6-22-2025 4:49am

Beacon Hill Roll Call

Alan Earls Editor

If you have any questions about this week's report, e-mail us at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com or call us at (617) 720-1562.

Volume 50 - Report No. 25

June 16-20, 2025

By Bob Katzen

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THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives' and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of June 16-20.

$1.3 BILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION AND EDUCATION (H 4227)

House 150-3, then 148-4, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey the conference committee version of a $1.3 billion fiscal 2025 supplemental budget that uses funds generated from the surtax imposed on taxpayers’ earnings of more than $1 million annually, to fund $593 million for education-related projects and $716 million for transportation-related ones. The House and Senate had approved different versions of the bill and the conference committee drafted this compromise version.

The surtax was created by voters in November 2022 when they voted for a constitutional amendment, dubbed by supporters as the “Fair Share Amendment,” that allows a graduated income tax in Massachusetts and imposes an additional 4 percent income tax, in addition to the flat 5 percent one, on taxpayers’ earnings of more than $1 million annually. Language in the constitutional amendment requires that “subject to appropriation, the revenue will go to fund quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and for the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges and public transportation.”

A total of $535 million of the $716 million for transportation will be used for various MBTA projects. Other provisions include $80 million for Chapter 90 aid to ensure every city and town receives funding to maintain local roads and bridges; $16.4 million for municipally owned small bridges and culverts; $7 million for the improvement and maintenance of unpaved roads; and $5 million for transportation improvements associated with the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The $593 million for education includes $248 million for special education; $115 million for public higher education infrastructure investments; $25 million for tutoring to support accelerated literacy growth and success for students in kindergarten through grade 3; $10 million for English Language Learning Programs; $10 million to support the Holocaust Museum in Boston; and $10 million for grants to eligible local school districts for clean energy infrastructure improvements and upgrades.

“Ensuring that every Massachusetts resident has access to a safe and reliable public transportation system, and that every student in the commonwealth receives a high-quality education, are two of the most fundamental responsibilities that we have as elected officials,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “The investments being made in this supplemental budget are representative of the Legislature’s continued focus on meeting those responsibilities.”

“In a time of national turbulence and damaging federal cuts, the conference committee has delivered a meaningful compromise that honors the will of Massachusetts voters and invests Fair Share funds equitably across Massachusetts,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton), Vice Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “This supplemental budget reflects a Senate commitment to regional equity—providing meaningful support for K-12 schools grappling with strained budgets, addressing long-overdue maintenance on public higher education campuses and delivering much-needed transportation solutions for communities across the commonwealth.”

“As a member of the joint conference committee, I’m proud to have played a significant role in the process that reflects the values and priorities of communities, such as those on the South Shore that I represent,” said Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth), Ranking Minority member of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “This legislation directs historic and groundbreaking Fair Share investments toward career and technical education, local infrastructure and regional transportation, which directly benefits our schools, our roads and our economy.”

Reps. Ken Sweezey (R-Duxbury) and Alyson Sullivan Almeida (R-Abington) cast the only two votes against the budget. They issued a joint press release citing the conference committee’s decision to withhold $80 million in Chapter 90 road funding from municipalities deemed noncompliant with the MBTA Communities Act's zoning mandates, as the reason they voted against the budget.

The MBTA Communities Act, according to the state’s website, requires that an MBTA community “must have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and meets other criteria” including minimum gross density of 15 units per acre; and a location not more than 1/2 mile from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station. No age restrictions can be applied and the district must be suitable for families with children

Sweezey, whose district includes several non-compliant towns said, “Three of my [district’s] towns - Marshfield, Halifax and Hanson - are being penalized for standing by their local planning boards and residents. The conference committee claims it wants to support our communities, yet it is holding critical transportation funds hostage. That is simply not acceptable.”

“I was fully prepared to support the final compromise,” said Sullivan-Almeida. “Unfortunately, the conference committee inserted a last-minute stipulation to punish non-compliant towns. This kind of maneuvering doesn’t belong in a budget that is supposed to help all our cities and towns.”

Both legislators emphasized their support for the provisions in the supplemental budget that increase funding for education including regional transportation, career technical training and special education as well as provisions for public transit. However, they were clear that they could not support a bill that “leverages essential local funding to coerce compliance with a controversial zoning mandate."

