By Bob Katzen
House 132-19, approved a lengthy amendment that consolidated 50 amendments into one consolidated amendment.
The consolidated amendment includes allowing stores to sell liquor on Thanksgiving Day; imposing up to a 5-year prison sentence on anyone who has been ordered to wear a GPS tracking device by a court and then intentionally damages, removes, modifies or deactivates the device; prohibiting a car license number plate from being covered or obscured by an opaque, transparent, translucent or tinted material; and imposing a $50 fine on any ice cream truck driver who does not have an amber dome light and the flashing orange lights on the back of their ice cream truck when the truck is parked and serving ice cream.
Neither supporters of the amendment nor opponents of it spoke for or against it on the House floor.
House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) and House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston) did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them why they supported the consolidated amendment.
Beacon Hill Roll Call also asked many of the 19 Republicans who voted against the amendment why they did so. None responded.
(A “Yes” vote is for the consolidated amendment. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Christine Barber Yes Rep. Mike Connolly Yes Rep. Paul Donato Yes Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven Yes