One week ago, members of the Massachusetts legislature walked out of the State House after a hectic end of session all-nighter.
“The big things that got accomplished were the housing bond bill, the housing production bill, and the budget got done. What was disappointing for me was the capital bond bill, the economic development bill hasn't been done yet. But what I'm hearing is we're going to go back into formal session later in the year, which is what I think we should do, because there are things like the economic development bill that require a roll call vote and are too important to leave on the table," said first-term Democratic State Senator Paul Mark of the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire district, who is seeking re-election this year. “So, I've heard this from Senate President [Karen] Spilka, I've heard it from Speaker [Ron] Mariano, I know the governor's asked us to do it, so I'm hopeful that is going to happen. And with informal session, we can still pass the bulk of the other things. So, the health care bill, we can still work on the climate bill, we can still work on- I know it's difficult to understand, generally, how our session works, but we meet twice a week, year-round, so there is still a lot of potential, and I hope we're going to get there, because the membership is frustrated, and I know I've been hearing from people in the public and certainly reading it in the press that people are pretty frustrated with the way things ended pretty abruptly.”
Mark says the almost $3 billion economic development bill, heavily laden with amendments, has particular importance for his constituency in Western Massachusetts.
“There's money in there for industries like life sciences that are important in making sure Massachusetts stays competitive, but then I had $10 million in local authorizations for Berkshire County in my district," the state senator told WAMC. "So, I mean, I know people have been asking me about that, whether it's up in Williamstown, a project, Wahconah Park, a million dollars coming that way, money for Jacob’s Pillow in the Berkshires- We want to get that money released. We want to get that money signed into law, and we want our projects- And I'm not the only one. I think all 40 senators, and I'm sure all 160 representatives, we spend a lot of time figuring out what in our region is important, and then making the case to our respective Ways and Means committees and our respective economic development committees. And so, we want, after getting a win, especially in the Senate version, like, I want that money to flow, and I don't want people that are hoping for it to be disappointed. It's important.”
The legislature’s failure to pass the climate bill has been excoriated by environmentalist groups. Mark says he shares their frustration, but that the delay might yield stronger legislation.
“I was pretty disappointed with the climate bill in general, because the climate bill didn't include a lot of climate priorities that me and many of my colleagues and certainly my constituents have been interested in working on for the entire session," he said. "I found it really odd that the House and Senate, as a member of the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, only met once together with House and Senate members, and that was the hearing that I held, which was oversight for the [Department of Public Utilities] in Pittsfield. On all the policy hearings on bills we met separately, which is the first time I've ever seen that in my legislative career. So, I understand under the Constitution, the House and the Senate are supposed to be a negative on each other. We're supposed to have different opinions, we're supposed to fight vigorously for those opinions on behalf of our constituents, but it really shouldn't be at the expense of getting import legislation done that a lot of people in Massachusetts really care about. I was kind of disappointed in what was produced anyway, and so if we're going to end up going back and doing something, hopefully to be a chance to get a little more local priority involved in whatever might come out of a conference committee.”
The measure includes instating a goal for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, accelerating adoption of clean energy and the move away from fossil fuels, and encouraging the use of electric vehicles.
