The Beacon Hill Report
The Legislative machine is up and running after a slow and methodical opening of a new two-year term . The Governor , the House , and the Senate have all approved budget proposals for the upcoming 2024 fiscal year and negotiations over a final budget is ongoing . This is usually the first and most important piece of work by the Legislature each year — deciding how to best spend the tax revenue . This year that revenue equals roughly $ 56 billion .
With the budget deliberations behind them , the Legislature can now focus on the important work of conducting public hearings , which are required for every bill that is filed . There are currently 33 Joint Committees made up of members of the House and Senate and with a Chair from each branch .
While each committee acts a little differently , they all must hold public hearings and make recommendations on which bills should move forward and which should not . The Committees also have the power to re-write bills to reflect their thoughts and goals , and that consider testimony provided through the hearings . Committees are allowed to hold onto bills until the first Wednesday of February in the s econd year of the term . The trend has been for Committees to hold most bills until close to this deadline and make recommendations in bundles , with most being ordered to a study . This means the bills need more work before they can move forward and essentially kills them .
As noted , some committees got out to an early start while others have yet to hold their first hearing . For example , the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources held a hearing on May 10th on several bills relative to “ Pesticides and Pollinators ”, including several that we s ubmitted written comments on . Below is an outline of some of those bills :
• H . 811 / H . 825 / S . 487 – An Act Relative to Pesticides – These bills would add public higher education institutions to the list of places where additional restrictions and requirements are placed on applicators . It would also ban the use of most commonly used products in school settings .
• H . 742 - An Act Protecting Massachusetts Pollinators – This bill would restrict the use of neonicotinoids . by Stephen A . Boksanski GIA Legislative Agent
• H . 814 / S . 540 - An Act Empowering Towns to Protect Their Environment and Residents from Harmful Pesticides – These bills would repeal statewide pre-emptive authority on the regulation of pesticides and let every city and town make up their own rules .
While Environment and Natural Resources has already held four public hearings that included almost 120 bills , the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development has not held any public hearings to date . At the top of our priority list is the following bill that will hopefully get a hearing soon :
• H . 1874 / S . 1221 – An Act Relative to Snow Removal Service Liability Limitation – This bill would prohibit the use of unfair provisions that limit a provider ’ s ability to remove snow and ice while putting all the liability for damages on that service provider .
We will be sure to let you know once that is scheduled and will be asking for a select few to testify in support . We have a new House sponsor this session , State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante , who is in her 8th term and now is Vice Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means . After our bill got hung up in the Senate Ways and Means Committee last session , we are branching out and trying a new tactic .
In addition to the work in the Legislature , we continue to monitor all meetings of the state ’ s Water Resources Commission and the Drought Management Task Force . Unfortunately , these groups of state employees don ’ t seem to get a great deal of interaction with industry and thus , their ideas may sound good but can often hold unintended consequences . We continue to push them to recognize the value of today ’ s technology and to try to look at some of the old ideas , like outdoor water restrictions , through a modern lens .
As always , we encourage you to connect with your state representative and senator to let them know who you are and what you do . Find a way to make a local connection . If we can develop a critical mass of such relationships , we can have a strong , unified voice that can have an impact on any number of issues .
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 , CTSP serves as MAA ’ s representative . If you are interested in becoming involved with the GIA ’ s legislative and advocacy activities , please contact the MAA .
SUMMER 2023 MAA NEWS 19