|
By Ella Adams, Chris Lisinski & Keith Regan
Legislative crunch time just around the corner
| |
|
By the time the final gavel rings out in the House chamber later today, it'll be one more big bill down, a dozen and then some to go.
Representatives are gearing up to approve a wide-ranging veterans benefits and services bill Gov. Maura Healey filed last year, ahead of the Memorial Day holiday this weekend.
But the legislation dubbed the "HERO Act" is just one item on a list that is so long, there's bound to be some chaotic rushing to get to everything.
Healey has three other major bills (economic development, housing and municipal reforms, and local-option taxes) still hanging in limbo that have not gotten a vote in either chamber. Two others from the governor, updating the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission and an IT bond bill, won House approval and have yet to emerge in the Senate. And of course, there's the annual state budget — the most important single bill of any term — that's under consideration this week in the Senate.
That group represents half a dozen major bills just filed by Healey alone that are not yet at the finish line. When we start counting legislation that originated in, well, the Legislature, it gets even more overwhelming.
The House has yet to take up Senate-approved bills tackling prescription drug prices, the early education and care sector, competitive electric supply companies, home fuel leak insurance coverage, and automobile sales. The Senate, meanwhile, is sitting on legislation that already cleared the House reforming the long-term care sector, imposing new health care cost controls and hospital oversight, and allowing employees to take paid time off to vote in elections.
Then there's the quartet of bills that have already won approval in both chambers, but since fallen into the void of closed-door House-Senate negotiations, and other measures that are likely to emerge but still exist only in the realm of ideas, like new climate and clean energy legislation.
Adding up all of those bills laid out here produces a no-doubt incomplete list of 21 major pieces of legislation that still need more legislative action to hit Healey's desk. Did we mention there's exactly 10 weeks left until the end of formal sessions for the term?
You can do the math on the pace that will be required. — Chris Lisinski
Send tips to Ella Adams: Editor@MASSterList.com. For advertising and general inquiries, contact Dylan Rossiter: Publisher@MASSterList.com. Click here to post a job on the MASSterList Job Board. Follow @MASSterList on X. Did someone send you this edition? Subscribe here!
| |
|
Springfield community health center in the works, courtesy of Baystate Health
Officials announced plans for a 90,000-square-foot community health center in Springfield on Tuesday, a "centrally-located" care facility that Baystate Health plans to build, own and operate. The project is expected to roll in between $45M and $50M, and will receive state and federal grants along with 10 acres of MassMutual's Springfield campus and some MassMutual financing. Baystate plans to chat with the community and providers to help finalize plans, and construction will occur between 2025 and 2027. Baystate also plans to eventually consolidate services from four existing Springfield health centers to the new center, reports the Gazette's Alexa Lewis. — Daily Hampshire Gazette
| |
|
Chronic absenteeism on the decline in Mass.
There's been a 20 percent reduction in the number of students considered "chronically absent" in the now-ending academic year, finally dropping after post-pandemic levels skyrocketed. In March 2023, about 24.5 percent of students were chronically absent — this March, that statistic hit 19.6 percent. And while prior to the pandemic, the rate was at about 13 percent, officials say the big drop this year is in part because there's been a "concerted effort" to raise family awareness of chronic absenteeism, which is defined as missing 18 or more days of school.
— State House News Service
| |
|
EasyPay will halt business in Mass., never return
Nonbank lender EasyPay, which charged high interest rates on short-term loans for years, will stop doing business in Mass. The Attorney General's office announced the court-filed settlement Tuesday, in which EasyPay agreed to make restitution of $650K to those who took out loans from them. Through what the AG called a practice of "predatory lending," EasyPay made loans to Bay State residents with interest rates averaging above 100 percent, getting around the state's interest rate limits. In the settlement, EasyPay said it was settling without admission of wrongdoing, though the settlement ends a "yearslong investigation" by the AG's office, reports the Globe's Sean Murphy. — Boston Globe
| |
|
Sports betting companies want private discussion of bettor limits
State gambling regulators planned to hold a roundtable with 10 sports betting companies Tuesday, until every company bailed because they didn't want to publicly discuss why sportsbooks restrict how much and how often people can bet — an issue bettors have been vocalizing recently. Some claim operators limit bettors who "routinely win" but aren't violating any rules, creating industry concerns that players may turn to the illegal betting on the black market if they think they're being limited by legal companies. The operators requested an executive session to discuss the situation instead, which officials said is not possible for transparency purposes. — State House News Service
| |
|
Island dispensaries sue Cannabis Commission over weed-transportation rules
Cannabis dispensaries on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard have filed a lawsuit against the Cannabis Control Commission seeking to overturn regulations that prohibit the shipping of legal weed across state-controlled waters to the islands. The Green Lady, one of two dispensaries on Nantucket, and Island Time dispensary in Vineyard Haven say the CCC's rules are arbitrary and capricious, and subject island pot shops to "extreme financial burdens not endured by their mainland competitors." The shipping prohibition has been thrust into the news by word that the only licensed cannabis grower on Martha’s Vineyard is winding down operations. — Nantucket Current
