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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 6, 2023 Page 17 It provides funding, training and support to individuals and organizations, enabling them to tackle pressing issues, strengthen communities, and make our commonwealth a better place to live.” “I am vetoing this item because it is not consistent with my House [budget] … recommendation,” said Healey in her veto message. “This is a passthrough and will not impact core Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development programming.” (A “Yes” vote is for the $880,000 million. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Paul Donato Rep. Steven Ultrino Yes Yes SUSPEND RULES TO ALLOW AMENDMENTS TO TAX PACKAGE (H 4104) Senate 3-33, voting along party lines, rejected a motion to suspend the Senate rule that prohibits amendments from being proposed to the conference committee version of the tax package. Republicans supported rule suspension while Democrats opposed it. Supporters of rule suspension said Senate rules allow only a Yes or No vote on the tax package. They argued there are some flaws in the bill and that rule suspension is the only way to allow amendments to be proposed. Opponents of rule suspension said that suspending the rule would result in hundreds of amendments being proposed to the package and lead to starting tax relief debate all over again. They noted that both Republican members of the conference committee signed off on the bill. ( A “Yes” vote is for rule suspension to allow amendments. A “No” vote is against rule suspension.) Sen. Jason Lewis No ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL EQUITY IN EDUCATION - What can our business, political and education leaders do differently to connect Black and Latino students to pathways to careers that our thriving life sciences, health, clean tech and other sectors so urgently need to fill? Join MASSterList, the State House News Service, and the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education on Tuesday, October 24th, for a policy event from 8:15 – 10:30 am at the MCLE New England – 10 Winter Place, Boston (Downtown Crossing), (in-person only). Register for this FREE ev ent: https://w ww . eventbr it e .c om/e/eq - uit y-in-education-tickets-723011084617?aff=BHRC INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE (H 1925, S 1200) –The Labor and Workforce Development Committee held a hearing on legislation that would raise the current $15 minimum hourly wage for workers, including municipal workers, by $1.25 per year until it reaches $20 per hour in 2027. Other provisions index the minimum wage to inflation beginning in January 2028; increase the minimum wage for tipped workers from $6.75 to $12 by 2027 and then set it at 60 percent of the full minimum wage in future years. “Increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour has had a tremendously positive impact on hundreds of thousands of working individuals and families in the commonwealth who have seen their take-home pay increase and improve their standard of living,” said Senate sponsor Sen. Jason Lewis (D-Winchester). “However, due to high inflation, the buying power of $15 has been significantly eroded, and it is estimated by the MIT Living Wage Calculator that a single person living in the Greater Boston area would need to earn more than $22 per hour just to cover the basic necessities of life --and far more to support a family. This is why we need to start phasing in another increase to the minimum wage in Massachusetts." “We know that working families and individuals are under enormous financial stress with rising inflation and increased costs of housing and living,” said House sponsor Rep. Tram Nguyen (D-Andover). ”As workers are struggling to meet their basic needs and provide for their families, I am glad to [file] this bill to provide fair wages in our commonwealth.” UNBIASED SUMMARIES IN CHILD REMOVAL CASES (H 182) - The Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities held a hearing on a proposal that would require the Department of Children and Families (DCF), when considering a child’s removal from his or her family, to establish a case review team that produces summaries that do not include demographic and identifying information such as gender, race, ethnicity, disability, geographic location and socioeconomic status. Sponsor Rep. Joan Meschino (D-Hull) said the bill is designed to prevent discrimination in the child removal processes. “The goal is for DCF to provide a bias-free summary of a child's situation that takes into account safety and risk factors, the family’s strengths and opportunities for supportive interventions before removing a child from their home,” said Meschino. ALLOW CITIES AND TOWNS TO IMPOSE A NEW 2 PERCENT ALCOHOL TAX (S 1773) – The Revenue Committee held a hearing on a bill that would allow cities and towns to impose a local sales tax of up to two percent on alcoholic beverages sold at retail, bars or at restaurants. Municipalities that choose to impose the local tax would be required to