Page 22 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2023 BEACON | FROM Page 20 bilitation of inmates within their community,” said sponsor Rep. Tony Cabral (D-New Bedford). “To the extent prison work programs have value, the return from those programs should be recouped in our local communities, right here in the commonwealth and not on chain gangs in Texas.” NO/LIMITED SOLITARY CONFINEMENT (H 1740) – Would prohibit prisoners under 21 years old from being held in solitary confi nement. “Research has shown a link between solitary confi nement and mental disorders, as well as increased rates of suicide,” said sponsor Rep. Dave Rogers (D-Cambridge). “Young people are especially vulnerable to these negative eff ects, due to the developing state of their minds. [The bill] off ers a reasonable solution which will protect incarcerated youth, ultimately strengthening their ability to rehabilitate.” DEDICATE 1 PERCENT OF MARIJUANA EXCISE TAX TO YOUTH SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION (H 103) – Would require that 1 percent of the excise tax on recreational marijuana be used for youth substance abuse prevention. “There are many compelling statistics that suggest recreational drug use among younger people can lead to greater risk of substance use later in life,” said sponsor Rep. Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy). “Utilizing this revenue would help create programs and awareness among young people to ensure we are doing our part to prevent them from becoming addicted to harmful substances.” GUILTY BUT WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS (S 981) – Would create a new court verdict of “guilty but with a mental illness” that would carry the same sentence as provided by law for a defendant found guilty of the same crime, except they would serve the sentence at a mental health facili- LEGAL NOTICE - D To all interested persons: A petition for - of requesting that the Court enter a formal Decree and Order and for such other relief as requested in the Petition. The Petitioner requests that: of be appointed as Personal Representative(s) of said estate to serve on the bond in ty instead of a prison. The measure also provides that if the defendant is a male and the court determines that strict security is required, he would be housed at Bridgewater State Hospital. “This legislation aims to address the use of prisons as wholly inadequate facilities to treat mental illness,” said sponsor Sen. Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington). “In Massachusetts, defendants often fail to receive the mental health treatment they need which often contributes to committing a crime and winding up in our criminal justice system. For far too many years, we have relied on prisons to treat mental illness when they cannot, all while we have therapeutic, safe and secure facilities dedicated to this treatment that can be used instead.” ALLOW BUSINESSES TO OPT INTO “DO NOT CALL” LIST (S 202) - Would restrict telemarketing companies doing business in the state by allowing businesses to sign up for a “Do Not Call” list and fining companies up to $5,000 if they call a business on the list. Current law only allows individual consumers to sign up for the list. Under the bill, all current laws that now apply to individuals would also apply to businesses including allowing an individual on the list to sue a company for up to $5,000 if the company violates the law and calls the individual more than once a year; preventing companies from blocking their number from appearing on any business’ Caller ID; prohibiting companies from using recorded message devices to make these calls; and restricting these calls to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sponsor Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth) said he fi led this bill to allow businesses to protect themselves from spam calls. “These harassing calls can clog up phone lines and waste time, which can be particularly harmful to the operation and revenue of thousands of small businesses across the commonwealth,” said O’Connor. REGULATE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES (H 1974) - Would create new safeguards and LEAGUE | FROM Page 14 MEDFORD: Emma Beardsley, Anna Casey, Emma Casey, Maria Colombo, Iasmin De SousaVieira, Ella Melchionno, Savanna Nash, Magdelawit Takele. REVERE: Yara Belguendouz, Ashley Cabrera Rodriguez, Gemma Stamatopoulos. SOMERVILLE: Charlotte Johnson, Anais Lopez, Cindy Luxama, Maria Narh-Botchway, Manal Zahid. *** GBL SOFTBALL ALL-STARS CHELSEA: Ada Figuera. patient protections governing the use of AI in mental health services. “With the rise of telehealth and other technology changes in the delivery of behavioral health care, the prospect of generative AI use in therapy settings is no longer just the stuff of science-fiction novels,” said sponsor Rep. Josh Cutler (D-Duxbury). “We need to ensure that the rights of patients are always protected and that any AI use is fully disclosed and transparent. This bill would create those important safeguards and ensure we stay ahead of the curve.” QUOTABLE QUOTES - The NAACP held its national convention in Boston last week for the fi rst time since 1982. Here’s what some of the participants said: “This is really an opportunity for us here in Boston to reintroduce ourselves to Black America. We know the perception, the reputation we have as one of America’s most racist cities. This moment gives us the opportunity to reframe that.” ---NAACP Boston Branch President Tanisha Sullivan. “We aren’t at the promised land by any means. But nowhere else in America is, either. But we aren’t what we were.” ---Former Gov. Deval Patrick. “What I know about the leaders who are here is that the members of the NAACP are up to the challenge to fi ght for these hardwon rights and freedoms. And we know every day we must be vigilant in protecting that which we have achieved and keeping our eyes on our vision — our collective vision of how we can continue to strengthen our nation.” ---Vice-President Kamala Harris. “If you want policymakers who align with, say, your lived experience, who share your values, who operate with a sense of integrity and intentionality to get things done, they don’t get there by accident. They’re placed there by people who vote. And so I’m going to keep stressing that as a theme that keeps coming up.” ---Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. “They continue to wage a war on education, health care, and opEVERETT: Emilia Maria-Babcock, Gianna Masucci, Kayley Rossi, Kristi Skane (MVP). LYNN CLASSICAL: Rachel Dana, Manuela Lizardo, Mckayla Poisson. LYNN ENGLISH: Kate Johannson, Arianna Laboy, Leanyah Pineiro. MALDEN: Peyton Lightbody. MEDFORD: Lorelai Davis, Rebecca Price, Sophia Purifory. REVERE: Emma Cassinello, Riley Straccia. SOMERVILLE: Madison French, Nikki Grover. *** portunity to create new ways to criminalize our brothers and sisters and we have all felt the impact and bitter sting of this bigotry and bias. But today and every day after, the NAACP will not back down. --- Leon Russell, NAACP National Board of Directors Chairman. 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 31-August 4, the House met for a total of ten hours and 56 minutes while the Senate met for a total of ten hours and 20 minutes. Mon. July 31 House 11:01 a.m. to 9:51 p.m. Senate 11:59 a.m. to 9:55 p.m. Tues. August 1 No House session No Senate session Wed. August 2 No House session No Senate session Thurs. August 3 House 11:03 a.m. to 11:09 a.m. Senate 11:18 a.m. to 11:42 a.m. Fri. August 4 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. GBL BOYS VOLLEYBALL CHELSEA: Brandon Rodriguez, Bryan Vicente. EVERETT: Dimitar Dimitrov, Henrique Franca. LYNN CLASSICAL: Karim Chinchilla. LYNN ENGLISH: Willy Soto. MALDEN: Kyle Lee, Eric Mei, Aiden Tham. MEDFORD: Danny Diskin, Hayson Shing. REVERE: Christyan Berger (MVP), Brian Novoa, Ruben Rodriguez, Alexander Serrano-Taborda. SOMERVILLE: Elias Colley, Ozzy Marks.
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