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Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 27, 2025 BEACON | FROM PAGE 17 rate increases proposed by utility companies to take effect in 60 days, if the proposed increase is not reviewed and acted upon by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU). Co-sponsor of the amendment to strike the section, Sen. Kelley Dooner (D-Taunton), said it is not good government for rate hikes to take effect without a full review by DPU and that this would undermine regulatory oversight and expose ratepayers once again to even higher increases. She argued that the Senate should be strengthening oversight, not making it easier for utilities to raise their rates behind closed doors. “An increase in utility rates for the purpose of expanding electric charging stations at a time when families in the commonwealth are struggling to pay utility bills at their current rates is detrimental and unnecessary,” said amendment co-sponsor Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) who voted to strike the section. Sen. Mike Barrett (D-Lexington), the chief opponent of the amendment, did not respond to several e-mails from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him why he opposed the amendment. (A “Yes” vote is for the amendment that would prohibit the increase from taking effect without DPU approval. A “No” vote is for allowing the rate increase to take effect without DPU approval.) Sen. Brendan Crighton No ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL COALITION TO REFORM OUR LEGISLATURE – The Coalition to Reform Our Legislature (CROL) held an event at Church on the Hill across the street from the Statehouse and urged the Legislature to pass two bills the group has filed. CROL defines itself as a bipartisan coalition of citizens working to make the Massachusetts Legislature “more effective, accountable and transparent.” The event, billed as “The People’s Hearing,” featured several speakers including the group’s co-founder Jeanne Kempthorne, former Massachusetts Democratic State Rep. and U.S. Congress member Barney Frank, former Democratic State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, the GOP finance chair Jennifer Nassour, Sierra Club Director Vickash Mohanka, Republican party chair Amy Carnavale and James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University Danielle Allen. The first proposal (H 3892) would establish an independent Office of Legislative Research and an Office of Fiscal Analysis. The Office of Legislative Research would assist legislators and committees on all matters requiring policy analysis, comparative legal analysis, statistical research and fact-finding in connection with legislation or other matters pertaining to the functions of the Legislature as well as assist with bill-drafting upon request by any representative or senator. The Office of Fiscal Analysis would prepare tax revenue and expenditure forecasts and reviews and analyze the fiscal impact of proposed legislation. “Massachusetts is an outlier,” said Kempthorne. “Nearly all states have nonpartisan research and analysis capacity to encourage better bill drafting, analysis and decision making. The absence of that capacity here helps account for our Legislature’s poor performance.” The second proposal (HD 4303) would make major changes to the current legislative pay stipend system under which all 40 senators and 108 of 160 representatives receive an additional stipend, above their $82,046 base salary, for their positions in the Democratic and Republican leadership, as committee chairs, vice chairs and the ranking Republican on some committees. The current Senate stipends range from $30,207 to $119,631 while the House ones range from $7,776. to $119,631. All of the positions are appointed by either the Senate President, House Speaker, Senate Minority Leader or House Minority Leader. The bill would change the range of the stipends for representatives and senators to a new range of $16,409 to $61,533. It would also reduce the number of legislators who receive stipends. CORL cites other changes it proposes in the stipend system including only providing stipends for positions that involve significant work; condition stipends for committee chairs on their bringing all bills to their full committees for public debate, mark-up and a public vote; give stipends for leadership and Ways and Means positions only if the committee chairs meet those conditions described above; and provide a new stipend to all committee members for the significant work of participating in public debates and mark-ups. Supporters of the bill say that the current system gives leadership extraordinary control over legislators’ pay. They say that their new bill would replace the current system with a less costly and less leadership-controlled stipend system that rewards performance, rather than loyalty. “In no other state are so many legislators dependent on their chamber leader for a large share of their pay,” said former Rep. Jonathan Hecht. “One hundred and forty nine of the 200 members of the legislature are now in socalled ‘leadership positions,’ put there by the House Speaker, Senate President, or the House and Senate Minority Leaders, with a $5 million account to boost their pay. Most of these stipends were created in the last 25 years, and reward little or no work.” “One of the questions that we are considering is whether to take ... one or both of these issues to the ballot,” said former State Rep. and Revenue Committee chair Jay Kaufman. “There’s some significant consequences to doing that, but we’re actively weighing it.” Also in attendance at the event was long time editor and first-time director Aaron Singer who is the producer and director of “Shadows on the Hill,” an upcoming documentary that he says asks why common-sense bills don’t pass the Massachusetts Legislature. “This project began as an investigation into why legislation reforming Daylight Savings Time keeps failing,” said Singer. “But once I started talking to people on Beacon Hill, it became clear how much representatives fear going against leadership. A supermajority co-sponsored an act to prevent wage theft; how does that not pass?” Singer continued, “I have deep empathy for rank-andfile lawmakers under intense pressure to fall in line, but they have a responsibility to loudly call out how undemocratic the system is. Otherwise, their role in the process will never change and their constituents will be denied the representation they’re owed.” BAN USE OF CELL PHONES IN SCHOOLS (S 381) – The Education Committee held a hearing on several bills which would ban student use of cell phones during classes except when expressly directed by a teacher. “An increasing number of countries, states and municipalities have banned mobile phones in schools,” said Sen. John Keenan (D-Quincy) who filed one of the proposals. He noted that he filed the measure, to ensure that the commonwealth protects children in classrooms and optimizes the learning environment for students.” PROHIBIT USE OF NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS (S 312) – Another bill heard by the Education Committee would prohibit public schools from using an athletic team name, logo or mascot which is associated with Native Americans. The bill bans the current and future use of any of these mascots. Any school that does not comply with this law would not be eligible for discretionary state education grants. “This bill is long overdue,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “Native Americans are sovereign peoples—not mascots, not caricatures. The continued use of Native imagery in school mascots is dehumanizing. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and has been shown to cause psychological harm, especially for Native youth.” In 2024, a similar bill was approved by the Education Committee and was sent to the House Ways and Means Committee where it died from lack of further action. ELIMINATE THE ADDRESS OF CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT (SD 2982) - Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow) proposed a late-filed bill that would remove the home street address of candidates for elected office from ballots and nomination papers. The measure would allow only the city or town in which the candidate resides to be listed. The measure was filed in response to a shooting in which Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed. Oliveira said that Massachusetts is “an extreme outlier” as the only state that prints candidate addresses on ballots. He noted that 44 other states list only party affiliation on a public ballot, and five list a candidate’s home municipality, precinct or ward but not a full street address. “Only Massachusetts inBEACON | SEE PAGE 19

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