use the revenue generated for substance abuse prevention andfor protecting the public health. "There is tremendous unmet need for substance use disorder treatment in every community in Massachusetts," said Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). "This bill would enable interested cities and towns to expand their addiction and public health programming to meet that need." $4 MILLION FOR SECURITY AT FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS - The Healey administration announced that more than $4 million in federal funds have been awarded to address priority security needs at faith-based and community service organizations at heightened risk of a hate crime or terror attack in the Bay State. “Communities rely on nonprofit and faith-based organizations for essential social services, spiritual support and guidance,” said Gov. Healey. “Our administration is deeply committed to ensuring these vital organizations have the tools and resources needed to create safe, inclusive and protected environments. These federal funds provide critical support to our nonprofit and faith communities while strengthening Massachusetts’ ability to uphold our values and celebrate our diversity.” $5.2 MILLION FOR RECYCLING, COMPOSTING AND WASTE REDUCTION - The Healey Administration announced nearly $5.2 million in grant funding to 283 municipalities to bolster their recycling, composting and waste reduction programs. “Residents partner with their communities to help protect the environment by recycling and reusing as much as possible,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. “This important funding will help municipalities implement innovative programs and policies that are proven to maximize reuse, recycling and waste reduction.” QUOTABLE QUOTES “The Green Communities program helps our cities and towns make important investments at the local level to achieve their own climate goals and lower carbon emissions. This moves us forward on our clean energy path and lessens our reliance on volatile fossil fuels, lowering costs and risks for our communities and their residents and businesses.” --- Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper announcing the awarding of $3.3 million in Green Communities competitive grants to 27 municipalities across Massachusetts to fund clean energy projects. “We have taken meaningful strides in recent years to increase the sustainability and resilience of our state’s public transit system. From securing grants to fund environmental initiatives to reducing emissions through fleet electrification, the MBTA is firmly committed to building a greener, more climate-ready transit network.” --- MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng announcing the establishment of a new Climate and Resiliency Policy and Planning team as part of the Policy and Strategic Planning Division that will be tasked with decreasing the T’s and the commonwealth’s environmental footprint and increasing the resilience of the MBTA system. “The data is clear – based on state testing results we know there is lead in most of the taps tested at schools and childcare centers across the state and we know children are the most impacted from exposure to lead. We need policies that get the lead out of faucets and fountains in our schools and pre-schools.” --- Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG legislative director state urging lawmakers to pass a bill to get the lead out of drinking water at Massachusetts schools and childcare centers. "I was proud to file and testify in support of … [a bill] preventing false confessions, a necessary piece of legislation to prevent law enforcement from knowingly or recklessly engaging in deception in order to coerce a confession. Significant research demonstrates that deception can cause suspects to waive their rights and make false confessions. This leads to wrongful convictions and the incarcerFri. Sept. 29 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com Bob founded Beacon Hill Roll Call in 1975 and was inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA) Hall of Fame in 2019. ation of innocent persons, the denial of justice to victims and ongoing risks to public safety. It is time to end a practice that undermines the effectiveness of our criminal justice system." ---Sponsor Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian (D-Melrose) testifying before the Judiciary Committee on legislation that would prevent false confessions in Massachusetts by ending the use of deceptive interrogation tactics. 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 latenight sessions. During the week of September 25-29, the House met for a total of eight hours and 23 minutes while the Senate met for a total of two hours and 53 minutes. Mon. Sept. 25 House11:02 a.m. to 11:49 a.m. Senate 11:09 a.m. to 11:53 a.m. Tues.Sept. 26 No House session No Senate session Wed. Sept. 27 House11:01 a.m. to5:16 p.m. No Senate session Thurs. Sept. 28 House11:03 a.m. to 12:24 p.m. Senate 11:22 a.m. to1:31 p.m.

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