IN THE NEWS
By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.
June 7, 2008
June is here. We’re six months into 2008. Summer officially begins in two weeks. High school graduations are happening all around us. Father’s Day is next weekend. And there are only five months to go until the November 4 election.
This week Senator Barrack Obama amassed enough delegates to be the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. On the Republican side of things, Senator John McCain has been going around the United States campaigning for the Oval Office while waiting to see which Democrat he will face.
At this moment I am writing this column on my laptop computer at my desk in the House chamber, seat number 152. The House of Representatives is in formal session today, Wednesday, to take up matters that have been pending on the House calendar for some time.
I debated on the House floor in support of mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offenders. Although the amendment failed, the bill, sponsored by Republican Representative Karyn Polito and based on Florida’s Jessica’s Law, did pass the House.
As I wrote recently, the rules of the House and Senate have us adjourning at the end of July. Excluding weekends and holidays like the Fourth of July and the Suffolk County-only holiday of Bunker Hill Day June 17 that leaves us precious little time to finish up the business of the people.
I liken it to school. As summer recess approaches things in the classroom grow more hectic. Legislators, like students, yearn to go outside and play. They daydream of their summer vacation plans. Their minds wander and they have a hard time focusing on their schoolwork and homework.
We’ve still got the state budget to finish up. We’re supposed to have it done by the start of the new fiscal year, July 1. There will probably be a supplemental budget or two before we complete our business. There are a bunch of bond bills in the queue.
And there are more than 6,000 bills that members have filed in the past two years of this session that need to be disposed of. Some of those bills should become law. Many of them should not. Still others should be studied by a legislative committee. I mean really studied, not just sent to a committee to die a legislative death. So lots to do…
Big talk around the water cooler on Beacon Hill this week was the gossip around former House member and current Senator Jim Marzilli(D-Arlington). Jim was arrested this week for sexually assaulting a woman on a park bench, then fleeing police, and finally giving a fake name to the cops as they warned him to stop resisting arrest. The name he gave was of a current Representative. Senator Marzilli has since indicated he will not be running for reelection this fall.
What else has been in the news lately? Bear, a missing greyhound, has attained notoriety lately after running away from his new owners. I see him on signs, in the paper, and on TV. A friend asked me to make an appeal in my column. If you see Bear, or can catch him, please call Claire at 413-348-6178.
Speaking of animals, I was looking out my window on Memorial Day Monday in the late afternoon when I saw two moose! Now I’ve seen bear, deer, fishercats, coyotes, foxes, turkeys, porcupines, and hawks, all in my backyard. But this was the first time I’ve ever seen a moose in real life. And there were two of them!
They were larger than deer but smaller than a horse and neither had antlers. I don’t know if they were young males or females. But it was exciting to see them. Sadly, in my excitement, I failed to get a get photograph of the two magnificent creatures.
Congratulations to the seniors from Westfield High School, St. Mary’s, and Westfield Vocational Technical High School. Best of luck to you as you start a new chapter in your lives. Enjoy your graduation. You’ve earned it.
Congratulations, also, to the teachers, staff, and administration at those schools for successfully graduating another class of young people. You earned it too!
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Representative Don Humason and his legislative aide Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366.
Their Boston address is State House Room 542, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2803.
Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us