Representative Don Humason



BILL STATUS October 17, 2009 By State Representative Don Humason, Jr. I’ve received some calls and emails this week asking for a status update of a few bills that I’ve touched on in this column over the past weeks. As always, if you have questions about a bill or an issue on Beacon Hill, please feel free to contact me or my Chief of Staff, Sarah Latour. My District Office number is 568-1366. We can usually check the status of Massachusetts House or Senate bills and get back to you with a copy of the current bill and a bill history. For those more adventurous souls, you may also try to get the information yourself online at the official General Court webpage www.Mass.Gov/legis. Trouble there is it isn’t always up to date. From time to time we get contacted by constituents with questions about federal legislation like the extended unemployment benefits issue or the health care debate currently raging in Washington, DC. I can’t always help with calls about these issues but I know who to refer a person to and it is typically my counterpart in the United States House of Representatives, Congressman John Olver. 1. A Conference Committee has been appointed to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Pandemic and Disaster Preparation bills I covered in my last column. The six members of that committee (3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, 4 Representatives and 2 Senators) will now meet to hammer out a compromise. Members will have one more chance to review the final legislation and then we must vote either yea or nay on it. We are not allowed to further amend a conference committee report. 2. Regarding the safe driver bill (or what some people are calling the Elderly Driver bill) there has been no official action in either branch on that legislation since it was released from the Transportation Committee a month ago. I said at the time that the bill released by the committee was a starting point, a first step, to stimulate debate. That it has done! 3. The Mixed Martial Arts bill may finally be coming to the floor for debate. This legislation would set up a regulatory structure to allow mixed martial arts matches to occur in the Commonwealth, much like wrestling or boxing does. I am a fan of MMA and watch Ultimate Fighting all the time, much to the chagrin of my wife. As a former Judoka I hold a Brown belt in Judo, a martial art that had its beginning in Ju Jitsu, so I find the MMA fascinating. The House may vote on the bill as early as next week. “The Big Three” as the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President are called in certain circles on Beacon Hill meet every week to discuss issues and legislation and to decide on the flow of bills. The Big Three control which bills come up and when. Lately, they have been bemoaning the state of the Massachusetts economy and its impact on moving legislation. This week the House formal session was cancelled in part because, legislatively speaking, there was really nothing ready to go. The economy has been very much on the mind of legislators, voters, and taxpayers alike. According to the State House News Service, “Unemployment in Massachusetts hit a post-1976 high at 9.3% up two-tenths of a point from August, as employers cut 9,200 jobs, according to new unemployment information out Thursday morning. The leisure and hospitality sector recorded the largest job loss. State unemployment is still below the national 9.8 percent rate. Education and health services posted higher jobs numbers, while the largest over-the-year losses came in professional, scientific and business services; trade, transportation and utilities; and construction and manufacturing. The state logged 110,200 fewer jobs, or 3.4 percent, from a year ago, down to 3,176,400 positions.” Also from the State House News, “Massachusetts residents filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection 35 percent more in the first three quarters of 2009 than the same period a year ago, according to a new report by The Warren Group, which tracks real estate and financial data. The 11,872 filings were nearly double the same window in 2007, hitting the highest point for the same nine-month period since 2005, the report found. Chapter 7 is the most frequently exercised options for people seeking help with debt.” Until we can staunch the flow of jobs and people from Massachusetts, and reign in our taxing and spending, and finally gain control over the Massachusetts budget and right the foundering Bay State economy, just passing bills on Beacon Hill seems akin to rearranging the proverbial deck chairs of the Titanic. *** Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org
This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group

BILL STATUS

October 17, 2009

By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.

I’ve received some calls and emails this week asking for a status update of a few bills that I’ve touched on in this column over the past weeks. As always, if you have questions about a bill or an issue on Beacon Hill, please feel free to contact me or my Chief of Staff, Sarah Latour. My District Office number is 568-1366.

We can usually check the status of Massachusetts House or Senate bills and get back to you with a copy of the current bill and a bill history. For those more adventurous souls, you may also try to get the information yourself online at the official General Court webpage www.Mass.Gov/legis. Trouble there is it isn’t always up to date.

From time to time we get contacted by constituents with questions about federal legislation like the extended unemployment benefits issue or the health care debate currently raging in Washington, DC. I can’t always help with calls about these issues but I know who to refer a person to and it is typically my counterpart in the United States House of Representatives, Congressman John Olver.

1. A Conference Committee has been appointed to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Pandemic and Disaster Preparation bills I covered in my last column. The six members of that committee (3 Democrats and 3 Republicans, 4 Representatives and 2 Senators) will now meet to hammer out a compromise. Members will have one more chance to review the final legislation and then we must vote either yea or nay on it. We are not allowed to further amend a conference committee report.

2. Regarding the safe driver bill (or what some people are calling the Elderly Driver bill) there has been no official action in either branch on that legislation since it was released from the Transportation Committee a month ago. I said at the time that the bill released by the committee was a starting point, a first step, to stimulate debate. That it has done!

3. The Mixed Martial Arts bill may finally be coming to the floor for debate. This legislation would set up a regulatory structure to allow mixed martial arts matches to occur in the Commonwealth, much like wrestling or boxing does. I am a fan of MMA and watch Ultimate Fighting all the time, much to the chagrin of my wife. As a former Judoka I hold a Brown belt in Judo, a martial art that had its beginning in Ju Jitsu, so I find the MMA fascinating. The House may vote on the bill as early as next week.

“The Big Three” as the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President are called in certain circles on Beacon Hill meet every week to discuss issues and legislation and to decide on the flow of bills. The Big Three control which bills come up and when.

Lately, they have been bemoaning the state of the Massachusetts economy and its impact on moving legislation. This week the House formal session was cancelled in part because, legislatively speaking, there was really nothing ready to go.

The economy has been very much on the mind of legislators, voters, and taxpayers alike. According to the State House News Service, “Unemployment in Massachusetts hit a post-1976 high at 9.3% up two-tenths of a point from August, as employers cut 9,200 jobs, according to new unemployment information out Thursday morning. The leisure and hospitality sector recorded the largest job loss. State unemployment is still below the national 9.8 percent rate. Education and health services posted higher jobs numbers, while the largest over-the-year losses came in professional, scientific and business services; trade, transportation and utilities; and construction and manufacturing. The state logged 110,200 fewer jobs, or 3.4 percent, from a year ago, down to 3,176,400 positions.”

Also from the State House News, “Massachusetts residents filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection 35 percent more in the first three quarters of 2009 than the same period a year ago, according to a new report by The Warren Group, which tracks real estate and financial data. The 11,872 filings were nearly double the same window in 2007, hitting the highest point for the same nine-month period since 2005, the report found. Chapter 7 is the most frequently exercised options for people seeking help with debt.”

Until we can staunch the flow of jobs and people from Massachusetts, and reign in our taxing and spending, and finally gain control over the Massachusetts budget and right the foundering Bay State economy, just passing bills on Beacon Hill seems akin to rearranging the proverbial deck chairs of the Titanic.

***

Representative Don Humason and his Chief of Staff Sarah Latour may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us Website: www.donhumason.org

This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group