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CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Proposition 2½
unscathed in Transportation Bond Bill
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
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Most Relevant News Excerpts
(Full news reports follow Commentary)
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When the clock
was nearing midnight, a wave of adrenaline seemed to
wash over the House Chamber as pieces started to fall
into place Tuesday night on major economic development
(H 5250) and transportation spending bills (H 5248). And
while those bills were ultimately sent to Gov. Charlie
Baker's desk, the adrenaline started to wear off as the
House met into the early morning hours of Jan. 6, well
past when the Legislature is supposed to end their
two-year session.
As Tuesday
turned into Wednesday, the House also handed Baker
legislation addressing sexual violence on college
campuses (S 2979), craft brewers (S 2841), and patient
access to emergency care (S 2931).
A bill
offering relief for businesses facing increases in
unemployment taxes (H 5206) cleared the House Bonding,
Capital Expenditures, and State Assets Committee early
in the day but did not surface during the session.
For a large
majority of the House's 16-hour long session, the lower
chamber tended a massive number of local bills, many
having to do with one or two cities or towns, before
adjourning for the last time as the 191st General Court
at 4:34 a.m.
The last time
a branch met early into the morning was on July 14, 2020
when the Senate adjourned at 4:12 a.m. after debating
police reform legislation for more than 16 hours. The
House is back in action Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. for the
first session of the 192nd General Court where lawmakers
will be sworn-in for the 2021-2022 session. . . .
SINE DIE: Rep.
Donato said the House do now adjourn. The House of
Representatives of the 191st General Court sine die. The
first annual session of the 192nd General Court will
convene Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. The 2019-2020
legislative session ended 4:34 a.m.
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 4:55 AM
House Session Summary -
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
. . . RECESS:
The Senate entered recess at 1:35 a.m.
RETURNS: Sen.
Brownsberger gaveled the Senate to order at 1:55 a.m.
President Spilka, Sen. Boncore, and Sen. Tarr were also
present.
TRANSPORTATION
BOND - CONFERENCE REPORT: The committee of conference on
the disagreeing House and Senate transportation
borrowing bills (H 4547 / S 2836) reported recommending
the compromise bill printed in H 5248 authorizing and
accelerating transportation investment. There was no
objection to suspending rules to take up the matter. The
Senate ACCEPTED the conference report in concurrence.
Time was 1:56 a.m.
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Senate Session Summary -
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
Adjourns Sine Die At 4:41 a.m. Wednesday
JAN. 6, 2021
4:19 AM .....With many businesses on the brink after
months of scraping by through the pandemic, the
Legislature struck a late-night deal Wednesday to inject
hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy in an
effort to spur job growth and keep businesses afloat.
The $626.5
million economic development bill (H 5250) came together
in the closing hours of the two-year legislative session
after more than five months of private negotiations
between House and Senate leaders....
The bill
passed the House 143-4 at 4 a.m and cleared the Senate
40-0 at 4:15 a.m.
The
bottom-line on the bill grew from the roughly $450
million legislators were eyeing back in July.
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Legislature Agrees to $626 Mil Economic
Development Bill
Ending a
General Court whose course and operations were altered
by the pandemic, the Legislature kept its final sessions
of the biennium open until after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday,
less than seven hours until the new Legislature is due
to be sworn in. Sessions had been scheduled to end on
Tuesday at midnight but no objections were raised and
the Senate held votes throughout the evening that
creeped its final adjournment farther toward dawn.
After sending
a final day-and-a-half's worth of bills to Gov. Baker's
desk including accords on transportation infrastructure
borrowing and economic development and jobs, the Senate
adjourned sine die -- without any more sittings to
follow -- at 4:41 a.m.
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 5:23 AM
Senate Session Summary - Tuesday, Jan.
5, 2021
Adjourns Sine Die At 4:41 a.m. Wednesday
The weather is
cold, Christmas lights are still up. But on Beacon Hill,
the mood is more like July 31 – the traditional last day
of formal sessions during the two-year legislative
session.
This year,
amid the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers extended formal
sessions to pass a late state budget, address the
pandemic, and deal with major legislation. Yet one
tradition continued: the Beacon Hill pattern of waiting
until the last minute to reach deals – or not – on
significant legislation. ...
The
transportation bond bill would borrow billions of
dollars to pay for various state transportation
projects. Baker said Monday that its passage is a big
deal, since the state needs more borrowing authorization
to fund spring and summer construction projects and sign
multi-year agreements involving federal reimbursement.
But House and
Senate leaders appear to disagree on how much money the
state can spend without raising new revenue. The House
passed a transportation revenue bill before the pandemic
broke out, but the Senate did not consider it.
Under
legislative rules, a conference committee report must be
released by 8 p.m. if it will be voted on the next day.
Neither bill emerged Monday night. But lawmakers have a
history of waiving their own rules on the last day of
session, releasing complicated conference committee
reports hours before the midnight end of session, giving
lawmakers little time to review them before a vote.
Other bills
could also be passed today, but with sessions scheduled
to begin at noon, the House and Senate will have just 12
hours to agree on final language....
One
disadvantage for lawmakers in late deal-making is Baker
has 10 days to sign or veto legislation. Once the
session ends, lawmakers cannot override a veto.
On the other
hand, normally if a deal falls through, lawmakers must
wait six months until the next session to start working
on it again. This year, with the new session beginning
on Wednesday, they can refile a bill the next day.
CommonWealth
Magazine
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Sweating it out on Beacon Hill
like it’s July
Waiting until
the last minute to try to pass legislation, even complex
and critical legislation like a $450 million jobs bill,
is nothing new for the Legislature....
