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Page 18 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2022 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 infl uence. 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: Beacon Hill Roll Call records representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of July 11-15. $4.2 BILLION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PACKAGE AND TAX CUTS (H 5077) House 154-0, approved and sent to the Senate a $4.2 billion economic development package. The bill provides $500 million one-time tax rebates to an estimated 2 million eligible people. A $250 rebate would go, by September 30, to individual taxpayers and a $500 rebate to married taxpayers. Eligibility will be determined by annual income reported in 2021, with the minimum income required to be $38,000, and the maximum $100,000 for individual fi lers and $150,000 for joint fi lers. Beginning in 2023, several permanent tax reductions would take eff ect including increasing the Child and Dependent Care Credit from $180 per child to $310 per child, as well as eliminating the current cap of $360 for two or more children; increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit from 30 percent to 40 percent of the federal credit; increasing the Senior Circuit Breaker Tax Credit from $750 to $1,755; increasing the rental deduction cap from $3,000 to $4,000; and increasing the estate tax threshold from $1 million to $2 million. The measure would break new ground for the Massachusetts Lottery by allowing it to sell some of its products online. Some of the revenue collected from online sales will go to fund an Early Education and Care Fund. Other provisions include $80 million for community health centers; $30 million to support rest homes; $15 million for grants to reproductive rights providers for security, workforce and educational needs; $175 million for state parks and recreational facilities upgrades, with $25 million for communities of color; $100 million for the Clean Water Trust Fund; $125 million for small businesses, with $75 million for minority-owned businesses; $50 million for broadband investments in underserved communities; and $75 million in grants to hotels across the state who saw fi nancial loses during the pandemic. “Today, the House passed much needed relief for the citizens of the commonwealth,” said Rep. Mark Cusack (D-Braintree), House Chair of the Committee on Revenue. The one-time stimulus program we adopted, along with the Essential Premium Pay Program from earlier this year, means that nearly three million residents will have received direct payments totaling nearly $1 billion this year. We are also making permanent changes to our tax system that will provide over $500 million in relief every year going forward.” “As Massachusetts residents continue to face severe infl ation and economic uncertainty, I’m proud of the action taken by the House today that will provide low and middle-class taxpayers with much needed fi nancial relief,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “Included in this legislation are several signifi cant tax relief proposals, over $2.5 billion worth of one-time industry targeted investments, economic relief rebates for qualifying taxpayers and a newly established source of revenue to fund the state’s early education and care system. These are vital forms of real, tangible economic relief.” “ This legislation will ensure Massachusetts continues its strong economic growth and puts us in solid footing to rebound from the pandemic,” said Rep. Jerry Parisella (D-Beverly), House Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. “Some highlights include providing a boost to our local theaters, giving our academic institutions the ability to lead the nation in fi elds like artifi cial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, cyber security and robotics. And also provide funding to create thousands of units of housing throughout the commonwealth. (A “Yes” vote is for the bill). Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Rep. Jeff Turco Yes REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE (S 2996) Senate 40-0, approved a bill designed to further protect reproductive health care and those who perform abortions in the Bay State. The measure specifi cally declares that both reproductive health care and gender-affi rming care are rights secured by the constitution or laws of Massachusetts and would shield providers of reproductive and gender-affi rming care and their patients from outof-state legal action. Other provisions include preventing the state’s cooperation with anti-abortion and anti-gender-affi rming care laws in other states; mandating health insurance coverage for abortion and abortion-related care with no cost-sharing; ensuring access to emergency contraception; and providing confi dentiality to providers of reproductive and gender-affi rming care. “Passing this legislation is a monumental step forward in Massachusetts, as we are seeing increasingly more anti-abortion and anti-gender-affi rming care legislation rise across the country,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman (DArlington), Senate Chair of the Committee on Health Care Financing and the sponsor of the bill. “We must do everything to protect the rights of our providers, patients and visitors to the commonwealth. As we further realize the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision … we will continue to fi ght these attacks on reproductive and gender-affi rming care with meaningful action.” “A fundamental teaching of the Catholic faith is that an unborn child is a human person with the inalienable right to life and this life must be protected from conception to birth,” said a statement from the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. “It is in this light that the Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts have always strongly opposed abortion and all legislative eff orts to expand the practice.” “We cannot let other states threaten Massachusetts’ pregnant and transgender people, or the providers who take care of them,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “Massachusetts will not waiver in protecting our residents’ rights. The Legislature prepared for the end of Roe v. Wade by passing the ROE Act in 2020, which ensured the continuation of reproductive healthcare services when we could no longer count on the federal government. Now, we must prepare our commonwealth for the potential further erosion of our rights and protections at the federal level.” “The Legislature’s myopic pursuit of abortion and gender identity extremism is out of sync with the voters of Massachusetts, and seeks to undermine pro-life, proparental rights laws across the country,” said the president of the Massachusetts Family Institute Andrew Beckwith. “This bill also specifi cally grants Planned Parenthood the power to eff ectively re-write our commonwealth’s abortion laws through the regulatory process. When you combine that with the $15 million giveaway to abortion activists in the proposed state budget, it is clear what this is really about: our elected offi cials handing over power and money to their political allies in the abortion industry.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill). Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes $10.9 BILLION TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE PACKAGE (S 2989) Senate 39-0, approved a nearly $11 billion transportation and infrastructure package that includes $1.375 billion for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) modernization; $400 million for MBTA safety projects; $275 million for the EastWest rail project; $1.27 billion for non-federally aided roads and bridges; and a provision that directs the MBTA and allows Regional Transit Authorities across the state to create a low-income fare program. The House has approved a diff erent version of the package and a House-Senate conference committee will likely hammer out a compromise version. Other provisions include $225 million for emissions reduction initiatives, including $50 million to support access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure; $114 million for airport improvements; $25 million for municipal road pavement improvements; and $407.7 million for local and regional transportation projects. Of the more than 200 amendments filed by senators none came to a roll call vote. Many were simply approved or rejected one at a time on voice votes. To move things along even faster, the Senate also did its usual “bundling” of many amendments. Instead of acting on each amendment one at a time, dozens of the proposed amendments are bundled and put into two piles—one pile that will be approved and the other that will be rejected, without a roll call, on voice votes where it is impossible to tell which way a senator votes. Senate President Karen Spilka, or the senator who is fi lling in for her at the podium, orchestrates the approval and rejection of the bundled amendments with a simple: “All those in favor say ‘aye,’ those opposed say ‘no.’ The ayes have it and the amendments are approved.” Or “All those in favor say ‘aye,’ those opposed say ‘no.’ The no’s have it and the amendments are rejected.” The outcome was predetermined earlier behind closed doors. “This transportation bond bill provides Massachusetts with the key to unlock once-in-a-generation federal funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law,” Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), Senate Chair of the Committee on Transportation. “With these combined state and federal investments, we will be able to complete vital work on our highways, roads, bridges and public transportation systems, improving mobility for all residents of the commonwealth.” “While repairs to our transportation infrastructure will be benefi cial to many communities across the commonwealth, this bill goes much further than merely repairing but will instead actively transform our infrastructure to be more modern, environmentally sustainable and regionally equitable,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “The support for electric vehicles, regional transportation authorities, lowincome fares on public transit, expanded East-West connectivity and many other initiatives included in this bill will bring benefi ts to residents, visitors and businesses throughout Massachusetts.” “Today’s passage of this multipronged … transportation infrastructure investment package builds on our longstanding commitment to ensure the commonwealth’s transportation system is more equitable, reliable, safe and modern,” said Sen. Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “Going far beyond just roads and bridges, the SenBEACON | SEE Page 20

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