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Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2023 By Bob Katzen If you have any questions about this week’s report, e-mail us at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com or call us at (617) 720-1562 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 Keith Regan and Matt Murphy who introduce each article in their own clever and 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 subscription, go to: https:// lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/ aPTLucK THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call concludes its series on highlighting bills that were approved by the Legislature in 2022 on roll call votes and signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker. ALLOW AMBULANCES TO BE USED FOR INJURED POLICE DOGS – NERO’S LAW (S 2573) Senate 38-0, (House on a voice vote without a roll call), approved and Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law legislation that would require EMS personnel to provide emergency treatment to a police dog and use an ambulance to transport the dog injured in the line of duty to a veterinary clinic or veterinary hospital if there are not people requiring emergency medical treatment or transport at that time. Sponsor Sen. Mark Montigny (DNew Bedford) first filed the bill in 2019 following the tragic death of Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon who was shot and killed in the line of duty. His K-9 partner Nero was severely injured and had to be rushed to the animal hospital in the back of a police cruiser. Nero survived. Montigny also cites the heartbreaking loss of the beloved K-9 Kitt of the Braintree Police Department. “K-9 offi cers protect the men and women in law enforcement as well as the community at-large,” said Montigny. “These animals endure extreme danger from gun violence, narcotics and even explosive materials. Allowing our emergency personnel to provide basic treatment and transport is a commonsense measure that honors their contributions across the commonwealth. Sgt. Gannon was a native son of New Bedford and therefore his K-9 partner Nero is part of our community’s extended family. Words cannot describe the gratitude we have for the Gannon family for their tenacious and compassionate advocacy to get this bill done.” “With Nero’s Law, we have the opportunity to save K-9 members of law enforcement where the opportunity to do so would not place a person at risk,” said Sen. Susan Moran (D-Falmouth). “K-9s are their offi cers’ partners, shields and scouts. Like Nero and Kitt, their job is to put themselves in danger to protect us, and despite the K-9s’ service to our commonwealth, an archaic law stood in the way of measures that could save these valued members of law enforcement. This has gone on long enough.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Was not yet elected MAKE ADOPTION BY FAMILY MEMBERS EASIER (S 2616) Senate 39-0, (House on a voice vote without a roll call), approved and the governor signed into law a bill that repeals a law which prohibits adoption of children by family members including older siblings, aunts and uncles. The proposal would allow these family members, with the permission of the county probate courts, to legally adopt their family members. Current law only allows these family members to apply to become a guardian. Sponsor Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) said that this archaic law was put in place at the beginning of the last century to prevent the potential for inheritance abuse, but the commonwealth has since adopted legal protections, such as conservatorships, to prevent this from occurring. “Our families are often our largest sources of support and what a family looks like can mean diff erent things to diff erent people,” said Lovely. “I fi led [the bill] to better refl ect the realities of the lives of Massachusetts residents who love and care for one another … our most vulnerable youth deserve to be cared for by the people who know and love them, and who can best assess their needs.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Was not yet elected ACCESS TO BIRTH CERTIFICATES (S 2294) Senate 40-0, (House on a voice vote without a roll call), approved and Gov. Baker signed legislation giving equal access to original birth certifi cates to all persons born in Massachusetts. Under prior law, adoptees born between 1974 and 2008 were unable to obtain original birth certifi cates without a court order that also unseals their record. The measure closes this gap and allows adopted individuals over the age of 18 or the adoptive parents of a child under 18 to access the adoptee’s original birth certifi cate without the unsealing of the information. “The Joint Committee on Public Health heard powerful testimony from adoptees who could not access their original birth certifi cate due to a current loophole in state law addressed by this legislation,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton), Senate Chair of the Committee on Public Health. “The Senate took a major step in assuring equality by guaranteeing that all adoptees, regardless of when they were born, will have access to their original birth certifi cate,” said Sen. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer), sponsor of the bill. She noted that she has waited six years for its passage and that so many have waited their entire lives. “We tell them the wait is over and they matter,” said Gobi. “Many adoptees have been waiting their whole lives to learn their history, and I am honored to have played a part in helping them access their original birth certifi cates,” said Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem). “For the sake of preserving our health and well-being, it is crucial to know what physical or mental health conditions to which we may be predisposed. By giving all adoptees born in Massachusetts access to their original birth certifi cates, this legislation closes a 34-year gap granting generations of individuals medical knowledge they have otherwise been denied.