by Richard Cauchi and Christina Nelson
After 323 days, the Massachusetts General Court wrapped up formal sessions for 2007 the day before Thanksgiving. The year was marked by transitions, realigned political forces, and growing concern about revenue shortfalls by next year.
The Democratic majority in both House and Senate (at 88 percent the largest in the nation) applauded loudly when Deval Patrick was sworn in as the first Democratic governor in 16 years (and the first black governor in the Bay State’s 387 year history). But the media quickly played up the disagreements between the freshman governor and the seasoned legislative leadership. The resignation of Senate President Travaglini in March resulted in the first-ever woman President: Senator Therese Murray.
Some local media complained that only 208 laws were approved this year,"
although statistics show that this is more than states such as WI, OH, PA, MI and NJ.
The state's Fiscal Year 2008 budget was the most visible bill for the first six months. It moved fairly smoothly and was completed by the June 30th deadline. The State House News Service (Sept. 17, 2007, not online ) quoted Senate Ways and Means Chair Steven Panagiotakos as saying that the governor signed off on roughly 98.5 percent of the Legislature's $26.8 billion FY 2008 state budget. This included over $1.8 billion to maintain the administration’s commitment to the Commonwealth’s historic health reform law.
The small portion he vetoed proved contentious, as reported by Statehouse News. In the final week of session, the legislature returned to override vetoes and add $37 million of the $41 million in cuts back into the spending plan. Veto overrides often found Republicans and Democrats voting together, though Senate Republicans used their floor time to question the governor's adherence to campaign promises on cuts to fire safety, Department of Youth Services, and local tourism councils. Votes in the House went much more quickly.
One state watchdog group gave the session high marks for its process: “Massachusetts government made significant progress this year toward making it easier for regular people to understand how we are spending our tax dollars. These new transparency initiatives allow anyone to visit the budget website and find extensive information including current and historic appropriations for each area of government and mission statements for departments,” reported the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
The News Service final “Roundup” of November 21 (not online) had this to say:
- Both the House and Senate approved a compromise bill to mandate in-person advice for first-time homebuyers, along with new oversight for the mortgage industry.
- Military veterans won fuel and shelter assistance from the state,
- Losers were employer groups, whose hopes for a freeze on unemployment rate increases sank with relative soundlessness, after the administration and Senate made clear they weren’t on board with DiMasi. Adjustments to Patrick’s auto insurance deregulation made it through the Senate, but withstand little chance in the House, at least during the new policy’s debut.
- The final week also saw agreement to move the Presidential Primary to February 5th.
In a grudging but welcome insider summary, reporter Jim O’Sullivan observed, it was “all the more notable that not a single bad-government, late-night major bill eked through.”
Three issues not enacted occupied much time and negotiation although they are far from dead, thanks to carryover of bills into the 2008 session.
- Governor Patrick pressed hard for a $1 billion life sciences research and economic development plan. More cautious legislators and leaders questioned the details and equity of some features and held up final passage. A floor vote is likely in February.
- The Governor also pushed a “destination resort casino plan" to create "billions of dollars in new revenue," which captured headlines for weeks but received a mixed reception among legislators.
- Speaker DiMasi championed an energy bill, including a “dramatic redraft” which passed the House, before heading to the Senate, “with whom some measure of pre-conferencing has taken place. The proposal makes fundamental changes to the delivery, production and consumption of energy here, and drew long-evasive applause from most corners.” (State House News Service Weekly Roundup, Nov. 11, 2007, not online)
An unofficial highlight of 2007 occurred this August, when Massachusetts legislators spent a week hosted the bipartisan NCSL meeting in Boston. The leaders of both parties and hundreds of staff and members worked hard to make the event memorable.
2007 marked a near record number of mid-term changes in membership—six House members and five Senators departed during the session, leading to special elections throughout the year.
[Richard Cauchi and Christina Nelson are NCSL’s liaisons to the Massachusetts General Court. Dick works in the health program and Christina in energy, environment and natural resources. Photo of Connecticut dome by Eric Oxendorf.]
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