|
Help save yourself
— join CLT
today! |
CLT introduction and membership application |
What CLT saves you from the auto excise tax alone |
Make a contribution to support
CLT's work by clicking the button above
Ask your friends to join too |
Visit CLT on Facebook |
CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
11th-hour frenzy comes to Beacon
Hill
|
"Authorizing municipalities to levy a tax on income would be
precedent-setting in Massachusetts and open a Pandora's Box of
complexities and further precedents." —
Chip Ford, Executive Director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, on a Senate-approved proposal giving cities and towns
an option to levy a local payroll, sales, property or vehicle excise
tax to pay for local transportation improvement costs including
maintaining, repairing and building roads, bridges and bikeways.
Beacon Hill Roll Call
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Quotes of Note
House lawmakers Saturday restored about $100 million in spending
that had been cut from the state budget by Governor Charlie Baker,
who has said he slashed $412 million to keep Massachusetts finances
in order amid a flat stock market and falling capital gains tax
revenue.
During the rare weekend session, legislators voted to reinstate
money to boost salaries for early education and preschool teachers,
pay for voting programs, and reverse cuts to a range of state
offices. The Senate also convened to consider some of Baker’s
spending vetoes.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the spending plan endorsed by
lawmakers remains conservative even with the overrides, noting that
money was restored for programs like drug courts, special education,
and poor families with children.
“We as a government, obviously, we have an obligation to support
these types of services,” DeLeo said in a telephone interview. “It
is all worthwhile spending matters that help us as a society and as
a state.”
The Boston Globe
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Legislators restore $100 million to state budget
Oh no, say it ain’t so — but Gov. Charlie Baker has gone wobbly
on at least one new tax.
Yes, last Thursday, just when anti-tax guru Grover Norquist was
calling him out during a meeting with Massachusetts delegates to the
Republican National Convention in Cleveland for not signing a
no-new-taxes pledge, Baker was back home caving on a proposed hotel
tax for Airbnb and other private rentals....
Well, memo to the governor, that spare room over the garage that
provides a little extra income for some Somerville senior trying to
pay her own real estate taxes with the extra income isn’t the Four
Seasons. It’s not even a Days Inn. And the folks who rent it are
looking to do so at a bargain rate. The system has worked well for
all concerned — that is until lawmakers decided to get greedy and
the governor found a convenient excuse to let them have their way on
the issue.
A Boston Herald editorial
Monday, July 25, 2016
Baker goes wobbly
Gov. Charlie Baker, admitting Monday that he spoke too soon last
week when he endorsed a Senate plan to tax short-term housing
rentals, showed himself to be conflicted over how to maintain the
anti-tax image he tries to project and still be the fair-minded
business advocate who wants to even competition across industries.
Baker offered a mea culpa on Monday afternoon, telling reporters
"lesson learned" after he backed a Senate-proposed expansion of the
state's hotel and motel tax before actually reading the bill.
"It's very broad and it covers a variety of rentals that I would
never dream of having Massachusetts tax," Baker said after meeting
with House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley
Rosenberg, who dialed in remotely from Philadelphia where he is
attending the Democratic National Convention....
Baker has resisted efforts to get him to entertain higher taxes
to pay for priorities within the budget, but in 2014 he refused to
sign a no-new-taxes pledge saying at the time that he did not want
to be boxed into a position should a proposal arise to simplify the
tax code.
In Cleveland last week at the Republican National Convention,
anti-tax evangelist Grover Norquist, the founder of Americans for
Tax Reform, said Massachusetts voters have reason to be concerned.
"So you have to worry. You always do. There's only one reason not
to take the pledge and that's because you want to raise taxes, and
if you're not going to do it, you put it in writing," Norquist told
the News Service.
However, Baker on Monday seemed to harden his anti-tax position
even if it meant leaving the market imbalance in place between
hotels and short-term apartment rentals.
"I'm not interested in raising taxes. I am interested in level
playing fields. At this point in time on this particular issue,
those two things seem to be in conflict," Baker said.
State House News Service
Monday, July 25, 2016
Backing off rental tax, Guv still wants level playing field
Gov. Charlie Baker, backpedaling from his initial support of a
proposal to tax Airbnb rentals, said yesterday he made a “mistake”
in backing the Senate proposal, which caught tax-wary Republicans by
surprise and pushed the governor to
reassert his fiscal
conservative cred.
