The Senate will come to order.
The chair will ask all members, guests and staff
to please rise and recite the Pledge of Allegiance
to the flag.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate come to order.
The Senator from Worcester and Middlesex,
Mr. Tran has filed a communication,
which the clerk will read.
Dear Clerk Welch, I unfortunately
will not be able to attend formal session on February 14,
2018 due to a family obligation outside of the country.
I apologize for any inconvenience
my absence may cause.
Thank you, Dean A. Tran, state senator Worcester
and Middlesex district.
The senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr,
moves that the communication be printed in a journal.
All those in favor, say aye.
Question, say aye.
Opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
And the communication will be printed in the journal.
One matter comes before the Senate for it's final passage,
an act increasing the exemption for residential property
in the town of Provincetown.
Question comes of passing the bill to be enacted.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
They ayes have it, bill will be passed,
will be signed by President, laid before the governor
for his approbation.
Report of the committee.
The committee rules two branches have to concur
to defer the Senate order of--
[INAUDIBLE] I got it right here.
Senate has a brief recess?
Off
Senate will come to order.
The committees are rules two branches have
to concur to whom is referred, the senate petition of Cynthia
S Creem and Kenneth I. Gordon for legislation
to enhance investigations of sexual harassment
and discrimination.
Reports recommend that joint rule 12
be suspended with reference there to Mark C.
Montigny for the committee.
The senator from Worcester, Mr. Moore,
moves that the Senate rule, rule 36
be suspended so the matter be taken to forth with.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
And the rule is suspended.
Question now comes on suspension of joint rule 12.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The rules are suspended.
And the rules and the petition will be referred to committee
on Judiciary.
Report of a committee--
actually you know what?
Chair is in error.
Going to go to a different report of a committee.
Report of the committee, I'm going to do that one last.
[INAUDIBLE]
Committee rules two branches have to conclude concurrently
to whom is referred the Senate order relative to granting
the committee on municipalities and regional government
until March 7, 2018, within which time to make
its final report on a certain Senate
document relative to housing and sustainable development.
Senate number 2288 recommends that the same
ought to be adopted Mark C. Montigny for the committee.
The Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be conserved forthwith.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Chair will recognized the senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Why thank you, Mr. President.
And good morning.
It's nice to be here with you this morning
and other colleagues who are present in the chamber.
And Mr. President, the season of extension is upon us.
Affectionately known oftentimes as joint rule 10 day,
and hopefully, Mr. President, not known
as indefinite postponement day.
Mr. President, we have in front of us
one of the first orders that is before the Senate
for consideration.
And, Mr. President, certainly, I think
over the last several years, we have done much better
at making the legislative process efficient.
We've had a change in the date of joint rule 10 so
that bills will become released with much more time
to be fully considered by the Senate
and by the house for that matter.
And, Mr. President, it is critical
at this important juncture for the Senate
on this day of joint rule 10, Mr. President,
that we ensure that extension orders are used judiciously.
And that they are not--
we do not have overzealous resort to them
as a means to avoid consideration
of particular matters that have been filed in a timely way.
And so, Mr. President, in order to maintain the integrity
of that process that we've worked very hard to achieve,
I'm hoping that throughout the day
as we may see extension orders, that we
will have explanations of them.
And, Mr. President, the very first one
calls on our senator from Worcester
to be able to offer us an explanation.
I look forward to it.
I know he's worked very hard to minimize
the number of extensions originating
from his committees.
And, Mr. President, I'm hoping that we
can hear what the subjects of this extension order
are to with how many bills, the date that's
being sought for the extension and the reason
that an extension is necessary for the particular subject
matter of this order.
Mr. President, I appreciate his work on this.
And I look forward to his explanation.
This request for an extension order
prior to the Senate considering granting such an order.
Chair recognizes the senator from Worcester Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you to the minority leader for asking about this bill.
I almost feel like this is like the Eagles versus Patriots,
where I'm the Eagles and you're the Patriots today
on the questioning.
But as the Senate chair, the Joint Committee
on municipalities and regional government,
I rise to seek a support of this chamber
in approving extension order for the legislation entitled,
An act promoting housing and sustainable development.
This is an omnibus bill filed by the Senate President Chandler,
contains provisions approved by this chamber last session that
would reform the provisions of the Cromwell zoning act
and address many issues facing our constituents in communities
and obviously affordable housing and access
to affordable housing.
The Joint Committee is seeking a one month, 30 day, extension.
The bill-- we're actually being--
trying to be very progressive with this bill.
There's been one bill that was filed
in the house that's been with the committee
since the start of the session.
We've been working trying to work out the issues surrounding
that bill.
But there's also been a bill that
was in economic development that was Senator Chandler's
bill, that was just recently discharged
to our committee in the House.
So that an omnibus bill consisting of both versions
can be completed.
So the goal is, within 30 days from this date,
to have that bill, those two bills put together.
And we'll have one bill put out for both branches
to hopefully act upon.
Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I would disagree with the gentleman
slightly in terms of his reference
to the Eagles and the Patriots.
Mr. President, I believe that we are all
on the same team in this exercise.
And he has just proven that by the work
that he has done to engage the limited and reasonable use
of an extension order to achieve the goals that he stated.
And, Mr. President, I believe it's our task today
to collectively not spike the ball,
but to continue to advance the ball down the field.
And I think what he has done in this matter is reasonable.
And I think it is the appropriate use
of this type of tool.
And as a result, I hope the extension order is adopted.
A question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed no.
The ayes have it and the order's adopted.
Senator from Middlesex, Mr. Lewis,
has presented an order which the clerk will read.
By Mr. Lewis, an order relative granting the Committee
on Public health until March 7, 2018,
within which to make its final report on certain Senate
current document relative to public health.
Are the rules referred to a committee?
Referred to a committee on rules, report of the committee.
There are rules to which acting concurrently
to defer the Senate order relative to granting
the Committee on Public health until March 7, 2018,
within which to make its final report.
Report recommend the same ought to pass,
Mark C. Montigny for the committee.
Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order,
the chair will recognize the gentleman from,
the senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and to you the members.
I was hoping you might say the senator from the Patriots,
because the way things are going,
I might get added to the roster at any day.
And I would note that I'm particularly good at playing
both offense and defense.
Mr. President, the gentleman that stands at majority
microphone has certainly worked hard in the Committee on Public
Health to try to ensure that we make judicious use of extension
.
Orders I know that he's worked very, very hard at that.
And I want to commend him for the work
that he has been doing to try to use extension
orders for the purpose that they were intended
and should be used.
This extension order before us I know
has a limited number of bills.
And, Mr. President, I'm hoping that we can understand
that number, the subject matter and the date that's
being sought, as well as the rationale for seeking
an extension.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Chair recognizes Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis.
Thank you Mr. President.
And good, good morning, everyone.
