Beacon Hill Roll Name information native senators’ votes from latest classes. There have been no roll calls within the Home or Senate final week.
The Senate, 39-0, accredited an modification making a bipartisan fee to check and make suggestions by March 1, 2024 on the monetary affect and sustainability of the state’s emergency shelter system and the assorted helps which might be provided to people and households.
“Our state’s emergency shelter program was merely by no means meant to deal with the variety of people that it’s housing right this moment and we have to take a tough take a look at the monetary stability of our emergency housing help program, and the affect it’s having on our municipalities and commonwealth as a complete,” stated modification sponsor Sen. John Velis, D-Westfield. “In any other case, we’ll quickly be confronted with some very troublesome choices on different funding priorities that we worth a lot. Within the absence of federal motion, we have to have an sincere dialog about these rising prices and what our off-ramp, if any, goes to be.
A “Sure” vote is for the modification.
Sen. Joanne Comerford — Sure
Sen. Paul Mark — Sure
The Senate, 38-0, accredited an modification to a bit of a drug worth reform invoice.
A piece of the invoice offers the state’s Middle for Well being Data and Evaluation (CHIA’s) the choice to positive pharmaceutical corporations as much as $2,000 per week if they don’t submit drug pricing information by a sure deadline. The modification would require CHIA to positive the businesses.
“For much too lengthy, the pharmaceutical trade has exploited taxpayers, sufferers and the federal government via insidious lobbying ways which have prevented any significant worth management for many years,” stated modification sponsor Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford. “The trade has fought each commonsense cost-saving coverage I’ve sponsored for over 20 years, starting from bulk buying to easy worth transparency.”
A “Sure” vote is for the modification.
Sen. Joanne Comerford — Sure
Sen. Paul Mark — Sure
Gov. Maura Healey signed into regulation a invoice that, starting on Dec. 1, 2023, gives free telephone calls and video requires all prisoners within the state.
There was beforehand no authorized requirement without cost telephone calls in correctional amenities. Every facility contracts individually for phone service.
“Guaranteeing that people in state and county prisons can preserve involved with their family members is vital to enhancing rehabilitation, decreasing recidivism and enhancing group security,” Healey stated. “I’m proud to signal this necessary laws.”
“Offering free telephone calls in Massachusetts prisons and jails has been a longstanding precedence of mine and I’m thrilled to see the commonwealth acknowledge the significance of retaining households linked by codifying this reform into regulation,” stated Sen. Cindy Creem, D-Newton. “By eliminating these extreme charges, we’re serving to households throughout an already traumatizing interval of separation, enhancing public security outcomes by decreasing recidivism and in the end ending a regressive and outdated coverage.”
On the time the Legislature accredited the invoice on Nov. 8, Rep. Nick Boldyga, R-Southwick, who opposed the measure, stated, “Each law-abiding citizen that has a job and works 40-plus hours every week has to pay for telephone calls. Why are criminals entitled to free telephone calls? It’s fully ridiculous and absurd that Democrats are giving free something to criminals. Criminals and their households must be paying for his or her telephone calls, not taxpayers.”
On Nov. 20, the Home gave preliminary approval to a invoice that may make Oct. 25 Dwarfism Consciousness Day in Massachusetts. The laws wouldn’t apply till Oct. 25, 2024 since Oct. 25, 2023 has already come and gone.
Sponsor Rep. Jim Hawkins, D-Attleboro, failed to answer repeated requests asking for touch upon his proposal.
Within the 2021-2022 session, the invoice was accredited by the Home however died within the Senate. At the moment, Hawkins, a retired trainer from Attleboro Excessive Faculty, stated he filed the measure after a request by former pupil Vicki Ziniti, who has dwarfism.
“She has organized an advocacy group of individuals with dwarfism and requested me concerning the chance for ‘Nationwide Dwarfism Day’ within the commonwealth,” stated Hawkins. “Since graduating, Vicki has gotten her instructing certification and is a classroom trainer so we have been excited to file this laws and advocate for its passage.”
Supporters say that around the globe individuals with dwarfism face social and bodily boundaries. They be aware that Oct. 25 was chosen because the day for Dwarfism Consciousness Day as a result of it was the birthday of Billy Barty, an American actor who had dwarfism and in 1957 arrange Little Individuals of America — a corporation that helps individuals with dwarfism and raises consciousness concerning the concern.
The Judiciary Committee held a listening to on a number of payments that may make doxing unlawful in Massachusetts. One of many measures defines doxing as “the figuring out disclosure of private figuring out data of an individual with out that individual’s consent that’s meant to trigger stalking, bodily hurt to individual or critical property injury, or to trigger the individual about whom the data pertains to moderately concern for the bodily security of themselves or a detailed relation.”
“We live in a time when a very alarming quantity of hate is being directed at people and marginalized teams of individuals, together with identity-based bigotry,” stated the sponsor of S 1116 Sen. Becca Rausch, D-Needham. “That hatred can manifest as harmful doxing, publishing somebody’s personally figuring out data with out their consent and with malicious intent. [The bill] establishing a proper to freedom from doxing, would explicitly declare doxing to be illegal and supply recourse for doxing via both a non-public reason behind motion or civil go well with filed by the lawyer basic.”
“My dedication to the well-being and security of the commonwealth is certainly one of my prime priorities,” stated Rep. Tram Nguyen, D-Andover, the sponsor of H 1707. “In an period the place know-how connects us, it’s necessary to supply protections in opposition to doxing in order that nobody lives in concern of harassment, stalking, or hurt. This invoice will advance our shared duty to ascertain a safer and extra respectful digital group for all.”
“I imagine that everybody has a basic proper to privateness on-line, which is why I filed laws to guard people in opposition to incidents of doxing,” stated Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, the sponsor of S 971. “Guaranteeing privateness for all residents throughout the commonwealth, particularly these most weak to this malicious motion, continues to be certainly one of my legislative priorities.”
The Judiciary Committee listening to additionally included laws that may outlaw the follow of phishing, which includes utilizing fraudulent e-mail solicitations in an try to acquire a person’s private data, together with laptop passwords, checking account and bank card numbers. The invoice would set up the punishment for phishing as a positive of as much as $5,000 and/or as much as a 2½-year jail sentence.
“Phishing scams are evolving day by day, morphing into extra complicated schemes meant to defraud a variety of targets, from particular person residents of the commonwealth to massive monetary service establishments,” stated sponsor Rep. Brad Jones, R-North Studying. “As these phishing makes an attempt grow to be extra refined, it’s crucial that we proceed to modernize our legal guidelines to fight and forestall most of these scams to guard the general public.”
The committee’s agenda additionally included a invoice filed by Jones that may prohibit using motorcar monitoring units with out the consent of the automobile’s proprietor. The provisions of this invoice wouldn’t apply to programs put in by the producer of a motorcar, automotive rental companies or insurance coverage corporations with the automobile proprietor’s consent.
“Motorized vehicle monitoring units present a great tool for regulation enforcement, dad and mom and authorized guardians of youngsters who’re minors, and enterprise homeowners monitoring firm automobiles, and people makes use of would proceed to be allowed beneath this invoice,” stated Jones. “The true function of this invoice is to advertise public security by stopping people from utilizing these units to have interaction in predatory actions similar to stalking.”
