Under new legislative rules, July 31 marked the end of the regular formal sessions on Beacon Hill. But thanks to a major procedural shift, lawmakers can now continue to meet to vote on any of the bills pushed into conference committees by the deadline. That means formal lawmaking will overlap directly with campaign season. Still, by rushing major bills forward at the 11th hour, lawmakers leave themselves vulnerable to Gov. Maura Healey's line-item vetoes and amendments while they're out on the trail.
State House News Service reporter Ella Adams explains who benefits from stretching formal sessions into August: Lawmakers trying to pass big policy or Governor Maura Healey.
Ella Adams, SHNS: Yeah, I think that's a great question, Carrie. You know, I just talked to the speaker of the House last week, before July 31st. He said that this July 31st is already different compared to this time two years ago. You know, they obviously adopted new joint rules, and he says that the pressure will not be the same as it was in 2024 because instead of having to get major bills to the desk of the governor, they instead just have to get them into conference committee. And they were doing that as of the end of last week.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Ella, let's look towards the September primary and how party platforms play out locally. Most lawmakers aren't facing primary or general election challengers this year, but with formal sessions stretching into campaign season, we're in uncharted territory. How does that play out [here in WMass] for someone like Representative Nick Boldyga, who represents the Agawam and Southwick area?
Yeah, Boldyga does represent a more conservative pocket of Hampden County. He’s a specific case. One of my colleagues did some reporting on him in March. He didn't attend a single hearing this session, which it's an attendance record that his opponent is actually highlighting in his example of why his district may be underrepresented. I think that that's not necessarily the traditional route that Republican reps or senators take. A lot of the time, we hear them talk about coming to the negotiation table, talking things through, and so it doesn't seem that he does that.
I hear you say that Boldyga is an outlier among House Republicans. So, in a broader sense, in a chamber where Democrats hold near total power, how does an isolated lawmaker actually make an impact?
That's a great question. I am not sure of that answer only because most conversations happen behind closed doors. And so, we only really see the things that happen on the [chamber] floor. And most of the time, everything that happens on the floor, everybody already knows it's going to happen on the floor. These things are determined earlier, as I said, behind closed doors, before people get out onto the floor for whatever remark that they make.
What about flipping over to the Democratic side? Supermajority leaders are also on the ballot this year, even if many may be facing no real opposition. So how are House and Senate leaders using their numbers to drive their platform forward?
Yeah, I mean, so few Democrats face serious challenges this election. Leadership focuses a lot on what they say are the priorities of the membership, right? But they're able to pass huge priorities.
Like last week, they came to an agreement finally on the Protect Act, which is an immigrant protection bill that has been in conference for months. They started a conference committee on a massive economic development bond bill last week as well. So, those kinds of things are things that they're able to get through because regardless of whether Republicans vote in favor or against it, because there are so many Democrats.
Yeah. And very few seats are actually competitive this year. So are you expecting state House leaders like Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka, maybe even Governor Maura Healey, to bother intervening or spending political capital in the few WMass races this year that matter?
That's a great question. I will say that Speaker Mariano did tell reporters a few weeks back that he worries about everybody. When we asked him if there are races that he's worried about in the upcoming elections, he kind of called it a strange year and pointed towards a couple races where progressives are running against ‘even more progressive’ Democrats. And he was talking about how... I think he said ‘You don't have the typical alignments that you'd get in a political year.’ He indicated that he is concerned.
You know, this is the season of fundraisers and campaigning and all of that stuff. You know, we'll see what happens and we'll see if they end up, you know, backing anybody [in WMass]. But at least on Mariano's side of things, he did indicate that he's slightly worried.
