Beacon Hill update - October
by Statehouse News ServiceHouse and Senate leaders are hopeful that these next three weeks are productive ones on Beacon Hill - more to counter perceptions than because of actual deadlines. Much has been said and written of late about the fact that formal legislative sessions, during which most major bills are considered, end for the year on Nov. 16.
Advocates trying to prod action on one bill or another before that date use the date as a cudgel. Most are simply eager to get their legislation passed or at least on the move because next year - the second year of this biennial session - is an even shorter one with formal sessions ending at the end of July.
So, while Nov. 16 is an important day and often the target date for action on specific bills, the session does not end on that date and no legislative proposals will die then at the stroke of midnight or be cast aside in any way. In fact, many will even continue moving back and forth between the branches and into the law books during the six-week period before formal sessions resume the first week in January. The House, where several members are vacationing in Spain and Portugal, plans to hold a full formal session on Thursday, and its agenda will become clearer on Monday.
THE BIG PICTURE
There will be an effort in the next three weeks to move important bills to stimulate the economy and add jobs, close tax loopholes, update work rules for those receiving welfare benefits, and pass a supplemental appropriation that disposes of the budget surplus on hand when the books on fiscal 2005 closed on June 30.
House and Senate conferees are still sorting through differences in their versions of the welfare changes and the House has passed its economic stimulus or jobs plan along with a $300 million mid-year appropriation to which they attached more than a hundred amendments. House leaders are a week away from releasing their long-awaited plan to overhaul the health care system and it's expected to be debated on the floor there the week of Nov. 7.
The next few weeks for the Senate should see passage of a jobs bill, action on the supplemental budget and perhaps on a health care bill. Whether the two branches can negotiate their differences on those measures before Nov. 16 is uncertain. House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has said he'll be willing to call the House back into special session if a consensus health care bill surfaces in the weeks between Nov. 16 and Jan. 4.
But, beyond the strong desire to pass the jobs and health care bills soon, there's no requirement that they reach the governor before the holiday season.
JOB CREATION BILL, MID-YEAR BUDGET
Two major pieces of business await Senate action before formal sessions end Nov. 16. House members are eager to see the Senate advance its version of a $345 million job creation and economic stimulus bill. Senators are also waiting for the dust to settle on a $300 million mid-year spending bill that was taking days to piece together after the House adopted more than 100 amendments.
Ways and Means Committee spokesman James Eisenberg on Friday estimated that $15 to $20 million was added to the bill through floor amendments, but said an official total will be available next week. Work on the mini-budget and job creation bills is occurring behind the scenes in the Senate.
Senate President Robert Travaglini told the News Service last week that the Senate will expand on a $12.5 million investment made by the House, in its mini-budget, in the area around Fenway Park and the Longwood medical neighborhood. Travaglini aides said Friday that senators are eyeing a $55 million neighborhood upgrade. Four senators, led by Marian Walsh, have also served notice that they intend to offer, as an amendment to the budget or jobs bill, a proposal requiring churches and religious organizations to file annual financial information with the state, as other charities are required to do, and to report on real estate owned.
The jobs bill will be known as the Commonwealth Investment Plan. Senate President Robert Travaglini may outline a couple of the proposal's major components this week, and Senate consideration of the bill is tentatively planned for the week of Oct. 31. The state lost 700 more jobs in September, as its unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ASSISTANCE
The House and Senate must only work out differences in bills that have now cleared the branches and would require manufacturers of certain appliances to begin meeting energy efficiency standards. An accord on those bills is looking likely before the November recess.
Another $80 million bill offering direct assistance to those who will struggle to heat their homes this winter, in the face of high energy costs, remains under construction within the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Legislative leaders and Gov. Romney have expressed interest in enacting energy-related measures before winter strikes, so action prior to the November recess would appear likely.
Speaker DiMasi hosts an energy summit on Monday. The House is also in receipt of a Senate-passed bill aimed at boosting alternative fuels and hybrid vehicle purchases. That bill has not sparked as much conversation as the appliance efficiency and energy aid bills. During supplemental budget debate, the House rejected a $10 million alternative energy tax credit.
HEALTH CARE REFORM
The wait for a House plan to expand access to health insurance in both the public and private markets continues this week. Those following the issue are waiting for the House-controlled Committee on Health Care Financing, co-chaired by Rep. Patricia Walrath (D-Stow), to unveil their proposal, which is expected by the end of the month.
Senate President Robert Travaglini last week directly tied health care reform to one of his other top priorities, gaming expansion. The Senate chief and his colleagues are hopeful that the House will adopt its approved proposal authorizing four racetracks to add 2,000 slot machines each. Travaglini said last week that revenues from those slot machines might help pay for expanded health insurance access and are preferable to and more appropriate than new taxes.
Gaming expansion supporters and opponents in the House each claim they have to votes to prevail on the issue, but the House, which has dodged the issue this year, has not signaled when they plan to take it up. Business leaders expect House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi to discuss health care during a speech Tuesday.
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