Representative Don Humason



FULL SCHEDULES By Representative Don Humason, Jr. September 22, 2007 Before I begin this week’s column, I must wish my number 1 constituent, my wife Janice, a Happy 40th Birthday. Welcome to the club, honey. I can tell summer is nearly done and fall is almost here by looking at my schedule. A month ago it was practically empty. Now I’m triple stacking events and my days in Boston are picking up again. If you’re filling out your calendars, let me give you a few upcoming Westfield events to put in your schedules. Thursday is Westfield Day at the Big E. The big parade starts sometime around 5:30 PM or so. It’s always great to walk around the Eastern States Exposition grounds and see so many people of all ages from the Whip City. Next Saturday, September 29, is the Westfield River cleanup. We start at 9 AM and meet in the parking area off Meadow Street near the Great River Bridge. The annual event is sponsored by the Westfield River Watershed Association and coincides with a larger cleanup day for the Connecticut River watershed. Saturday is also Colonial Harvest Days on the Westfield Green. It’s sponsored by the folks at WOW, Westfield on Weekends. There will be music, entertainment, food, reenactments, a book sale, and much more. That night, at 7 PM, is the Westfield Veterans Association’s annual POW-MIA candlelight vigil at Parker Memorial Park across from South Middle School. I have the honor this year of being the master of ceremonies for the vigil. I know the veterans would be glad to have you attend the brief and solemn ceremony. On Sunday, September 30, the Westfield Sportsmen’s Club holds its annual open house which is free and open to the public. Come up to the club on Furrowtown Road by Westfield High School, and check out the great facilities the Sportsmen’s club has to offer. We have shooting, trap & skeet, archery, and fishing. As long as you have your calendars handy, let me tell you about Westfield’s own Dan Kane Singers. This legendary group of 160 amateur singers ranging from 6 years old to 76 has wowed local audiences for years with our inspirational and Christmas concerts. I say “our” because I have proudly been a singer with the DKS, and the group’s Stage Manager, since 1998. This year, on Friday, November 30, the DKS will hold our 30th and final Christmas Spectacular concert at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. Tickets will go on sale soon, but are sure to sell out because there are only about 5200 seats. Feel free to contact me for ticket information or look for ads in the Sunday papers. After a long summer recess, the members of the House and Senate came back to Beacon Hill this week for our first formal sessions since August. The House met on Tuesday and took up many of Governor Patrick’s vetoes of the state’s budget for fiscal year 2008. Of the approximately 40 budget vetoes made by the Governor, the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Sal DiMasi, took up nearly 30 of them on Tuesday, in rapid succession, and with little debate. Every veto taken up was successfully overridden by the House. This should stand out to everyone as interesting. Why? It’s very similar to what happened under previous Governors. The House overrode every veto taken up for a vote. None of the Governor’s vetoes were ever sustained. What makes this especially interesting is that while the previous four Governors were Republicans, our current Governor is a Democrat. The House, and Senate too for that matter, is overwhelmingly Democrat. Every member of the leadership team, every committee chairman or vice chairman, every floor or division chair, are all Democrats. There are 141 Democrats to the 19 Republicans in the House. And yet still they overrode a majority of the Governor’s vetoes. Finally, and most curious of all, is the fact that the only votes to sustain Governor Patrick’s vetoes came not from members of his own party, but mostly from the members of the Minority Party, the Republicans. Just as we had done under Governors Romney and Swift and Cellucci and Weld, Republicans voted to sustain many of the Governor’s vetoes, not out of blind party loyalty, but out of a belief that the Executive Branch has the right to be a check and balance on the Legislative Branch’s spending and policy decisions. I’ll be awaiting Deval’s thank you note. * * * Representative Don Humason and his new 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
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FULL SCHEDULES

By Representative Don Humason, Jr.

September 22, 2007

Before I begin this week’s column, I must wish my number 1 constituent, my wife Janice, a Happy 40th Birthday. Welcome to the club, honey.

I can tell summer is nearly done and fall is almost here by looking at my schedule. A month ago it was practically empty. Now I’m triple stacking events and my days in Boston are picking up again.

If you’re filling out your calendars, let me give you a few upcoming Westfield events to put in your schedules.

Thursday is Westfield Day at the Big E. The big parade starts sometime around 5:30 PM or so. It’s always great to walk around the Eastern States Exposition grounds and see so many people of all ages from the Whip City.

Next Saturday, September 29, is the Westfield River cleanup. We start at 9 AM and meet in the parking area off Meadow Street near the Great River Bridge. The annual event is sponsored by the Westfield River Watershed Association and coincides with a larger cleanup day for the Connecticut River watershed.

Saturday is also Colonial Harvest Days on the Westfield Green. It’s sponsored by the folks at WOW, Westfield on Weekends. There will be music, entertainment, food, reenactments, a book sale, and much more.

That night, at 7 PM, is the Westfield Veterans Association’s annual POW-MIA candlelight vigil at Parker Memorial Park across from South Middle School. I have the honor this year of being the master of ceremonies for the vigil. I know the veterans would be glad to have you attend the brief and solemn ceremony.

On Sunday, September 30, the Westfield Sportsmen’s Club holds its annual open house which is free and open to the public. Come up to the club on Furrowtown Road by Westfield High School, and check out the great facilities the Sportsmen’s club has to offer. We have shooting, trap & skeet, archery, and fishing.

As long as you have your calendars handy, let me tell you about Westfield’s own Dan Kane Singers. This legendary group of 160 amateur singers ranging from 6 years old to 76 has wowed local audiences for years with our inspirational and Christmas concerts. I say “our” because I have proudly been a singer with the DKS, and the group’s Stage Manager, since 1998.

This year, on Friday, November 30, the DKS will hold our 30th and final Christmas Spectacular concert at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield. Tickets will go on sale soon, but are sure to sell out because there are only about 5200 seats. Feel free to contact me for ticket information or look for ads in the Sunday papers.

After a long summer recess, the members of the House and Senate came back to Beacon Hill this week for our first formal sessions since August. The House met on Tuesday and took up many of Governor Patrick’s vetoes of the state’s budget for fiscal year 2008.

Of the approximately 40 budget vetoes made by the Governor, the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Sal DiMasi, took up nearly 30 of them on Tuesday, in rapid succession, and with little debate.

Every veto taken up was successfully overridden by the House. This should stand out to everyone as interesting. Why? It’s very similar to what happened under previous Governors. The House overrode every veto taken up for a vote. None of the Governor’s vetoes were ever sustained.

What makes this especially interesting is that while the previous four Governors were Republicans, our current Governor is a Democrat. The House, and Senate too for that matter, is overwhelmingly Democrat. Every member of the leadership team, every committee chairman or vice chairman, every floor or division chair, are all Democrats. There are 141 Democrats to the 19 Republicans in the House. And yet still they overrode a majority of the Governor’s vetoes.

Finally, and most curious of all, is the fact that the only votes to sustain Governor Patrick’s vetoes came not from members of his own party, but mostly from the members of the Minority Party, the Republicans.

Just as we had done under Governors Romney and Swift and Cellucci and Weld, Republicans voted to sustain many of the Governor’s vetoes, not out of blind party loyalty, but out of a belief that the Executive Branch has the right to be a check and balance on the Legislative Branch’s spending and policy decisions. I’ll be awaiting Deval’s thank you note.

* * *

Representative Don Humason and his new 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

This Site Designed and Maintained by: The Barre Group