| |
|
Mass. home sales, median price of single-family home up in April
Last month, Massachusetts saw a 6.8 percent increase in home sales from April 2023 — the largest year-over-year increase in sales since June 2021, reports the News Service's Colin Young. The median single-family home sale price also rose within the last year by 9.9 percent, hitting an all-time April high of $610K and serving as the first time this year that price has passed $600K. The numbers reflect an "exceedingly tight" market, the result of increasing mortgage rates and building costs and an uncertain future for state housing in the face of a 200,000-unit shortage. — State House News Service
| |
|
A long road to reparations for Boston
Boston's reparations task force is in the process of determining what exactly reparations could look like a couple years down the road, as members reportedly have different ideas and are collectively trying to determine when the right time will be, amidst research, to bring in the community for feedback. In the meantime, other groups like the Boston People's Reparations Commission and Embrace Boston pushing for reparations recommendations are going different routes. The Globe's Tiana Woodard looks at the task force's action timeline prior to what will be a June 27 hearing to address the "alignment" of the task force's process. — Boston Globe
| |
|
State, local leaders kick off $100 million Worcester public housing makeover
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and the state's top housing officials traveled to Worcester on Tuesday to mark the start of a $98 million overhaul of a public housing complex originally built in the 1950s to house returning war veterans. Toni Caushi of the Telegram reports the two-year project -- part of a larger, eight-year redevelopment of the Great Brook Valley housing development -- will begin with razing of the aging structures next month. — Telegram & Gazette
| |
|
Poll says public rejects transportation secretary's funding ideas
A new poll suggests the vast majority of Bay State residents do not support the basket of revenue-generating ideas recently floated by Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, such as additional tolls at the state's borders or package-delivery fees. Advantage Inc. says its poll of 750 likely voters — funded by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation — found just 4 percent support all of the ideas Tibbits-Nutt proposed before being rebuked by Gov. Healey and that 60 percent support none of the proposals to increase fees or taxes, Colin A. Young of the News Service reports. — State House News Service
| |
Boston attempting to cut down summer gun violence
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu introduced a "six-pronged" summer safety plan to address the root causes of Boston violence, including systemic racism, poverty and environmental injustice, reports the Herald's Gayla Cawley. Wu called it a "foundation" that goes along with the city's year-round plan, an addition to the city's gun violence intervention strategy born last spring. The plan hones in on "micro-locations" where gun violence is concentrated in the city, and focuses on individuals driving the offenses. — Boston Herald
| |
|
Data from devastating Lowell cyberattack still for sale on dark web
Personal data stolen in a 2023 cyberattack against the city of Lowell was reposted to the dark web by a Russian hacker last month, shortly before he was arrested on hacking charges, Melanie Gilbert of the Sun reports. The new revelations underscore how long a road the city continues to travel to restore the stolen data and rebuild damaged networks — and its inability to keep a lid on the pilfered information once it was in the hands of cybercriminals. — Lowell Sun
| |
|
Looking into ShotSpotter
Law enforcement says controversial ShotSpotter — now called SoundThinking — technology beneficially detects gunshots, alerting police of gun violence and improving law enforcement response times, especially in places that often don't receive 911 calls about gunfire. But criticism is growing, as many are concerned the tech discriminates against communities of color and may be inaccurate. Thirteen Bay State municipalities and one university use the technology, which essentially serves as a microphone and sensor detecting loud sounds that could be gunfire, reports GBH's Sarah Betancourt. The Boston City Council will hold a hearing on the technology to review benefits and harm. — GBH
| |
|
Reach MASSterList and the State House News Service’s connected audience in the political and
public policy worlds in Massachusetts with your job postings. Click here to post a job. Need help? Contact Dylan Rossiter: Publisher@MASSterList.com
Deputy Chief of Organizational Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Assistant Director for Policy and Public Affairs, American Jewish Committee New England
Director, Behavioral Health Workforce Center, Massachusetts Health Policy Commission
Director of Economic Inclusion, Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General
Executive Director, Boston Education Justice Alliance
Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Council
Manager of Research and Business Services, The 495/MetroWest Partnership
Director of Outreach and Engagement, Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership
Director of Intake, Eligibility & Placement, Mass. Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
Accountant I, Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization
Development and Fundraising Associate, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Child Care Program Coordinator, Building Pathways
Training Program Director, Building Pathways
Director of Communications, Office of Senator Cyr
Manager, Health Informatics and Reporting, The Center for Health Information and Analysis
Assistant City Solicitor, City of Everett
Associate General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Policy Analyst, BPI, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Investigator, AOI, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
| | | | |