Typically, the
governor would have line-item veto authority over the
two major outstanding bills currently in conference
negotiations - a economic development and jobs bill and
a $17 billion transportation infrastructure financing
bill.
Counsel in the
governor's office believes this is still the case with
respect to those two bills.
The House and
Senate clerks spoke Tuesday about the issues involved,
and Senate Clerk Michael Hurley told the News Service he
believes Baker cannot sign only a portion of a bill
after Tuesday because there will be no entity left to
which he could return an unsigned section.
While this
question of parliamentary procedure bears watching in
the coming days, it is agreed that after Tuesday there
will be no chance for the governor to try to amend
anything sent to his desk. So if there is a
disagreement, look for the governor to try to whip it
back to the Legislature quickly before the final gavel
falls.
State House
News Service
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Unusual Finish Raises Questions About
Line Item Veto Option
With just
hours left in their two-year session, House Speaker
Ronald Mariano said Tuesday evening he expects House and
Senate lawmakers to come together before the end of the
night on a more than $450 million jobs bill, but does
not anticipate that the deal will include the
legalization of sports betting.
Mariano, in a
Bloomberg radio interview, also predicted that
legislators negotiating a $17 billion borrowing bill to
pay for transportation infrastructure could finalize an
agreement in "the next couple of hours."
Gov. Charlie
Baker on Monday said the state was in danger of running
out of borrowing authorization for transportation
projects without the bill, which would impact the
state's ability to fully take part in the spring
construction season and access federal reimbursements.
Mariano said
the transportation financing talks as "a little bit
closer" than the economic development bill....
"As so many of
these things do, they come together when the option is
complete failure, and I think we've started to see some
movement," he added.
Sen. Michael
Rodrigues, who sits on both the transportation and
economic development conference committees, said Tuesday
afternoon only that "we're hoping" to strike a deal on
transportation.
"I haven't
given up on anything yet. We still have seven hours to
go," Rodrigues told the News Service at the State House.
"Talks are continuing on everything that's outstanding."
State House
News Service
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Mariano: Deals Forming on Economic,
Transportation Bills
JAN. 6, 2021 -
1:31 AM.....With deals on major economic development and
transportation bills not coming together until after
midnight, the House and Senate extended their final day
of sessions into the early hours of Wednesday, with
plans to pass the bills in the wee hours.
Sen. Eric
Lesser told the News Service that all six conference
committee members had signed off on the economic
development bill (H 5250) and that it did not include a
sports betting legalization measure favored by the
House.
The dealmaking
between House and Senate Democrats also led to the
filing of a compromise transportation bond (H 5248),
which will authorize billions of dollars of spending
over multiple years on an array of transportation
projects. The $16.5 billion transportation bond bill
approved on a voice vote in the House with no debate or
explanation at about 1:20 a.m.
Legislation
targeting sexual violence on higher education campuses
also was sent to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk just before 1
a.m. Lawmakers were unable to get a similar bill
finalized at the end of the 2018 session, and almost
repeated that feat again.
Around 1 a.m.,
Senate President Karen Spilka told two reporters at the
State House that a craft brewers/beer distributors bill
is "moving." Spilka said the House "had some concerns,"
but "we worked with them very closely, and I think we
have an agreement to move forward with. So that's
exciting." Shortly after she spoke, the bill began
moving in the House just before 1:30 a.m.
Spilka said
equity was a theme that runs through both the economic
development and the transportation bond bills, and
predicted housing construction will increase across
Massachusetts due to provisions in the economic
development bill.
Higher Uber
and Lyft fees, which were not in either transportation
bond bill, were included in the final transportation
deal. The Senate had approved fee increases in their
budget, Spilka noted. The House had passed higher fees
in a revenue bill that died in the Senate.
Conference
committees usually limit the content of their bills to
matters addressed in the two bills before conferences.
Spilka said
she wasn't sure about an unemployment insurance rate
relief bill. "I don't know. We'll have to see," she
said.
As the
sessions dragged past 1 a.m., she added, "There's still
a bunch of things that we're waiting for."
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 1:31 AM
House, Senate Extend Hectic Sessions
Into Wednesday
Heavy Legislating Conducted in Wee Hours
House and
Senate Democrats forged a late-night compromise on a
$16.5 billion transportation bond bill, salvaging
consensus in the dying moments of the lawmaking session
on a multi-year plan to pay for infrastructure
improvements while also raising fees on ride-hailing
services.
A final
compromise between House and Senate leaders emerged
shortly after midnight Wednesday after months of private
negotiations, leaving members only a few hours to read
the updated version of the 63-page bill (H 5248) before
approving it 146-0 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate.
Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Sutton Republican, cast the lone
dissenting vote around 3:20 a.m.
The bill now
on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk authorizes billions of
dollars in bonds for highway and bridge maintenance,
train modernization, and major capital projects such as
a Red Line-Blue Line Connector, the extension of
commuter rail service to the South Coast, and the
approaches to the two Cape Cod bridges....
With their
late-night vote, legislators punctuated the end of the
2020-2021 session by returning to a topic that had
dominated debate on Beacon Hill early last year. Still
virtually untouched, though, is a related package of tax
and fee increases that cleared the House in the spring
but died in the Senate without a vote....
Several
other notable provisions approved in either the House or
Senate bills did not make it into the final compromise,
including authorization for cities and towns to pursue
their own revenue-raising regional ballot initiatives
and "value capture" models to collect funds from real
estate development near highways or transit.
State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Lawmakers Send Baker $16.5 Billion
Transportation Bond
TNC Fees Added, Regional Ballot Questions Dropped |
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
If there was one thing that was proven
beyond any doubt this morning it is: The Legislature did not need
to extend its session in July — and
further, there is no need for it to be in session even until July.