I want to thank the minority leader for his question.
And I want to thank him for his efforts
to ensure that we minimize the use of extension orders.
It is important that the joint committee's understand
that the work needs to be--
the work before them needs to be conducted
in an expeditious manner and that we
need to move legislation through the process.
We owe that to the sponsors of these bills.
We owe that to our constituents.
I strongly support the fact that joint rule 10
day was moved up earlier in this legislative session in order
to, again, accelerate legislation moving
through the legislative process.
And I have worked very hard with my co-chair
in the public health committee, representative Kate Hogan,
to try as much as possible to finish our analysis
and our review of the roughly 350 bills that
are before the public health committee this session
and to really minimize as much as possible the number
of public health bills that we are seeking extensions on
and then to minimize the length of those extensions as well.
So again, I really appreciate where the minority leader
is coming from.
And I agree with him that we need
to minimize the number of extensions in total
and the length of those extensions as well.
So the public health bills that are included in the order,
there are nine bills.
They would be extended for one month, until March 7.
And they cover four topic areas.
Those are oral health, and specifically the work
that we're doing around a dental therapist, which
is like a mid-level provider.
There's been a lot of discussion about that.
And we're continuing to work hard to resolve
some different issues there.
The second area is around our stroke care,
also a very challenging issue where
we are trying to address how to have different tiering
within our hospitals in terms of responding to stroke emergency
care.
Third is around flame retardants.
And a little bit more work remaining there to iron out
a few issues, although this is an area that the Senate has
acted on previously.
And I'm certainly hopeful we will
be able to do so again this session.
And then the fourth area is a particularly challenging issue.
It relates to the issue of medical aid in dying.
It goes by different names.
And that is an issue that many people
have very strong feelings about, whether they
support it or oppose it.
The committee has been very diligent in taking testimony
from literally hundreds if not thousands
of individuals and organizations from around the state.
And we just need a little more time
to finish processing all of that and really analyze, literally,
every detail in the bill to make sure
that it has been carefully considered.
So, that I think summarizes where we are.
And I would appreciate the support of the body
in approving this extension order.
Ah, yes.
I'm sorry, the chair recognizes the senator
from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, through the members.
I once again want to thank the gentleman for the work
that he has done to bring us to this point
and for his explanation of how extension orders should
be properly used.
The one before us is a prime example
of that appropriate use.
And I know that oftentimes these orders don't come about easily.
And he has been conscientious.
He has been diligent.
And he has been very respectful of the citizens
of the Commonwealth as well as his colleagues in getting us
to this point.
So Mr. President, I want to applaud his work.
It is exemplary.
And, Mr. President, I also hope that this order is adopted.
Question comes in adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order's adopt.
The Senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate will come to order.
Report of a Committee.
Committee on rules and the two branches
acting concurrently to defer the Senate order relative to grant
the Committee on Judiciary until March 24, 2018,
within which time to make its final report on certain Senate
documents relative to Senate bills
before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
Senate number 2287 reports recommend the same ought
to be adopted Mark C. Montigny, for the committee.
The senator from the Seventh Second Suffolk and Middlesex,
Mr. Brownsberger, moves that the rules
be suspended so the order may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
The chair recognizes the gentleman
from the first Essex and Middlesex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through to the members.
Mr. President, if there is a committee that
has demonstrated the most progress
on the use of extension orders, it
is probably the Judiciary Committee.
And that is due in no small part to the work
of the gentleman who stands at majority microphone.
I know that we have a couple of extension orders coming
from the committee, one on motion of the Senate
and one on the motion of the House.
I'm hoping that in order to be economic with our use of time,
that he will explain both of them.
But I'm hoping that we can understand the same basic facts
about what is in the order, what is the time proposed
and what is the rationale for seeking
an extension from the Senate.
And again, I want to, prior to his remarks,
just thank the gentleman for his work on this front.
I think he's done an extraordinary job,
and I'm eager to hear what the product of that work
is in the form of these extension orders.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The chair recognizes the senator from the Seventh Second Suffolk
and Middlesex, Mr. Brownsberger.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I wish to thank the minority leader
for his focus on these issues in keeping us honest on this,
in this category as in many other categories.
It's a very important role.
In the Judiciary Committee this year, we had approximately 581,
591 House bills and approximately 251 Senate bills.
We have reached dispositions on 95% of the House bills
and 96% of the Senate bills.
Remaining are 27 House bills and 10 Senate
bills as to which we are seeking an extension order.
Those lists overlap.
In fact, about half of those 10 Senate bills
are also House bills which are being extended.
As to all but two of those Senate bills,
the Senate side of the committee was ready to act,
but the House just wanted a little more time
to look at them.
There is in addition, there is in terms of bills
that we have not fully worked out on the Senate side,
there is a Senator Chandler's act
to protect fundamental freedoms and prohibit
discriminatory registration programs.
And there is also--
bear with me, one of these others is not quite worked out.
The UCCJEA, Uniform Child custody jurisdiction
and enforcement act, there are some issues
that the house is aware of that we are working on.
But otherwise, those are really the two bills
that are in a state of not being fully resolved
from my perspective.
And we're just given the House some time
to go through the rest of them.
And really the House has been very conservative as well
disposing of most of their legislation leaving only 27
bills outstanding out of those 800 some
that they had initially.
This is an extension order being sought only to March 21.
All right, the chair thanks the gentleman.
The chair recognizes the Senator from the first Essex
and Middlesex.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And again, I thank the gentleman,
not only for his explanation, but for all the work that
went into processing these bills in a timely fashion,
the 95% or the 96% are very, very welcome.
That's welcome news and good statistics.
I may have missed it in terms of the House extension order.
I'm not sure I-- the gentleman may have stated it
and I may have missed it, in terms
of the substance of what's in those bills.
If he could help explain that even thematically,
it would be helpful as to what the nature of those bills are.
The chair recognizes the Senator from Seventh Second Suffolk.
Thank you, Mr. President.
A little difficult to categorize them as one theme.
They're in a variety of areas and I'm
happy to share with the Senator from Essex the list of bills.
But they are mostly bills that they just
felt they wanted to get a little more attention to
before reaching a decision, a couple of them being late filed
bills.
We hear from first Essex and Middlesex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, I appreciate
the gentleman's diligence.
Hopefully we can get a look at the list of the House matters
at some time in the near future.
But I do think that both of these requests are reasonable.
They include a reasonable time, a limited number of bills
and there is sound rationale for seeking them to be extended.
And I appreciate the gentleman's work.
And I hope that these orders I--
my understanding is we'll probably take them up
sequentially rather than as one, but that being the case,
I hope that they are both adopted.
OK, the question now comes on the adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Right now?
OK.