“If anybody thinks I’m walking back my no-new-taxes view of the
world, they’re mistaken,” Baker told reporters yesterday amid
repeated questioning of his stance on taxing the short-term
rentals....
Baker set off alarms with some tax watchdogs late last week when,
during a radio interview, he said he’d back Senate-approved
legislation that would apply the 5.7 percent hotel excise tax on
Airbnb
and other services — which the governor framed as a
“level-playing-
field issue.” ...
“He’s given us some fits and starts,” said Chip Faulkner
of Citizens for Limited Taxation, which unsuccessfully pushed
Baker to sign the no-new-taxes pledge he had committed to during his
first unsuccessful run for governor in 2010.
“I think he’s solid with us. But sometimes he takes a look-see
approach to some of these things, and we like our flat-out
condemnation of a new tax,” said Faulkner, who was happy to hear
Baker reversed his stance on the rental
tax. “We agree with him.
He’s following through on the (previous) pledge.”
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Gov. Charlie Baker reverses on Airbnb tax
Says he made ‘mistake’ backing plan
With five major bills potentially on tap to come before the
Legislature this weekend, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said lawmakers
should have sufficient time to review the final bills before they
are asked to vote on them.
Five bills that Beacon Hill leaders have tapped as priorities
before formal sessions end for the year on Sunday remain before
six-member conference committees that are privately reconciling the
House and Senate versions.
Lawmakers will not know the details of the lengthy and complex
bills — which deal with diversifying
the state's energy mix, regulating the ride-for-hire industry,
restricting the use of non-compete agreements, economic development
and municipal government reforms —
until the conference committees file their reports....
Under the Legislature's joint rules, a conference report must be
filed by 8 p.m. the day before the Legislature takes it up, and the
report cannot be considered before 1 p.m. that day.
With many Massachusetts Democrats —
including DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg
— attending their party's national
convention in Philadelphia this week, the only formal sessions this
week are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
State House News Service
Monday, July 25, 2016
Conference glut could leave little time to review major bills
Massachusetts expects to begin issuing driver's licenses
compliant with the federal Real ID law in the fall of 2017, after
Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday signed legislation that will move the
state into line with the federal identification standards....
The legislation Baker signed Tuesday was added by the Legislature
to the fiscal 2017 budget, and later amended by Baker to specify
that Massachusetts licenses can only be obtained by people who are
lawfully present in the country.
State House News Service
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Baker signs Real ID law with first licenses
expected next fall
When it comes to procrastination the theoretically full-time
Massachusetts Legislature reigns supreme. Every other July, as
Massachusetts residents are trying to enjoy summer and lawmakers in
other states are out of session, Bay State lawmakers are buckling
down and trying to finish work they started more than 18 months ago.
There's ample room for speculation about the reasons.
Lawmakers want to pass their signature accomplishments closest to
the time when they put their names up for reelection?
Having numerous major bills in play creates lots of opportunities
for bargaining in negotiations?
The Legislature is a deliberative body and it just takes time for
200 people to agree on things?
Humans are inherently a little lazy and tend to leave things
until deadline?
Take your pick, but the Great and General Court is where it is:
staring down a mountain of major decisions that they hope will
ultimately lead to new laws in August governing the state's energy
mix, economic development, limits on non-compete agreements between
employers and employees, the app-based ride-hailing industry,
municipal government reforms, and equitable pay for men and women.
State House News Service
Friday, July 15, 2016
Advances - week of July 17, 2016
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
The Best Legislature Money Can Buy will
shut down as of next Monday. It will be "in recess"
from August through the end of the year for its extended
vacation and time off for legislators to campaign for
reelection. (Any challengers will need to keep working
at their jobs.) Even before leaving the State House in
the rearview mirror for their biennial election-year hiatus,
and despite the mountain of legislation awaiting attention,
it's a pretty empty place while legislators, whose salaries
taxpayers continue to pay, are off for a a couple weeks
attending their respective national party conventions.
At over $60,000 a year (plus
numerous other perks), not a bad job if you can get one
like that.
"When it comes to procrastination the theoretically
full-time Massachusetts Legislature reigns supreme. Every other July, as
Massachusetts residents are trying to enjoy summer and lawmakers in
other states are out of session, Bay State lawmakers are buckling down
and trying to finish work they started more than 18 months ago," the
State House News Service observed. It also noted:
With five major bills potentially on tap to come before the
Legislature this weekend, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said
lawmakers should have sufficient time to review the final bills
before they are asked to vote on them.
