The Recorder – Beacon Hill Roll Call: June 20 to June 24, 2022 – The Recorder

Beacon Hill Roll Call records representatives votes on a roll call from the week of June 20 to June 24. There were no roll calls in the Senate last week.

The House, 155 to 0, approved and sent to the Senate a nearly $11 billion transportation and infrastructure package that includes $400 million for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to address safety problems identified by the Federal Transit Administrations Safety Management Inspection and $250 million for initial steps toward a western Massachusetts rail extension.

Other provisions include $2.8 billion for projects on the interstate and non-interstate federal highway system, $82 million for rail improvements, $1 billion for transit system modernization and rail improvements, and $114 million for the Airport Improvement Program. Theres also $200 million to create an extensive electric vehicle charging infrastructure; fund programs that promote e-bikes, public transportation and car sharing; replace high-emissions vehicles; and acquire electric school buses.

House members filed more than 300 amendments, many dealing with local projects in legislators home districts, but there was little debate and not a single roll call vote on any individual amendment. Instead, members made their cases behind closed doors to the leadership and all the amendments that were given the green light ended up in one consolidated mega-amendment with a price tag estimated at $500 million.

Ensuring that the commonwealths transportation infrastructure is adequately funded is a top priority for the House, which is why Im proud of the legislation passed today, said House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy. In addition to significant funding for roadway and bridge projects, this bill also recognizes the importance of providing further support for the MBTA in their ongoing effort to address safety concerns and for the ever-important east-west rail project.

This legislation sets the table for the next administration to take full advantage of the additional billions of dollars, both state and federal, for critical transportation projects throughout the state, said Rep. Bill Straus, D-Mattapoisett, House chair of the Committee on Transportation. The House has wisely used the bill as an opportunity to again demonstrate its commitment to roads, bridges and public transit.

A Yes vote is for the package.

Rep. Natalie Blais Yes

Rep. Paul Mark Yes

Rep. Susannah Whipps Yes

Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the bill making permanent the mail-in and early voting options used in Massachusetts in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. This version of the bill did not include the controversial section allowing same-day voter registration.

The measure requires the secretary of state to send out mail-in ballot applications, with return postage, to registered voters before each presidential primary, state primary and biennial state election. It also allows registered voters to request a mail-in ballot for all elections in a single calendar year.

Other provisions include reducing the registration blackout period from 20 days prior to an election to 10 days; electronic voting options for voters with disabilities and military service members; allowing a voter with disabilities to request accommodations including an accessible electronic ballot application, ballot and voter affidavit that can be submitted electronically; ensuring that non-felons who are incarcerated who are eligible to vote are provided with voting information and materials to exercise their right to vote; and requiring the secretary of state to conduct a comprehensive public awareness campaign to publicize the new voting and registration options.

My office has anticipated this new law and preparations are already well underway for the Sept. 6 state primaries, commented Secretary of State William Galvin. Every voter in Massachusetts can expect to receive a pre-addressed, postage pre-paid vote by mail application in just a few weeks. Voters who prefer to vote in person will be able to take advantage of expanded in-person early voting or vote at their polling place on election day.

This landmark election reform bill will empower voters and strengthen our democracy, said Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, Senate chair of the Committee on Election Laws and co-sponsor of the measure. In 2020, mail-in and early voting options helped generate record-breaking turnout. (The new law) builds upon this progress and will help ensure that every voter can exercise their fundamental right to vote.

The most secure way to vote is in person and on election day, said Paul Craney, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. Handing over your ballot to the United States Postal Service does not guarantee your vote will count. Its rather disappointing the governor and Democratic lawmakers are pursuing this new law (that) is less secure.

In the meantime, Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Jim Lyons filed a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Legislatures passage of the part of the new law that codifies universal no-fault mail-in voting. He said the Massachusetts Constitution lists only three instances whereby citizens can vote absentee during elections: If theyre out of town, physically disabled or have a religious-based conflict with election day.

Theres a reason why we have three branches of government, and were confident that the Supreme Judicial Court will strike down and expose the Democrats unconstitutional permanent expansion of mail-in voting, Lyons said.

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would change a current law that imposes a fine of between $500 and $1,000 on any all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or other recreational vehicle driver who leaves the scene, without giving information to the driver of the other vehicle, of a hit and run accident that does not result in death. The bill would impose the same fine but would also add the possibility of a one-year prison sentence. The bill also creates a new crime of leaving the scene of an accident that results in a death and imposes up to a $5,000 fine and/or 2.5 years in prison for that new crime.

The bill, dubbed the James Ward Act, was filed in response to the tragic death of a young man in the district of sponsor Rep. Kathy LaNatra, R-Kingston. According to LaNatras office, James Ward was riding ATVs with his father and his brother. He collided with another driver, who told James father that he would go get help, but he never returned to the scene. The young man later succumbed to his injuries.

I filed this legislation to prevent ATV riders from fleeing the scene of an accident and ensure that they are held accountable for their actions, LaNatra said. I want to ensure that what the Ward family went through on that tragic day doesnt happen again.

The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would expand current law and make more farmers eligible for a favorable valuation of property process that results in a tax break. Under current law, to be eligible for the favorable valuation and the resulting tax break, a farmer must own and be farming a minimum of five contiguous acres of land. The bill would reduce the required number to two and not require the acres to be contiguous.

Supporters said that farming practices have been modernized and farmers no longer need vast contiguous acreage to grow crops and manage their livestock. They noted that in eastern Massachusetts, contiguous land is getting harder to acquire.

Farming is changing and it is growing exceedingly difficult for new farmers to find land and for existing farmers to keep the land they have, said the measures sponsor, Rep. Paul Schmid, D-Westport. This bill would extend the benefits of a favorable valuation to small plots, effectively preserving farmland in Massachusetts.

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The Recorder - Beacon Hill Roll Call: June 20 to June 24, 2022 - The Recorder