The Beacon Hill Report
We hope you all had a great summer . As we transition to the fall , now is the time we assess the current situation and plan our strategy for the 2023-2024 cycle . Here is a brief update on a couple of pending priorities .
Nantucket Bylaw The Town of Nantucket entertained an article (# 79 ) at its May 2 , 2022 Town Meeting that originally sought to circumvent the law (
Chapter 262 of the Acts of 2012 ) we worked on and got passed in 2012 that put the regulation of fertilizers and plant nutrients exclusively in the hands of the DAR . As part of the negotiation and compromise process , Nantucket , Martha ’ s Vineyard and the Cape were allowed to update their own regulations but had to do this by January 1 , 2014 . While Nantucket and the others fulfilled this opportunity , we now have some at the local level trying to change the agreement . The article was amended at Town Meeting to ask the Board of Selectmen to file legislation at the State House to get Nantucket out from under its own rules (
S . 3101 ).
The bill had a public hearing that was accepting written testimony only for a 24-hour period . We submitted a brief statement expressing concerns that this opens back up the whole idea of having statewide pre-emptive authority over the regulation of these products and that this effort does not respect all the work that had been put into the compromise . The bill was given a favorable recommendation and is on the House Calendar to be read a first time .
We will continue with our advocacy by sharing our concerns with House leadership as well as the Minority Leader ’ s office . We are not overly concerned at this point and will gather more insight and intelligence before making any plans for next steps .
Snow Plow Liability ( S . 1249 ) We recently spoke with the Chief of Staff at the Senate Committee on Ways and Means who shared an optimistic opinion about our bill moving forward this session . He acknowledged that no opposition has been expressed , by Stephen A . Boksanski GIA Legislative Agent
the staff has analyzed the bill and is comfortable with it moving forward , and the Chair has expressed his support for moving this sometime this fall ! This is great news and gives us real hope that we still have a shot at getting this to the Governor ’ s desk this year .
The timing is likely mid-October . The Legislature is still trying to figure out how to proceed with their economic development legislation that was in conference committee but stalled out when the 62F tax refund law became a real thing . In 1986 , voters approved a law that required excess revenues to be returned to the taxpayers if they rose at a rate that was higher than the growth of wages . This law was triggered once since being approved ( 1987 ) but required a paltry sum of roughly $ 29M to be returned , whereas we are now looking at $ 2.94B going back . This is great news for taxpayers but not good news for the Legislature who had just made plans to spend $ 4B on their economic development plans .
We expect the Legislature will find a way to execute the refund and spend what is left over on a smaller , compromise bill that includes some economic development funding but not all that was in the original bills . We think the Legislature wants to get this behind them and then things will open up for a select , few priorities and I was told specifically our bill is one of those .
So , it ’ s not over yet and we hope to have some good news to share in the coming weeks .
The MAA is a proud member of the Green Industry Alliance ( GIA ) along with the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals , Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care Professionals , Irrigation Association of New England , and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England . Russell Holman , MCA , BCMA serves as the MAA ’ s representative . If you are interested in becoming involved with the GIA ’ s legislative and advocacy activities , please contact the MAA Office .
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For more information please contact Carrie Martin ( 508 ) 653-3320 • CMartin @ MassArbor . org
FALL 2022 MAA NEWS 15