"The Best Legislature Money Can Buy" is a pathetic joke, a scam on
taxpayers who fund and support it.
In
my
commentary for the CLT Update of August 16, related to that
extension I wrote:
"There's nothing
like a deadline to focus attention, and there's nothing like
extending a deadline to feed procrastination. Remember a month
ago when everything on Beacon Hill was about getting so much
accomplished before the July 31 recess deadline? Now that
they've agreed to ignore their own rule and remain in session
interminably the pressure is off the pols; it's back to
business-as-usual. Nothing has come out of any of the numerous
conference committees, and nothing likely will until the next
deadline, after they are safely re-elected."
Truer words were never spoken
if I do say so myself
— but I've been watching Beacon Hill
long enough to recognize how it works and doesn't, so it was an
educated prediction.
Yesterday was a very long day, night,
and morning into today — even for me
who's used to putting in 12-14 hour work days for CLT. But I
was eyes-on watching their every move in the final day of
legislative session — so you didn't
have to. The last day of a legislative session in
Massachusetts is when things always get tense and ugly.
Just before 7:00 p.m. the State House
News Service reported ("Mariano: Deals Forming on Economic,
Transportation Bills"):
With just
hours left in their two-year session, House Speaker Ronald
Mariano said Tuesday evening he expects House and Senate
lawmakers to come together before the end of the night on a more
than $450 million jobs bill, but does not anticipate that the
deal will include the legalization of sports betting.
Mariano, in a
Bloomberg radio interview, also predicted that legislators
negotiating a $17 billion borrowing bill to pay for
transportation infrastructure could finalize an agreement in
"the next couple of hours."
Gov. Charlie
Baker on Monday said the state was in danger of running out of
borrowing authorization for transportation projects without the
bill, which would impact the state's ability to fully take part
in the spring construction season and access federal
reimbursements.
Mariano said
the transportation financing talks as "a little bit closer" than
the economic development bill.
The new
speaker also said he believes the House and Senate will pass
legislation before the Legislature adjourns Tuesday night to
limit unemployment insurance rate increases on employers next
year.
The Senate's version of its
transportation bond bill was where the sneak attack on Proposition 2½
was concealed. Would it be kept when and if the
Transportation Bond Bill Conference Committee pulled the trigger and
released it — and was there even still enough time if it was
reported out of the committee for the full Legislature to pass it,
along with all the other major bills still bottled up in their
respective conference committees, before the mandated midnight
deadline? It seemed that the recently-coronated new House
Speaker, Ron Mariano, thought it likely so it required our full
attention.
I forgot that in
the Massachusetts Legislature their rules and mandates are meant to
be broken, and shattered again they were.
An hour and a
half after the required termination of the 2019-20 legislative
session, at 1:41 a.m. the State House News Service reported ("House,
Senate Extend Hectic Sessions Into Wednesday; Heavy Legislating
Conducted in Wee Hours"):
With deals on
major economic development and transportation bills not coming
together until after midnight, the House and Senate extended
their final day of sessions into the early hours of Wednesday,
with plans to pass the bills in the wee hours. . . .
The dealmaking
between House and Senate Democrats also led to the filing of a
compromise transportation bond (H 5248), which will authorize
billions of dollars of spending over multiple years on an array
of transportation projects. The $16.5 billion transportation
bond bill approved on a voice vote in the House with no debate
or explanation at about 1:20 a.m.
The $17 Billion
transportation bond bill — released very late just yesterday
— in minutes if that was passed by the House "on a voice vote
with no debate or explanation at about 1:20 a.m."
Then it was
rushed over to the Senate for another hasty rubber-stamp. In
its Senate Session Summary, the State House News Service reported:
TRANSPORTATION BOND
- CONFERENCE REPORT: The committee of conference on the
disagreeing House and Senate transportation borrowing bills (H
4547 / S 2836) reported recommending the compromise bill printed
in H 5248 authorizing and accelerating transportation
investment. There was no objection to suspending rules to take
up the matter. The Senate ACCEPTED the conference report in
concurrence. Time was 1:56 a.m.
Again:
"There was no objection to suspending rules to take up the matter.
The Senate ACCEPTED the conference report in concurrence."
If they were
going to just rubber-stamp whatever was released without having the
time to read, never mind think about, it — why didn't they do that
back in July?
These are the
legislators that just took huge pay raises at taxpayers' expense —
"The Best Legislature Money Can Buy"!
At 2:00 this
morning I switched over from watching the
House and
Senate sessions live to find the Transportation Bond Committee's
bill that was just whisked through, H-5248 — to see if Proposition
2½ survived the latest attack or was included and weakened. I
spent another hour poring through the 63 pages — and couldn't
find anything that mentioned it! Pages 15 (line 469)
through Page 38 (line 1412) list earmarked transportation projects
for specific cities and towns, so you can bet that's all the Reps
and Senators were looking for. If theirs were included they
were happy.
Admittedly it was
3:00 in the morning so I wasn't at my sharpest point of the long
day. If you'll read it over yourself you might find something
I missed in my "wee hours" fog — but it appears that Proposition
2½ has survived again.
Take a look at
was passed in the "wee hours" and sent to the governor for his
signature. If you find something I missed please let me know,
but I'm quite sure that we're safe for now — until Sen. Eric Lesser
(D-Longmeadow) and his obsessive one-man jihad against Prop 2½ for
years takes his next shot.
House No.5248
An Act Authorizing and Accelerating Transportation Investment
Congratulations
to those of you who made an effort to contact your state Rep and
Senator, and members of the conference committee. I don't know
whether that led to removal of the threat or if it was just lost in
the shuffle, but we taxpayers seem to have prevailed again.