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE (S 3097) Senate 39-0, (House on a voice vote without a roll call), approved and Gov. Baker signed into law a bill designed to make mental health care more accessible in the Bay State. Provisions include mandating coverage for an annual mental health wellness exam, comparable to an annual physical; a public awareness campaign on the state’s red fl ag laws that limit access to guns for people at risk of hurting themselves or others; implementation of the nationwide 988 hotline to access 24/7 suicide prevention and behavioral health crisis services; mandating coverage and eliminating prior authorization for mental health acute treatment and stabilization services for adults and children; establishing an Offi ce of Behavioral Health Promotion to coordinate all state initiatives that promote mental, emotional and behavioral health and wellness for residents; and creating an interim licensure level for licensed mental health counselors so that they can be reimbursed by insurance for their services and be eligible for state and federal grant and loan forgiveness programs. “The Massachusetts Legislature took vital strides toward transforming mental health care in Massachusetts,” said Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro), Senate chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. “By unanimously passing the Mental Health ABC Act, we affi rm that mental health is just as essential as physical health and take a leap forward to ensure that all people in Massachusetts can access the mental health care they need and deserve.” “Too many people in communities across the commonwealth struggle to get the mental, emotional and behavioral health care they deserve,” said Rep. Adrian Madaro (D-Boston), House Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. “This legislation helps reduce barriers to resources, support, and treatment residents need for their overall wellbeing. It enables enforcement of existing parity laws, enhances emergency response services and acute psychiatric care, develops programs to strengthen the workforce and invests in mental health. Importantly, our legislation also creates initiatives to address the unique mental health needs of young people. This legislation is the fi rst step in addressing the structural defi cits in our mental health care delivery system by prioritizing the people it serves and the people who make it work.” “The health care system in Massachusetts is only as strong as its weakest link, and for far too long, mental health care has been overlooked and underfunded,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington), Senate Chair of the Committee on Health Care Financing. “This legislation confronts this reality with the most comprehensive mental health care legislation the commonwealth has seen in recent years, and it builds off of the historic investments we made in this care system over this past two-year legislative session. Of particular importance to me, this bill will fi nally provide the state the tools it needs to enforce existing mental health parity laws and it will address the emergency department boarding crisis that’s impacting too many of our children and their families. I have long believed that Massachusetts should deliver affordable, high quality, and accessible care to its residents, and this includes mental health care.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes ALSO, UP ON BEACON HILL PAY HIKES FOR LEGISLATORS, MAURA HEALEY AND OTHERS – The governor, lt. governor, treasurer, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, 40 senators and 160 representatives will all receive pay raises when they assume offi ce on January 3, 2023. Here’s how it all went down last week: Outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker announced that the 200 members of the Legislature will receive a 4.42 percent pay hike for the 2023-2024 legislative session that begins January 3, 2023. The hike will increase the base salary of each senator and representative by $3,117 per year— from the current $70,537 to $73,654. The total cost of the hike for all 200 legislators is $623,400 per year. Baker is required under the state constitution to determine the amount of a pay raise or cut that state legislators would receive for the 2023-2024 session. All Massachusetts governors are obligated to increase or decrease legislative salaries biennially under the terms of a constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 1998. The amendment, approved by a better than two-to-one margin, requires legislative salaries to be “increased or decreased at the same rate as increases or decreases in the median household income for the commonwealth for the preceding two-year period, as ascertained by the governor.” Looking back, legislators’ salaries were increased by $4,280 per year for the 2021-2022 legislative session, $3,709 per year for the 20192020 legislative session and $2,525 per year for the 2017-2018 session. Those hikes came on the heels of a salary freeze for the 2015-2016 legislative session, a $1,100 pay cut for the 2013-2014 session and a $306 pay cut for the 2011-2012 session. Prior to 2011, legislators’ salaries had been raised every two years since the preconstitutional amendment base pay of $46,410 in 1998. The new $73,654 salary means the 1998 legislative salary of $46,410 has been raised $27,244 or 58.7 percent. In the meantime, a second pay hike for close to 70 percent of the state’s 200 legislators also takes eff ect January 3. Currently an estimated 139, or almost 70 percent, of the state’s 200 legislators receive a stipend for their service in Democratic or Republican leadership positions, as committee chairs or vice chairs and as the ranking Republican on some committees. All 40 senators and 99 of the 160 representatives receive this bonus pay which currently ranges from $17,039 to $90,876. Legislation approved by the Legislature in 2017 requires that every two years the stipends of these 139 legislators be increased or decreased based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that measures the quarterly change in salaries and wages. That formula will raise the stipend in 2023 for all of these 139 legislators. The biggest hike goes to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka’s whose salaries will rise from $178,473 to more than $214,000. And there’s more. The 2017 law also requires that every two years the salaries of the governor and the other fi ve constitutional statewide offi cers be increased or decreased based on the same data from the BEA. Incoming Gov. Healey’s salary will increase by $37,185 above Baker’s current $185,000 salary for a total of $222,185. Healey also will receive the governor’s standard $65,000 housing allowance bringing her total annual compensation $287,185 in 2023. Incoming Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll’s pay will increase by $33.165-- from $165,000 to $198,165 under the 2017 law. Supporters defend the hikes noting that voters themselves in 1998 approved the adjustment for all future legislators every two years and that two independent commissions had recommended many of the other hikes in 2017. They say that pay raises of any type are always the subject of disagreement. They note it is imBEACON | SEE Page 16

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