The Senate will stand in recess subject
to the call of the [MUTED]
Senate will come to order.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending
until Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the time within which
the committee or municipalities and regional government
is authorized to report on a current House document,
House number 4174 comes from the House with endorsement,
that it has been approved by the Committees
on rules of two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The Senator from Worcester, Mr. Moore,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Chair recognizes the Senator from Essex, Mr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through to the members.
It's nice to be reconvened with everyone here this afternoon so
that we can continue our work in the season of extension.
Mr. President, I'm hoping that we
can get an explanation of the current order that
pends before the Senate, which I believe actually
contains only a single bill.
But I want to make sure that that's correct.
And the gentleman from Worcester has certainly
been very good today providing us with explanations.
He's back majority microphone, and I'm
hoping that he can explain to us what the contents of this order
are and the length of the order that's being sought
and the reason for requesting an extension order.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The chair recognizes the senator from Worcester, Mr. Moore.
Thank you, Mr. President.
You had that down very well, banging the gavel.
You look like you've been there a while.
Thank you to our minority leader for asking about this extension
order.
This actually relates to the bill that we discussed earlier.
This is the House version of the land zoning bill
that we've requested an extension
on until the 7th of next month, so a 30 day extension.
And that's simply so that we can put this bill with the Senate
bill and we can have a comprehensive bill
and hopefully move this whole issue forward.
And also while I'm up here, I also
have another extension that I'd like to seek your support for.
And that's dealing with the Public Safety Committee.
We have one extension that's consisting
of five pieces of legislation.
As you know, I assume this third committee four or five months
into the legislative year.
So we've been trying to work to expedite a lot of the bills.
We've got five bills that four of them
we're just trying to finalize language
with with the stakeholders.
And the fifth bill that's part of this extension order
is really, we're waiting for a-- it deals with stun guns--
and we're waiting for a court case to be resolved.
So that we don't, obviously, pass some legislation
and then have the courts overturn it.
So those are the two extension orders and I'm seeking today.
Thank you.
So at the moment, the subject before the body
is the House extension order with the single bill in it.
Chair recognizes the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, through to the members.
I'm hoping the gentleman from Worcester
can just add one more detail.
And that is on the second extension order
that he mentioned, relative the Committee of Public
Safety and Homeland Security, what
is the duration of the order being sought?
The question comes on adoption of the order referring
to the order with the House extension order
with one bill in it.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted in concurrence.
The Senator from Worcester, Mr. Moore,
has presented an order, which the clerk will read.
Order that notwithstanding the provisions of joint
will tend the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland
Security shall be granted until April 15, 2018,
within which time to make its final report on Senate
documents number 1280, 1283, 1329, 1331
and 1361 relative to public safety in the Cornwall Senate,
number 2290.
Are the rules?
Refer to the Committee on the rules.
Report to the committee.
These are rules, two branches have
to concur to defer said order.
Reports recommend the same ought to be adopted Mark C.
Montigny for the committee.
The Senator from Worcester, Mr. Moore,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
The question now comes on adoption of the order.
This is the second order the Senator from Worcester
was referring to.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order's adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the committee and consumer
protection and professional licensure is authorized
to report on current House documents, House number 4188.
Comes from the House with the endorsement
that has been reported favorably by the committee
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
The senator from the Second Essex and Middlesex, Ms.
L'Italien moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on the adoption of the order.
The chair recognizes the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through the members.
Mr. President, I know that the gentle lady from Andover
has been working very diligently on trying
to ensure that we have the judicious use of extension
orders in her committees.
I know that she is armed with a lot of valuable information
about what is in those extension orders that are being sought
and the time that is being sought
and the reason that extension orders are being sought.
And I'm hoping that she will share that information with us
before we consider the adoption of these orders.
But before we do that, I just do want to thank her,
because I know that she has worked very, very diligently
to make sure that we get to a point of having
the most efficacious use of extension orders
that we could have.
So hopefully she can share some information with us.
And thank you, Mr. President.
Chair recognized Senator from Essex and Middlesex,
Ms. L'Italien.
Thank you very much.
And thank you for those kind words, Senator.
We are looking to extend House 4068, which
is a Brookline over quota alcohol bill.
We heard this bill was filed late, heard in January
and Brookline's requested a large number
of over quota liquor licenses.
We've been actively working with town leaders in Brookline
to ensure that licenses are granted
to planned areas of new development
as has been the committee policy for this session and last.
We expect to release this bill soon
upon receiving additional information from Brookline.
We would also like to extend the auto franchise extension.
There are three bills, Senate 146, and a similar note,
House 175 and House 1976.
And these three bills all concern
the relationship between auto dealers and auto manufacturers
and the impact of that relationship
is on consumers seeking to purchase
lease or service a vehicle.
We've been working on both sides to draft a compromise
piece of legislation.
We were not able to come to consensus before a joint rule
10.
But we're actively engaged in negotiating and drafting
and hope we can produce a bill by April 9.
Senate 96 and its companion House 143
is digital right to repair.
As many of you know, digital right to repair
is a very complicated issue that concerns
many different stakeholders of small and large items,
from Apple and Samsung, to Philips and Medtronic.
We're working with industry participants
to pare down the scope of this issue to something tangible
in order to further study the issue and its potential impact
on the Massachusetts's innovation economy.
We're confident we can produce a redrafted bill
by the end of this extension.
Housing 1992 is telecom bill.
Again, been working diligently on this issue this session,
because the position of the new house chair
has differed slightly from the position of the former house
chair, several groups that stand to be impacted
by this legislation are meeting on a consistent basis with us
to discuss conflicts and compromise.
And we hope to get a bill that we are all
comfortable with by the end of the extension period.
Patent infringement, Senate 128 and Senate 153,
there is also a similar bill, House 130,
that we are asking extension on.
This is a complex issue, but one that the committee
would like to move forward by the end of the extension date.
There are some provisions in the original bills that
are problematic from a legal standpoint and particularly,
exemptions section.
So we're working with industry participants and patent
attorney experts to ensure we're coming up
with a comprehensive bill that addresses the problem of patent
trolling, but also allows for innovation at our colleges
and think tanks.
And lastly, these are two House bills
that I have agreed to extend, House 1973 and House 3465.
And this has to do with sexual assault education
for hairdressers and others.
This is something we've been working on with district
attorney Marian Ryan.
This is the first time these bills have been filed.
We need a little bit more time to complete the research
on this.
But in a nutshell, these bills seek
to train hairdressers and barbers, who are often
folks who can observe signs of someone's domestic violence
or assault to be trained so that they can
come forward and both share resources with their clients,
but also come forward and connect them
with the proper authorities if need be.
So we're asking that we work on this--
continue to work on this one with DA Ryan.
And we hope that we will have this done by April 9.
Thank you.
Question comes, Senator of Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I want to thank the gentle lady who just spoke for those very
succinct explanations.
I would call to the attention of the members
that each of the orders that she spoke to
contains a very limited number of bills.
