By Bob Katzen

The Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House the “Mental Health ABC Act,” aimed at making major changes in the

By Bob Katzen
The Massachusetts Senate 37-0, approved an amendment requiring that a report on several pilot programs in the mental health bill be written in non-technical, readily understandable language and

By Bob Katzen
The Senate 37-0, approved an amendment creating an Advisory Working Group to update and amend tools and

By Bob Katzen

The Transportation Committee approved and sent to the full Senate a bill that strikes down the current law that prohibits anyone who is not legally in the United States from being issued a Massachusetts driver’s license. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn). It says that people who are unable to provide proof of lawful presence, or who are ineligible for a social security number, may apply for a Massachusetts license if they meet all other qualifications for licensure and provide satisfactory proof to the registrar of identity, date of birth and Massachusetts residency.
“Most of these folks are people who have lived here for a really long time,” said House co-sponsor Rep. Christine Barber (D-Somerville). “They’re members of our community. They need to drive to either get to work, take their kid to a doctor. They probably are driving anyway and we’d rather have people have insurance, have passed a driver’s test, pass a vision test and actually have a license when they get pulled over, than have them driving and not be insured.” The other House sponsor is Rep. Patricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield).“We in the immigrant and labor communities are grateful for this victory, and for the progress we have made in moving toward finally achieving this right,” said Roxana Rivera, vice president of 32BJ SEIU and Natalicia Tracy, executive director of the Brazilian Worker Center. “We’ve come closer to this goal then we have ever been before in Massachusetts. Our sincere hope is that together, we – elected officials, labor, and impacted communities – will continue to negotiate the necessary modifications that will benefit the most affected immigrants.Gov. Charlie Baker opposes the bill. “I’ve said for many years that I think it’s really hard to build the kind of safeguards into that kind of process that would create the kind of security that would be hard to live up to some of the federal and state standards with respect to security and identification,” said Baker last week, “And for those reasons, I don’t support that legislation.”

Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a measure that would establish a registry that identifies individuals who have been

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would change the state’s current definition of developmental disability and adopt the

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would prohibit a student from transporting or storing a

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to a bill that would allow criminal charges to be filed

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would limit to 15 miles per hour the speed of vehicles which pass waste management and recycling trucks when they are stopped

By Bob Katzen

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Beacon Hill Roll Call records votes of local senators from the week of February 10-14. There were no roll calls in the House last week.

On January 22, the City of Somerville community meeting on police-community relations following the “Boston Straight Pride Parade” & Counter-Protest was held to