(A “Yes” vote is for the budget. A “No” vote is against it. The House voted twice on this bill so there are two votes listed for each representative.)

Rep. Jeffrey Roy Yes/Yes Sen. Rebecca Rausch Yes Sen. Karen Spilka Yes

$532 MILLION FISCAL 2025 SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (S 2529)

Senate 38-2, approved a $532 million fiscal 2025 supplemental budget that includes $174 million for fiscally strained acute care hospitals and $35 million for community health centers facing financial challenges. The House has already approved a different version of the bill and a House-Senate conference committee will eventually draft a compromise version.

Other provisions in the Senate version include $134 million for the Medical Assistance Trust Fund; $400,000 for Women Infants and Children Program Manufacturer Rebates; $60 million for Home Care Services; $35 million for payments to fiscally strained community health centers; $42.9 million for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition; $4.2 million for the State Police Crime Laboratory; and $60 million for Home Care Services.

“Massachusetts has a healthcare ecosystem that is the envy of other states, and that doesn’t happen by accident,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “Supporting every resident is part of what it means to be a leader in healthcare access. This funding will help our hospitals and community health centers provide high-quality care in every region, no matter a patient’s insurance status, as well as provide critical services to our veterans, seniors and municipalities.”

“The Senate took action today on reconciling deficiencies of $532 million in the fiscal year 2025 budget, most notably providing $209 million in critical assistance to fiscally strained acute care hospitals and community health centers,” said Sen. Mike Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “The bill also allocates $134 million to the Medical Assistance Trust Fund, with the remaining $189 million to responsible bill-paying obligations across a broad range of state agencies and programs. We’re fortunate that the commonwealth is in strong financial condition to meet these responsibilities, never more important than now in these continuing uncertain times.”

"My primary reason for voting no on this supplemental budget is that it includes a policy initiative allowing electric utility providers to increase rates to seemingly expand electric charging stations, and does so without requiring a response from the Department of Public Utility which oversees these rate hikes,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “When the final bill is negotiated, I hope this is removed, thus allowing me to support it. Rate payers are being hit every which way, and I simply will not support more cost increases on families for higher electric rates, or subsidies for electric vehicle infrastructure when the market doesn't support it."

(A “Yes” vote is for the $532 million supplemental budget. A “No” vote is against it.)

Sen. Rebecca Rausch Yes Sen. Karen Spilka Yes

UTILITY RATE INCREASES (S 2529)

Senate 6-33, rejected an amendment that would strike a section of the supplemental budget that would allow any rate increases proposed by utility companies to take effect in 60 days, if the proposed increase is not reviewed and acted upon by the Department of Public Utilities (DPU).

Co-sponsor of the amendment to strike the section, Sen. Kelley Dooner (D-Taunton), said it is not good government for rate hikes to take effect without a full review by DPU and that this would undermine regulatory oversight and expose ratepayers once again to even higher increases. She argued that the Senate should be strengthening oversight, not making it easier for utilities to raise their rates behind closed doors.

“An increase in utility rates for the purpose of expanding electric charging stations at a time when families in the commonwealth are struggling to pay utility bills at their current rates is detrimental and unnecessary,” said amendment co-sponsor Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton) who voted to strike the section.

Sen. Mike Barrett (D-Lexington), the chief opponent of the amendment, did not respond to several e-mails from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking him why he opposed the amendment.

(A “Yes” vote is for the amendment that would prohibit the increase from taking effect without DPU approval. A “No” vote is for allowing the rate increase to take effect without DPU approval.)

Sen. Rebecca Rausch No Sen. Karen Spilka President rarely votes

ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL

COALITION TO REFORM OUR LEGISLATURE – The Coalition to Reform Our Legislature (CROL) held an event at Church on the Hill across the street from the Statehouse and urged the Legislature to pass two bills the group has filed.

CROL defines itself as a bipartisan coalition of citizens working to make the Massachusetts Legislature “more effective, accountable and transparent.” The event, billed as “The People’s Hearing,” featured several speakers including the group’s co-founder Jeanne Kempthorne, former Massachusetts Democratic State Rep. and U.S. Congress member Barney Frank, former Democratic State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, the GOP finance chair Jennifer Nassour, Sierra Club Director Vickash Mohanka, Republican party chair Amy Carnavale and James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University Danielle Allen.

