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THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 BEACON | FROM Page 18 1. On Sept. 24, 1975, members of the Southwest Face expedition became the fi rst to reach what summit by a face instead of a ridge route? 2. How are Herbie, The Betsy and Shell Raiser similar? 3. What crop had the largest production quantity in the world? 4. September 25 is National Comic Book Day; comic book police detective Dick Tracy wore what crime-fi ghting technology? 5. In “Tales of a Wayside Inn,” who authored the well-known phrase “ships that pass in the night”? 6. What Canadian/ Québécois dish has French fries as a main ingredient? 7. On Sept. 26, 1902, Levi Strauss died, an immigrant who planned to make tents and wagon covers for California’s “49ers” but used the fabric to make clothing and invented what? 8. What was the fi rst vaccine against a contagious disease? 9. What tunnel is the deepest in North America? 10. On Sept. 27, 1908, the Answers fi rst Model T Ford left the factory; what price did it start at: $150, $450 or $850? 11. What now commonly used symbol is called an octothorpe? 12. On Sept. 28, 1856, Kate Douglas Wiggin was born, the author of what novel about a Rebecca in Maine, from which three fi lms were made? 13. In what country was the fi rst recorded recipe for apple pie? 14. Chrysanthemums were first cultivated in what country? 15. On Sept. 29, 1992, Earvin Johnson Jr. came out of retirement to play basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers; what is his nickname? 16. Squash, gourds and pumpkins belong to what plant family? 17. How are William McGuffey, Anne Sullivan and Maria Montessori similar? 18. What is Massachusetts’s state bird? 19. What NFL team has a fl eur-de-lis for a logo? 20. On Sept. 30, 1935, what dam across the Colorado River was dedicated? mise conference committee version of a $48.1 billion fi scal 2022 state budget for the fi scal year that began on July 1. The budget was based on new estimates that tax collections in fi scal year 2022 will increase by more than $4.2 billion above the amount originally predicted by the governor, the House and the Senate. In light of the pandemic, elected offi cials had for months braced themselves for a substantial decrease in tax revenues and a cut in some programs and/or even a tax increase. The new estimates also led to the conference committee’s cancellation of a planned withdrawal from the state’s Rainy Day Fund of at least $1.5 billion. Offi cials also project a $1.1 billion deposit into the fund which will drive its balance to $5.8 billion by the end of fi scal year 2022. It also cancels a plan to raise fees on Uber and Lyft rides in order to generate new money for cities and towns, the MBTA and other infrastructure projects. Other provisions include a $350 million fund that could be used in future years to help cover the cost of the $1.5 billion school funding reform law passed in 2019; permanently extending the state’s tax credit for fi lm production companies in Massachusetts; and a new law, based on a bill fi led by Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) that will provide victims of violent crime and human traffi cking enhanced protections. “The conference report … upholds our Senate values, charts a hopeful path forward for our commonwealth and more importantly refl ects our priorities,” said Senate Ways and Means chair Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport). “We maintain fiscal responsibility and ensure our commonwealth maintains healthy reserves for years to come. It safeguards the health and wellness of our most vulnerable populations and new supports for children and families.” Although she ultimately voted for the budget, Sen. Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) said that she objected to the fact that legislators were given only a few hours to read the 434-page bill before voting on it. The budget was released late on a Thursday night and was voted on Friday afternoon. DiZoglio said that positioning members to take a vote on something they did not get adequate time to review is not acceptable. “If we keep doing this over and over again, it’s not going to magically become acceptable,” she said. “The fact that we didn’t get even a day to review this is very disappointing. But what’s more disappointing … is the fact that those in our communities who have a stake in what happens in the bill before us, those it will impact most— our schools, our elderly populations, those who are coming from positions of powerlessness, Page 19 those folks, probably many of them, still don’t even know that we’re taking this bill up today. And yet we continue to call what happens in this chamber part of the democratic process.” (A “Yes” vote is for the budget.