I am a little bit concerned about April 9.
It sounds like it's going to be a very exciting day
in the Committee on consumer protection
and professional licensure to finalize all of these bills.
But I have every confidence that they're equal to the task.
I do appreciate the work that's been
done to get us to this point.
And I know that we'll take these up sequentially, Mr. President,
but I'm hoping that each of the extension orders that
were spoken to by the gentle lady from Andover
will be adopted.
And I thank her for her good work.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order's adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the committee on consumer
protection and professional licensure
is authorized to report on current Senate documents,
House number 4189 comes from the House of endorsement
that has been approved by the Committee on rules,
two branches acting concurrently have been adopted in the House.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the Committee on consumer
protection and professional licensure
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4190 comes from the House with the endorsement
that it's been adopted by the committee of rules,
two branches acting concurrently and adopted by the House.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on the adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order relative to extending until Monday, April 9,
2018, the time within which the committee of consumer
protection and professional licensure
is authorized to report on a current House document, House
number 4191.
Comes from the House with the endorsement
that has been adopted by the committees of rules,
two branches acting concurrently and adopted in the House.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to the extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the Committee on consumer
protection of professional licensure
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents, House number 4192 comes from the House
with the endorsement and has been
approved by the committee on rules, two branches act
concurrently and adopted in the house.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the Committee on consumer
protection and professional licensure
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4193 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been
approved by the committee on rules, two branches acting
concurrently and adopted in the house.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Monday, April
9, 2018, the time within which the Committee on consumer
protection and professional licensure
is authorized to report on a current House document,
House number 4194 comes from the House with the endorsement
and has been adopted by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
Senator from Essex and Middlesex, Ms. L'Italien,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption on the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The house order relative to extending until Tuesday, March
6, 2018, the time within which the Committee on community
development and small businesses is authorized
to report on a current Senate and House document,
House number 4199 comes from the House with the endorsement
that the Committee on rules, two branches acting concurrently
has adopted it and it has been adopted in the House.
The Senator from Cape and Island, Mr. Cyr, moves [MUTED]
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order,
and the chair will recognize the senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through to the members.
And how delightful it is to see the gentleman from the Cape
and the Islands before us at majority microphone.
He came in with an enormous briefcase.
And I have to admit, Mr. President, I was fearful
that that briefcase might contain literally
hundreds of extension orders.
But it appears that my fears were unwarranted
and that we have a very limited request
that the gentleman brings to us for an extension order.
And I'm hoping that in his usual eloquence,
he will explain to us what the nature of this request is,
how much time is being sought and why
the request is being sought.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The chair recognizes the Senator from the Cape, Senator Cyr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through you to the members.
I appreciate the comments from the minority leader.
I will note as well, that not only is this a very limited
extension, but I am wearing a purple tie, which
I am glad to bring to this chamber and the business
that we have today.
This is for the community development and small business
committee.
These are three bills that we are asking for a very
limited extension on.
Two of the bills relate.
Senate 88 and House 1970 are the same bills, one in the Senate,
the House version.
This deals with independent contractors
and their interaction with small business.
We're asking for this limited extension.
And then the final bill, House 3543
is a bill proposing an infrastructure bank
around community development.
We just need a little more time to do some due diligence.
But we've set a May 6 date, excuse me, a March 6 date.
I'm hopeful we can address these bills before then.
So thank you, Mr. President.
I hope the extension is adopted.
Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
First of all, I would be remiss in not
congratulating the gentleman on his outstanding purple tie.
It is a little deeper hue than some
that we have seen during this session,
but it complements the rest of his ensemble very nicely.
Mr. President, I would also like to say that it is outstanding
that the committee is carefully considering changes
to our state's independent contractor law.
They have needed revision for quite some time.
I know that the committee is considering this in earnest.
And I think a bit more time to consider something so complex
is certainly warranted.
But I do hope that we will see from the committee
some recommendations and that we can work on changing this law.
But I am encouraged, as I know everyone
over here in the minority side of the chamber is,
that there's earnest work being done
on that particular subject.
So, Mr. President, I would commend the gentleman,
as I have others, for his tremendous work in limiting
his requests before us to a reasonable one
with a reasonable period of time and a limited number of bills.
I thank him for that.
And I do hope, Mr. President, that the order is adopted.
Question comes on the adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, oppose, no.
The ayes have it, the order is adopted in concurrence.
Papers from the House.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Wednesday, May
9, 2018, the time within which the Committee on children,
families, and persons with disabilities
authorized to report on current Senate and House documents,
House number 4178 amended comes from the House with endorsement
that it's been approved by the committees
on rules of two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House as amended.
The senator from Salem, Senator Lovely,
moves that the rules be suspended
so the matter may be considered--
excuse me-- rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The chair recognizes the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and again, how wonderful
it is to see our colleague from Salem at the microphone, who
I know, Mr. President, has a strong interest in the rules
and the effective use of the rules
and the judicious use of extension orders.
Mr. President, I'm hoping that she can give us
an explanation on the nature of the extension that's
being sought, the subject matter, the time frame.
Mr. President, I know that she's done, again,
good work to make sure that the committee operates efficiently.
And as a result of that good work,
we have a very limited number of bills
that are being sought to be extended here.
And I would commend her for that,
and hope that we can get a bit of a further explanation
as to what's going on here.
Thank you, Mr. [MUTED]
Senator from Salem, Ms. Lovely.
Thank Mr. President, to the esteemed minority leader.
The Joint Committee on children, families, and persons
with disabilities has been hard at work this session.
As you know, I assumed the chair just a few months ago
from former Senator Flanagan, who
was the chair of the committee.
We have actually reported out 145 bills,
but nine remaining that need extension orders to May 9.
Relative particularly to a couple of bills
to foster care review and foster care review office
and as well as mandated reporters.
Particularly to the foster care, the foster care review office,
that's a particular bill.
There's a House and Senate companion bill
that we've been working very closely
with both DCF and the office of the child advocate to see it
that we may need to be able to move into an external review
process within DCF.
As you know, it's currently any of that review
is currently within the DCF program itself, agency.
But we are looking at perhaps making then an external review.
But in speaking with the Office of the child advocate,
she feels very strongly that she'd
be able to have an opportunity to be
able to review that and put supports into place.
We want to support her in that.
But we also want to keep this bill alive for a couple
more months while she puts that into place.
Also, with regard to mandated reporting,
several bills to expand mandated reporters.
But we want to really get a good handle on what
that looks like, especially with online training for mandated
reporters.
So we also want to continue to work on that as well.
Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you.
[MUTED] I appreciate the gentle lady's
very succinct explanation.
I'm hoping that you can just clarify that the date being
sought here is until May 9?
Is that correct and through you, Mr. President?
Thank you, Mr. President.
That is correct.
We are looking for May 9 deadline.
