By Bob Katzen
THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records local senators’ and representatives’ votes on roll calls from the week of February 22-26.
HOME CONTRACTOR LICENSES (H 4022)
House 151-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill allowing a home improvement contractor to pay his or her registration fee to the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation using a credit card. The contractor would also be responsible for paying any transaction fees charged by the credit card company. Current law allows these fees to be paid only by check.
Supporters said this pro-small business bill would cost the state nothing while expediting this process and bringing this payment system in the 21st century.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Denise Provost Yes Rep. Timothy Toomey Yes
PARK IMPROVEMENTS (H 3821)
House 153-0, approved and sent to the Senate a bill creating a grant program to fund the rehabilitation and improvement of Olmsted Parks in cities and towns across the state. The program would establish a fund to accept money from public and private sources. Olmsted Parks are municipal parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted including the various green spaces of the Emerald Necklace in Boston and Brookline, Atwater Park and Forest Park in Springfield, Glen Magna Farms in Danvers, Lynn Woods in Lynn, Groton School in Groton, Elm Park in Worcester, D.W. Field Park in Brockton, Ruggles Park in Fall River and Buttonwood Park in New Bedford.
Supporters said this program would help rehabilitate and maintain these parks, which are historic components of the nation’s system of conservation land.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Denise Provost Yes Rep. Timothy Toomey Yes
REQUIRE INSURERS TO COVER LIPODYSTROPHY (S 2137)
Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment of lipodystrophy, a medical condition that can cause abnormal fat accumulation around the head and neck or excessive fat loss in the face and limbs. Lipodystrophy is associated with frequent injections at the same point on the body, such as injections of insulin, and it can be a side effect of the antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV.
Supporters said this requirement would help improve the lives of many people afflicted with the condition. They argued that fat accumulation from lipodystrophy sometimes causes serious head and neck pain, the inability to sleep, and posture issues. They noted that excessive fat loss can result in “facial wasting,” a clear sign to others that an individual has HIV. They said that many insurance companies currently deny coverage for this treatment and that some companies falsely describe the treatment as cosmetic surgery.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Patricia Jehlen Yes
ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL
IMPROVE PATIENT CONFIDENTIALITY (S 2138) – The Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would ensure that confidential healthcare information is given only to the patient being treated and not to other family members who are on the same health insurance plan.
Supporters said some people on these plans do not seek medical or psychiatric care because they fear that confidential information will be provided to their spouse, child or parents who are also on the same plan. They argued that this proposal would encourage people to seek care for problems like sexually transmitted infections (STI), substance abuse, depression, domestic violence and other conditions a patient might wish to withhold from family members.
SMOKING BY POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS (H 2257) – The House gave initial approval to legislation amending the current law that prohibits smoking by any police officer or firefighter hired after 1988. Current law also requires the firing of anyone who violates the ban. The bill would give violators an alternative to dismissal from their jobs by allowing them to enter a smoking cessation program and permitting their firing only upon a second offense.
SCOTUS – The Senate postponed action until March 4 on resolutions urging members of the U.S. Senate to fulfill their constitutional responsibility by holding a hearing and a vote on President Obama’s expected nomination of a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. The Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate has vowed not to take up the president’s nominee and feel that whoever wins the November 2016 presidential election should nominate the next justice.
Supporters of the resolutions said it is unfair and undemocratic that the court remains short a member until next year. They argued that Obama is still the president and the Senate should fulfill its responsibility vote on his nominee.
Supporters of postponing consideration of the resolutions said that the Massachusetts Senate should focus on working on state issues and noted there are many important bills being worked on that should take precedence over these toothless regulations.
VACCINATE AGAINST WHOOPING COUGH (S 2074) – The House gave initial approval to Senate-approved legislation requiring hospitals to provide parents of newborns educational information on pertussis, commonly referred to as whooping cough and the availability of a vaccine to protect against it. It would also require the information to include the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation that parents receive the preventative vaccine, called TDAP, during the postpartum period to protect their newborns from the disease
Supporters cited the decrease in the number of people who have been vaccinated against whooping cough and the recent rise in the number of cases of the disease in the Bay State and nationally. They noted that infants are the most vulnerable to this serious illness, which often leads to hospitalization and can be fatal.
LIQUOR FOR NONPROFITS (H 248) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that would allow nonprofit organizations to accept donations of alcoholic beverages from individuals, manufacturers, wholesalers, and/or package stores, to be served at their charitable events. Under current law, nonprofits are required to buy alcoholic beverages for their events from a limited list of wholesalers.
