Leadership and committee assignments in the Massachusetts House have been overhauled to get more lawmakers, more experience, and to to elevate the status of some female lawmakers.
Reporter Chris Lisinski of the State House News Service said this is borne out by the numbers.
Chris Lisinski, SHNS: It actually is! Last term, so, in the 2023-2024 cycle, [Speaker] Ron Mariano's leadership team had five women chairing committees. This time around, there are nine women chairing committees. The number of vice chairs (the deputy positions at the joint committee level) is also up from 15 last term to 19 this time around.
And, once again, several women have non-committee but [still] leadership positions in Mariano's inner circle, as well.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Rep. Natalie Blais of Deerfield has been named co-chair of the Legislature's Agriculture Committee. This comes as a new joint session rule aims to put more pressure on appointed committee leaders. So what's expected of Blais, and others, under these new rules?
We're still waiting for the House and Senate to buff out some differences in their approach. But what they agree on already is that each joint committee chair (so the representative or the senator) will basically have power to advance House or Senate bills. They're not going to need to agree on which bills move through the committee.
Rep. Blais will be able to ask representatives to vote on House bills that are before the Agricultural Committee, and Sen. Dylan Fernandez, her counterpart, will be able to do the same with Senate bills, and they'll stay on those parallel tracks until they clear one or both branches. At that point, the other branch will once again get involved.
Now, I would assume the challenges that lie ahead for Rep. Blais in that Agriculture Committee would include the effects of avian flu on the availability and price of eggs, the impact of the state's cage free law, and — of course — all that flooding in recent years. Are you hearing anything from them?
I think those are definitely some big topics that they're going to have to weigh. You know, you pick a voter on the street [and] they might not name agriculture as one of the top three issues facing Beacon Hill. But, it really is pretty closely integrated to a lot of the headlines right now, from food prices straight down to disaster response.
As you noted, last year and the year before, we saw major weather events that put enormous burden on the state, especially out in Rep. Blais' District.
Springfield state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez was named to House Speaker Ron Mariano's leadership team. But Gonzalez is the only western Mass. lawmaker out of 10 Democrats on that team. So, how much power does this end up meaning for the region?
Yeah, I think the second furthest west might be someone from the Worcester area. So, Rep. Gonzalez is certainly alone in that group of 10.
It's not an instant transformation for the western Massachusetts delegation, but it is a really important foot in the door. It means that when the speaker convenes his inner circle and tries to figure out policy approaches, there will be a voice speaking on behalf of Springfield and the western Massachusetts area in not just bigger, broader House sessions, but in these private meetings where a lot of decisions really do get made.
I'm looking forward to the news on Thursday, when budget hearings kick off. The two men leading the legislature's process remain Sen. Michael Rodrigues and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz. Chris, with so much federal funding right now up in the air, what are those leaders expecting this budget season?
That's a fantastic question, and I think that's the same question those of us watching and covering the hearing are going to be asking.
They haven't been shy about noting the uncertainties that they face as the Trump administration moves to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding and all sorts of other federal funding streams. How they're going to respond, honestly, is anyone's guess at this point.