Thanks very much for those who took that initiative when we
asked
you to.
More catching up
and details to follow in the days ahead, but I wanted to get this
good news to you quickly. God knows, good news is a rare
commodity today. Now I need to catch some sleep.
UPDATE:
The State House News Service reported later today ("Lawmakers Send
Baker $16.5 Billion Transportation Bond; TNC Fees Added, Regional
Ballot Questions Dropped"):
. . . Several other
notable provisions approved in either the House or Senate bills
did not make it into the final compromise, including
authorization for cities and towns to pursue their own
revenue-raising regional ballot initiatives and "value
capture" models to collect funds from real estate development
near highways or transit.
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Chip Ford
Executive Director |
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Full News Reports Follow
(excerpted above) |
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State House
News Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 4:55 AM
House Session Summary - Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
By Chris Van Buskirk
When the clock was nearing midnight, a wave of adrenaline
seemed to wash over the House Chamber as pieces started to
fall into place Tuesday night on major economic development
(H 5250) and transportation spending bills (H 5248). And
while those bills were ultimately sent to Gov. Charlie
Baker's desk, the adrenaline started to wear off as the
House met into the early morning hours of Jan. 6, well past
when the Legislature is supposed to end their two-year
session.
As Tuesday turned into Wednesday, the House also handed
Baker legislation addressing sexual violence on college
campuses (S 2979), craft brewers (S 2841), and patient
access to emergency care (S 2931).
A bill offering relief for businesses facing increases in
unemployment taxes (H 5206) cleared the House Bonding,
Capital Expenditures, and State Assets Committee early in
the day but did not surface during the session.
For a large majority of the House's 16-hour long session,
the lower chamber tended a massive number of local bills,
many having to do with one or two cities or towns, before
adjourning for the last time as the 191st General Court at
4:34 a.m.
The last time a branch met early into the morning was on
July 14, 2020 when the Senate adjourned at 4:12 a.m. after
debating police reform legislation for more than 16 hours.
The House is back in action Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. for the
first session of the 192nd General Court where lawmakers
will be sworn-in for the 2021-2022 session. . . .
SINE DIE: Rep. Donato said the House do now adjourn. The
House of Representatives of the 191st General Court sine
die. The first annual session of the 192nd General Court
will convene Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. The 2019-2020
legislative session ended 4:34 a.m.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Senate Session Summary - Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
Adjourns Sine Die At 4:41 a.m. Wednesday
. . . RECESS: The Senate entered recess at 1:35 a.m.
RETURNS: Sen. Brownsberger gaveled the Senate to order at 1:55
a.m. President Spilka, Sen. Boncore, and Sen. Tarr were also
present.
TRANSPORTATION BOND - CONFERENCE REPORT: The committee of
conference on the disagreeing House and Senate transportation
borrowing bills (H 4547 / S 2836) reported recommending the
compromise bill printed in H 5248 authorizing and accelerating
transportation investment. There was no objection to suspending
rules to take up the matter. The Senate ACCEPTED the conference
report in concurrence. Time was 1:56 a.m.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 5:23 AM
Senate Session Summary - Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
Adjourns Sine Die At 4:41 a.m. Wednesday
By Sam Doran
Ending a General Court whose course and operations were altered
by the pandemic, the Legislature kept its final sessions of the
biennium open until after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, less than seven
hours until the new Legislature is due to be sworn in. Sessions
had been scheduled to end on Tuesday at midnight but no
objections were raised and the Senate held votes throughout the
evening that creeped its final adjournment farther toward dawn.
After sending a final day-and-a-half's worth of bills to Gov.
Baker's desk including accords on transportation infrastructure
borrowing and economic development and jobs, the Senate
adjourned sine die -- without any more sittings to follow -- at
4:41 a.m.
Also acted upon Tuesday (and early Wednesday) were measures
dealing with emergency room access, Quincy College degrees,
waterway pollution awareness, MBTA service cuts, and a
commission on the commonwealth's seal. Among the proposals left
unfinished, and pronounced dead at sine die, were a bill from
Gov. Baker to limit large hikes scheduled for 2021 in business
unemployment taxes (H 5206), which the House shelved in its Ways
and Means Committee, and legislation to address emergency action
on FEMA flood insurance rate maps (H 4720), which was stuck in
the House Third Reading Committee before adjournment.
The Senate gavels in at 11 a.m. Wednesday kicking off the new
General Court with an outdoor swearing-in ceremony for a quorum
of senators in Ashburton Park.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Legislature Agrees to $626 Mil Economic Development Bill
Housing Production Measure Included in Bill
By Matt Murphy
JAN. 6, 2021 4:19 AM .....With many businesses on the brink
after months of scraping by through the pandemic, the
Legislature struck a late-night deal Wednesday to inject
hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy in an effort to
spur job growth and keep businesses afloat.
The $626.5 million economic development bill (H 5250) came
together in the closing hours of the two-year legislative
session after more than five months of private negotiations
between House and Senate leaders.
While the compromise bill scrapped a House-backed plan to have
Massachusetts join other New England states in legalizing sports
betting, it did include a version of Gov. Charlie Baker's
long-stalled housing production proposal to lower the threshold
for local boards to approve zoning bylaw changes to a simple
majority.
Baker has pushed for years for the change as one that is
essential to meet his goal of creating 135,000 new units of
housing by 2025 to ease the housing crunch, especially around
Greater Boston.
The bill also included $50 million in funding for
transit-oriented housing, $30 million for a loan program similar
to the federal Paycheck Protection Program for businesses hurt
by COVID-19, and funding for job training, tourism, technology
and advance manufacturing.
