Read the current report from Beacon Hill to learn how our rep Stephen Boksanki is working on MLP's behalf.
By Stephen A. Boksanski
MLP's Legislative Agent
Spring is nearing and the Legislature is showing signs of life. Committee and leadership assignments have been made and the Clerk's offices are working toward the admittance and referral of over 5,000 bills that have been filed for considera- tion. In the coming weeks, legislative committees will meet to agree on govern- ing rules and will begin organizing the bills that have been referred to them for the purpose of scheduling public hearings.
In Massachusetts, each and every bill that is filed is entitled to a public hearing where the committee members will listen to and read testimony presented by parties interested in the particular subject matter. Virtually all of the bills that are filed will be referred to a Joint Committee that has a House and Senate Chairman and is comprised of members from both branches. There are generally 12 House members and five Senate members on each joint committee.
The legislative committee is the first stop along the way for all legislation and it is the last for many. The committees have control over which bills will move along in the process and which will not. Committees have wide authority over the content of any bill that moves favorably out of committee and it is not uncommon for bills to be dramatically rewritten to reflect the committee's thoughts.
The legislative committee has three major options available to it when it comes to recommendations: favorable, unfavorable and study. A favorable or favorable as redrafted allows the bill to move forward to another committee like Health Care Financing or Ways and Means, or to the respective Steering and Policy Committee of each branch. The Steering and Policy Committees are gatekeepers and dictate the flow of legislation to the House and Senate floor for debate and a vote.
While every bill must receive a public hearing, they must also receive a recommendation and both must happen before the third Wednesday of March 2011. So, there is no rush and most committees have plenty of time to research the issues and make informed decisions. While priority issues will be reported out of committee in a relatively quick manner, other bills can languish for months and months without any action. Due to the sheer volume of bills, it is challenging for committees to give an equal share of time and energy to each and therefore, unless interested parties bring an item to the committee's attention they can easily be passed over.
The committee process is the initial hurdle and the epicenter of every legislative campaign. It is the forum for interested parties to convey their message, to demonstrate existing support or opposition from other legislators, and to determine how an issue will be framed throughout the remainder of the session. Therefore, it is imperative that Green Industry Alliance member associations participate in this process and make sure the legislators who Chair and sit as members of the committees of most importance to our interests know who we are and what we think about matters of interest.
The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture is the primary focus for MLP and there are two new Chairmen at the helm for 2011-2012. Marc. R Pacheco (D-Taunton) is the Senate Chair and Anne Gobi (D-Spencer) is the House Chair. To view a list of all committee members,
you can visit the Massachusetts Legislature's website: www.malegislature.gov/Committees/Joint.
As an industry, it makes sense to know these members especially and to develop relationships with those who will be making decisions on legislation that can impact you and your profession. If they don't hear from you they simply won't understand your perspective and our collective position on a variety of pesticide, water and general regulation related bills that appear every two years.
We are currently focusing on supporting bills that would create science-based uniformity in fertilizers and protecting designers' interest in a landscape architect practice bill that could have severe implications if passed in its current form. Both of these matters will require a greater understanding by the committee members if we are to achieve our goals and thus, we need the help of industry. Please consider taking part in your organization's government relations activity and help to make a difference.
It's starts at the committee and can end at the committee, so we should pledge to make sure we give the committee everything we have in terms of information and support.