Beacon Hill Roll Call

By Bob Katzen

The Massachusetts Legislature, week of Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2018

THE HOUSE AND SENATE

Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives' and senators' votes on roll calls from the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 2.

$15M FOR PUERTO RICO (H 4160, S 2280)

House 153-0, Senate 38-0, approved different versions of a fiscal 2018 supplemental budget. The Senate version now goes to the House for consideration.

Both versions include $15 million to help school districts educate students who came to the Bay State from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Maria and Irma. Another $420,000 is in both versions for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination to hire additional employees and to conduct training on sexual assault and harassment to address the recent rise in these complaints.

Rep. Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg) Yes

Rep. Donald Berthiaume (R-Spencer) Yes

Rep. Kate Campanale (R-Leicester) Yes

Rep. Dan Donahue (D-Worcester) Yes

Rep. Peter Durant (R-Spencer) Yes

Rep. Carolyn Dykema (D-Holliston) Yes

Rep. Kimberly Ferguson (R-Holden) Yes

Rep. Paul Frost (R-Auburn) Yes

Rep. Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlboro) Yes

Rep. Sheila Harrington (R-Groton) Yes

Rep. Stephan Hay (D-Fitchburg) Yes

Rep. Natalie Higgins (D-Leominster) Yes

Rep. Kate Hogan (D-Stow) Yes

Rep. Hannah Kane (R-Shrewsbury) Yes

Rep. Mary Keefe (D-Worcester) Yes

Rep. Kevin Kuros (R-Uxbridge) Yes

Rep. John Mahoney (D-Worcester) Yes

Rep. Joseph McKenna (R-Webster) Yes

Rep. David Muradian Jr. (R-Grafton) Yes

Rep. Brian Murray (D-Milford) Yes

Rep. Harold Naughton Jr. (D-Clinton) Yes

Rep. James O'Day (D-West Boylston) Yes

Rep. Todd Smola (R-Warren) Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps (I-Athol) Yes

Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik (D-Gardner) Yes

Sen. Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) Yes

Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton) Yes

Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Webster) Yes

Sen. Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) Yes

Sen. Michael Moore (D-Millbury) Yes

Sen. Dean Tran (R-Fitchburg) Yes

$1,063,978 TO REIMBURSE CITIES AND TOWNS FOR COSTS OF EARLY VOTING (H 4160)

House 151-0, approved an amendment to provide $1,063,978 to reimburse cities and towns for the costs they incurred for the implementation of the state law mandating that communities allow early voting for the November 2016 election.

Rep. Jennifer Benson Yes

Rep. Donald Berthiaume Yes

Rep. Kate Campanale Yes

Rep. Dan Donahue Yes

Rep. Peter Durant Yes

Rep. Carolyn Dykema Yes

Rep. Kimberly Ferguson Yes

Rep. Paul Frost Yes

Rep. Danielle Gregoire Yes

Rep. Sheila Harrington Yes

Rep. Stephan Hay Yes

Rep. Natalie Higgins Yes

Rep. Kate Hogan Yes

Rep. Hannah Kane Yes

Rep. Mary Keefe Yes

Rep. Kevin Kuros Yes

Rep. John Mahoney Yes

Rep. Joseph McKenna Yes

Rep. David Muradian Yes

Rep. Brian Murray Yes

Rep. Harold Naughton Yes

Rep. James O'Day Yes

Rep. Todd Smola Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps Yes

Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik Yes

PLAN TO COORDINATE EFFORTS TO COMBAT ALZHEIMER’S (H 4116)

House 153-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill requiring the governor’s Executive Office of Health and Human Service to assess all current state programs that address Alzheimer’s disease and create and maintain an integrated state plan to overcome the illness.

The plan would include accelerating the development of treatments that would prevent, halt or reverse the disease; helping to coordinate the health care and treatment of individuals with the disease; ensuring the inclusion of ethnic and racial populations, who have a higher risk or are the least likely to receive care for the disease; and implementing a strategy to increase the diagnostic rate.

Rep. Jennifer Benson Yes

Rep. Donald Berthiaume Yes

Rep. Kate Campanale Yes

Rep. Dan Donahue Yes

Rep. Peter Durant Yes

Rep. Carolyn Dykema Yes

Rep. Kimberly Ferguson Yes

Rep. Paul Frost Yes

Rep. Danielle Gregoire Yes

Rep. Sheila Harrington Yes

Rep. Stephan Hay Yes

Rep. Natalie Higgins Yes

Rep. Kate Hogan Yes

Rep. Hannah Kane Yes

Rep. Mary Keefe Yes

Rep. Kevin Kuros Yes

Rep. John Mahoney Yes

Rep. Joseph McKenna Yes

Rep. David Muradian Yes

Rep. Brian Murray Yes

Rep. Harold Naughton Yes

Rep. James O'Day Yes

Rep. Todd Smola Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps Yes

Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik Yes

NO LONGER REQUIRE HANDWRITTEN USED VEHICLE RECORD BOOK (S 2269)

Senate 36-0, approved and sent to the House a bill repealing the outdated current requirement that all car dealers maintain a book in which they enter extensive hand-written information about each used vehicle sold. This law was put on the books decades ago to ensure that used car sales were tracked so that police and other law enforcement could access them. The bill would allow the information to be maintained in the dealer’s online database.

Sen. Harriette Chandler Yes

Sen. James Eldridge Yes

Sen. Ryan Fattman Yes

Sen. Anne Gobi Yes

Sen. Michael Moore Yes

Sen. Dean Tran Yes

ALSO ON BEACON HILL

INCREASE THE STORAGE CHARGE FOR TOWED VEHICLES (H 2509) – The House gave initial approval to a bill increasing from $35 per day to $42 per day the maximum storage charge that can be charged by private storage lots that store cars that are ordered towed by police in a city or town.

CHILD PASSENGER RESTRAINTS (H 12434) – The House gave initial approval to a bill requiring that children under the age of two or weighing less than 30 pounds, ride in a federally approved child passenger restraint that is facing backwards.

Current law is more general and requires children younger than 8 to ride in a federally approved child passenger restraint but does not mandate that it face backwards.

WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE? – While the 2018 elections are still months away, Secretary of State Bill Galvin announced that nomination papers for the 2018 State Primaries and General Election are now available at Galvin’s Elections Division, Room 1705, McCormack State Office Building, One Ashburton Place, and regional offices in Fall River and Springfield.

The state party primaries will be held on Sept. 4, and the state election will be on Nov. 6.

Details, deadlines and the number of signatures required are at www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/Candidates-Guide-18.pdf

All 160 state representative and state senator seats are up for grabs. Other offices to be filled include U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, governor’s councilor, district attorney, clerk of courts, register of deeds and county commissioner.

THREE POSSIBLE 2018 BALLOT QUESTIONS GET A HEARING – Three possible 2018 ballot questions were the subject of hearings last week.

The proposals would increase the minimum hourly wage to $12 in 2019, $13 in 2020, $14 in 2021 and $15 in 2022; create a program to provide paid family and medical leave to Massachusetts workers; and reduce the state’s sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent and at the same time establish an annual two-day permanent sales tax holiday in August that allows consumers to buy most products that cost under $2,500 without paying the state's sales tax.

If the Legislature does not approve the proposed laws by May 2, proponents must gather another 10,792 signatures by July 4 in order for the question to appear on the November 2018 ballot.

Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com.