The House and Senate capped their allegedly busy period last week by advancing mostly non-controversial bills and illustrating that when it comes to weightier matters, like a bill to keep the solar power industry growing, they are defined by their differences more than their areas of agreement.
The House is under the veteran leadership of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and experienced negotiator Brian Dempsey, while the Senate has just put its first year on the books under the new leadership of President Stanley Rosenberg and first-time Ways and Means Chair Karen Spilka. At least over the first 10-plus months of this new arrangement, the branches are not connecting with the same frequency that they did when the DeLeo-Dempsey duo was lining up opposite former Senate President Therese Murray and former Ways and Means Chairs Stephen Brewer and Steven Panagiotakos. With the next budget season around the corner in December, the pressure on DeLeo and Rosenberg to start advancing their non-budgetary agenda is quietly ramping up and those with a stake in their work are having doubts about their odds of success. The Legislature did not come up completely empty-handed last week.
When the Legislature departed for its holiday recess Wednesday night, it left something of a present for Governor Baker. More than a dozen bills are currently awaiting the governor’s signature, having been enacted by both legislative branches. Among the bills sitting on the governor’s desk is one that would give some legal assurances to homeowners who purchased homes in foreclosure that they won’t be caught in limbo should they try to sell or refinance, one to establish the crime of trafficking in the dangerous drug fentanyl and five bills related to veterans issues.
Click on the audio link above to hear a conversation between State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy and NEPR’s Henry Epp.
