Glacial Mass. legislature now sprints to make deadline

When the state Legislature hopefully gives the green light to the egg bill in an informal session by the end of the year, the yolk will still be on Massachusetts taxpayers.

While the House and Senate have already voted in favor of changes to a 2016 voter-approved law setting more humane conditions for egg-laying hens, a six-member conference committee has not reached agreement on a handful of details in the bill.

The committee’s had the bill since mid-October.

As the Herald reported, sales of eggs produced by hens in smaller enclosures — regardless of whether they are in Massachusetts or from another state — will be prohibited here when the new regulations start. Voila — shortages and sticker shock.

This legislation shouldn’t be a sprint WR WKH ¿QLVK DQG *RY %DNHU VKRXOGQ¶W KDYH WR ÀDVK WKH OLJKWV DQG DQQRXQFH last call.

“Everyone is already paying too much at the grocery store and not addressing this egg supply issue will further drive up costs,” Baker tweeted Wednesday.

“I urge lawmakers to reach consensus soon before these rules go into effect in January.”

“It’s Beacon Hill-esque,” Sen. Ryan Fattman, one of two senators at Thursday’s session told the State House News Service. “This needs to get done. And I don’t think it’s on most people’s radars. So all of a sudden, you go into January, and people — who are already paying PRUH IRU MXVW DERXW HYHU\WKLQJ ² HLWKHU DUH JRLQJ WR EH XQDEOH WR ¿QG HJJV RU they’re going to be dramatically more expensive. That’s an everyday-person LVVXH :H QHHG WR ¿[ LW ´

It is Beacon Hill-esque — and that’s the problem. The golden-domed glacier across from the Boston Common is known for its stunning lack of speed.

%DNHU ¿OHG D VSRUWV EHWWLQJ ELOO LQ 2019, and again this year. It keeps withering on the state Senate vine. As neighboring states rake in sports betting revenue, Senate President Karen Spilka said the Senate Ways and Means Committee “is looking at it.”

Why rush?

According to FiscalNote analysis, more than 150,000 bills were introduced in legislative sessions in statehouses across the country as of Sept. 22. Among those, almost 33,000 were enacted. This works out to a legislative H൵HFWLYHQHVV UDWH RI IRU DOO VWDWH legislatures combined, with roughly 1 in 5 bills introduced enacted into law. In contrast, lawmakers in the U.S. Congress introduced roughly 13,000 pieces of legislation, of which approximately 317 were enacted during the same time period in 2021. The conclusion: State OHJLVODWXUHV ZHUH DERXW PRUH HIfective than Congress by the ratio of bills introduced versus bills enacted. And then there’s Massachusetts. 7KLV \HDU VR IDU WKH /HJLVODWXUH ¿OHG 13,454 bills — we’re second in the country after New York.

We enacted 55.

In terms of percentage of bills passed WR QXPEHU LQWURGXFHG WKDW¶V

Dead last in the country.

And it’s not like those 13,399 bills that didn’t make it were drek — so many wander into a committee and are never seen again until someone revives it in another session.

But the Massachusetts taxpayer still foots the bill for all those legislative salaries and committee stipends and robust pensions.

Last-minute voting, holding up bills despite voter support and a last-in-thenation standing for enacting legislation — this is very “Beacon Hill-esque.”

And that’s not a good thing.