Supporters said current restrictions place an enormous financial burden on nonprofits because they require them to spend significant sums on alcoholic beverages from a small, restrictive list of suppliers rather than using beverages donated from any source available to the public.
EYEWITNESSES (H 4014) – The House gave initial approval to a bill designed to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification procedures. The measure requires local police and state police to implement a written policy consistent with one to be developed by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association for local officers, and by the colonel of the state police for state police officers.
The proposal prohibits the lineup supervisor from knowing the suspect’s identity. This is designed to prevent the supervisor from providing intentional or inadvertent verbal or nonverbal cues to influence the information provided by an eyewitness.
Other provisions include requiring that there be at least four non-suspects in any live lineup and five non-suspects in any photo lineup; requiring that these non-suspects match the description of the perpetrator provided by the eyewitness; instructing witnesses that the perpetrator may or may not be present in the lineup; and requiring that any procedure in which law enforcement officials present an eyewitness with a single suspect for identification must be conducted within two hours of the witness’ original observation of the offender.
Supporters said incorrect eyewitness identifications account for the majority of wrongful convictions overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence. They argued that inaccurate eyewitness identifications can result in a loss of critical time when police focus attention on innocent people rather than on justifiable suspects.
BAN LEAD IN CHILDREN’S JEWELRY (H 253) – House gave initial approval to legislation that would require all children’s jewelry sold in the Bay State to meet certain federal safety standards.
Supporters said a child who swallows or licks jewelry containing lead or cadmium is at high risk of developing very serious and potentially life-threatening health problems including kidney, bone and liver disease.
POET LAUREATE (H 2927) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that would create the position of Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth. The poet laureate would serve a two-year term and would act as a public emissary and advocate for poetry in the state. The unpaid position would be filled by gubernatorial appointment. This proposal has been offered for many years without significant opposition but it has never garnered enough support to be passed by both branches of the Legislature.
SPECIAL DAYS – The House gave initial approval to several bills designating special days in Massachusetts including the last day of February as Rare Disease Day (H 2709), September 13th as Uncle Sam Day in commemoration of Sam Wilson, who was born in Arlington (H 2742), the third Saturday of October as Massachusetts Minutemen and Militia Day (H 2790), June 16 as Domestic Workers’ Rights Day (H 2793) and the first Monday of May as School Crossing Guard Day (H 3626).
IT’S (ALMOST) OFFICIAL!– The House also gave initial approval to proposals designating the Spring Peeper as the state’s official amphibian (H 2729) and Bell’s Seasoning as the official seasoning (H 2796). Bell’s Seasoning, created in 1867 by Boston inventor William Bell, is manufactured in East Weymouth.
Most of these types of measures are filed on behalf of students in schools as a way of teaching them about the legislative process.
QUOTABLE QUOTES
“I thought the previous administration stunk, and I don’t think they knew what they were doing and I don’t think they cared.”
Rep. Angelo Scaccia (D-Boston), the longest serving members of the House, complimenting Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, and criticizing ex-Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration handling of key issues in the Office of Health and Human Services.
“Insurance companies, without this legislation, will continue to deny coverage based on nonsense claims that treatment for lipodystrophy is a so called ‘cosmetic’ procedure. This is disingenuous and insulting for those who suffer from this condition.”
Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford) on Senate passage of his bill that would require insurance companies to provide coverage for the treatment of lipodystrophy, a disease that can be a side effect of drugs used to treat HIV.
“Doing so will benefit young adults remaining on their parents’ health insurance plans, along with victims of domestic abuse and others who may wish for the services they receive to be kept confidential.”
Sen. Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow) on Senate passage of his bill that would ensure that confidential healthcare information is only given to a patient being treated and not to other family members who are on the same insurance plan.
“These students invested their hopes and dreams in this program, but instead paid thousands of dollars for an ineffective, low-quality education that failed to provide a path to a nursing career.”
Attorney General Maura Healey on her lawsuit against Hosanna College of Health, alleging that it operated without a license, misrepresented its training programs and targeted the Haitian community.
HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.
During the week of February 22-26, the House met for a total of five hours and 2 minutes and the Senate met for a total of two hours and 4 minutes.
Mon. February 22 House 11:02 a.m. to 11:12 a.m.
Senate 11:07 a.m. to 11:14 a.m
Tues. February 23 No House session
No Senate session
Wed. February 24 House 10:59 a.m. to 3:29 p.m.
No Senate session
Thurs. February 25 House 11:02 a.m. to 11:24 a.m.
Senate 1:34 p.m. to 3:31 p.m.
Fri. February 26 No House session
No Senate session
Bob Katzen welcomes feedback at bob@beaconhillrollcall.com