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Page 18 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021 Beacon Hill Roll Call By Bob Katzen THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records the votes of local representatives and senators from the week of July 5-9. The House and Senate approved a $48.1 fiscal 2022 budget. The House also approved a new set of rules under which the Houser will operate beginning October 1. Despite repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call, Rep. Bill Galvin (D-Canton), the chair of the Rules Committee and author of the new rules package, did not respond to e-mails asking him to explain his reasons for voting against many of the amendments proposed to the package. Other representatives in the Democratic leadership who did not respond to repeated requested for a comment on why they voted against many of the amendments include Reps. Claire Cronin (D-Easton), Kate Hogan (D-Stow), Michael Moran (D-Brighton), Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown) and Joe Wagner (D-Chicopee). $48.1 BILLION FISCAL 2022 BUDGET (H 4002) House 160-0, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker a compromise version of a $48.1 billion fiscal 2022 state budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. The House and Senate had approved different version of the budget and a six-member conference committee hammered out a compromise version. The state has been operating on a temporary onemonth budget approved by the Legislature and the governor. Baker now has ten days to use his veto power to veto any items in this new budget and send them back to the Legislature which can override any of the vetoes with a two-thirds vote. The budget is based on new estimates that tax collections in fiscal year 2022 will increase by more than $4.2 billion above the amount originally predicted by the governor, the House and the Senate a few months ago. In light of the pandemic, elected officials had for months braced themselves for a substantial decrease in tax revenues and a cut in some programs and/or even a tax increase. The new estimates also led to the conference committee’s cancellation of a planned withdrawal from the state’s Rainy Day Fund of at least $1.5 billion. Officials also project a $1.1 billion deposit into the fund which will drive its balance to $5.8 billion by the end of fiscal year 2022. It also cancels a plan to raise fees on Uber and Lyft rides in order to generate new money for cities and towns, the MBTA and other infrastructure projects. Other provisions include a $350 million fund that could be used in future years to help cover the cost of the $1.5 billion school funding reform law passed in 2019; permanently extending the state’s tax credit for film production companies in Massachusetts; and a new law that will provide victims of violent crime and human trafficking enhanced protections. That provision is based on a bill filed by Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford). “The conference report … upholds our Senate values, charts a hopeful path forward for our commonwealth and more importantly reflects our priorities,” said Senate Ways and Means chair Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport) to lead off the debate on the Senate floor. “We maintain fiscal responsibility and ensure our commonwealth maintains healthy reserves for years to come. It safeguards the health and wellness of our most vulnerable populations and new supports for children and families.” “It invests in K-12 education, early education and childcare, housing, mental health, public health and other areas to ensure our citizens and our communities will benefit equitably as we recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic,” continued Rodrigues. “We address long term liabilities and make down payments to fulfill future obligations. This fiscally responsible and forward-looking budget doubles down on our commitment to build an equitable recovery and addresses our critical needs as we work to getting back to a new better.” Although she ultimately voted for the budget, Sen. Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) said during the debate on the Senate floor that she objected to the fact that legislators were given only a few hours to read the 434-page bill before voting on it. The budget was released late Thursday night and was voted on Friday afternoon. DiZoglio said that positioning members to take a vote on something they did not get adequate time to review is not acceptable. “If we keep doing this over and over again, it’s not going to magically become acceptable,” she said. “The fact that we didn’t get even a day to review this is very disappointing. But what’s more disappointing … is the fact that those in our communities who have a stake in what happens in the bill before us, those it will impact most — our schools, our elderly populations, those who are coming from positions of powerlessness, those folks, probably many of them, still don’t even know that we’re taking this bill up today. And yet we continue to call what happens in this chamber part of the democratic process.” (A “Yes” vote is for the budget.) Rep. Donald Wong Yes Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Sen. Brendan Crighton Yes ADOPT NEW HOUSE RULES (H 3930) House 129-29, approved a set of new House rules that will go into effect on October 1, 2021. Until then, the House will continue to operate under the emergency COVID-19 rules it adopted last year. Without this bill, the emergency rules would expire on July 15. The new rules package includes requiring both formal and informal sessions of the House to be livestreamed; giving House committee chairs the ability to allow for both in-person and virtual hearing testimony from the public; allowing any member serving on active reserve military duty to cast a House vote remotely; and requiring committees to publish names of representatives who vote against advancing a bill through committee but not the names of legislators who vote in favor of or do not vote on the matter. “The challenges over the last 14 months have made us work and function differently,” said House Rules Committee chair Rep. Bill Galvin (D-Canton) during debate on the House floor. “This experience has shown us a new way to operate and to utilize technology, both procedurally and administratively. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we have a unique opportunity to incorporate lessons learned, thereby providing for a more efficient, flexible and accessible legislative process.” House GOP Minority Leader Rep. Brad Jones (R-North Reading) said that the few changes do not go far enough: “I offered multiple amendments to help shed more light on the way the House of Representatives and its committees conduct their business, but those amendments were struck down, leaving me with no choice but to reject the underlying rules package.” (A Yes” vote is for the House rules package. A “No” vote is against it.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Rep. Donald Wong No TERM LIMITS FOR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (H 3930) House 35-125, rejected an amendment that would reinstate a 2009 rule that prohibited any representative from serving as speaker of the House for more than eight consecutive years. The rule was repealed in 2015. “Instituting term limits is about putting in place the guardrails to help ensure a more democratic and responsive House,” said amendment sponsor Rep. Tami Gouveia (D-Acton). “One that fosters fair and thoughtful competition required of a strong democratic entity. It is important to so many of our constituents across the state that we bring diverse and distinct experiences, identities and geographic representations to the table and I believe that term limits for the speaker will help us do this more effectively.” “While I appreciate different ideas to continuously improve our Legislature, I do not support term limits,” said Rep. Jim O’Day (D-West Boylston). “Term limits can place the House at a severe disadvantage during negotiations with the governor and other officials, which is not beneficial for advancing legislation or for our districts.” “The speaker holds the most powerful office in the House of Representatives, but all 160 Representatives stand as equals when it comes to representing their constituents,” said Rep. Brad Jones. “Setting term limits on the speaker’s office is a way to prevent too much power from being consolidated in the hands of any one individual over time. Reinstating the term limits that were repealed in 2015 would send a powerful message that the House is committed to inclusion and the periodic transition of power.” Rep. Jack Lewis (D-Framingham), speaking on the House floor during debate, talked about campaigning, knocking on doors and asking his constituents which issues are important to them. “I’ll tell you what I’ve never heard when knocking on those doors: ‘Jack, I’m concerned that there are no term limits for the Massachusetts’ speaker of the House.’ Never once,” said Lewis. “And I urge all of my colleagues today to think back to those days … sometimes meeting our constituents for the first time. Did any of you ever hear one of them ever bring this up as an issue? I’m confident that nearly universally, the answer is no.” (A “Yes” vote is for term limits. A “No” vote is against term limits.) Rep. Jessica Giannino No Rep. Donald Wong Yes ALLOW MEMBERS TWO HOURS TO VOTE IN COMMITTEE (H 3930) House 35-124, rejected an amendment that would give legislators two hours to vote electronically when casting a vote on a bill in committee. “Members are often given very little time to respond to committee polls, even when the poll involves multiple bills and complicated issues,” said sponsor GOP House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). “One of the more glaring examples … was a recent House Ways and Means poll that gave members BHRC | SEE PAGE 21

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