Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 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 25,000 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 MASSterlist’s new editor, Erin Tiernan, with help from Matt Murphy. Both are pros and have a wealth of experience. And they also introduce each article in their own clever 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: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on roll calls from early February sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. MORE TIME TO CONSIDER AMENDMENTS (H 2023) House 23-130, rejected a rule that would prohibit technical or perfecting amendments from being considered until 30 minutes after a copy of the amendment has been received by representatives. The rule would allow such an amendment to be considered in less than 30 minutes if a two-thirds vote of the House agrees to the shortened time. “Providing a half hour to review a technical or perfecting amendment would give members an opportunity to ask questions, get answers and better understand the amendment before a vote takes place,” said sponsor GOP House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). “I think this change is eminently reasonable and fair, and it also provides an option for the 30-minute review period to be waived or suspended if enough members agree to it.” Opponents of the rule said technical amendments are just that—technical, and don’t need a half hour to review. They argued that the 30-minute requirement is unnecessary and noted members are currently informally given sufficient time to see the amendments before they are considered. (A ”Yes” vote is for allowing 30 minutes. A “No” vote is against allowing 30 minutes.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Rep. Jeff Turco No No GIVE 1-WEEK NOTICE (H 2025) House 24-129, rejected an amendment that would increase from three days to seven days the amount of advance notice for committees to notify the House and the public of the time, location and agenda of all public hearings and executive sessions. “A public hearing before a committee is the only opportunity that a person has to be directly involved in the legislative process,” said Rep. Todd Smola (R-Warren). “By expanding the notification window for when hearings take place from 72 hours to one week, we are providing the public with more time to prepare and participate in the process. We welcome the viewpoints of our constituents on bills before the Legislature, bills which are often nuanced and very complex. It is not unreasonable to provide people with a few more days’ notice before a hearing commences.” Opponents of the amendment said three days is more than sufficient and noted that under House rules, members of the public no longer have to plan far in advance to come into the Statehouse to testify since they can now testify online from their home. They noted that the increase to a week unnecessarily goes too far. (A ”Yes” vote is for requiring seven days’ notice. A “No” vote is against requiring seven days’ notice.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Rep. Jeff Turco No No ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL DON’T MISS THIS LIFE SCIENCES FORUM EVENT – The Life Sciences Industry has seen incredible growth the last decade, and Massachusetts has become a worldwide leader with continued industry growth and expansion underway. While the epicenter of the industry cluster remains in Kendall Square, the state’s strategy calls for the expansion of lab and manufacturing space throughout the state, with the potential for significant growth in Central Massachusetts. Don’t miss a special forum hosted by MASSterList, the State House News Service and the Worcester Business Journal on Tuesday, March 7, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the DCU Center (50 Foster St. Worcester, MA 01608). Tickets for the program can be purchased online at: https://www.wbjournal.com/lifescienceforum BILLS, BILLS, BILLS - House and Senate clerks continue to process the thousands of bill filed for consideration in the 2023-2024 session including: DONATE FOOD (SD 263) – Would provide civil liability protections to individuals, restaurants and organizations that make direct food donations to persons in need. The donor would also receive a tax credit of up to $5,000. A similar bill received a favorable report from the Judiciary Committee last year but died from inaction in the House. “Massachusetts saw the greatest percentage growth in food insecurity in the nation during the pandemic,” said sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (DNorthampton). “It could have been even more severe had it not been for commonwealth farmers who came forward again and again with donations of produce, dairy and meat— BEACON | SEE Page 16 Law Offices of JOSEPH D. CATALDO, P.C. “ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW” • ESTATE/MEDICAID PLANNING • WILLS/TRUSTS/ESTATES • INCOME TAX PREPARATION • WEALTH MANAGEMENT • RETIREMENT PLANNING • ELDER LAW 369 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 (617)381-9600 JOSEPH D. CATALDO, CPA, CFP, MST, ESQUIRE. AICPA Personal Financial Specialist Designee avyavy S ieniorenioronior avvy Senior avvyyvy Dear Frustrated, It’s a great question! Scammers are always looking for new ways to dupe people out of money, and in the U.S., phone calls remain the primary way swindlers hook older victims. The Federal Trade Commission recently found that 24 percent of adults over age 60 who reported losing money to a scam in 2021 said it started with a phone call – the largest percentage of any method, including email, text and mail. To help protect your mom from the onslaught of robocall scams, telemarketing and spam calls, here are some tips and tools you can help her employ. Register Her Numbers If your mom hasn’t already done so, a good first step in limiting at least some unwanted calls is to make sure her home and cell phone numbers are registered with the National Do Not Call Registry. While this won’t stop fraudulent scam calls, it will stop unwanted calls from legitimate businesses who are trying to sell her something. To sign up, call 888-382-1222 from the phone number you want to register, or you can do it online at DoNotCall.gov. Cell Phone Protection Most wireless providers today offer good tools for stopping scam calls and texts. For example, AT&T has the ActiveArmor Mobile Security app; Verizon provides the Call Filter app; and T-Mobile offers the Scam Shield app. To activate these tools, download the spam-blocking app from your mom’s carrier on her phone, which you can do at the Apple and Google App store. These apps are free to use, but most carriers will also offer upgraded services that you can get for a small monthly fee. If, however, your mom uses a regional or small wireless carrier that doesn’t offer scam/robocall protection you can use a free ni nio How to Protect Seniors from Scam Calls Dear Savvy Senior, What tools can you recommend to help protect trusting seniors from scam calls? My 74-year-old mother gets tons of unwanted telemarketing and robocalls on her cell and home phone and has been duped out of hundreds of dollars. Frustrated Daughter third-party app. Truecaller (Truecaller.com), Call Control (CallControl.com), Hiya (Hiya.com) and YouMail (YouMail.com) are all good options to consider. Built-In Call Blockers Many smartphones today also offer built-in tools that can block spam calls. If your mom uses a newer iPhone (iOS 13 or later), she can completely silence all unknown callers who aren’t in her contacts list in the phone “Settings.” Silencing all unknown callers is an extreme solution that will definitely stop all unwanted calls, but your mom will also miss some legitimate calls too. However, unknown callers do have the option to leave a voice message and their calls will appear in her recent calls list. And she can add any number to her contact list to let them through in the future. If your mom owns a new Android phone, she can also block spam calls in the phone “Settings.” Or, if she owns a Samsung Galaxy phone, she can use “Smart Call,” which flags suspected spam calls and allows her to block and report them. She can also block specific reoccurring spam call numbers on iPhones and Android manually. Home Landline Protection To stop scam calls on your mom’s home phone set up the “anonymous call rejection” option. This is a free feature available from most telephone companies, however some may charge a fee. It lets you screen out calls from callers who have blocked their caller ID information – a favorite tactic of telemarketers. To set it up, you usually have to dial *77 from your landline, though different phone services may have different procedures. Call your mom’s telephone service provider to find out if they offer this tool, and if so, what you need to do to enable it. And if they don’t offer it, find out what other call blocking options they offer. 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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