Thank you.
I would also thank the gentle lady
once again for tremendous work in maintaining efficiency
in this committee, processing the bills in a timely way,
giving us a very reasonable request for extension.
I thank her, and I hope the extension order is adopted.
Question comes on the adoption of the order.
All those in favor say aye, opposed, no.
Ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Papers from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Tuesday, March
20, 2018, the time within which the Committee on mental health,
substance use, and recovery is authorized
to report on current Senate and House documents,
House number 4173 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
The Senator from Arlington, Ms. Friedman
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection.
Chair hears none.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Chair recognizes Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Once again, we have an extension order that is before us.
Seems to be for a reasonable amount of time.
I am concerned about the volume of the request.
And I know, knowing her as I do, that the proponent
of this extinction order probably
has a reasonable reason for the volume that
is contained in this.
But I'm hoping that she can explain to us the subject
matter of the bills that are before the committee that
are the subject of this extension order
and the rationale for seeking the extension.
And I look forward to her explanation.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Senator from Arlington, Ms. Friedman.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And thank you to the minority leader for his faith in me.
There are quite a number of bills.
There are 41 bills.
They all have to do with substance use
disorder and behavioral health.
These, we've held these bills because of the opioid bill
H4033, that was filed by the governor.
And what we've chosen to do is take
all of the bills that have to do with substance use
disorder and dual diagnosis and merge, put them together
in extension order so that we would be able to look at all
of this as a package and see what, if anything,
we should move into the bill that the Governor has filed.
We want to make sure that we have as robust a bill as
possible around this issue.
So we want to do as much as we can in this time
frame to move on addressing the substance use disorder crisis.
Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
I knew the gentle lady would have
a good explanation for the 42 bills
that are in this extension order.
Would it be fair to say that they are all
somewhat interrelated in terms of the subject matter?
That's what I think I'm hearing from her explanation.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Senator from Arlington, Ms. Friedman.
Yes, thank you.
I'm sorry that I wasn't clear.
They are all directly related to the opioid bill
that the Senate, the governor has filed
or they are indirectly related in that they will
deal with some part of mental illness and substance use
disorder.
So yes, they're all connected.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say I, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
It's the administration.
The house order relative to extending until Tuesday--
Senate will be in order and the chair
will yield to the senator from Milton, Mr. Timilty,
to the recognition of the group.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through you to the members,
it is the privilege of the chair to introduce Project
Save from Canton High School.
Project Save today, our students our guests
of representative Galvin and the current occupant of the chair.
And Project Save is doing wonderful work
in the Canton community helping their peers combat substance
abuse.
So thank you very much for all you do.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
Very good, thank you so much for all you're doing.
Senate will continue with its business now.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Tuesday, July--
Wednesday, May 9, 2018, the time within which
the Committee on state administration
and regulatory oversight is authorized
to report on current Senate and House documents.
House number 4200 amended comes from the House
with the endorsement that the committee on rules two branches
acting concurrently has adopted it.
And it has been adopted in the house.
[INAUDIBLE]
The Senator from Milton, Mr. Timilty,
moves that the rules be suspended so that matter
may be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Chair recognizes the senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I see over by majority microphone
two of the most distinguished chairs in the Senate
consulting with each other.
And I know they are discussing strategy
for effective requests for extension orders.
And I know they've both been pursuing that.
The extension order that now pends before the Senate
appears to be from state administration
and regulatory oversight.
If I am correct in that, then that
means that the gentleman to the right is prepared to, I hope,
offer an explanation.
I would point out, Mr. President,
for the edification of the members, that my information
indicates that this is a very limited extension order
both in scope and in duration.
And I would commend the gentleman
who I hope will offer us an explanation
for his tremendous work.
This is a tremendous accomplishment
to have an extension order of this limited scope.
I know that that doesn't happen easily.
I hope you can explain to us what exactly is going on
with it and the reason that the extension
order is being sought.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Chair recognizes the Senator from Milton, Mr. Timilty.
Thank you, Mr. President and through you to the members.
And thank you to my friend, my good friend from Gloucester
for the outstanding question.
Quite simply, this extension order
is being sought to gain time and--
excuse me, pardon me--
provide time for the committee to await a response
from both DCAMM and DOT with an analysis of each
and every bill.
With the analysis, the committee will then
move with great haste, Mr. Leader,
to come to a very erudite conclusion on each
and every bill.
Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Mr. President, can I inquire from the gentleman
what the bill is or what the subject matter is,
the matter that is the subject of the extension order?
Thank you, Mr. President.
Certainly.
Senator from Milton, Mr. Timilty.
Pardon me.
With the bills that are being analyzed by DCAMM,
they are land transfer bills in essence for municipalities.
Got it.
Great.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I would point out that the duration of the extension
order, or the final day of the extension order,
is none other than Valentine's Day.
I don't know if there's anything that we can read into that.
But I know the gentleman will capitalize on this opportunity.
I thank him for his good work, and I hope
the extension order is adopted.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The house order relative to extending until Friday, March
2, 2018, the time within which the Committee on transportation
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4176 comes from the House
with the endorsement has been agreed to
by the committee on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
Senator from Suffolk and Middlesex, Mr. Boncore,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Chair recognizes Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through to the members.
Mr. President, the very distinguished member
of the bar who is now at majority microphone,
I know only recently took the helm of this committee.
But he has proven that he is more than equal to the task.
And again, I would call attention
to the members of the limited nature of this extension
order, which again, I think is exemplary in terms
of the work that's been done.
So that the committee is not holding a large number of bills
as we are here on joint rule 10 day.
I'm hoping that he can just give us
a brief explanation of the subject matter of the bills
that are subject to this extension order and also
the duration of time that's being sought
and the reason that the extension is being sought.
But I would say, Mr. President, that good work has
been done here by the gentleman at the microphone.
I look forward to his explanation.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Senator from Winthrop.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through you to the members.
And to the distinguished minority leader,
I appreciate the kind words and the good work
that has been done by the Transportation Committee,
not only since I've taken over, but before I had taken over.
So this extension order covers 16 bills related
to autonomous vehicles ignition interlock devices
and bicycle safety.
We are preparing another Senate extension order,
which will become-- which bill will
be coming up shortly that will discuss to bicycle safety
bills.
So to just stress that.
It has been a short time I've been on,
these bills a very dense, very involved,
it's important to me and my co-chair
that I be able to take a closer look at them
and deal with them in due time.
Again, thank you for the kind words considering
the amount of bills that we did get out of committee
in such a short time.
And the request for this extension,
we'd like to consideration until March 2.
So I hope the extension is adopted.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
First of all, I would commend the gentleman once again.
I would suggest that these are not only complicated subjects,
but very important subjects, particularly with regard
to issues such as autonomous vehicles, which we know
are an emerging technology and it takes time
to understand them.