Five bills that Beacon Hill leaders have tapped as priorities
before formal sessions end for the year on Sunday remain before
six-member conference committees that are privately reconciling
the House and Senate versions.
Lawmakers will not know the details of the lengthy and
complex bills — which deal with
diversifying the state's energy mix, regulating the
ride-for-hire industry, restricting the use of non-compete
agreements, economic development and municipal government
reforms — until the conference
committees file their reports.
Business as usual on Beacon Hill: A final
weekend marathon blitz before its deadline to get done what the
Legislature has had eighteen months to accomplish but didn't
— until the 11th-hour once again.
"Under the Legislature's joint rules, a
conference report must be filed by 8 p.m. the day before the
Legislature takes it up, and the report cannot be considered
before 1 p.m. that day."
I'm sure that joint rule will afford more than
sufficient time to digest compromises to five "lengthy and complex
bills," aren't you? No doubt they will be carefully considered
over the coming weekend when all legislators are back from their party
conventions, rested up and at the top of their game, sharply focused on
the people's business. Then our elected representatives can shut
down the Legislature and head home for a much deserved summer off, and
fall, until next January. I'm confident those five intricate and
expansive bills will all get the detailed attention they deserve over
the weekend, aren't you?
Gratefully, Governor Baker came to his senses this
week just in time, recognized that he's a no-new-taxes chief executive
and was strong enough to correct his earlier misdirection. We were
getting a little worried about him, stepping onto that slippery slope of
even a small tax increase on mom-and-pop bed-and-breakfast concerns.
The tax-and-spenders personified by Senate President Stan Rosenberg
almost pulled him by dangling their shiny object —
an increase in the so-called Earned Income Tax Credit
— in exchange for the governor's support of
a new tax. If he'd taken the bait it would have been the
precedent-setting betrayal that would make the next one easier, or more
unavoidable.
Governor Baker also sent back the Legislature's FY
2017 budget with a rejection of its Real ID driver's license bill as
presented to him. He returned it with the exclusion of illegal
aliens being able to obtain a state driver's license and, at least so
far, the Legislature hasn't rejected his amendment. It's still
incredible that a major policy change like that was even included in a
budget document. This still bears close watching. According
to the State House News Service report:
"[House Speaker Robert]
DeLeo said much of the weekend sessions will be devoted to
conference committee reports, land transfers that require roll
call votes, "just a couple more" overrides of Baker budget
vetoes . . ."
It's been quiet on Beacon Hill lately. Stay
tuned, as the 11th-hour frenzy is upon us. This is the moment when
surprises erupt, usually discovered only belatedly, after the
Legislature has gone missing for months.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
|
|
|
The Boston Globe
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Legislators restore $100 million to state budget
By Laura Crimaldi
House lawmakers Saturday restored about $100 million in
spending that had been cut from the state budget by Governor
Charlie Baker, who has said he slashed $412 million to keep
Massachusetts finances in order amid a flat stock market and
falling capital gains tax revenue.
During the rare weekend session, legislators voted to
reinstate money to boost salaries for early education and
preschool teachers, pay for voting programs, and reverse
cuts to a range of state offices. The Senate also convened
to consider some of Baker’s spending vetoes.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the spending plan endorsed
by lawmakers remains conservative even with the overrides,
noting that money was restored for programs like drug
courts, special education, and poor families with children.
“We as a government, obviously, we have an obligation to
support these types of services,” DeLeo said in a telephone
interview. “It is all worthwhile spending matters that help
us as a society and as a state.”
One vote restored $7.5 million to hike pay for educators of
children in government-sponsored preschool programs.
The move was praised by Massachusetts Fair Share, which had
pushed to get the money back into the budget.
“This is evidence that lawmakers see the need to invest in
education,” said Nathan Proctor, state director for
Massachusetts Fair Share.
He said the average yearly salary for teachers in the
early-education field is $25,500.
“The first opportunity that early education teachers have,
they obviously leave,” DeLeo said. “Many will go into any
other field because we’re talking about salaries in the
[$20,000 range].”
House and Senate lawmakers also voted to restore $1.2
million in election funding, including money to fund early
voting for the presidential election in November.
The inaugural program would let people vote between Oct. 24
and Nov. 4, said Secretary of State William Galvin, the
state’s top election official.
“This is about helping the voters participate,” Galvin said.
