Page 26 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2024 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 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. 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://MASSterList/subscribe/ THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. Beacon Hill Roll Call’s research shows that there are several bills from the 20232024 session that have been approved unanimously by the Senate in 2023 but are languishing in the House Ways and Means Committee as of December 13, with only a few days left in the session. Bills not acted upon by the end of the session on January 1, 2025 die. With no opposition in the Senate, observers question why the bills have not yet been acted upon by the House Ways and Means committee and brought to the House fl oor for a vote. Under House rules, any individual representative can move to discharge any and all of these 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. A state representative who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Beacon Hill Roll Call that some bills are sometimes held up in committee because someone in a high position of power either inside or outside the Statehouse is opposed to it. “Rank and fi le members have little control over the bill if a powerful person wants the measure buried,” said the legislator. An ex-state representative who wished to remain anonymous said, “Although under House rules, every representative has the power to attempt to discharge a bill, hardly any attempt is made to do this out of fear of alienating the powerful speaker, his leadership team and committee chairs.” Beacon Hill Roll Call’s archives show that motions to discharge a bill from a committee and bring it to the full House for debate and a vote was a common practice back in the 1970s and 1980s. Beacon Hill Roll Call contacted the offi ce of House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) several times last week and asked why these bills are still in committee. No response has been received. Beacon Hill Roll Call had also asked the speaker’s offi ce the same question back in February 2024 when these bills had been tied up in the Ways and Means Committee. At that time, Max Ratner, a spokesman for House Speaker Ron Mariano, responded, “Each of those bills are currently being reviewed by the House, with a continued focus on fi scal responsibility.” Here are three of the major bills that were approved unanimously by the Senate and are currently lingering in the House Ways and Means Committee: MAKE OBTAINING ID CARDS EASIER FOR HOMELESS PERSONS (S 2251) On July 27, 2023, the Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House legislation that would make it easier for homeless youth and adults to secure free state ID cards. Supporters said that currently a person experiencing homelessness faces prohibitive fees and documentation requirements when trying to obtain an ID card. They noted that this legislation removes those barriers by eliminating fees and only requiring that applicants present documentation showing that they are currently receiving services provided by the state, a homeless service provider or another service provider. They argued that ID cards are necessary for applying for jobs, enrolling in school, interacting with law enforcement, accessing government buildings, opening financial accounts and many other basic services that many take for granted. “When we listen to our homeless youth about the challenges they face, there is a common denominator and that is access to identifi cation,” said Sen. Robyn Kennedy (DWorcester), the Senate sponsor of the bill. “Having proper identifi cation is foundation to accessing food, shelter and employment opportunities, while also breaking the cycle of poverty.” “Fees and documentation are not just barriers to identifi cation,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “By extension, they are barriers to getting a job, accessing healthcare and applying for services—the most basic of necessities. These barriers harm the most vulnerable people in our commonwealth and eliminating them is a compassionate step that makes the path to stability a little bit easier.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Lydia Edwards Yes MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS (S 2491) On October 26, 2023, the Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would require all prisons, homeless shelters and K-12 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 affects 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. “I learned about this issue from young people in Medford High School, Somerville High School and Cambridge Rindge and Latin who took leadership at the local level to make menstrual hygiene products available in their own communities,” said sponsor Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville). “This is a true grassroots movement starting with girls talking about their experiences of missing valuable class time or feeling embarrassed to access products during the school day. These conversations have already started to change the culture and have motivated us to expand this across the state.” “Period products are not luxuries, but necessities required for people’s basic needs, health and hygiene,” said Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro), Senate Chair of the Committee on Public Health. “Today’s passage of the … bill affi rms that women and all menstruating people deserve access to menstrual products. An inaccessibility of period products speaks to the longstanding and persistent misogyny in our society, a bias that intersects with inequalities in housing, education, socioeconomics and beyond. By ensuring better access to these products, we support further access to essential health needs regardless of our situation in life.
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