Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JAnUAry 10, 2025 If you have any questions about this week’s report, e-mail us at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com or call us at (617) 720-1562. Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 50 - Report No. 1 December 30, 2024 - January 3, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved. By Bob Katzen W ith today ’s edition, [insert name of newspaper] begins coverage of the 20252026 Massachusetts legislative session with our weekly Beacon Hill Roll Call report. This feature is a clear and concise compilation of the voting records of local state representatives and senators. Beacon Hill Roll Call provides an unbiased summary of bills and amendments, arguments from floor debate on both sides of the issue and each legislator’s vote or lack of vote on the matter. This information gives readers an opportunity to monitor their elected officials’ actions on Beacon Hill. Many bills are reported on in their early stages, giving readers the opportunity to contact their legislators and express an opinion prior to the measure being brought up for fi nal action. The feature “Also Up on Beacon Hill” informs readers of other important matters at the Statehouse. Beacon Hill Roll Call is written and provided by Bob Katzen, a former Boston radio talk show host at WRKO, WITS and WMRE. Bob has been providing this feature to hundreds of newspapers across the Bay State since 1975. Fun fact: Bob invented the “Bagel Route” when he was 10 years old. It’s like a paper route but Bob took pre-orders from neighbors and delivered bagels every Sunday morning. GET A FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO MASSTERLIST: Start off following the 2025 Legislature with something that you will read every weekday morning. There aren’t many things out there that are free and valuable. But MASSterlist is a rarity. 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: Last week was full of activity on Beacon Hill. The Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey several bills passed on voice votes, without roll calls, prior to the end of the 2023-2024 session on Wednesday, January 1. The Legislature also convened the 2025-2026 session that same day. Much of the day’s activities were ceremonial including the swearing-in of state senators and representatives. The only roll call votes were on the election of a speaker of the House and Senate president. REP. RON MARIANO RE-ELECTED SPEAKER The House re-elected Rep. Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) as speaker of the House and Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading) as Republican minority leader. Mariano received the votes of all 132 Democrats who voted. Jones fended off a challenge from Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) for the GOP top spot. Jones received 21 votes to Lombardo’s four votes. “Just as the Legislature acted to protect our residents during the fi rst Trump administration, it will once again be our responsibility to step up when we can in the face of federal management changes and decreased federal support,” Mariano said. “It will be imperative that we rise above the infi ghting and partisan politics that continue to plague Congress, a goal that I know Gov. Healey and Senate President Spilka remain committed to.” “I am truly grateful for the overwhelming vote of confi - dence and support I received from my colleagues this morning,” said Jones. “They were able to see through the divisive rhetoric and meaningless noise generated by outside special interests, extremist groups and others leading up to today’s vote. As we begin a new legislative session, I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to lead the House Republican Caucus over the next two years and will continue to work alongside my colleagues to advocate for responsible policies that are in the best interests of our cities and towns and the state’s taxpayers.” “Today wasn’t a loss,” said Lombardo. “Today was the culmination of starting a conversation within the caucus and with the voters of the commonwealth about how they want the Republican Party of Massachusetts to operate, how they want the House caucus to operate. They want transparency, they want a strong Republican voice, and we haven’t had that.” Rep. Jessica Giannino Voted for Mariano Rep. Donald Wong Voted for Jones SEN. KAREN SPILKA RE-ELECTED SENATE PRESIDENT The Senate re-elected Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) as Senate president and Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) as Republican Minority Leader. Spilka received the votes of 34 of the Senate’s 35 Democrats while all five Republicans voted for Tarr. Sen. John Keenan (D-Quincy) voted “present.” “What an exciting day to kick off 2025,” posted Spilka on Facebook. “Today I had the distinct honor of being sworn in as the Senator representing Middlesex and Norfolk and re-elected President of the Massachusetts Senate. The privilege and responsibility to serve the Senate and our commonwealth is not one I take lightly. I’m so thankful for my family who was able to be here today and those supporting me from afar. I’m forever grateful to my colleagues in the Senate and look forward to all we will tackle together in this coming year as we fi ght like hell for the great people of our commonwealth.” Sen. Tarr posted on Facebook, “Thank you [Senate President Spilka] for your partnership and friendship as we continue to work together to defy the ongoing and disturbing trends of division and paralysis that are plaguing other legislative bodies, even as we face challenges, circumstances, and situations that demand the very best each of us has to off er on behalf of those we represent.” “I voted ‘present’ today in the roll call for the election of a Senate President because changes are needed,” Keenan posted on X. “We have had signifi cantly fewer roll calls, routinely missed deadlines, failed to adopt joint rules, waived rules, passed bills beyond the end of formal sessions with limited opportunities for members to participate fully, and have often been at odds with our partners in the House of Representatives.” Keenan continued, “We have been less transparent and less connected with what the residents of the commonwealth rightly demand and deserve from the Massachusetts State Senate.” Sen. Brendan Crighton Voted for Spilka ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL $8,391 PAY HIKE FOR EACH OF THE 40 SENATORS AND 160 REPRESENTATIVES – A total of $1.67 million per year is the annual estimated price tag for the base salary hikes given last week to each of the state’s 40 senators and 160 representatives. Gov. Maura Healey announced that the 200 members of the Legislature will receive an 11.39 percent hike in their base pay for the 20252026 legislative session that began January 1. The hike will increase the base salary of each senator and representative by $8,391 per year— from the current $73,655 to $82,046. Healey is required under the state constitution to determine the amount of a pay raise or cut that state legislators would receive for the 20252026 session. All Massachusetts governors are obligated to increase or decrease legislative salaries biennially under the terms of a constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 1998. The amendment, approved by a better than two-to-one margin, requires legislative salaries to be “increased or decreased at the same rate as increases or decreases in the median household income for the commonwealth for the preceding twoyear period, as ascertained by the governor.” Healey said she used the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to determine that median household income for Massachusetts for the 2023-2024 period increased by 11.39 percent. Supporters of the hike said that this automatic system was approved by voters by a twoto-one margin in 1998 and has worked well for 26 years. They noted that there have been years when this system resulted in a pay cut for legislators. They said it is also important that this system takes away the power of the Legislature to raise its own members’ salaries and eliminates any accusations of confl ict of interest. Critics were quick to respond. “Statehouse elected offi cials should not be receiving an automatic 11 percent pay raise,” said Paul Craney, spokesperson for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Not many workers in Massachusetts get that kind of a pay bump automatically. Legislative leaders set up a system in 2017 so that they don’t have to vote for any future pay raises. If lawmakers care about transparency, they should vote on their new pay raise.” Craney continued, “Before the Legislature accepts their pay raise, they should accept the results of the audit the Legislature ballot question. This legislative session should not start with lawmakers further enriching themselves and then rejecting the will of the voters. It’s a broken legislative system at the Statehouse and their actions over the next week will demonstrate how corrupt it’s becoming.” AUTO AND HOME INSURANCE DISCOUNTS (H 5133) – Gov. Maura Healey signed onto law legislation waiving, for six years, until 2030, a law that requires businesses and groups to have a 35 percent participation rate in order to qualify for group BEACON | SEE PAGE 17
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