THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023 Page 23 BEACON | FROM Page 22 an extreme housing crisis,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “We do not have enough aff ordable housing and we are not building enough aff ordable housing. This bill is a fl exible tool that would allow a municipality, if it chooses, to place a fee on the sale of luxury real estate. The revenue generated would stay in that municipality and be used to develop aff ordable housing. Many cities and towns across the commonwealth are looking for a tool to build more aff ordable housing and this bill provides an effective option.” Rep. Dylan Fernandes (D-Barnstable) fi led a similar bill (H 2788) in the House. It applies only to sales of more than $1 million. “The housing crisis in Massachusetts is eroding our communities, hurting our economy and making our state less competitive,” said Fernandes. “Allowing cities and towns to have a mansion tax on multimillion dollar home sales to support housing will raise the capital necessary to meet the scale of the crisis. For the ultra-rich, paying a 1 or 2 percent fee on a multi-million dollar home is a rounding error. But for the middle class, it is a lifeline.” RAISE AGE AT WHICH A PERSON CAN ENTER A POLICE FORCE (S 1712) – The Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight held a hearing on a bill that would raise from age 32 to 40, at the time of their entrance exam, the maximum age that an applicant may enter the ............. # 1 police force. “Simply put, people in their late 30s are in profi cient physical and mental condition to serve and protect their communities,” said sponsor Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “Today, police departments across the commonwealth face staffi ng challenges, and [by] allowing for a broader range of applicants, we hope to help remedy these challenges.” MUST LEARN HOW TO USE AN AED AND TRAIN IN CPR IN ORDER TO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL (H 492) – A bill heard by the Education Committee would require public high school students to be trained in the use of an automatic external defi brillators (AED) and have training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as a prerequisite for graduation. “No one has died because they couldn’t add a column of numbers, spell a word or punctuate properly,” said sponsor Rep. Pat Haddad (DSomerset). “But people die every day because people don’t know the basic hands only CPR or they don’t feel confi dent to use an AED. RESTAURANTS MUST HAVE WRITTEN MENU (H 196) – The Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee held a hearing on legislation that would require restaurants to have available on the premises and provide, upon customer request, a set of photographic or visual menus which contain a written description accompanied by a photo of each food and drink item. “I was inspired to file the bill af “Experience and knowledge Provide the Best Service” The Best Agents provide the Best Results! updated kitchen with quartz counters, living room, dining room, ter a student from Leicester Middle School and her mother visited my offi ce hours,” said sponsor Rep. David. Leboeuf (D-Worcester). “The student expressed how she noticed how diffi cult it was for non-verbal individuals to order at a restaurant and her mother, who worked in human services, also shared some anecdotes. This bill would make it easier for our nonverbal citizens to patronize local businesses by requiring restaurants to have one version of a picture menu available.” QUOTABLE QUOTES “Protecting the people of Massachusetts is my highest priority, and the best way to accomplish that goal is to forge close working relationships with our state and local partners. Federal resources like this are invaluable in the support they provide for comprehensive public safety solutions and resources specifi c to the unique needs of Massachusetts communities.” ---Acting U.S. Attorney Levy announcing that $118.3 in federal grants has been allocated to Massachusetts to support public safety and community justice initiatives. “Lack of access to menstrual care is a deal breaker for women. Without these items they can’t attend class, go to work, or take care of their families during their period. Many of these students have overcome incredible barriers to get to college, and we won’t let period poverty be the one that holds them back.” --- Founder and Executive Director of Dignity Matters, Kate Sanetra-Butler on celebrating the two-year anniversary of the organization providing free period products to students who are fi ghting “period poverty” -- the inability to pay for period supplies. “With ResilientMass, our administration is leading by example in preparing for mounting extreme weather events. This summer brought dangerous weather impacts to our communities and the impacts have been devastating. ResilientMass ensures that Massachusetts is well positioned for federal funds, while continuing our nation-leading work on climate.” ---Gov. Healey unveiling a Statewide Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, known as ResilientMass, detailing 142 actions across state agencies including establishing an Offi ce of Climate Science, making the state building code more resilient and updating MBTA design standards. “Folks are coming in through the border because they’re fl eeing horrific circumstances. But when you have this many people in a shelter, in a motel, or in an unsafe setting, it’s just not something that we want, we can continue. So we’re really hopeful that we’ll get some assistance.” ---Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll predicting the Bay State is going to run out of places to shelter newly arriving immigrants and other families without housing very soon. 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. During the week of October 9-13, the House met for a total of one hour and 32 minutes while the Senate met for a total of one hours and one minute. Mon. Oct. 9 No House session No Senate session Tues. Oct. 10 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:21 a.m. Senate 11:05 a.m. to 11:22 a.m. Wed. Oct. 11 House 10:49 a.m. to 11:09 a.m. No Senate session Thurs. Oct. 12 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:53 a.m. Senate 11:45 a.m. to 12:29 p.m. Fri. Oct. 13 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. View our website from your mobile phone! 335 Central St., Saugus, MA 781-233-7300 SAUGUS - 8 room, 3-bedroom Bungalow, spacious living room, granite kitchen, hardwood flooring, heated sunroom, convenient walk-up attic, central air, updated roof, great one floor living!...............................$549,900. Erica Bianco Saugus’s newest condo complex featuring 2 bedrooms, bright and sunny, fully appliance, eat-in kitchen with granite counters and ceramic freshly painted, off street parking, coin-op laundry…...$329,900 Erica has the Knowledge, Experience, and Education to get the job done! Call Erica 781-910-0229
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