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Page 14 THE REVERE ADVOCATE - Friday, July 12, 2019 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen THE 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 fi led 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 fi eld 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 EMAIL (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. Joseph Boncore 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. Joseph Boncore 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 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 personal 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 old-school 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. Joseph Boncore 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 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 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 529 PLAN BENEFITS 529 plans are sponsored by state agencies or educational institutions and are available to all taxpayers. A 529 plan is a very good tool to provide for college savings. It also serves an estate planning need. If you are a US resident with a valid social security number or taxpayer identification number, you can establish such a plan. The funds in a 529 plan that accumulate over time are to be used for education-related expenses, such as tuition and books at most accredited colleges and universities. The 529 funds may also be used for public and private primary or secondary schools (i.e. kindergarten through 12th grade). There is, however, a $10,000 cap each year for funds used to pay for public and private primary or secondary schools. A 529 plan has high contribution limits. For example, a parent or grandparent can transfer $75,000 in one calendar year into a 529 plan without using any of his or her lifetime gift tax exemption. This would represent a “tax-free” gift. This is equivalent to fi ve years of tax-free annual gifts of $15,000 per done/year fronted all in year one. The parent or grandparent would then have to wait until the expiration of another fi ve years before additional contributions are made. Therefore, the $75,000 is immediately out of the parent or grandparent’s estate for estate tax purposes and for the Medicaid’s fi ve year look-back period as well. If the parent or grandparent’s spouse joins in on the contribution to the 529 plan, another $75,000 in one calendar year can be contributed, resulting in a total of $150,000 being removed from the taxable estate and placed into the 529 plan. The tax benefi t provided by a 529 plan is that the monies grow on a tax-deferred basis and are never taxed so long as the funds are used to pay for educational-related expenses. In Massachusetts, a contributor to such a plan can take a deduction equal to $1,000 if fi ling as a single taxpayer and $2,000 if fi ling married jointly. Funds in a 529 plan can be taken back by the parent or grandparent at any time. The beneficiary of the 529 plan can also be changed. For example, if one child ends up not going to college, another child who decides to attend college can then become the benefi ciary of the plan. Funds in a 529 plan can remain for a future expenditure as well, such as for graduate school tuition or room and board. Establishing a 529 plan early on and contributing to it on a systematic basis is the best way to begin planning for college education. As you are very much aware, the cost of a private college or university is staggering to say the least. State colleges are very aff ordable but even the cost of a four year state college can be $100,000 with full room and board and a meal plan. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, registered investment advisor, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation.

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