I also want to thank the gentleman
for keeping moving through the committee process
the legislation relative to ignition interlocks, which has
been a priority for the Senate.
And I'm pleased to see that it is still
under careful consideration by the committee.
I know that the gentleman at the microphone
has worked very hard on that.
And I pledge to continue to working with him.
I think the March 2 deadline here is very, very reasonable,
and I hope that the extension order is granted.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending
until Wednesday, March 21, 2018, the time within which
the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to report
on current House documents.
House number 4175 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been agreed to
by the committee on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
Senator from Winthrop, Mr. Boncore,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
All those in favor say aye, opposed no.
The ayes have it, the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper-- Senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate will come to order.
The chair will recognize the senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr,
for a brief statement--
Mr. President--
And then a point of parliamentary inquiry.
I move the Senate be in a brief recess.
Senate will be in a brief recess.
Chair recognizes Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. President, in the first instance,
I do want to point out that there
was an extension order just adopted
from the Judiciary Committee.
And for those who are following the process,
I want to point out that the distinguished chair, who is now
the distinguished President offered
an explanation for that earlier in this debate.
Hence, I did not seek further explanation.
In addition to that, Mr. President,
I also rise with a point of parliamentary inquiry.
[INAUDIBLE]
Thank you, Mr. President, and through to the members.
Mr. President, I'm hoping that the clerk can clarify
through the chair that the adoption of the order that
was just done on the state administration
and regulatory oversight committee extension order
actually did not include the date of Valentine's Day,
although that would have been wonderfully quaint.
Mr. President, but that it actually
extended the bills that are the subject matter of the order
until May 9.
The chair, the clerk confirms that that is in fact correct.
Thank you.
Clerk will now move to another paper from the House.
From the House, yes.
OK.
The House order relative to extending until Wednesday, May
9, 2018, the time within which the committee on labor
and workforce development is authorized
to report on the current Senate and House documents.
House number 4179 comes from the House with the endorsement
that the order has been agreed to
by the committee on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and been adopted in the House.
Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The chair will recognize the Senator
from Hampdem and Hampshire, Mr. Humason.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
And happy joint rule 10 day.
It's a pleasure to take over from my leader,
with this great task of inquiring
of the chairman of the committee some information
about the bills remaining in the study order
and specifically, what they are, how long the committee will
need to look at them and what is the purpose of the study
request.
Thank you, Mr.--
Chair recognizes the Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis.
Thank you, Mr. President.
And I thank the gentleman for his question.
The Labor and Workforce Development committee
has been hard at work, as have the other Joint Committee's
reviewing 100s of bills this session.
And we have been able to report out of committee
the vast majority of the bills before the committee
and are left with a few very important issues, which
for various reasons we felt strongly
that we did need an extension.
And I'll go through them briefly now.
The first is legislation.
There are several different Senate bills
related to the issue of paid family and medical leave,
and also the issue of the minimum wage.
As you, the gentleman, I'm sure is well aware,
those are the subject of initiative petitions.
And given that they are--
they still need to be fully considered.
That's why we need to extend those bills,
as we consider the bills along with the initiative
petitions that are now before the labor and workforce
development committee.
Next is four bills, Senate bills,
that address the issue of non-competition agreements.
This is a complicated area, which as we all recall,
we were very close to agreement with the House
of Representatives last session.
But unfortunately were unable to reach
a compromise in the conference committee right
at the end of formal sessions.
We are committed to continuing to work on this issue
to try to achieve a consensus on how to move forward
on reforming non-compete agreements in the Commonwealth.
And in the extension order for those bills is March 7.
I'm sorry.
I should have said previously, for paid
family and medical leave and for the minimum wage, it's May 9.
And it's a longer extension of course,
because it's in line with those being initiative petitions.
Next we have two bills related to wage theft.
And these are being extended one month, until March 7.
My House counterpart, Representative Brodeur, and I
have been hard at work.
We've convened a working group with proponents and opponents
on the issue of how to resolve wage theft in the Commonwealth.
And we've had several meetings and just need
a little bit more time with that working group.
Again, the goal is to try to, if possible,
achieve a consensus approach to move forward.
There are also three House bills.
Two of those bills relate to workplace violence
in hospitals and other health care settings.
And we the committee has been working with the Massachusetts
Health and Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Nurses
Association among other stakeholders
to try to find a common ground and determine
an appropriate way forward.
We all agree, of course, that we want
to minimize any violence perpetrated on our health care
workers.
But finding the right way to do that with our hospitals
is what we're working towards.
And then finally, the last bill--
and the extension order for those two bills is March 7.
And finally we have a bill related
to waiving contract provisions in certain circumstances.
It relates to confidentiality agreements
around sexual harassment cases in the workplace.
And this bill was actually a late file
and was just heard by the committee on January 30.
And there's some complicated legal issues surrounding this.
But it's obviously a critical issue right now.
And so the committee just wanted to have a little more time
to study this issue and determine
how best to move forward.
Thank you Mr. President.
Senator from Hampden and Hampshire, Mr. Humason.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I would just like to thank the gentleman who spoke prior to me
for the explanation about each of these issues.
They are very timely and important issues
that needed to be addressed.
I really appreciate the explanation.
And thank you and the committee members
there for your hard work.
Comes in adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say I, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Wednesday, May
9, 2018, the time within which the committee on labor
and workforce development is authorized
to report on current Senate and House documents.
House number 4180 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
The Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending
until Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the time within which
the committee on labor and workforce development
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4181 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been
approved by the committee on rules, two branches acting
concurrently and adopted in the House.
Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed no.
The ayes have it.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from House.
The House order relative to extending
until Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the time within which
the committee on labor workforce development
is authorized to report on current House documents.
House number 4182 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been
approved by the committee on rules, two branches acting
concurrently and adopted by the House.
Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to exempt
and extending until Wednesday, March 7,
2018, the time within which the committee on labor
and workforce development is authorized
to report on current Senate documents and House documents.
House number 4183 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted by the House.
Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Tuesday, April
3, 2018, the time within which the committee on labor
and workforce development is authorized
to report on the current Senate, current House document.
House number 4184 reports recommend
that the committees on rules, two branches
have approved this.
And it has been adopted in the House.
The Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye. opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Brief recess, Mr. President?
Senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate will be on a report of a committee.
The committees on rules, two branches acting concurrently,
to whom is referred the Senate order relative to granting
the Committee on transportation until April 15, 2015,
within which the time to make its final report and comments
on the document relative to transportation
Senate number 2293 reports recommend the same aught
to be adopted, Mark C. Montigny for the committee.
[INAUDIBLE]
Question comes on suspension of the rules.
It's the Senator from Essex--
the Senator from Winchester, Mr. Lewis,
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, and the order is adopted.
Senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate will come to order.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending
until Wednesday, February 14, 2018, the time within which
the committee on education is authorized
to report on current Senate and House documents.