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Ye s COVID-19 POLICY EXTENSIONS (S 2475) House 150-10, Senate on a voice vote without a roll call, approved and Gov. Baker signed into law a conference committee version of legislation that would extend many of the measures instituted in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 state of emergency that expired when the emergency declaration ended at 12:01 a.m. on June 15. The House approved the extensions on June 15 at 8:52 p.m. and the Senate at 8:54 p.m. Gov. Baker signed the bill into law at 9:40 a.m. on June 16. That means that during the more than 33 hours from 12:01 a.m. on June 15 until 9:40 a.m. on June 16, the extensions had expired and were not in eff ect. Provisions include allowing public bodies subject to the open meeting law to continue to hold remote meetings until April 1, 2022; allowing cities and towns to approve and extend permits for outdoor dining through April 1, 2022; allowing restaurants to off er alcoholic beverages, including mixed drinks, for off -site consumption with the purchase of food until May 1, 2022; and extending several protections that have been granted to tenants who have diffi culty paying rent through April 1, 2022. Other provisions include reinstating until December 15, 2021, the remote option for representative town meetings and meetings of nonprofits and public corporations; notary services; reverse-mortgage loan counseling; and fl exibility for assisted living residences. Several other matters were not resolved and remain before the conference committee including a House-approved provision keeping the cap on delivery fees charged to restaurants by third parties like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats at 15 percent of the order price; a Senate-approved requirement that certain in-network telehealth services be reimbursed at the same rate as equivalent in-person services; and a Senate approved extension of mail-in voting. “This partial report addresses issues common to both the Senate and House bills and is necessary to ensure that critical policies—including those relating to municipalities’ meetings, restaurants, tenants facing eviction, health care and childcare— are available as expeditiously as possible,” read a statement from Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Ways and Means chairs Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz. “These temporary provisions have been helpful to businesses, municipalities, health care providers, residents and communities during this extraordinary time. We will continue working together to resolve items in the near-term that were not included in today’s conference report, which deserve further consideration.” “I couldn’t in good conscience vote to kick the can down the road as far as property rights,” said Rep. Shawn Dooley (R-Norfolk), one of only 10 representatives who voted against the bill. “By limiting homeowners rights to get rid of a nonpaying renter, [the bill] puts many in a terrible fi nancial bind as they still have to pay taxes, insurance, mortgage and upkeep of the building. I do not believe it is fair or constitutional that the government has the ability to seize private property—which is basically what is happening. While I know there are legitimate issues—I would have rather given the judges the ability to use their discretion on a case-by-case basis as opposed to a one-size-fi ts-all approach that solely favors one class over another.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Ye s Sen. Joseph Boncore Ye s 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 September 13-17, the House met for a total of 44 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 40 minutes. Mon. Sept. 13 House 11:02 a.m. to 11:13 a.m. Senate 11:08 a.m. to 11:41 a.m. Tues. Sept. 14 No House session No Senate session Wed. Sept. 15 No House session No Senate session Thurs. Sept. 16 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:34 a.m. Senate 11:20 a.m. to 11:27 a.m. Fri. Sept. 17 No House session No Senate session Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com 1. Mount Everest 2. They are names of fi ctional cars (from “The Love Bug” and “The Betsy” fi lms and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, respectively); Oct. 2 is Name Your Car Day. 3. Sugarcane 4. A two-way wrist radio (in 1964 it was upgraded to a twoway wrist TV) 5. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 6. Poutine 7. Jeans 8. Smallpox 9. The Ted Williams Tunnel 10. $850 11. # 12. “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” 13. England (in 1381) 14. China 15. Magic Johnson 16. Gourd (Curcurbita) 17. They were teachers (an author of readers, teacher of Helen Keller, and founder of the Montessori Method, respectively); October 5 is World Teachers’ Day. 18. Chickadee 19. The New Orleans Saints 20. The Hoover Dam

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