The first proposal (H 3892) would establish an independent Office of Legislative Research and an Office of Fiscal Analysis.

The Office of Legislative Research would assist legislators and committees on all matters requiring policy analysis, comparative legal analysis, statistical research and fact-finding in connection with legislation or other matters pertaining to the functions of the Legislature as well as assist with bill-drafting upon request by any representative or senator.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis would prepare tax revenue and expenditure forecasts and reviews and analyze the fiscal impact of proposed legislation.

“Massachusetts is an outlier,” said Kempthorne. “Nearly all states have nonpartisan research and analysis capacity to encourage better bill drafting, analysis and decision making. The absence of that capacity here helps account for our Legislature’s poor performance.”

The second proposal (HD 4303) would make major changes to the current legislative pay stipend system under which all 40 senators and 108 of 160 representatives receive an additional stipend, above their $82,046 base salary, for their positions in the Democratic and Republican leadership, as committee chairs, vice chairs and the ranking Republican on some committees. The current Senate stipends range from $30,207 to $119,631 while the House ones range from $7,776. to $119,631. All of the positions are appointed by either the Senate President, House Speaker, Senate Minority Leader or House Minority Leader.

The bill would change the range of the stipends for representatives and senators to a new range of $16,409 to $61,533. It would also reduce the number of legislators who receive stipends.

CORL cites other changes it proposes in the stipend system including only providing stipends for positions that involve significant work; condition stipends for committee chairs on their bringing all bills to their full committees for public debate, mark-up and a public vote; give stipends for leadership and Ways and Means positions only if the committee chairs meet those conditions described above; and provide a new stipend to all committee members for the significant work of participating in public debates and mark-ups.

Supporters of the bill say that the current system gives leadership extraordinary control over legislators’ pay. They say that their new bill would replace the current system with a less costly and less leadership-controlled stipend system that rewards performance, rather than loyalty.

“In no other state are so many legislators dependent on their chamber leader for a large share of their pay,” said former Rep. Jonathan Hecht. “One hundred and forty nine of the 200 members of the legislature are now in so-called ‘leadership positions,’ put there by the House Speaker, Senate President, or the House and Senate Minority Leaders, with a $5 million account to boost their pay. Most of these stipends were created in the last 25 years, and reward little or no work.”

"One of the questions that we are considering is whether to take ... one or both of these issues to the ballot," said former State Rep. and Revenue Committee chair Jay Kaufman. "There's some significant consequences to doing that, but we're actively weighing it.”

Also in attendance at the event was long time editor and first-time director Aaron Singer who is the producer and director of “Shadows on the Hill,” an upcoming documentary that he says asks why common-sense bills don’t pass the Massachusetts Legislature.

“This project began as an investigation into why legislation reforming Daylight Savings Time keeps failing,” said Singer. “But once I started talking to people on Beacon Hill, it became clear how much representatives fear going against leadership. A supermajority co-sponsored an act to prevent wage theft; how does that not pass?”

Singer continued, “I have deep empathy for rank-and-file lawmakers under intense pressure to fall in line, but they have a responsibility to loudly call out how undemocratic the system is. Otherwise, their role in the process will never change and their constituents will be denied the representation they're owed.”

BAN USE OF CELL PHONES IN SCHOOLS (S 381) – The Education Committee held a hearing on several bills which would ban student use of cell phones during classes except when expressly directed by a teacher.

"An increasing number of countries, states and municipalities have banned mobile phones in schools,” said Sen. John Keenan (D-Quincy) who filed one of the proposals. He noted that he filed the measure, to ensure that the commonwealth protects children in classrooms and optimizes the learning environment for students."

PROHIBIT USE OF NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS (S 312) – Another bill heard by the Education Committee would prohibit public schools from using an athletic team name, logo or mascot which is associated with Native Americans. The bill bans the current and future use of any of these mascots. Any school that does not comply with this law would not be eligible for discretionary state education grants.

“This bill is long overdue,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “Native Americans are sovereign peoples—not mascots, not caricatures. The continued use of Native imagery in school mascots is dehumanizing. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and has been shown to cause psychological harm, especially for Native youth.”

In 2024, a similar bill was approved by the Education Committee and was sent to the House Ways and Means Committee where it died from lack of further action.

