Page 16 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2025 By Bob Katzen If you have any questions about this week’s report, e-mail us at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com or call us at (617) 720-1562 THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of October 13-17. $2.25 BILLION FISCAL 2025 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (H 4601) House 141-14 approved and sent to the Senate a $2.25 billion fiscal 2025 supplemental budget designed to close out the books on fi scal year 2025. The measure provides $1.67 billion to MassHealth and $374 million to former Steward Health Care hospitals at a time when state offi - cials say they are feeling budget pressures associated with rising health care costs. The proposal would also increase hospital contributions by $50 million to support the Health Safety Net and stabilize funding for MassHealth and safety net hospitals. Other provisions include $10 million for Health Care for All to conduct a public awareness campaign, and to conduct health coverage enrollment assistance for communities at risk of losing health care coverage as a result of the new Medicaid reporting requirements; $10 million for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center; $5 million in grants to reproductive health care providers; $60.7 million for snow and ice removal; $12.5 million for prisoners to make free phone calls; $12 million for Universal School Meals; $6.8 million for the Clean Water Trust Fund; $3.5 million for State Police operations; $15 million for a new Sports and Entertainment Fund grant program, for which $10 million will be set aside for the events related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup; and withholding most of a $162 million funding request from county sheriff s, until the state Inspector General investigates sheriff s’ fi nances. “This supplemental budget closes the books on fi scal year 2025, and aims to fortify the commonwealth’s fi nances, bolster economic development and ensure continued access to critical health care services,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “In the face of unrelenting attacks from the Trump Administration that will strip health insurance coverage from millions of Americans and deny access to lifesaving vaccinations, this supplemental budget will help vulnerable residents prepare for, and avoid, a lapse in coverage and ensure continued access to vaccines for every child in Massachusetts.” “This supplemental budget will close the books on fi scal year 2025 in a balanced and fi scally responsible manner,” said Rep. Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston), Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. “By making critical investments into much needed programs in healthcare, education and housing to name a few, the commonwealth will be in a strong fi scal position for fi scal year 2026 and beyond.” “There has been little information on why there are exorbitant runaway costs in the MassHealth program,” said Rep. Ken Sweezey (R-Hanson). “I cannot continue to support writing blank checks without accountability and a strategy to reel in the spending. I also see a need for some serious reforms to the HomeBase program and the no-cost calls program within our correctional facilities before we continue to supplement their budgets.” “I believe we need proper oversight of these medical expenditures before committing more funding,” said Rep. Mike Soter (R-Bellingham). “The governor should provide a detailed report outlining what’s driving these rising costs before requesting additional taxpayer dollars. We can’t claim to have a revenue problem in one breath and then spend signifi cant public funds without accountability in the next.” “The Democrats have once again blamed President Trump for their failures,” said Rep. Nick Boldyga (R-Southwick). “But the reality is they’ve bankrupted our healthcare system by fl ooding it with illegal aliens. They had to spend another $2.5 billion dollars to bailout our hospitals.” (A Yes” vote is for the budget. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Rep. Jeff Turco Yes MAKE MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS MORE AVAILABLE AT NO COST (S 2640) Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would require all prisons, homeless shelters and public elementary and secondary schools to maintain free menstrual products, including sanitary napkins, tampons and underwear liners in private and public restrooms; and to make them available in a “convenient manner that does not stigmatize any persons seeking the products.” Supporters said that according to the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Coalition, approximately one in seven children in Massachusetts is living in poverty and struggles to pay for menstrual products. They argued that research shows that the inability to access menstrual products aff ects students’ class attendance. They also noted that women facing homelessness or who are incarcerated face high barriers to access, with Massachusetts shelters reporting that menstrual products are among the least donated items. They argued that restricted access in shelters and correctional facilities means that products can be used as bargaining chips and tools of control for people in vulnerable circumstances. “Equitable access to free disposable menstrual products is a necessity for menstruators everywhere,” said sponsor Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville). “This bill has the ability to ensure menstruators in public schools, shelters and prisons no longer have to experience anxiety, shame or fear around periods. Students in my district were the first to meet with me and speak out about their concerns in school of not knowing if they would have access to menstrual products when they needed them. I am so glad to see this bill passed in the Senate which honors the work and courage of these students who have inspired so many more to break through the stigma and advocate for their peers.” “Tampons and pads are a basic hygiene necessity,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “Ensuring their availability—safely and without stigma—is key to advancing equity for women’s health. Menstruating people have always shouldered the burden of carrying their own tampons and pads into the restroom, leading to a quiet struggle all too real for the girls and women who have diffi culty making ends meet.” The Senate approved the same bill in the 2023-2024 session on October 26, 2023 and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee where no further action was taken for more than a year and the bill died from inaction on December 31, 2024. Any individual representative in the 2023-2024 session could have acted to try to force the bill out of the Ways and Means Committee but none of the 160 House members did so. Any House member can still do the same anytime during the current 20252026 session. Under House rules, any individual representative can move to discharge any and all bills from the Ways and Means Committee. There is a 7-day waiting period prior to the House considering the motion to discharge. The discharge motion must receive a majority vote of the members present. If the measure is discharged from the committee, the committee has four days within which to report out the measure for placement on the House’s agenda for action. A bill may also be discharged from the Ways and Means Committee by any representative by fi ling a petition signed by a majority of the House. The bill would then be discharged seven days later and go onto the House agenda for the next session. However, the Ways and Means Committee is often a burial ground for bills that will never again see the light of day. “Rarely, if ever, does a member go either of those two routes against the wishes of the leadership and the com
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