Criminal Justice/Corrections
H03286 An Act to implement evidence-based practices in the Massachusetts justice system
(with Rep. Carolyn Dykema)
This bill would establish an interagency commission to identify and implement evidence-based practices at key decision points in the state’s criminal justice and correctional process (e.g., pre-trial diversion, bail, sentencing, pre-release programs, probation and parole). The recent problems at the Probation Department and Parole Board have shown that Massachusetts lags behind other states in the use of proven practices related to risk-needs assessment, pre-release programming, and post-release supervision of offenders. The bill would direct the commission to implement evidence-based practices consistently across agencies in order to achieve effective individual case management and consistent data collection and performance evaluation in all parts of the criminal justice system.
Economic Development
H01397 An Act related to personnel records
This bill would eliminate a new, unnecessary, and costly requirement that Massachusetts employers notify employees whenever potentially negative information is added to their personnel record. Given the extremely broad definition of “personnel record” in Massachusetts law, this new requirement has added significantly to the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth while doing little to protect the rights of employees. Both employers and employees would be better served by restoring the prior law under which employees had unlimited access to their personnel record upon request.
Environment
H02029 An Act establishing a Charles River parkways and parklands commission (with Rep. Martha Walz)
This bill would establish a new commission to carry out a comprehensive study of the parkways and parklands along the Charles River, with the goal of preserving them for recreation and improving access and facilities for non-vehicular users.
H01839 An Act to update the public shade tree law
This bill would update and strengthen the law protecting public shade trees by: 1) specifying professional qualifications for tree wardens; 2) expanding their power to enforce prohibitions on cutting or otherwise damaging public shade trees; and 3) authorizing the State Forester to promulgate regulations for implementation of the law. It has been drafted in collaboration with the Massachusetts Tree Wardens and Foresters Association, which represents the tree wardens in cities and towns across Massachusetts.
H01848 An Act discounting vehicle registration fees for light vehicles
This bill would provide an incentive for use of lighter cars by determining registration fees according to vehicle weight. Relatively lower registration fees would be levied on lighter cars, which are more fuel-efficient and cause less wear to roads and bridges. Hybrid and electric-powered cars would receive an additional reduction in registration fees. The new registration fees would apply to model year 2012 and later model year cars.
H01692 An Act revising sales taxes on motor vehicles and bicycles
This bill would provide an incentive for purchase of hybrid vehicles, electric-powered vehicles, and bicycles by exempting them from all or part of the state sales tax.
Equal Rights
H01609 An Act to promote equity in pension benefits
This bill would promote equal pension rights for same-sex couples by giving certain state employees who enrolled in the Optional Retirement Program prior to the Goodridge decision a one-time option to transfer their retirement funds to the State Employee Retirement System (SERS). This would give these employees and their spouses the opportunity to avail themselves of spousal benefits under SERS that have always been available to heterosexual couples and have been available to same-sex couples making their state pension choices after Goodridge.
Health Care Costs
H02452 An Act to curtail tobacco addiction and related health care costs
This bill would promote a comprehensive strategy to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases, estimated to cost the Commonwealth more than $1 billion a year. First, it would expand access to tobacco cessation programs for people who receive state-funded or subsidized health coverage through the GIC or Commonwealth Care. Second, it would raise the excise tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products such as smokeless tobacco, roll-your-own, and cigars. Third, it would dedicate a portion of the resulting revenues to expanding DPH tobacco control programs, including youth education, local compliance checks, and outreach to high-risk populations.
H01224 An Act creating a special commission on institutional long-term care
This bill would support the policy of expanding home and community-based care for seniors by establishing a special commission to assess the number of nursing home beds needed to care for people for whom home care is not an option and to plan accordingly for the reduction in the number of beds. This will include the development of quality care criteria by which nursing home beds will be evaluated before they are delicensed and closed.
Municipalities
H03057 An Act relative to double poles
This bill would direct the Department of Public Utilities and Department of Telecommunications and Cable to hold public hearings and issue a report relative to reducing the number of double poles in the Commonwealth. The report would assess the Pole Lifecycle Management (PLM) system established in 2003 as the principal tool for coordinating removal of double poles, update the data on double poles in each municipality, and analyze proposed measures to accelerate their removal.
H02516 An Act to close the telecom property tax loophole
This bill would complete the elimination of the outdated tax exemption for the property of telecommunications companies. Two years ago the legislature eliminated the exemption for poles and wires. This bill would eliminate it for other machinery and equipment. Closing this loophole would result in an estimated $26 million in new revenue for cities and towns. The Governor has also proposed eliminating this exemption as part of his FY2012 budget.
H02322 An Act to ensure adequate handicapped parking
This bill would require municipalities to designate no less than five percent of their on-street parking spaces as “handicapped parking.”
H02430 An Act relative to the investment of other post employment benefits trust funds established by municipalities and certain other governmental units (with Rep. Thomas Conroy)
This bill would assist municipalities to maximize investment returns and reduce management costs associated with their funds for retiree health care and other non-pension post-employment benefits (OPEB). It would provide a mechanism for municipalities to voluntarily transfer management of their OPEB funds to the State Retiree Benefits Trust (SRBT) and would require transfer of those funds whose investment performance lags that of the SRBT for three consecutive years or over any five-year period.
