This is the final week of serious lawmaking on Beacon Hill for the year. What will lawmakers get done before arriving at the finish line?
As formal sessions wrap up this week, there's the chance lawmakers could be spending next weekend at the Statehouse, too.
Matt Murphy of the State House News Service lays out some of the final major issues lawmakers have left to tackle.
Matt Murphy, State House News Service: Well, a strong chance that we'll see them in on the weekend because there is a lot left to get to. They have put most of the major bills that they want to accomplish into conference committees, those six-member committees of House and Senate lawmakers that hash out the differences between the two branches. But we're looking at negotiations ongoing on everything from benefits for veteran and military families to abortion rights and open space preservation, mental health.
There are also several major bills that contain big spending. The economic development bill still needs to get done, and to the governor's desk. It's a major infrastructure bond bill that has money for the [MBTA] and transportation and other projects in it. So those are things that they will want to get done. There's legislation reforming the cannabis industry and the way the state licenses dispensaries in other businesses. And, of course, there's sports betting and oversight of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, as well as the Chelsea Soldiers Home, that we've talked about a lot before.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: The House and Senate negotiators are trying to hammer out a deal on legalizing sports betting. House Speaker Ron Mariano last week said the two sides were still far apart. So, what's your sense on that? Is something going to get done?
I mean, you just never know. Obviously, all sides seem to want to get to get to "yes" on this, especially the House. Governor Baker [is] eager to sign something on this. We know that Senate President Spilka is not a huge fan of expanded gaming, though — as she has said — that she would have supported this bill had her branch passed it. And that's the key here.
Speaker Mariano giving us a rare sort of insight into these negotiations, talking about college sports betting last week and saying how he's reluctant to sign off on any final bill that doesn't have a legalization of betting on college sports. And he said it doesn't make a lot of sense to him to allow betting on professional sports, while people who are interested in college football, NCAA basketball come March Madness time, to continue going and placing illegal bets through bookies. He wants it all under one legal system. So that could be a sticking point that trips this whole thing up. But we'll just have to wait and see.
The House and Senate did pass sweeping climate legislation last week. It boosts the growing offshore wind industry and other renewable energies, also mandating emissions reductions in transportation and buildings. So is this a bill that Governor Charlie Baker will sign?
I mean, there's a lot in this bill that Governor Charlie Baker will like and that I'm sure he will sign off on. But, you know, there is time here that he's had bill. There's a good chance that he sends back some of these sections with amendments to try and get the Legislature to tweak different pieces.
You bring up the piece about the emission reduction targets. I mean, that could be something he looks at. The vehicle rebates to get people in electric cars, that is something that he obviously supports, but is this the mechanism he wants to use to get there? He could try to amend something like that. There will be a big energy bill in the law books by the end of this session. We know that. But there are still moving pieces here that I think the final word is yet to be written.
And finally, Matt, I know I got my application for a mail-in ballot for the September primary in my mailbox. Does that mean that the clock has been sped up for candidates, now that voters are potentially making their choices well before the primary election day on September 6?
Yeah, there absolutely has. Candidates know that voters are starting to vote maybe even now. We know that some have already returned their applications to get in their mail-in ballots. They're at the very least, making up their minds on who they want to vote for.
So that has pushed some of the candidates who have enough money to go on TV earlier than they might have in a traditional cycle. We're seeing more activity around phone banking and voter ID and just trying to encourage people to use this new tool to vote — voting by mail. But it means that the traditional, sort of, end of August sprint where it's time to spend all your money and the candidates really go for it — they're having to spread that out over this entire month because they know that they can't wait. The election could be close to already decided by the time September 1 rolls around.
