Representative Don Humason



BUSY WEEKEND! By State Representative Don Humason, Jr. June 24, 2006 Last week, I bemoaned the fact that my schedule is at the mercy of the House Speaker. Especially as the clock on Legislative formal sessions starts to wind down, members of the House and Senate can expect to have to be in Boston at almost any time to finish off the myriad issues left "in the can." But this week we got lucky. The House was only in on Wednesday to take up the minimum wage increase and indexing issue. But because Big Labor like the AFL-CIO was not happy with the dollar-per-hour increase in the current minimum wage the Leadership was proposing, negotiations broke down and we adjourned after just a few hours and no roll call votes. The only thing members accomplished was to get a "class picture" taken of the entire House of Representatives. I'm told it's been four years since the last full House photograph was taken. Admittedly, this is not easy with a group of 160 members. It's like herding cats to get us all in our seats at one time, sitting respectfully and quietly with our hands folded on our desks. Our constituents should be able to expect more out of us. My feeling is that the Leadership had better get its act together because, as I wrote last week, we are running out of time to vote on all the things we need to before our session ends. We were informed that the Conference Committee negotiating the compromise of the FY '07 budget is slated to finish up their deliberations in the next couple days and send their report to the Legislature. We were instructed to expect to be in Boston every day next week prepared to vote on the budget. Because the start of the new fiscal year on July 1 is less than ten days away, Governor Romney on Tuesday filed a mini-budget, sometimes called a "one twelfth budget," to pay the bills and keep government running into the new year, diverting a shutdown. By law, the Governor has ten days to review the budget once we finally pass it, so if we don't have our budget in place by July 1st we can't blame him. The good news for me is that I was able to attend the Westfield Woman’s Club 9th annual Garden Tea Party at Amelia Park. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful event, as always. Congratulations to the winners of the hat contest! My job as a judge was very difficult. Some of the ladies even tried to sway me by threatening to withhold their votes in November. Luckily, I was beyond reproach and could not be bribed. This weekend is turning out to be a busy one. Too bad the weather isn't looking too great. It's going to be downright tropical, complete with drenching humidity, high temperatures, and frequent downpours. The International Air show up at Barnes will still go on as best it can on Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, the Abner Gibbs Elementary School is having a steak and chicken lunch fundraiser at the school. Tickets are only $10 for kids and $15 for adults and they're available at the door at noon. The Outback Steakhouse crew is doing the cooking. The money raised will go to renovate the school's gym/cafeteria/auditorium. I'll be there! Also on Sunday, St. John's Lutheran Church will hold a celebration of the ministry of their pastor Reverend Michael Gruel and his wife Donna. They will be retiring from the church and moving away from Westfield. I'm going to miss listening to him on the radio early on Sunday mornings. Later that afternoon, Boy Scouts of America Troop 821 will hold an Eagle Court of Honor for their newest Eagle Scout Brian McComb up at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Center. Congratulations Brian! Finally, Sunday is my kid sister's birthday. Even though she lives in Florida, she still reads this column online at my website www.donhumason.org. Happy Birthday Apryl! Have a nice week everybody. Stay cool. Representative Don Humason and his aide Joe Wynn may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366. Their Boston address is State House Room 443, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2460. Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us * * * Please feel free to forward this column to your family, friends, and associates. If you do not wish to receive an email copy of my Saturday Westfield Evening News column, please reply and let me know. I will then take you off the list. Sorry for any inconvenience.
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BUSY WEEKEND!

By State Representative Don Humason, Jr.

June 24, 2006

Last week, I bemoaned the fact that my schedule is at the mercy of the House Speaker. Especially as the clock on Legislative formal sessions starts to wind down, members of the House and Senate can expect to have to be in Boston at almost any time to finish off the myriad issues left "in the can."

But this week we got lucky. The House was only in on Wednesday to take up the minimum wage increase and indexing issue. But because Big Labor like the AFL-CIO was not happy with the dollar-per-hour increase in the current minimum wage the Leadership was proposing, negotiations broke down and we adjourned after just a few hours and no roll call votes.

The only thing members accomplished was to get a "class picture" taken of the entire House of Representatives. I'm told it's been four years since the last full House photograph was taken. Admittedly, this is not easy with a group of 160 members. It's like herding cats to get us all in our seats at one time, sitting respectfully and quietly with our hands folded on our desks.

Our constituents should be able to expect more out of us. My feeling is that the Leadership had better get its act together because, as I wrote last week, we are running out of time to vote on all the things we need to before our session ends.

We were informed that the Conference Committee negotiating the compromise of the FY '07 budget is slated to finish up their deliberations in the next couple days and send their report to the Legislature. We were instructed to expect to be in Boston every day next week prepared to vote on the budget.

Because the start of the new fiscal year on July 1 is less than ten days away, Governor Romney on Tuesday filed a mini-budget, sometimes called a "one twelfth budget," to pay the bills and keep government running into the new year, diverting a shutdown. By law, the Governor has ten days to review the budget once we finally pass it, so if we don't have our budget in place by July 1st we can't blame him.

The good news for me is that I was able to attend the Westfield Woman’s Club 9th annual Garden Tea Party at Amelia Park. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful event, as always. Congratulations to the winners of the hat contest! My job as a judge was very difficult. Some of the ladies even tried to sway me by threatening to withhold their votes in November. Luckily, I was beyond reproach and could not be bribed.

This weekend is turning out to be a busy one. Too bad the weather isn't looking too great. It's going to be downright tropical, complete with drenching humidity, high temperatures, and frequent downpours. The International Air show up at Barnes will still go on as best it can on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday, the Abner Gibbs Elementary School is having a steak and chicken lunch fundraiser at the school. Tickets are only $10 for kids and $15 for adults and they're available at the door at noon. The Outback Steakhouse crew is doing the cooking. The money raised will go to renovate the school's gym/cafeteria/auditorium. I'll be there!

Also on Sunday, St. John's Lutheran Church will hold a celebration of the ministry of their pastor Reverend Michael Gruel and his wife Donna. They will be retiring from the church and moving away from Westfield. I'm going to miss listening to him on the radio early on Sunday mornings.

Later that afternoon, Boy Scouts of America Troop 821 will hold an Eagle Court of Honor for their newest Eagle Scout Brian McComb up at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Center. Congratulations Brian!

Finally, Sunday is my kid sister's birthday. Even though she lives in Florida, she still reads this column online at my website www.donhumason.org. Happy Birthday Apryl! Have a nice week everybody. Stay cool.

Representative Don Humason and his aide Joe Wynn may be reached at their Westfield District office, 64 Noble Street, Westfield, MA 01085, 568-1366.

Their Boston address is State House Room 443, Boston, MA 02133, (617) 722-2460.

Email address: Rep.DonaldHumason@Hou.state.ma.us

* * * Please feel free to forward this column to your family, friends, and associates. If you do not wish to receive an email copy of my Saturday Westfield Evening News column, please reply and let me know. I will then take you off the list. Sorry for any inconvenience.