Legislators also reinstated $23.5 million for cash benefits
for low-income families with children, $7.2 million for
services for people with developmental disabilities, and
$32,297 for specialty drug courts.
DeLeo said specialty drug courts are helping the state
combat the opioid crisis.
“I’ve been to a couple of courts and seen how well they
work,” he said. “We have to help them get out of their drug
dependency.”
Senate lawmakers worked late into Saturday night to restore
other spending.
They voted to override Baker’s veto of $2.5 million for
incentive grants to state universities, $500,000 for
preschool planning across the state, and $200,000 to support
the Bay State Reading Institute, which provides remedial
services to public schools.
The Senate also restored $400,000 for Suicide Prevention
Services for Samaritans Inc. They also voted to reinstate
$300,000 for prostate cancer research and $150,000 for the
Down Syndrome Clinic, both at the UMass Medical Center.
Lawmakers ended the night by voting to restore $400,000 for
pediatric palliative care services run by the state
Department of Public Health.
In a statement, Baker spokesman Brendan C. Moss said the
governor hopes lawmakers take into account “softening
revenue estimates” as they consider authorizing new spending
increases.
Baker provided a balanced budget plan that reduced spending
while boosting funding for education, local aid, and efforts
to fight the opioid epidemic, Moss said.
In other matters, House and Senate lawmakers passed
legislation designed to close the pay gap in the state by
holding employers accountable for wage violations proven to
have arisen from gender discrimination.
The new bill protects employers from being held liable for a
pay discrimination claim if they’ve undertaken a
“self-evaluation” of gender wage disparities in the past
three years and can show “reasonable progress” toward
closing the gap.
The measure is now headed to Baker’s desk.
“This bill will protect women from discrimination in the
workplace and close the gender pay gap,” Senate President
Stanley Rosenberg said in a statement.
The weekend sessions were organized because many lawmakers
are expected to be out of state in the coming days for the
Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday in
Philadelphia.
Both chambers plan to meet again next weekend.
Globe correspondent Alexandra Koktsidis contributed to
this report.
The Boston Herald
Monday, July 25, 2016
A Boston Herald editorial
Baker goes wobbly
Oh no, say it ain’t so — but Gov. Charlie Baker has gone wobbly on at
least one new tax.
Yes, last Thursday, just when anti-tax guru Grover Norquist was calling
him out during a meeting with Massachusetts delegates to the Republican
National Convention in Cleveland for not signing a no-new-taxes pledge,
Baker was back home caving on a proposed hotel tax for Airbnb and other
private rentals.
Now, don’t get us wrong, we’re no fan of “pledges” either, but this is a
disappointing cave to Democratic lawmakers.
The Senate, in its version of an economic development bill, wants those
essentially private rental transactions, to be subject to the same room
tax that a suite at the Four Seasons is subject to.
“When Airbnb was kind of a small, little and interesting idea it wasn’t
that big a deal, but there’s now a level-playing-field issue,” Baker
said on WGBH Radio. “And I think that falls into the category of
creating the proper competitive environment.”
Well, memo to the governor, that spare room over the garage that
provides a little extra income for some Somerville senior trying to pay
her own real estate taxes with the extra income isn’t the Four Seasons.
It’s not even a Days Inn. And the folks who rent it are looking to do so
at a bargain rate. The system has worked well for all concerned — that
is until lawmakers decided to get greedy and the governor found a
convenient excuse to let them have their way on the issue.
Another proposed new tax, passed as part of the House version of that
same omnibus bill, would require nonprofits — hospitals, schools,
community centers, hospices — to pay real estate taxes on any newly
purchased property currently on the tax roles for a period of four years
after the purchase.
Last week a group of 17 leaders in the nonprofit world wrote to the
conference committee negotiating the bill, insisting it would “directly
endanger access to the wide range of services provided by our collective
member organizations.” They further charge it would “shatter the social
compact that the nonprofit sector and government have worked for so long
to build.”
The letter also notes that the measure was never the subject of a public
hearing “nor has it been vetted in any manner.”
This is a segment of the state’s economy, mind you, that employs about
530,000 people at taxable wages of some $30 billion a year. And nearly
all of the state’s major nonprofits offer payments in lieu of taxes
under agreements with the communities they serve.
Baker didn’t weigh in on this one yet. But let’s hope his sudden tax
wobble has its limits.
