 |
|
|||||
|
Beacon Hill Roll Call Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 37 – Report No. 3 Friday, January 22, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved.
Brown’s win has national implications, as he has now become the 41st Republican senator. That number gives the GOP the power to defeat the health care bill and any other Democratic proposals that that all 41 Republican senators oppose, because they can sustain a filibuster indefinitely. Prior to last week’s election, the Democrats held 60 seats to the GOP’s 40. This Democratic supermajority gave the party the power to put a stop to any filibuster and other delaying techniques by the Republicans. This essentially meant that the Democrats could have passed any legislation they want as long as all 60 Democrats went along. Some observers make a strong case that that the fault for Democrats losing this seat goes back to 2004 when they changed an important election law in Massachusetts. Prior to 2004, Massachusetts law provided that when a United States Senate seat becomes vacant, the governor would name a replacement who would serve out the remainder of the original senator’s term. Under that law there was no special election. If that law was still in effect today, United States Senator Paul Kirk, a Democrat appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2009, would have remained senator until the regular November 2012 election to fillthe seat. And the Democrats in Washington would still have their 60-vote supermajority. Ironically, in the summer of 2004, the Legislature approved a new law taking away the governor’s appointment power and instead providing for a special election for the United States Senate to be held within 145 to 160 days. This measure was supported overwhelmingly by all but seven of the House Democratic representatives and senators and opposed by all Republicans. Democrats at that time feared that the Republican governor at the time, Mitt Romney, would have the opportunity to appoint a Republican to fill United States Senator John Kerry’s seat until 2008 if Kerry won the November 2004 presidential election. In the end, Kerry lost to former President George W. Bush and the Senate seat never became vacant. The 2004 law remained on the books until 2009 when, shortly before his death, Kennedy urged state lawmakers to approve a proposal that would amend the 2004 statute. The bill eventually approved in 2009 by the Legislature and signed by Governor Patrick gave the governor the power to appoint a temporary short-term replacement for the vacant seat until the winner of the January 19 special election is sworn into office. It was no secret on Beacon Hill that the Democrats were changing the law again because they knew that Governor Patrick would appoint a Democrat to the seat and maintain the Democrats’ 60-vote supermajority in the United States Senate. And then, if all went according to plan, a Democrat would be elected in the special January 19 election in the bluest of blue states. Republicans and a few Democrats cried foul. They said that it is unfair to change the rules in the middle of the game and to give this power to the Democrat Patrick in 2009 when in 2004 the Legislature would not give it to the Republican Romney. The irony is clear. If Democrats had left the 2004 law intact, Kirk would have served out Kennedy’s term until 2012, last week’s election would not have been held, and the balance of power in Washington would not be shifting. One Democratic representative who asked us not to use his name said, “The local and national Democrats really shot themselves in the foot. They thought that they had this all figured out and it backfired on them. That greed is the cause of the death of Obamacare and of lot of the Obama agenda.” A Republican official who asked for anonymity told us, “What goes around comes around. The Democrats really outsmarted themselves this time and they deserved to have this blow up in their face. They have no one but themselves to blame.” 2004 VOTE THAT TOOK AWAY THE GOVERNOR’S POWER TO APPOINT A TEMPORARY SENATOR The House, 122-30, and the Senate, 31-7, approved the 2004 law that took away the power of the governor to appoint a temporary replacement when a United States Senate seat becomes vacant in Massachusetts. The measure instead required that a special election be held within 145 and 160 days. (A “Yes” vote is for taking away the governor’s power to appoint a temporary replacement and for establishing a special election. A “No” vote is against taking away the governor’s power and against establishing a special election.) Representative Richard Ross Was not yet elected Senator Scott Brown No ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL CHANGES IN EDUCATION SYSTEM (S 2247) — Governor Patrick signed into law a bill making changes to the state’s education system by implementing mechanisms designed to improve underperforming schools. Passage of the measure gives the state a better shot at receiving up to $250 million in federal education aid. The measure creates Innovation Schools that are district schools with increased autonomy and flexibility to operate. It raises the state’s spending cap for charter schools from 9 percent to 18 percent of new school spending in the lowest 10 percent of performing districts and eliminates the cap that limits the state’s total charter school population to 4 percent. ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLES (S 2251) — The Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would prohibit youngsters under 14 from operating off-road recreation vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), dirt bikes, and snowmobiles. The measure would allow anyone between 14 and 16 to operate only smaller ATVs and require them to be supervised by someone over 18. Other provisions include requiring that drivers 18 and younger complete a rider safety program; making vehicle owners who allow persons to use their vehicles liable for any damage or injuries; and increasing the penalties for drivers who break these rules. The effort to approve this bill is being spearheaded by Mark and Katie Kearney, the parents of Sean Kearney, an 8-year-old-boy who in 2006, unbeknownst to his parents, drove an adult-sized ATV at a friend’s home and died from injuries sustained in an accident. Sean’s parents, Mark and Katie are working to educate the public about the dangers of ATVs. Their web site notes that since 1980 thousands of children have died in ATV accidents and that hundreds of thousands have been seriously injured. VISITING NURSES (H 3170) — The Committee on Transportation’s agenda includes a proposal exempting from city and town parking fines any vehicles driven by visiting nurses on duty. PAY STATE BY CREDIT CARD (H 2997) — The State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee is considering legislation that would require the state to accept payment by credit card for all licenses, services, and fines. The measure would not require the state to accept credit cards for tax payments. FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF (H 3046) — A bill requiring that the state flag be flown at half-staff annually on September 11 remains in a House committee after being given initial approval by the House in November. QUOTABLE QUOTES Mr. Brown Goes To Washington Edition “What happened here in Massachusetts can happen all over America.” — Scott Brown speaking to supporters following his victory “That a Republican can win a Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy for nearly fivedecades is a clear indicator of the resurgence of our message and the rejection of the massive lurch to the left by the Democrats in Washington and Boston.” — Governor Haley Barbour (Republican from Mississippi), chairman of the Republican Governors Association “But it is important to keep in mind that today’s special election in Massachusetts was just that: a special election, with a whole host of circumstances that are unique. I would caution against taking a single unique election and extrapolating what it means for the midterms ten months away.” — Senator Robert Menendez (Democrat from New Jersey), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee “He had the courage to run for the U.S. Senate seat of Ted Kennedy at a time when it seemed almost hopeless.” — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich “I think Scott [Brown] ran a great campaign. Absolutely brilliant media strategy. And I would have to say that the Coakley campaign, I don’t know who did the media strategy, because I don’t think there was one.” — Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray (Democrat from Plymouth). Murray also served as Coakley’s honorary fund-raising chairman. “Irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against women and against politicians with whom he disagrees. In any other time in our history, this man would have been laughed off the stage as an unqualified and a disaster in the making by the most conservative of conservatives.” — Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK’S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature’s job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work, and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They contend that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late-night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.
During the week of January 18-22, the House met for a total of nine hours and 28 minutes while the Senate met for a total of seven hours and 24 minutes. |
 |
||||
