Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, SEpTEmbEr 12, 2025 Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 50 - Report No. 36 September 1-5, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved. By Bob Katzen T HE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local representatives voted with their party’s leadership so far in the 2025 session through September 5. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 72 votes from the 2025 House session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not quorum calls or votes on local issues. Quorum calls are used to gather a majority of members onto the House fl oor to conduct business, and members simply vote “present” in order to indicate their presence in the chamber. The votes of the 2025 membership of 24 Republicans were compared with those of GOP House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). The votes of the 2025 membership of 133 Democrats were compared to those of House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). THE DEMOCRATS: A total of 123 (92.4 percent) of the 133 Democrats voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time. There were only ten Democratic representatives who voted diff erently than Mariano on any roll calls. The Democratic representative who voted the highest percentage of time against Mariano was Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) who voted with Mariano only 75 percent of the time. Rounding out the top five Democratic representatives who voted with Mariano the lowest percentage of times are Reps. David Robertson (D-Tewksbury) who voted with Mariano 87.5 percent of the time; Alan Silvia (D-Fall River) who voted with Mariano 92.6 percent of the time; Jeffrey Turco (D-Winthrop) who voted with Mariano 93 percent of the time; and Francisco Paulino (D-Methuen) who voted with Mariano 94.3 percent of the time. THE REPUBLICANS: None of the 24 GOP members voted with Jones 100 percent of the time. The Republican representative who voted the lowest percentage of times against Jones is Rep. John Gaskey (R-Carver) who voted with Jones only 65.4 percent of the time. Rounding out the top fi veGOP representatives who voted with Jones the least number of times are Reps. Nick Boldyga (R-Southwick) who voted with Jones 71.1 percent of the time; Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) who voted with Jones 72.7 percent of the time; Justin Thurber (R-Somerset) who voted with Jones 76.5 percent of the time; and Alyson Sullivan-Almeida (R-Abington) who votedwith Jones 82.7 percent of the time. THE UNENROLLED: Rep. Susannah Whipps (U-Athol) is the only unenrolled House member and is not affi liated with either the Republican or Democratic party. We based her record on how many times she voted with Democratic House Speaker Ron Mariano. She voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time. REPRESENTATIVES’ SUPPORT OF THEIR PARTY’S LEADERSHIP IN 2025 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 5TH The percentage next to the representative’s name represents the percentage of times the representative supported his or her party’s leadership so far in 2025 through September 5th. The number in parentheses represents the number of times the representative opposed his or her party’s leadership. Some representatives voted on all 72 roll call votes. Others missed one or more roll calls. The percentage for each representative is calculated based on the number of roll calls on which he or she voted. Rep. Jessica Giannino 1 0 0 percent (0) Rep. Donald Wong 98.5 percent (1) ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL POSSIBLE NOVEMBER 2026 BALLOT QUESTIONS ARE CERTIFIED – Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced that her offi ce has certifi ed 40 possible ballot questions that could appear on the November 2026 ballot. Campbell had until September 3 to certify the questions as eligible or reject them as ineligible. Three possible ballot questions did not pass muster and were not certifi ed because they do not meet the requirements outlined in Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution. The next goal that the initiative’s proponents must meet is the gathering and fi ling with the Secretary of the State the signatures of 74,574 registered voters by December 3. The proposal would then be sent to the Legislature and if not approved by May 6, 2026, proponents must gather another 12,429 signatures by July 1, 2026, in order for the question to appear on the November 2026 ballot. Proposed laws that were certifi ed include requiring voters to show identifi cation at their polling places in order to be allowed to vote; overhauling or eliminating the financial stipends that legislative leaders award to many lawmakers for serving in the leadership and as committee chairs; subject the governor’s offi ce and Legislature to the state’s public records law; allowing prospective voters to register and cast a ballot in a single trip to the polls on Election Day; enable Committee for Public Counsel Services staff -- which includes public defenders, social workers, investigators and administrative staff who support indigent clients -- to unionize; imposing rent control by curtailing rent increases to the cost of living with a 5 percent increase, with some exemptions; reducing the personal income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent over a threeyear period; using a portion of the funds generated from the existing sales tax on sporting goods to fund conservation; providing indigent tenants with an attorney in eviction and foreclosure proceedings; and allowing single-family homes on small lots in areas with adequate infrastructure. A complete list of proposed laws can be found at: https:// www.mass.gov/info - de - tails/ballot-initiatives-submitted-for-the-2026-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-laws-and-2028-biennial-statewide-election-proposed-constitutional-amendments “I applaud the civic engagement of our residents, who fi led a record-breaking [number of] ballot initiative petitions this year,” said Campbell. “My office reviews each petition according to the strict criteria outlined in Article 48 of our State Constitution. Our personal opinions and any constitutional considerations outside of Article 48 cannot weigh into our decision-making about certifi cation of a petition.” Campbell’s office said that certification of a proposed ballot question does not represent the attorney general’s support or opposition to the policies proposed. The Massachusetts Constitution requires that proposed initiatives be in the proper form for submission to voters, not be substantially the same as any measure qualifi ed to appear on the ballot in either of the two preceding statewide elections, contain only subjects that are related to each other or mutually dependent and not involve a set of issues that are specifi - cally excluded from the ballot initiative process by the Massachusetts Constitution. The offi ce off ered examples of ineligible proposals including any proposal that relates to religion, religious practices or religious institutions; the powers, creation or abolition of the courts; the appointment, compensation or tenure of judges; a specifi c appropriation of funds from the state treasury; or infringement on certain other constitutional rights listed in Article 48, such as trial by jury, freedom of the press, freedom of speech and free elections. PRE-KINDERGARTEN (H 703) – The Education Committee held a hearing on a bill that would require the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to administer a publicly funded Pre-K program, which would be available each week a public school is in session for BEACON | SEE PAGE 17
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