State House News Service
Monday, July 25, 2016
Backing off rental tax, Guv still wants level playing field
By Matt Murphy
Gov. Charlie Baker, admitting Monday that he spoke too soon last week
when he endorsed a Senate plan to tax short-term housing rentals, showed
himself to be conflicted over how to maintain the anti-tax image he
tries to project and still be the fair-minded business advocate who
wants to even competition across industries.
Baker offered a mea culpa on Monday afternoon, telling reporters "lesson
learned" after he backed a Senate-proposed expansion of the state's
hotel and motel tax before actually reading the bill.
"It's very broad and it covers a variety of rentals that I would never
dream of having Massachusetts tax," Baker said after meeting with House
Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, who dialed
in remotely from Philadelphia where he is attending the Democratic
National Convention.
The Senate proposal applies the state's lodging tax to short-term
rentals through online websites such as Airbnb to help pay for an
expansion of the earned income tax credit for low-income families. Since
saying he would sign the measure last Thursday on the radio, Baker has
since expressed concern that the Senate bill would also tax rooms at
currently-exempt bed and breakfasts which have fewer than four rooms and
vacation rentals in places like Cape Cod.
"My position at the moment is going to be I'm not interested in raising
taxes until I do a little more homework on this. That's probably what I
should have said last week," Baker said.
But after his administration signaled that Baker was still supportive of
Airbnb's efforts to work with policymakers to "assess and collect the
appropriate room occupancy taxes," Baker appeared torn over how best to
put traditional hotels and online, short-term rental businesses on equal
footing.
"That's a legitimate issue and one that's worth discussing, but if
anybody thinks I'm walking back my no new taxes view of the world,
they're mistaken," Baker said.
Baker has resisted efforts to get him to entertain higher taxes to pay
for priorities within the budget, but in 2014 he refused to sign a
no-new-taxes pledge saying at the time that he did not want to be boxed
into a position should a proposal arise to simplify the tax code.
In Cleveland last week at the Republican National Convention, anti-tax
evangelist Grover Norquist, the founder of Americans for Tax Reform,
said Massachusetts voters have reason to be concerned.
"So you have to worry. You always do. There's only one reason not to
take the pledge and that's because you want to raise taxes, and if
you're not going to do it, you put it in writing," Norquist told the
News Service.
However, Baker on Monday seemed to harden his anti-tax position even if
it meant leaving the market imbalance in place between hotels and
short-term apartment rentals.
"I'm not interested in raising taxes. I am interested in level playing
fields. At this point in time on this particular issue, those two things
seem to be in conflict," Baker said.
The Boston Herald
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Gov. Charlie Baker reverses on Airbnb tax
Says he made ‘mistake’ backing plan
By Matt Stout
Gov. Charlie Baker, backpedaling from his initial support of a proposal
to tax Airbnb rentals, said yesterday he made a “mistake” in backing the
Senate proposal, which caught tax-wary Republicans by surprise and
pushed the governor to
reassert his fiscal conservative cred.
“If anybody thinks I’m walking back my no-new-taxes view of the world,
they’re mistaken,” Baker told reporters yesterday amid repeated
questioning of his stance on taxing the short-term rentals.
“I guess my answer would be I’m not interested in raising taxes. I am
interested in leveling playing fields. At this point in time, on this
particular issue, those two things seem to be in conflict,” he said.
Baker set off alarms with some tax watchdogs late last week when, during
a radio interview, he said he’d back Senate-approved legislation that
would apply the 5.7 percent hotel excise tax on
Airbnb and other
services — which the governor framed as a “level-playing-
field issue.”
The revenue generated, estimated to be at least $20 million, would go
toward paying for a bump in the earned income tax credit, which Baker
supports and under the proposal would cost roughly $50 million.
But Baker quickly
reversed himself, releasing a statement that said he
was now concerned that it “would impose burdensome taxes and government
bureaucracy” on people seeking vacation rentals and would only pay for
roughly half of the increase to EITC.
The Swampscott Republican has repeatedly backed other measures, such as
phasing out the state’s film tax credit, to help pay for expanding the
EITC.
Baker yesterday expounded on his mea culpa, saying he had “commented on
something I hadn’t read.”
“Lesson learned,” Baker said. “... I made a mistake.”
He later added: “My position at the moment is I’m not interested in
raising taxes until I do a little more homework on this. That’s probably
what I should have said last week.”