ELIMINATE THE ADDRESS OF CANDIDATES ON THE BALLOT (SD 2982) - Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow) proposed a late-filed bill that would remove the home street address of candidates for elected office from ballots and nomination papers. The measure would allow only the city or town in which the candidate resides to be listed.

The measure was filed in response to a shooting in which Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed.

Oliveira said that Massachusetts is "an extreme outlier" as the only state that prints candidate addresses on ballots. He noted that 44 other states list only party affiliation on a public ballot, and five list a candidate's home municipality, precinct or ward but not a full street address.

"Only Massachusetts includes the information that we have on our ballots," said Oliveira. "We need to do everything that we can to protect one another, protect our staff and protect our family, and this is a step in the right direction."

EXPAND THE BOTTLE BILL (S 2245) The Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy’s hearing included a measure that would expand the bottle bill to include containers as small as nips and as large as one gallon; more types of beverages such as water, energy drinks and iced tea; an increase in the deposit from 5 cents to 10 cents; an increase in the handling fees paid to retailers and redemption centers; an exemption for retailers of less than 2,000 square feet from the requirement of accepting containers for redemption; and a provision that would direct unclaimed deposits in excess of $70 million to the re-established Clean Environment Fund, to be used for administering the deposit system and for programs related to solid waste management and environmental protection.

Sponsor Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton) said the bill will modernize the bottle deposit system so that it better reflects the beverages we consume today. “By including more types of containers, raising the deposit and supporting retailers with higher handling fees … we can recycle billions more bottles and cans each year. This will reduce litter in our communities, slash emissions, save cities and towns millions in waste removal costs and create jobs across the state."

BAN OPEN CONTAINERS OF MARIJUANA IN MOTOR VEHICLES (H 186) – The Cannabis Policy Committee held a hearing on a proposal that would establish a $100 to $500 civil penalty for a driver possessing an open container of marijuana or marijuana-infused edibles in the passenger area of a motor vehicle -- similar to the state's open alcohol container law. The measure also creates exemptions for certain vehicles including limousines and RVs.

“I filed this bill with hopes of creating more structure and regulation within the developing industry,” said sponsor Rep. Marcus Vaughan (R-Wrentham). “I feel while this is a great addition to the commonwealth’s economic standpoint there needs to be more awareness on the public health side to promote safety.”

QUOTABLE QUOTES

Juneteenth, which was celebrated last week on June 19th, commemorates more than 250,000 slaves in Texas learning of their freedom on June 19, 1865. The date came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, the same year it was celebrated as a state holiday for the first time in Massachusetts. Former Gov. Charlie Baker signed the holiday into law in July 2020.

The Massachusetts Legislature’s Black and Latino Legislative Caucus celebrated the holiday at the Statehouse. Here are some of the quotes from the event:

"We have come a long way, and it's our turn at this point to have the baton in our hand. And if we don't, and we don't use the power we have today, after all the sacrifices that were made in the past, shame on us.”

---Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Boston), the longest-serving member of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.

"When our values are attacked and our communities are disrespected, we will stand up and say loudly and proudly: ‘We believe in diversity, we believe in equity, we believe with every fiber of our being that the Black community belongs at the table, in the boardroom, in our colleges, running our businesses and leading our government.’”

---Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

"One of the great things Trump is going to give us is the urgency to keep fighting, to keep pressing, to not lay down when he makes these inane comments that make no sense, when he starts threatening taking funding. We will do the best we can to make sure no one is left behind."

---House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy).

"We know that the path is stormy ahead. But we know, too, that we have to celebrate days like today to make sure that our voices are heard all the way to Washington, D.C., that diversity, equity and inclusion are important. DEI is a Massachusetts value that will never, ever change."

---Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland).

"This year is not like every other year. When we celebrate this holiday, we must recognize what is happening around us."

---Tomas O’Brien, executive director of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus.

HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION?

Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.

During the week of June 16-20, the House met for a total of three hours and 49 minutes while the Senate met for a total of four hours and 12 minutes.

Mon. June 16 House 11:01 a.m. to 11:04 a.m.

Senate 11:05 a.m. to 11:09 a.m.

Tues. June 17 No House session.

No Senate session.

Wed. June 18 House 11:02 a.m. to 2:48 p.m.

Senate 1:21 p.m. to 5:29 p.m.

Thurs. June 19 No House session.

No Senate session.

Fri. June 20 No House session.

No Senate session.

Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com