some tips from the International Federation of Library Associations, Harvard University and Facebook that can help you spot fake news stories. Be skeptical of headlines: False news stories often have catchy headlines in all caps with exclamation points. If shocking claims in the headline sound unbelievable, they probably are. Look closely at the Web link: A phony or look-alike link may be a warning sign of false news. Many false news sites mimic authentic news sources by making small changes to the link, for example “abcnews.com.co” (an illegitimate site) versus the actual “abcnews.com.” Investigate the source: Ensure that the story is written by a source that you trust with a reputation for accuracy. If the story comes from an unfamiliar organization, check their “About” section to learn more. You can also find a list of websites that post deceptive and fake content at FactCheck.org – type “misinformation directory” in their search feature to find it. Watch for unusual formatting: Many false news sites have misspellings or awkward layouts. Read carefully if you see these signs. Inspect the dates: False news stories may contain timelines that make no sense, or event dates that have been altered. Check the evidence: Check the author’s sources to confirm that they are accurate. Lack of evidence or reliance on unnamed experts may indicate a false news story. Look at other reports: If no other news source is reporting the same story, it may indicate that the story is false. If the story is reported by multiple sources you trust, it’s more likely to be true. Is the story a joke? Sometimes false news stories can be hard to distinguish from humor or satire. Check whether the source is known for parody, and whether the story’s details and tone suggest it may be just for fun. Do some fact checking: There are many good websites, like PolitiFact.com, Snopes.com and FactCheck.org that can help you fact check a story to help you identify fact versus fiction. These sites have most likely already fact-checked the latest viral claim to pop up in your news feed. 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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