House number 4201 comes from the House
with the endorsement has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
Senator from Boston, Ms. Chang-Diaz
moves that the rule be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The chair recognizes the Senator from Hampshire, Mr. Humason.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Good afternoon, and I was hoping that the gentle lady could
come up and explain a little bit about the bills that
remain in the committee, what they are
and what the purpose of the extension order request is.
Thank you.
Chair recognizes the Senator from Boston, Ms. Chang-Diaz.
Thank you, Mr. President, and through you
to the gentleman from Hampshire and Hampden.
There are a total of--
well there are two extension orders
that the education committee is requesting.
And with your leave, Mr. President,
I'll go ahead and address both at this time
for the sake of efficiency.
One of the extension orders, the one that was read,
is an extension order for one week
for all of the bills before the education committee
that are to do with the topic of civics education.
We are not coincidentally extending
this set of bills on this one topic to Valentine's Day,
because we love civics education in the Senate.
And I know this is a topic of interest
both to several members and minority crescent
as well as the majority party here in the Senate.
This is not a dilatory extension.
It is-- we are hoping to put a composite omnibus bill out
with respect to civics education.
It is a priority of the Senate President
and many members of this body.
And we expect to get it out quickly.
The second extension order is for a mere 24 hours.
Again, not a dilatory tactic.
We are, knock on wood, putting the final touches on bills
to move them out before the close of business tomorrow
on the topics of school mascots and innovation partnership
zones.
Thank you.
The Senator recognizes the Senator
from Hampden and Hampshire, Mr. Humason.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'd like to thank the gentle lady for the explanation,
reasonable and proper.
We're ready to go.
Thank you.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Second order in the year extension
category for education.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending
until Thursday, February 8, 2018, the time within which
the committee on education is authorized
to report on current Senate and House documents.
House number 4202 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted in the House.
The Senator from Boston, Ms. Chang-Diaz
moves that the rules be suspended so that the matter
may be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order's adopted.
The senate will be in a brief recess.
Chair will recognize the Senator from Essex and Middlesex,
Ms L'Italien for a brief statement.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I wanted to make a brief statement explaining
an extension order which has yet to come over
from the elder affairs committee.
It is going to--
we are holding on to let's see one, two, three, four, five,
six House bills.
And I can enumerate if people would like, and four, five
Senate bills with a goal of trying to come up
with an omnibus elder bill.
I will mention one of these bills, which
is an act relative to affordable assisted
living facilities, Senate 363, which is Senator Tarr's bill.
We are looking at a whole host of issues
that with regard to rest homes, nursing homes, assisted living
facilities, etc.
And we would like to have more time
to be able to try to put together an omnibus elder bill.
I'm not giving you an extension date
because it's my understanding that that's being hammered out
right now on the House side.
But I would like to just explain and be
able to explain why it is that we're seeking an extension
order on these bills with elder affairs.
These chair-- the Senate will be in recess subject
to the call of the chair.
Senate will come to order.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Friday, April
13, 2018, the time within which the committee
on economic development in emergency emerging technologies
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4205 comes from the House
with the endorsement that has been approved by the committees
on rules, two branches acting concurrently
and adopted by the House.
Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption the order.
Chair will recognized the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr,
for a point of personal privilege.
Actually, Mr. President, close but I--
[LAUGHING]
- What's your inquiry?
Chair is in error.
Thank you, Mr. President and through the members.
Mr. President, I'm hoping the clerk
can provide us with two pieces of information
about this order.
One is the duration of the extension that is being sought.
And the second is the number of bills that
are contained in the order.
House number 4205 is an extension order
until April 13, 2018.
And there are [WHISPERING] two, three, four,
six, [SPOKEN] nine bills, six Senate and three House
documents.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
They ayes have it, the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
The House order relative to extending until Wednesday, May
9, 2018, the time within which the committee on elder affairs
is authorized to report on current Senate and House
documents.
House number 4207 amended comes from the House
with the endorsement that the House
that the committees on rules, two branches acting
concurrently has approved of it and it
has been adopted by the House.
Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
The chair will recognize the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Point of parliamentary inquiry?
It's general status point of parliamentary inquiry.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I'm hoping that the clerk can provide us
with regard to this extension order
as well the date until when it would be effective
and also the number of bills.
And I'm thinking, Mr. President, in order to promote efficiency,
as the clerk reads these orders, if he could include
that information when he does it,
then it would prevent the necessity of me
having to inquire each time.
And I think it might help the process move along more
swiftly.
Very good.
In answer to your question, it is--
the date is Wednesday, May 9, 2018.
There are 10 Senate documents and 10 House documents.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order that not withstanding joint rule 10, the committee
on environment, natural resources, and agriculture
be granted until Saturday, March 10, 2018, within which
time to make its final report on current Senate document number
448 and House documents numbered 2777, 2932 and 2935.
It has been adopted by the committee on rules,
two branches acting concurrently and adopted by the House.
Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
moves that the rules be suspended so the matter may
be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
Rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, oppose, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order that notwithstanding the provisions joint rule 10,
the committee on financial services
be granted until Wednesday, May 9,
2018, within which time to make its final report on Senate,
current Senate documents numbered 528, 545, 553, 587
and 599 and House documents numbered 34, 35, 482, 494, 509,
535, 546, 2159, 2947, 2965, 2966, 3644 and 4137.
Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
The chair will recognize the gentleman from Essex, Mr. Tarr,
for what purpose?
Mr. President, point of parliamentary inquiry.
Point of parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. President, I'm hoping the clerk can clarify by my count--
and he was doing a very good job of reading those bill
numbers in rapid succession-- that there
are 17 bills in this order and that the extension order is
intended to last until May 9 of 2018.
Could the clerk confirm that?
It is confirmed.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order that notwithstanding the provisions of joint rule 10,
the committee on public health be
granted until Wednesday, May 9, 2018,
within which time to make its final report on current House
documents.
And there are [WHISPERING] three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, nine.
Mr. Rodrigues moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
Senator from Essex.
Mr. Tarr.
Mr. President, I'm hoping I can't be understanding this
correctly.
I'm hoping that the clerk will confirm
the number of bills that are in this extension order.
My understanding is this is intended to have
a duration of until May 9.
And that seems perfectly in order.
But, Mr. President, as I understand it, this order,
it cannot contain 71 bills.
I'm hoping the clerk would confirm that.
There are 71 petitions within this extension order, yes.
Mr. President.
Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Mr. President, throughout this session
today, we have heard our chairs in the Senate
come to majority microphone time and again
and provide us with information about how everyone has worked
hard to limit the scope and the duration of extension orders,
such that they are reasonable, a reasonable amount of time
and a reasonable number of extension orders.
And, Mr. President, every person that has taken the microphone
today is to be congratulated for that effort.
