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Sam Doran--State House News Service
Attempts at flattery and jokes bounced around the room adjacent to the House Chamber on Tuesday as a select squad of lawmakers prepared to wade into private negotiations over clean energy legislation, with just over a week to go until the end of formal sessions.
"We have a short window, but maybe that's good. Then we know we've got to get it done," said Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem.
Creem and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr were participating remotely, their faces projected onto a TV screen, and co-chairs Sen. Michael Barrett and Rep. Jeff Roy were in the room off the House Lobby, joined by Rep. Richard Haggerty and Rep. Bradley Jones Jr.
Their brief huddle drew plenty of attention out in the corridor by the chamber doors. Around a dozen climate activists marched in a circle, chanting and holding signs that said "Do Your Jobs" and "Climate Justice Now."
In a letter to the conferees on Monday, the affiliated groups, including 350 Mass, called on the lawmakers to "take this opportunity to meet critical environmental justice goals and to equitably and rapidly transform the gas industry into one that meets the commonwealth's climate goals."
Next to the chanting activists, a trio of union gas workers held up their own signs in support of the Gas System Enhancement Program (GSEP). They passed out flyers asking conferees to reject a Senate-approved provision of the bill that "strips" the GSEP, a program that United Steelworkers said "provides for the safety of our workers, first responders, and our communities."
The conferees have been in receipt of more mail. The Mass. Coalition for Sustainable Energy, which includes Associated Industries of Massachusetts, NFIB, Retailer Association of Massachusetts, and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association, reached out Tuesday with a seven-page letter outlining its concerns and priorities with the legislation.
Around the table inside Room 348, Barrett told his fellow conferees he saw two "big issues" before them.
"On the one hand, siting and permitting, which is very, very important, but will almost certainly raise electric rates. And on the other hand, our attempt to moderate the growth in gas so that we can provide some relief in monthly gas bills. The potential grand bargain here lies in our nicely balancing pressure on the monthly pocketbook, and some relief for it," the Lexington Democrat said.
As they moved toward private talks on the energy bill, Barrett showered his House counterpart, Roy, with compliments about his skills in music, cooking, bicycling, and knowledge of the energy industry. [NB: Barrett and Roy feuded for much of 2023 according to news reports, see one example here, in which Barrett accused Roy of fraudulently using his name to call a committee meeting.]
"I actually look to you for business acumen," Barrett told Roy across the historical table. "I find that you know a great deal and think very carefully about the business relationships among the clean energy players. And I have looked to the House recently, in the recent past two years ago, and look to the House again for your canny understanding of all those moving parts."
Roy replied that he hoped "we will emerge from this conference with an even greater product."
Speaking for House Republicans, Jones noted that his caucus did not support the engrossment of the House version (131-25), but said he hoped "we can find commonality of interest in some very key areas and try to move that needle when we have a final product."
"We all know the hour is late," Jones, a North Reading Republican, said of the short timeline before July 31. "There are a number of other issues that the Legislature is dealing with and trying to reach a magical midnight deadline before we're left with the pumpkin and the glass slipper. And hopefully we can get a glass slipper that will fit the needs of the commonwealth."
