House Completes First Half of Legislative Session
Energy and Child Protection Reforms, Municipal Support and Savings Highlight Year

Boston- The House of Representatives has closed out the first half of the two-year legislative session with a record of results that saw bold leadership on nation-leading energy reform and sweeping changes that will better protect vulnerable children.

Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law 170 bills so far this session, more than had become law by this point in either 2003 or 2005.  House members approved legislation aimed at tackling some of the most pressing problems facing the Commonwealth – from the wave of mortgage foreclosures to identity theft protection and ever-escalating property taxes.

Coupled with increased state spending on critical programs that brought more school aid to every district in the state and broad new support for cities and towns the session accomplishments are notable, Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said.
 
“The members of the House have built an impressive record of success this year and we have much to show for our hard work,” Speaker DiMasi said. “As we adjourn for the year and we look back on the bills that have come through our chamber, it is apparent that we have tackled a broad-base of issues and delivered on our goals for the session.”

“We passed some important pieces of legislation this past year, however there is still more hard work on the horizon,” said Representative Eldridge.  “It is important that we come back from the recess prepared to work on issues vital to the people of Massachusetts.”

The House passed several top priorities of Governor Patrick’s, including his first legislative filing creating the Commonwealth Corps volunteer effort, significant pieces of his Municipal Partnership Act and several reorganization plans to help the Governor more effectively run his administration.

*** SEE ATTACHED LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS ***
 

GROUP INSURANCE COMMISSION (GIC) FOR MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 67 OF THE ACTS OF 2007
In acknowledgement that the skyrocketing cost of providing health insurance to municipal workers had become a drain on the coffers of cities and towns across the Commonwealth, the House passed legislation to allow municipal workers and retirees to opt into the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) healthcare plan, which will yield millions of dollars in savings to municipalities that can be used to provide much-needed property tax reductions.    

PENSION RESERVES INVESTMENT TRUST (PRIT) FOR MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 68 OF THE ACTS OF 2007
Maintaining its commitment to cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth, the House passed legislation to permit the state to take over poorly performing municipal pension systems, a measure that will provide significant savings to municipalities and help provide further property tax relief.  

IDENTITY THEFT 
CHAPTER 82 OF THE ACTS OF 2007 
To protect Massachusetts residents from the growing problem of identity theft, the House passed comprehensive legislation to notify the public of data breaches, establish security freezes of accounts subject to identity theft and set standards for disposal of records containing personal data.

UNION AUTHORIZATION CARDS 
CHAPTER 120 OF THE ACTS OF 2007 
The House passed legislation allowing public workers who want to unionize the ability to do so by signing majority authorization cards.  

PROTECTING MARRIAGE EQUALITY
The House voted down a discriminatory Constitutional amendment and upheld a decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to protect marriage equality in the Commonwealth.

DARFUR DIVESTMENT
CHAPTER 151 OF THE ACTS OF 2007
In an effort to help weaken the government-sanctioned genocide occurring in Darfur, the House voted to divest the state’s employee pension funds from companies providing financial support to the Sudanese government.   

BUFFER ZONE EXPANSION AROUND REPRODUCTIVE CLINICS
CHAPTER 155 OF THE ACTS OF 2007
The House passed legislation to establish a 35-foot buffer zone around reproductive health clinics in Massachusetts. The legislation builds on existing law to more than double the size of the current buffer zone and establishes a fixed rather than a floating no-protest area, 35 feet from the property line of a clinic.  

TIDELANDS/CHAPTER 91 
CHAPTER 168 OF THE ACTS OF 2007 
The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to ensure a new, public-driven review process for large-scale projects being built on the Commonwealth’s many tidelands.  

MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE RELIEF
H. 4306 ENACTED BY THE HOUSE
In the midst of a national and statewide mortgage foreclosure crisis, the House passed bold new legislation to help stem the number of mortgage foreclosures by encouraging banks to help borrowers, providing a new 3-month window to cure defaults and mandating tough new licensing standards for mortgage loan originators.  

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT LEGISLATION 
H. 4191 ENACTED BY HOUSE
Acting to toughen the laws meant to protect our most vulnerable children from abuse and neglect, the House passed legislation to create a new cabinet secretary dedicated solely to child welfare, establish minimum educational requirements for social workers and their supervisors, and order training of mandatory reporters and increase criminal penalties.
 
GREEN COMMUNITIES ACT OF 2007 
H. 4373 ENACTED BY HOUSE 
The House unanimously approved bold energy reform legislation to promote the use of cleaner, renewable energy in Massachusetts.  The bill establishes energy goals for the Commonwealth and acts to implement those goals through state-wide clean energy initiatives and reforms.  The bill provides incentives to individuals, business owners and municipalities to invest in energy-saving technologies and aims to reduce energy consumption at the state-level.