Even with the reversal, Baker gave some reason for concern. Grover
Norquist, the founder of Americans for Tax Reform, told the State House
New Service after addressing Bay State Republicans in Cleveland that
“you have to worry” if Baker doesn’t commit in writing to swearing off
new taxes.
“He’s given us some fits and starts,” said Chip Faulkner of
Citizens for Limited Taxation, which unsuccessfully pushed Baker to
sign the no-new-taxes pledge he had committed to during his first
unsuccessful run for governor in 2010.
“I think he’s solid with us. But sometimes he takes a look-see approach
to some of these things, and we like our flat-out condemnation of a new
tax,” said Faulkner, who was happy to hear Baker reversed his stance on
the rental
tax. “We agree with him. He’s following through on the
(previous) pledge.”
The Senate proposal, which is currently tucked into a larger economic
development bill that’s before a House-Senate conference committee, had
drawn support from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which said
those in the growing Airbnb market were getting a competitive edge over
local hotels and bed-and-breakfasts.
State Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg, who is in Philadelphia for
this week’s Democratic National Convention, said in a statement he was
“disappointed” by Baker’s new stance.
“I believe his support for both a tax on Airbnb and increasing the
Earned Income Tax Credit will allow us to work out a solution to get to
what Governor Baker and I have agreed we need to do: help working
families by continuing to raise the Earned Income Tax Credit to 30
percent,” he said.
State House News
Service
Monday, July 25, 2016
Conference glut could leave little time to review major bills
By Katie Lannan
With five major bills potentially on tap to come before the Legislature
this weekend, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said lawmakers should have
sufficient time to review the final bills before they are asked to vote
on them.
Five bills that Beacon Hill leaders have tapped as priorities before
formal sessions end for the year on Sunday remain before six-member
conference committees that are privately reconciling the House and
Senate versions.
Lawmakers will not know the details of the lengthy and complex bills —
which deal with diversifying the state's energy mix, regulating the
ride-for-hire industry, restricting the use of non-compete agreements,
economic development and municipal government reforms — until the
conference committees file their reports.
"My feeling is that all the bills we have talked about have been debated
and talked about for so long a period of time, I think everyone really
has a strong idea of what's included and what's excluded and the
differences, so I'm not sure it would be required that they have a whole
lot more time," DeLeo told reporters Monday. "Having said that, at the
very least, what we would do is hold caucuses — at least, well, the
Democrats, I'm sure the Republicans would do the same — to try to
highlight those areas that may have changed since the original debate."
Under the Legislature's joint rules, a conference report must be filed
by 8 p.m. the day before the Legislature takes it up, and the report
cannot be considered before 1 p.m. that day.
With many Massachusetts Democrats — including DeLeo and Senate President
Stanley Rosenberg — attending their party's national convention in
Philadelphia this week, the only formal sessions this week are scheduled
for Saturday and Sunday.
Rosenberg was in Philadelphia Monday, and participated by phone in a
weekly meeting with DeLeo and Baker. DeLeo plans to travel down Tuesday.
DeLeo said lawmakers try every session to avoid a "last-minute crunch on
some major bills" but "both sides dig in very deeply until the end to
try to see if the other one will, you know, give in on this point or
that point."
"This year what made it a little different as well was, I think, we were
probably a little bit more divergent in the House and Senate bills,
probably a little more different," he said. "So there was probably a lot
more to go through before we would come to a resolution of trying to
conference the legislation."
DeLeo said much of the weekend sessions will be devoted to conference
committee reports, land transfers that require roll call votes, "just a
couple more" overrides of Baker budget vetoes, and home rule petitions.
Asked if the House would take up Senate-approved bills requiring
installation of ignition interlock devices in vehicles of all drunk
driving offenders, banning the use of handheld electronic devices while
driving, and raising the tobacco purchase age to 21, DeLeo said he was
"doubtful that we'd get to something that would require the type of
debate that we would have to have on those particular issue."
State House News
Service
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Baker signs Real ID law with first licenses expected next fall
By Katie Lannan
Massachusetts expects to begin issuing driver's licenses compliant with
the federal Real ID law in the fall of 2017, after Gov. Charlie Baker on
Tuesday signed legislation that will move the state into line with the
federal identification standards.
"The security standards and proper federal documentation requirements
set out in this bill are imperative as the Registry begins the gradual
process of implementation so credential holders may continue to board
domestic flights and enter federal buildings in the coming years," Baker
said in a statement.