"I think it's a great bill. It covers a lot of ground, will help
the commonwealth with job creation over the next few months and
years," Senate President Karen Spilka said, adding that it also
prioritizes racial, geographic and economic equity where
possible.
The bill passed the House 143-4 at 4 a.m and cleared the Senate
40-0 at 4:15 a.m.
The bottom-line on the bill grew from the roughly $450 million
legislators were eyeing back in July.
Sen. Eric Lesser, a Longmeadow Democrat, said the bill would
help Massachusetts "chart a path out of the recession were are
in" and address the "explosion" of social and economic injustice
that has been exposed in some communities by the pandemic by
prioritizing funds for those communities business owners.
The bill includes $35 million in loan funding for community
development lending institutions to extend capital to small
businesses, with a focus on minority- and women-owned businesses
that have historically had trouble accessing financing and have
been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
It would also seal no-fault eviction records, Lesser said.
There is $52 million set aside for science and technology
research, $20 million for economic development in small, rural
communities, $14 million for tourism, and $6 million to support
artists and local museums.
And if signed by Baker, the low-income housing tax credit
program would double to $40 million.
The talks were led by House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron
Michlewitz and Lesser, the Senate chair of the Committee on
Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. They were joined
on the conference committee by Reps. Ann-Margaret Ferrante and
Donald Wong and Sens. Michael Rodrigues and Patrick O'Connor.
Massachusetts had the highest unemployment rate in the country
at 16.1 percent in July when the House and Senate debated and
passed competing versions of the bill that was finalized Tuesday
night.
But while the job market has rebounded and the state's 6.7
percent unemployment rate now matches the national average,
economists remain uncertain about the strength of that recovery
and whether the ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections could spark
public officials to revert to tight restrictions on businesses.
To prepare for what's to come after the pandemic, the bill would
create a "Future of Work" commission to study how to promote
sustainable jobs with fair benefits and workplace safety
standards across industries.
There are also commissions that would be created to study the
negative impact of changes in media on local journalism and how
to help the arts community recover from the pandemic.
And lawmakers also agreed on a "student loan bill of rights,"
which is an issue Lesser has been pushing for multiple sessions.
The bill would make sure borrowers are educated about their
responsibilities and borrowing rights and student loan servicers
that take advantage of students could be fined and forced to
repay student borrowers.
The infusion of money for economic development and job creation
comes on top of a new round of federal stimulus and a $668
million small business recovery fund Gov. Baker launched last
month to help small employers hurt by COVID-19 restrictions
cover rent, payroll, debt and other expenses.
Late Tuesday afternoon, new Speaker Ron Mariano called it "a
shame" the two branches couldn't reach a deal to legalize
betting on sports.
Baker filed a proposal to legalize betting on professional
sports back in January 2019, and had hoped to sign a law before
the start of the NFL season late that summer. The House included
college sports in its bill that would have allowed for betting
through mobile apps.
Mariano pointed the finger at the Senate for not wanting to
negotiate the issue, but said he hopes to return to the topic
early in the new session to make sure a home-grown company like
DraftKings doesn't uproot and take jobs somewhere else, like New
Hampshire, where sports betting is legal.
"If I could, we'd have a deal," Mariano told Bloomberg radio.
The House had proposed to use nearly a third of the $50 million
in revenue it projected from legalized sport betting to create a
new fund for distressed restaurants, with qualifying restaurants
eligible to receive up to $15,000 in relief.
Restaurants have been some of the hardest hit small employers in
the state by the pandemic, and have been lobbying to limit the
delivery charges as more customers are choosing to stay home.
The final compromise bill capped the fees third-party delivery
services can charge restaurants for their services at 15 percent
of the price of the online order for the duration of the
COVID-19 emergency. The cap also only applies to restaurants
with fewer than 25 locations.
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 5:23 AM
Senate Session Summary - Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021
Adjourns Sine Die At 4:41 a.m. Wednesday
By Sam Doran
Ending a General Court whose course and operations were altered
by the pandemic, the Legislature kept its final sessions of the
biennium open until after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, less than seven
hours until the new Legislature is due to be sworn in. Sessions
had been scheduled to end on Tuesday at midnight but no
objections were raised and the Senate held votes throughout the
evening that creeped its final adjournment farther toward dawn.
After sending a final day-and-a-half's worth of bills to Gov.
Baker's desk including accords on transportation infrastructure
borrowing and economic development and jobs, the Senate
adjourned sine die -- without any more sittings to follow -- at
4:41 a.m.
Also acted upon Tuesday (and early Wednesday) were measures
dealing with emergency room access, Quincy College degrees,
waterway pollution awareness, MBTA service cuts, and a
commission on the commonwealth's seal. Among the proposals left
unfinished, and pronounced dead at sine die, were a bill from
Gov. Baker to limit large hikes scheduled for 2021 in business
unemployment taxes (H 5206), which the House shelved in its Ways
and Means Committee, and legislation to address emergency action
on FEMA flood insurance rate maps (H 4720), which was stuck in
the House Third Reading Committee before adjournment.
The Senate gavels in at 11 a.m. Wednesday kicking off the new
General Court with an outdoor swearing-in ceremony for a quorum
of senators in Ashburton Park.
CommonWealth Magazine
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Sweating it out on Beacon Hill like it’s July
By Shira Schoenberg
The weather is cold, Christmas lights are still up. But on
Beacon Hill, the mood is more like July 31 – the traditional
last day of formal sessions during the two-year legislative
session.
This year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers extended formal
sessions to pass a late state budget, address the pandemic, and
deal with major legislation. Yet one tradition continued: the
Beacon Hill pattern of waiting until the last minute to reach
deals – or not – on significant legislation.