Because we are now getting to the point
where we are using extension orders
judiciously and effectively and efficiently
for the purpose for which they were intended.
But Mr. Clerk and Mr. President rather, the clerk
has confirmed that this order contains 71 petitions.
Mr. President, I know that that was certainly
not the intention of the House chair of this committee.
And I also know that the bills in question,
if I'm not mistaken, are all House matters
and that there are no Senate matters contained
in this particular order.
And so, Mr. President, while I am always
respectful of the House and respectful of the House's
prerogative to order its own affairs,
we have joint rule 10 for a reason.
And that's so everyone in the House
and the Senate can have some degree
of certainty as to when bills are going to be addressed.
And that should be the case for both Senate and House bills.
And, Mr. President, it is unfortunate
that after this day, where we have seen so much
good work by people on both sides
of the aisle in this chamber and many people
down the hall in the House chamber
that we see on the record for today
an extension order with 71 pieces of legislation.
Mr. President, this is not in the spirit of joint rule 10.
It is not in the spirit of the purpose for which extension
orders are intended.
And, Mr. President, in my humble opinion,
it is offensive to the process that we have undertaken here
today, and that has seen so much good work by so many people,
including yourself, Mr. President, to make
such progress in the committee on the judiciary
and every other committee that we have heard from today.
Now, Mr. President, I will give for this instance, the benefit
of the doubt that there is some extraordinary reason why
we have to have an extension order with 71 bills.
And if the duration of this order
was any longer than the one it is, Mr. President,
I would stand in opposition to it.
I am deeply concerned.
I think it is truly unfortunate that we
see an order of this nature.
Mr. President, I mean this as no reflection on the presiding
officer or on the people that have done good work in here
today.
I am disappointed that we see this glaring exception to what
has been the rule today.
And I would be remiss if I did not state that,
because I think we all should be concerned
with an extension order that has 71 petitions in it.
We will be watching.
And we will be watching on May 9.
And, Mr. President, I hope that we do not see this again,
this kind of an order for the duration of extension season.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order that not withstanding the provisions of joint rule
10, the committee on public safety and homeland security
will be granted until Sunday, April 15,
2018, within which time to make its final report
on current House documents, numbered 629, 1249, 2492, 3264,
and 3610.
The Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
moves that the rules be suspended so that matter
may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye.
The Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I understand the extension date here
to be April 15, very interesting what would traditionally
be tax day.
But I also understand that there are five bills in this order.
I'm hoping the clerk can confirm that.
There are five bills.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Mr. President, I'm glad to see that we're back on track.
This is a reasonable extension order, and I hope it's adopted.
All those in favor--
The question comes on adoption on the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
They ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
Order that notwithstanding the provisions of joint rule
10, the committee on public service
be granted until Thursday, May 31, 2018, within which
time to make its final report on current Senate documents
numbered 1490, 1491 and 2074 and House documents number
29, 3281 and 3301.
The Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
moves that the rules be suspended so that matter
may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it, and the rules are suspended.
The chair would recognize the Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr.
Thank you, Mr. President, just to ask confirmation again
through you from the clerk, my understanding
is that the date of this extension order is to May 31
and that the number of bills contained in it are six.
That is correct.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Comes on the adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
House number 4203.
Ordered that notwithstanding the provisions of joint rule 10,
the committee on telecommunications, utilities
and energy be granted until Wednesday, February 14,
2018, within which time to make its final report
and current Senate document numbered 1853 and 1877.
The Senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
moves that the rules be suspended.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
Question comes on--
The Senator from Essex.
So, Mr. President, this appears to be a bifurcated order.
My understanding is that we have 21 bills.
And I'm hoping that, again, as a point of parliamentary inquiry,
the clerk can confirm the information I'm about to relay.
There is sought seven days of extension
for two of those bills and 30 days for roughly 19
of those bills.
We'll have to go to the next order for the 19,
but, yes, two on this one.
OK.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
The order is adopted.
Paper from the House.
House number 4204 order that notwithstanding the provisions
of joint rule 10, the committee on telecommunications,
utilities and energy be granted until Friday, March 9,
2018, within which time to make its final report
on current Senate documents numbered 1824, 1831, 1841,
1871, 1876 and 1885 and House numbers 1739, 1746, 1747, 1748,
1751, 2600, 2700, 2706, 2709, 2712, 3396, 3634 and 3742.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye.
[INAUDIBLE]
We have suspended rules.
I'm sorry.
Senator from Rodrigues [COUGHS] The Senator from Fall River,
Mr. Rodrigues moves that the rules
be suspended so the matter may be considered forthwith.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the rules are suspended.
Question comes on adoption of the order.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it and the order is adopted.
Paper from House.
Several House petitions come from the House
with the endorsement the joint rule
12 be suspended with reference to each instance
and they may refer to their various committees.
The question comes on suspension of joint rule 12.
All those in favor, say aye, opposed, no.
They ayes have it and joint rule 12 is suspended.
And the rules-- the petitions will be severally referred
to their various committees.
All set?
Senate will be in a brief recess.
Senate will be in order.
Chair recognizes Senator from Essex, Mr. Tarr,
for a brief statement.
Thank you, Mr. President.
I was going to ask unanimous consent
to make a brief statement.
But it appears it's already been granted.
So I'll take it while I have it.
Mr. President, I just wanted to take a minute
to express our gratitude from minority crescent over here
for the work that's been done today with regard to joint rule
10 and extension orders.
Mr. President, it is critical that we have accountability
for these orders, that they be used
judiciously and effectively.
And it is imperative in order to accomplish
that that we ask questions about each of them
and create accountability.
Mr. President, members have come into the chamber today.
They've been responsive to our questions.
They've provided good information
and created the kind of accountability
that this process deserves.
And I would be remiss if we closed this session
without my expression of gratitude
to everyone for their patience, their understanding
and their partnership in the process
that we have collectively been engaged in
in dramatically improving the process by which extension
orders are granted.
So I want to say thank you to everyone that's
been involved in that process, yourself included,
Mr. President.
And I'm glad that we're able to process through these today
as we have.
And I hope everyone, Mr. President, has good evening.
The chair thanks the gentleman from Essex for his leadership
on holding us, everybody's feet to the fire
and helping us keep things moving.
The senator from Fall River, Mr. Rodrigues,
offers an order which the clerk will read.
Order that when the Senate adjourns today
to adjourned to meet again tomorrow at 11 o'clock AM
in a full formal session with the calendar.
Question comes in adoption of the order.
Is there an objection?
Chair hears none.
The order is adopted.
The senator from Hampden and Hampshire, Mr. Humason,
moves that the Senate do now adjourn.
All those in favor, say, aye, opposed, no.
The ayes have it.
And the Senate stands adjourned to meet again tomorrow
at 11 o'clock AM in a full formal session with a calendar.