Home and Senate relations appeared to take a frosty flip Tuesday when two prime Democrats publicly feuded over the timing of separate proposals that might legalize overdose prevention facilities, also referred to as protected injection websites, and permit Boston to hike its business tax charges.
The spat began Monday when Home Speaker Ron Mariano expressed frustration at a Senate plan to take up the overdose prevention heart invoice Tuesday, the day earlier than the tip of formal lawmaking for the two-year legislative session.
The Quincy Democrat mentioned advancing the measure Tuesday, with solely hours left till lawmakers had been set to show their focus to their reelection campaigns, positioned a “very difficult expectation” on the Home to shortly evaluation and debate a “major proposal.”
He went as far as to say, “It sort of tells me you’re not really serious about passing the bill to begin with.”
Senate President Karen Spilka threw these phrases again at Mariano Tuesday, solely hours after the Home mentioned it deliberate to cross the business tax price invoice, a controversial measure that has drawn assist from Mayor Michelle Wu and metropolis councilors however opposition from enterprise teams.
Spilka mentioned senators had not “debated, discussed, nor even seen the bill, the new complex bill,” and mentioned she might “not respond” when requested if the Senate deliberate to take up the proposal Tuesday or Wednesday.
“And as you know, any time you release the bill the day before session ends, it’s a very difficult expectation for us to hear it, especially when it has new proposals, major proposals that haven’t had the opportunity to be debated or voted on. It sort of tells you that they’re not really serious about passing the bill to begin with,” Spilka mentioned, quoting almost verbatim Mariano’s feedback on the overdose prevention heart invoice from a day earlier.
The business tax coverage invoice was first accredited by the Boston Metropolis Council in June, was the topic of a Income Committee listening to on Beacon Hill earlier this month, and can’t be modified by the Legislature as a result of it’s a regionally accredited proposal.
The overdose prevention heart invoice is a rewrite of a Home measure that cleared the chamber in June. Representatives regarded to extend entry to overdose reversal medicine and gear however didn’t contact on overdose prevention facilities, which have obtained the assist of the state’s Division of Public Health.
Each branches of the Legislature routinely launch payments with little discover to their members, typically solely providing lawmakers one or two days to learn by consequential adjustments to state regulation.
Many high-profile payments do obtain scrutiny on the committee stage, the place legislators sometimes play host to hours-long hearings that advocates, members of the general public, and different elected officers can use to weigh in on the highest du jour.
Because the July 31 finish of formal lawmaking approaches, payments that had been bottlenecked in committees can typically spring to life with hopes that they will attain the governor’s desk earlier than the calendar turns to August.
Democratic management within the Senate made plans to push ahead 9 totally different payments between Monday and Tuesday, together with some which have seen motion within the Home and others that haven’t.
At an unrelated occasion Monday, Mariano mentioned he didn’t understand how the Home and Senate might work out variations on payments that “we haven’t seen, we probably won’t see until late” Tuesday.
“That gives us maybe one day to appoint a committee and have them meet and come to some resolution. So it strikes me as being a major attempt to have the thing just fade off into the sunset,” he mentioned.
The feedback got here as a number of teams of Democrats had been making an attempt to barter compromises on high-profile payments coping with financial improvement, housing, long-term care, prescribed drugs, hospital oversight, clear power, federal funding, and veterans companies.
Spilka wouldn’t say whether or not Mariano’s feedback difficult end-of-session efforts to give you resolutions on any a type of coverage proposals.
“The Senate will continue to roll up its sleeves and work to produce good, substantive policy for the people of the Commonwealth until the last day, the last minute of the session,” the Ashland Democrat informed reporters.
Senate funds chief Michael Rodrigues, who helps negotiate a number of main insurance policies, mentioned Mariano’s feedback don’t complicate end-of-session negotiators.
“I never gave it a second thought,” he mentioned of Mariano’s remarks. “It’s the end of session. Both branches are putting out a lot of bills at this moment in time, and we just deal with them one at a time. I don’t have any comments.”
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