The Real ID Act, a post-2001 anti-terrorism initiative, requires states
to begin issuing secure and compliant forms of identification. People
whose licenses do not comply with the law would not be able to use them
as identification to enter federal buildings or board airplanes.
The legislation Baker signed Tuesday was added by the Legislature to the
fiscal 2017 budget, and later amended by Baker to specify that
Massachusetts licenses can only be obtained by people who are lawfully
present in the country.
It creates a two-tiered system, allowing applicants to obtain either a
Real ID-compliant license or a Massachusetts-only license that would
require less documentation and could not be used for accessing federal
buildings or air travel.
State House News
Service
Friday, July 15, 2016
Advances - week of July 17, 2016
When it comes to procrastination the theoretically full-time
Massachusetts Legislature reigns supreme. Every other July, as
Massachusetts residents are trying to enjoy summer and lawmakers in
other states are out of session, Bay State lawmakers are buckling down
and trying to finish work they started more than 18 months ago. There's
ample room for speculation about the reasons.
Lawmakers want to pass their signature accomplishments closest to the
time when they put their names up for reelection?
Having numerous major bills in play creates lots of opportunities for
bargaining in negotiations?
The Legislature is a deliberative body and it just takes time for 200
people to agree on things?
Humans are inherently a little lazy and tend to leave things until
deadline?
Take your pick, but the Great and General Court is where it is: staring
down a mountain of major decisions that they hope will ultimately lead
to new laws in August governing the state's energy mix, economic
development, limits on non-compete agreements between employers and
employees, the app-based ride-hailing industry, municipal government
reforms, and equitable pay for men and women.
The energy and ride-hail bills are already formally before six-member
conference committees and the other four are ready to go to conference
after a flurry of legislating this week.
The six bills -- named by Gov. Charlie Baker this week as the main items
Beacon Hill leaders are focused on -- are likely to earn the bulk of
lawmakers' attention as formal sessions wind down. For example, a wage
theft bill that unanimously cleared the Senate Wednesday is something
House leaders are "taking a look at," Speaker Robert DeLeo said this
week, before cautioning that the six bills either already in conference
or headed for negotiations would "probably take precedence."
POLITICS BEFORE POLICY?
Legislative rules require formal sessions to cease on July 31 in
election years like this one. The big difference this year is the
Legislature is taking two big breaks with just two weeks left to
complete work on major bills.
To accommodate three Republicans who plan to attend next week's
Republican National Convention in Cleveland and a larger contingent of
Democrats, including House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President
Stanley Rosenberg who plan to attend the Democratic National Convention
in Philadelphia July 25-28, the Legislature will either not hold
sessions or hold only informal sessions for most of the remainder of
July. The limited formal sessions will put a stranglehold on legislative
initiatives that are not on the to-do lists of Rosenberg, and especially
DeLeo, whose House determines which of the $256 million in fiscal 2017
budget vetoes to attempt to override.
The Legislature on Thursday took action on a series of budget amendments
submitted by Gov. Charlie Baker in an attempt to either convince him to
sign off on their work or send it back to them with enough time - a few
days - for them to override any vetoes. The convention breaks will give
conference committees some breathing room to work out accords on the
"big six" bills.
Also, expect legislative leaders to use informal sessions to advance as
many bills as the rank and file will allow them to - any member can hold
a bill in informals.
After formal sessions concluded in 2012, the Legislature still enacted
roughly 221 bills that were later signed into law by the governor. In
2014, lawmakers approved about 317 bills in informal sessions that would
become law.
BILLS ON THE GOVERNOR'S DESK
Gov. Baker has until July 24 to act on three bills on his desk: H 543 a
Rep. Bradley bill dealing with disclosure of top contributors for
independent expenditures or electioneering communications; H 4512 a
fiscal year 2016 supplemental budget; and S 1935 authorizing the town of
Nantucket to convey certain land held for open space, recreational or
conservation purposes to the Nantucket Island Land Bank and Madaket
Conservation Trust for open space, recreational or conservation
purposes.
Among other bills on the governor's desk include: S 148 authorizing the
town of Bellingham to grant additional licenses for the sale of all
alcoholic beverages not to be drunk on the premise; S 1999 relative to
segregated reserve funds in the city of Boston; S 2227 retirement
benefits for a certain employees in the town of Erving; and H 542
relative to campaign contribution limits for certain candidates running
for office in a state election.
|
| |
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
BACK TO CLT
HOMEPAGE
|