The Legislature did pass a budget, which Gov. Charlie Baker
signed December 11.
That gave the Legislature time to override Baker’s vetoes, which
lawmakers have been doing the last few days. Lawmakers last
month passed a police reform compromise, which Baker signed.
Before Christmas, the Legislature sent Baker a compromise bill
on telehealth, which he signed, and a bill banning the use of
certain flame retardant chemicals in furniture and children’s
goods. On Sunday, a conference committee released a major
climate change bill, which was swiftly passed and sent to the
governor.
But two major pieces of legislation remain in conference
committees – an economic development bill and a transportation
bond bill.
The economic development bill is typically a Christmas tree-type
bill, chock-full of local earmarks. This year, it seems more
necessary than ever given businesses’ struggles to stay open
during COVID-19. More than 50 mayors, including Boston’s Marty
Walsh, have asked lawmakers for business relief money. But
negotiations are complicated by other policy proposals in the
bill.
The House used its version to authorize sports betting, a
complex policy decision with lobbying by powerful organizations,
including sports teams and casinos. Both versions of the bill
include some iteration of Baker’s Housing Choices bill, which
would lower the municipal voting threshold for certain zoning
decisions. The policy has support from a range of business,
development and municipal interests, but has spurred concerns
about whether it does enough to help renters and low-income
residents.
While negotiators don’t talk about closed door discussions, the
Boston Globe’s Jon Chesto suggested that possible factors behind
the delay include myriad policy differences, House lead
negotiator Aaron Michlewitz’s other demanding role as chair of
the House Ways and Means Committee, and House upheaval with
Robert DeLeo’s resignation as speaker and the selection of Ron
Mariano to replace him.
The transportation bond bill would borrow billions of dollars to
pay for various state transportation projects. Baker said Monday
that its passage is a big deal, since the state needs more
borrowing authorization to fund spring and summer construction
projects and sign multi-year agreements involving federal
reimbursement.
But House and Senate leaders appear to disagree on how much
money the state can spend without raising new revenue. The House
passed a transportation revenue bill before the pandemic broke
out, but the Senate did not consider it.
Under legislative rules, a conference committee report must be
released by 8 p.m. if it will be voted on the next day. Neither
bill emerged Monday night. But lawmakers have a history of
waiving their own rules on the last day of session, releasing
complicated conference committee reports hours before the
midnight end of session, giving lawmakers little time to review
them before a vote.
Other bills could also be passed today, but with sessions
scheduled to begin at noon, the House and Senate will have just
12 hours to agree on final language. For example, a bill aimed
at addressing campus sexual assault has advanced in the Senate,
but not the House, although House leaders have said they are
committed to passing it.
One disadvantage for lawmakers in late deal-making is Baker has
10 days to sign or veto legislation. Once the session ends,
lawmakers cannot override a veto.
On the other hand, normally if a deal falls through, lawmakers
must wait six months until the next session to start working on
it again. This year, with the new session beginning on
Wednesday, they can refile a bill the next day.
State House News
Service
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Unusual Finish Raises Questions About Line Item Veto Option
By Matt Murphy
Waiting until the last minute to try to pass legislation, even
complex and critical legislation like a $450 million jobs bill,
is nothing new for the Legislature.
At the end of formal sessions in 2018, lawmakers sent Gov.
Charlie Baker a $1.15 billion economic development bill that
included restrictions on non-compete agreements and a permanent
annual sales tax holiday just before 1 a.m. on the final day of
sessions. Baker signed most of it, but vetoed a section dealing
with bad-faith patent infringement claims.
But that was the last day of July, when months of informal
sessions would follow and legislative leaders could still try to
pass bills by unanimous consent. And in fact they did. The
Legislature was able to deal with an amendment Baker returned
after the final day of formal session that same year to a civics
education bill.
This year is different. And the unusual circumstances brought
about by the decision to extend formal sessions past July 31
because of the pandemic has sparked some confusion about the
governor's options after Tuesday.
Typically, the governor would have line-item veto authority over
the two major outstanding bills currently in conference
negotiations - a economic development and jobs bill and a $17
billion transportation infrastructure financing bill.
Counsel in the governor's office believes this is still the case
with respect to those two bills.
The House and Senate clerks spoke Tuesday about the issues
involved, and Senate Clerk Michael Hurley told the News Service
he believes Baker cannot sign only a portion of a bill after
Tuesday because there will be no entity left to which he could
return an unsigned section.
While this question of parliamentary procedure bears watching in
the coming days, it is agreed that after Tuesday there will be
no chance for the governor to try to amend anything sent to his
desk. So if there is a disagreement, look for the governor to
try to whip it back to the Legislature quickly before the final
gavel falls.
State House News
Service
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Mariano: Deals Forming on Economic, Transportation Bills
Sports Betting Likely To Be Dropped in Bill
By Matt Murphy
JAN. 5, 2020 6:49 PM.....With just hours left in their two-year
session, House Speaker Ronald Mariano said Tuesday evening he
expects House and Senate lawmakers to come together before the
end of the night on a more than $450 million jobs bill, but does
not anticipate that the deal will include the legalization of
sports betting.
Mariano, in a Bloomberg radio interview, also predicted that
legislators negotiating a $17 billion borrowing bill to pay for
transportation infrastructure could finalize an agreement in
"the next couple of hours."
Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday said the state was in danger of
running out of borrowing authorization for transportation
projects without the bill, which would impact the state's
ability to fully take part in the spring construction season and
access federal reimbursements.
Mariano said the transportation financing talks as "a little bit
closer" than the economic development bill.
