SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 2024
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents,
When I last wrote on Wednesday, July 31 circa 9:30 pm — we were nine hours into our final formal session and still awaiting House-Senate compromises on a slew of important bills — including the housing bond bill, the economic development bill, hospital reform, clean energy siting and permitting reform (aka the climate bill), Veterans services (aka the HERO Act), long-term care, prescription drug pricing, maternal health, substance use disorder, and parentage equity bills, among others.
12 hours later when the House and Senate finally gaveled out circa 9:30 am Aug. 1 — the housing bond bill, the Parentage Act, and the HERO Act were all agreed to, voted on, and laid on the Governor's desk.
But all those other important bills were not agreed to by House and Senate leaders — bills addressing the climate emergency, practices that led to the Steward hospital collapse, ways to save lives in the opioid epidemic, and a big economic development bill that includes many priorities for our Cambridge and Somerville neighborhoods.
By all accounts, it was a failure of legislative leadership.
When I got home later that morning and turned on GBH, host Jim Braude was going on about how he's "outraged" and how "if you're not outraged, you are part of the problem!"
I agree with Jim — and I agree with all the climate activists and newspaper columnists and members of the public who have made it clear they’re appalled at how formal sessions ended on Thursday morning.
I believe in the power of democratic institutions, so it bothers me to think how an episode like this fuels cynicism of our state legislature.
Yesterday, I offered my view that a return to formal session was essential. The Governor also called on the legislature to return to session to complete the economic development bill, the Senate President indicated the same, and the Speaker said the House was prepared to call a special session pending agreement on the economic development bill.
I am pleased the Speaker made it clear the House can return to formal session, and I am committed to advocating for the completion of all of these outstanding items.
We owe it to the public to finish the job on these priorities that impact our collective future and our constituents' lives, including the climate bill.
Conference Committees – what's really going on?
A cynic could say, "They waited until the very last night of the term to do everything."
In terms of the legislative process and the membership as a whole, that wouldn't be accurate.
The outstanding bills listed above were the product of a significant amount of public process and legislative work that occurred over the past 19 months (i.e. the 2023-2024 legislative session that began on January 4, 2023). Each unreconciled bill previously passed both the House and Senate, typically on roll call votes, with a full amendment process.
What was "left to the last minute" were the final compromises between the leaders of the two branches — aka the “conference committee reports.” These reports include the final version that reconciles the differences between the House-enacted and Senate-enacted versions of each bill.
The House Speaker and Senate President each appoint three members from their own chambers to serve on the conference committee. The conference committee typically consists of a top legislative leader from each branch, a relevant committee chair from each branch, and a representative of the minority party from each branch.
Conference committees meet in public to begin work, and they vote to go into executive session where negotiations are conducted in private. Much is made about the "secretive" nature of conference talks — but it is just a negotiation between the Speaker and his team and the Senate President and her team in the context of similar bills that passed each branch through the standard legislative process.
If and when a conference committee agrees to a final version of a bill — the conference committee report is filed with the clerk and each branch then takes an up-or-down recorded vote on the final version of the bill.
Formal Sessions and Informal Sessions Explained
The two-year legislative term (i.e. the 193rd General Court) runs from January 2023 to January 2025 and consists of formal sessions (where roll call votes occur) and informal sessions.
Bills that are introduced in the first weeks of the term are considered "timely-filed," and all timely-filed bills are entitled to a public hearing. Any member of the public can testify at the public hearing, either in person at the State House or via zoom, and then formal sessions are typically completed by July 31 in the second year of the two-year term.
There's a logic to this calendar — after the main legislative work is done on July 31st of the second year, campaign season heats up, primary elections are held in September, general elections are held in November, and then the new, two-year term begins in January.
However, under the Massachusetts Constitution, the House and Senate must meet at least twice a week, every week. In between formal sessions, the branches hold informal sessions where roll call votes do not occur and bills are routed through basic steps in the process. These informal sessions fulfill the constitutional requirement for regular meetings, and they are also where most kinds of bills can actually pass — so long as no member present objects.
Certain bills require a recorded vote and thus cannot pass in informal session. "Bond bills," i.e. borrowing to make capital investments, require a recorded vote. The economic development bill is an example of a bond bill. Roll calls are also required for "land taking" bills and budget-veto overrides. This means most of the major bills that didn't make it over the finish line this week can still pass in informal session, while a special formal session would be required for bills needing a roll call vote.
I remain committed to working with my colleagues and advocating to House leaders to get the job done on as many of the outstanding bills as possible, using both informal sessions and special formal sessions as needed.
Affordable Homes Act, Parentage Act, and other milestones
The conference version of the housing bond bill (aka The Affordable Homes Act) authorizes $5.16 billion for affordable and public housing investments, allows ADU's by-right statewide, allows for sealing of eviction records, and includes language I worked on to authorize a social housing pilot program, and much more.
The Parentage Act takes a major step forward for equality — updating the Commonwealth's parentage laws to reflect modern-day families, including those with children born to LGBTQ+ families, and through methods such as assisted reproduction and surrogacy. This bill is critical to ensuring that all children can access the security of legal parentage, regardless of the circumstances of their birth.
Also this past week, the Governor signed the Salary Range Transparency and Equal Pay Act and the gun control bill.
If you've made it this far, I hope this message helps you make sense of the chaotic news out of Beacon Hill this week. Thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent. Please reach out anytime!
Yours in service,
Rep. Mike Connolly
