Legislators slammed as session runs out
Gov. Charlie Baker saw a priority housing bill die on the vine when it did not make it out of a House committee yesterday as lawmakers fielded a backlog of bills in the furious final hours of the legislative session.
The crush of work left to do came after lawmakers filed a budget weeks late while a long list of complex legislation was still on the table. In recent days, lawmakers worked through some of the pile-up by passing bills on automatic voter registration and taxes on short-term rentals like Airbnb.
Baker’s housing bill, seeking to spark production by giving more local power to change zoning, died when it did not advance from the Ways and Means Committee.
Legislators were able to pass a compromise clean energy bill that ramps up the required amount of renewable energy that electric companies need to provide homes and businesses, as well as calling for more offshore wind development and energy storage.
Republicans slammed the Democrat-controlled House and Senate for the “end-of-the-session chaos.”
MassGOP Chairwoman Kirsten Hughes noted the year’s legislative session kicked off with lawmakers signing off on a pay hike for themselves, only to miss their budget deadline and “conclude the session by ramming through bills in a frantic final day with no transparency.”
“With a series of scandals, Democrats proved they can’t be trusted to keep their own house in order, and with a late budget and end-of-session chaos, they’re proving they can’t govern responsibly either,” Hughes said in a statement.
Rep. David Linsky (DNatick) said it was shaping up to be a very productive session and he noted that the legislative action was coming at the end of a twoyear session.
“We knew these were all big issues,” Linsky told the Herald. “We are now seeing the fruits of two years of work hitting the governor’s desk.”
Among other initiatives left to the last minute were:
• A second major bill addressing opioid addiction and treatment.
• A $600 million economic development bill including an August tax-free weekend and reforms to noncompete contracts.
• A compromise on a health care cost bill between two vastly different version passed between the two chambers. The House version hits insurers and hospitals with $330 million in taxes to fund community hospitals, while the Senate bill further regulated health care prices.