The new speaker also said he believes the House and Senate will
pass legislation before the Legislature adjourns Tuesday night
to limit unemployment insurance rate increases on employers next
year.
Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, is less than a week into his
speakership and attempting to shepherd the House through the
final days of a two-year session marred by the COVID-19
pandemic.
"We're getting close on economic development. I think we will
have a deal at some point today. There were a lot of moving
pieces in that bill, as you know, a lot of individual projects,
a lot of pet projects, so it was very important to a lot of
people on the House side, very personal to a lot folks on the
Senate side, so it was a difficult negotiation," Mariano told
Bloomberg Baystate Business.
"As so many of these things do, they come together when the
option is complete failure, and I think we've started to see
some movement," he added.
Sen. Michael Rodrigues, who sits on both the transportation and
economic development conference committees, said Tuesday
afternoon only that "we're hoping" to strike a deal on
transportation.
"I haven't given up on anything yet. We still have seven hours
to go," Rodrigues told the News Service at the State House.
"Talks are continuing on everything that's outstanding."
Rodrigues declined to talk about sticking points, alleging that
doing so would constitute a rules violation.
While the House put legalization of sports betting into its
version of the bill, the Senate did not debate sport betting and
left it out of the package before it moved into closed-door
conference committee talks.
Asked if sports betting would be part of any deal struck
tonight, Mariano said, "I wish I could say that but right now
I'm pretty sure that's not a reality."
Mariano said Senate leaders have been "adamant" about not
wanting to negotiate the expansion of gambling as part of the
jobs bill, and he said he would want to return to the issue
early in the new session, which begins on Wednesday.
"If I could, we'd have a deal," Mariano said about the sports
betting piece.
Describing his relationship with DraftKings founder Jason Robins
as "very personal," Mariano said he regretted that the
Boston-based company had to go to New Hampshire to find a market
for sports betting.
"His commitment to Massachusetts has been outstanding and it is
a shame that we couldn't get an agreement so that he could
operate in Massachusetts," he said.
While the economic development bill wouldn't resolve the
question of sports gambling, Mariano said it would likely
include the governor's housing proposal.
Baker has been pushing for years to allow cities and towns to
change local zoning bylaws by a simple majority vote of the
governing board rather than two-thirds to make it easier to
green light housing projects. Both branches put versions of
Baker's "Housing Choice" bill into the economci development
legislation.
"I think you're going to see it in some form," Mariano said. He
said the zoning reform was put into the broader economic
development bill to narrow the scope of the debate and
discourage legislators from trying to tack on other proposals,
like rent control.
Another issue he said the economic development bill is unlikely
to address is a cap on fees for food delivery services like
GrubHub and DoorDash.
"We know it's a real problem for the restaurants and we're
looking at ways to see if we can control it. You don't want to
ban it totally because it's a service that people want," Mariano
said.
The House passed a measure pushed by Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz that would cap delivery fees at 15 percent of
the total bill, and it was included in the jobs bill, but
Mariano said it was no longer part of the talks.
At the State House Tuesday, the News Service asked Mariano if
he's been enjoying his new job.
"I feel good. It's been what three and a half days," he said.
"It's hard to determine how this is going to go but it's been an
exciting three and a half days, or whatever it's been. Yeah, so
it's not bad."
Looking ahead to Wednesday's swearing-in ceremonies, with a new
Legislature being seated, Mariano said that it will be limited.
Many returning members will be sworn in virtually, with new
representatives in-person.
"We're going to try and make it as efficient and safe for people
as we can make it," he said. It's a major challenge to ensure
the safety of the new members and make sure there's social
distancing. So it's going to be
a scaled down ceremony."
— Michael P. Norton, Chris Van
Buskirk and Sam Doran contributed reporting
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 | 1:31 AM
House, Senate Extend Hectic Sessions Into Wednesday
Heavy Legislating Conducted in Wee Hours
By Michael P. Norton and Sam Doran
JAN. 6, 2021 - 1:31 AM.....With deals on major economic
development and transportation bills not coming together until
after midnight, the House and Senate extended their final day of
sessions into the early hours of Wednesday, with plans to pass
the bills in the wee hours.
Sen. Eric Lesser told the News Service that all six conference
committee members had signed off on the economic development
bill (H 5250) and that it did not include a sports betting
legalization measure favored by the House.
The dealmaking between House and Senate Democrats also led to
the filing of a compromise transportation bond (H 5248), which
will authorize billions of dollars of spending over multiple
years on an array of transportation projects. The $16.5 billion
transportation bond bill approved on a voice vote in the House
with no debate or explanation at about 1:20 a.m.
Legislation targeting sexual violence on higher education
campuses also was sent to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk just before
1 a.m. Lawmakers were unable to get a similar bill finalized at
the end of the 2018 session, and almost repeated that feat
again.
Around 1 a.m., Senate President Karen Spilka told two reporters
at the State House that a craft brewers/beer distributors bill
is "moving." Spilka said the House "had some concerns," but "we
worked with them very closely, and I think we have an agreement
to move forward with. So that's exciting." Shortly after she
spoke, the bill began moving in the House just before 1:30 a.m.
Spilka said equity was a theme that runs through both the
economic development and the transportation bond bills, and
predicted housing construction will increase across
Massachusetts due to provisions in the economic development
bill.
Higher Uber and Lyft fees, which were not in either
transportation bond bill, were included in the final
transportation deal. The Senate had approved fee increases in
their budget, Spilka noted. The House had passed higher fees in
a revenue bill that died in the Senate.
Conference committees usually limit the content of their bills
to matters addressed in the two bills before conferences.
Spilka said she wasn't sure about an unemployment insurance rate
relief bill. "I don't know. We'll have to see," she said.
As the sessions dragged past 1 a.m., she added, "There's still a
bunch of things that we're waiting for."
State House News
Service
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Lawmakers Send Baker $16.5 Billion Transportation Bond
TNC Fees Added, Regional Ballot Questions Dropped
By Chris Lisinski
JAN. 6, 2021 | 3:25 AM.....House and Senate Democrats forged a
late-night compromise on a $16.5 billion transportation bond
bill, salvaging consensus in the dying moments of the lawmaking
session on a multi-year plan to pay for infrastructure
improvements while also raising fees on ride-hailing services.
A final compromise between House and Senate leaders emerged
shortly after midnight Wednesday after months of private
negotiations, leaving members only a few hours to read the
updated version of the 63-page bill (H 5248) before approving it
146-0 in the House and 39-1 in the Senate. Sen. Ryan Fattman, a
Sutton Republican, cast the lone dissenting vote around 3:20
a.m.
The bill now on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk authorizes billions of
dollars in bonds for highway and bridge maintenance, train
modernization, and major capital projects such as a Red
Line-Blue Line Connector, the extension of commuter rail service
to the South Coast, and the approaches to the two Cape Cod
bridges.
In a surprise move, the bill calls for increases to the flat
per-ride fees charged on app-based services such as Uber and
Lyft, a measure the branches addressed in separate legislation
but not in either versions of their bond bills.
Another measure requires the MBTA to implement a low-income fare
program, which has long been a priority of transit advocates,
and those who fail to pay T fares would no longer be subject to
arrest.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has created really unprecedented changes
to the ways we commute, but this does not mean the ills of our
transportation system do not persist," said Sen. Joseph Boncore,
who co-chairs the Transportation Committee and led the Senate's
negotiations. "Massachusetts needs a new deal on transportation,
but included in this bill is a strong foundation to continue
that conversation."
With their late-night vote, legislators punctuated the end of
the 2020-2021 session by returning to a topic that had dominated
debate on Beacon Hill early last year. Still virtually
untouched, though, is a related package of tax and fee increases
that cleared the House in the spring but died in the Senate
without a vote.
Baker filed his original $18 billion transportation bond
proposal in July 2019. Governors tend to seek the borrowing
authorizations in multi-year increments, and Baker cautioned
Monday that the long delay from lawmakers imperiled the upcoming
construction season.
"We literally are almost out of transportation bond authority,
and we need that bill for the spring construction and summer
construction season, and we also need it to sign multi-year
agreements that involve federal reimbursement," Baker said. "You
have to actually demonstrate to the feds that you have the
authorization to pay for a federally supported project, which in
many cases take a couple of years to actually have the feds sign
off and say, 'yes, you can spend the money.'"
Several provisions Baker sought in his first draft of the bill
did not make it into the version on his desk, such as a tax
credit for employers who encourage working from home.
The bill lands in a vastly different climate than when Baker
first proposed it. Commuting patterns evolved significantly
during the pandemic, with ridership on public transit cratering
-- and a massive budget headache erupting at the T as a result
-- and some employers indicating they may keep remote work
options in place for the foreseeable future.
The House approved its $18 billion bond bill in March, one day
after it authorized a package of tax and fee increases --
including the first state gas tax increase in seven years --
that Democratic leaders said could raise as much as $600 million
annually to invest in crumbling infrastructure and aging public
transit.
In the Senate, however, the revenue bill faltered without a vote
as lawmakers bristled at the idea of hiking taxes during a
pandemic-fueled recession, frustrating House leaders who felt
they had taken a tough vote.
One major element from the House's tax package, ride-hailing fee
increases, made it into the borrowing bill.
Under the compromise bond bill, the assessments charged for
trips on platforms such as Uber and Lyft would increase from
$0.20 per ride of any type to $0.40 per shared ride, $1.20 per
non-shared ride, and $2.20 per non-shared ride in a luxury
vehicle.
Boncore said on the Senate floor that the increases are intended
to "change commuter behavior by incentivizing commuters to
request a shared ride for a lower fee or use public transit."
Negotiators spliced that language into the compromise even
though neither underlying bond bill tackled transportation
network company, or TNC, fees. The House included similar
increases in its tax bill, while the Senate adopted an amendment
containing a new fee structure to its version of the fiscal year
2021 budget.
Baker previously suggested raising the fees on the companies to
$1 per ride, warning that their growing presence on
Massachusetts roadways contributed to worsening traffic. It is
not clear if he will view the Legislature's proposed hikes,
which are likely to generate pushback from the companies, as
excessive.
The bill would create a commission to study congestion pricing,
a strategy that would alter tolls at different times to
incentivize off-peak travel, and it would create violations for
drivers who park their vehicles in designated bus lanes.
Several other notable provisions approved in either the House
or Senate bills did not make it into the final compromise,
including authorization for cities and towns to pursue their own
revenue-raising regional ballot initiatives and "value
capture" models to collect funds from real estate development
near highways or transit.
Unlike the original House bill, which called for adding two
members to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, the
conference committee's proposal does not expand the T's
oversight panel.
Baker now has 10 days to decide the bill's fate, which, in a
reflection of the pandemic's unprecedented upheaval, will play
out entirely during the brand-new lawmaking session that begins
Wednesday.
John Pourbaix, executive director of the Construction Industries
of Massachusetts group, said the bill's success will help keep
workers who might have faced steep cuts afloat.
"Passage of this bill allows MassDOT and the MBTA to continue
procuring the vast list of capital projects which will preserve
thousands of jobs for the hard working men and women in the
transportation construction industry and, in turn, will help the
state's economic recovery and improve public safety," Pourbaix
said. |
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