No deals, and a frustrated Baker to start week

Photo | SHNS Gov. Charlie Baker

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By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

The final week for major action on Beacon Hill started off much the way last week ended: with lawmakers waiting, waiting and waiting some more for deals to emerge and an irate governor taking rare shots at the Legislature.

After marathon sessions on Thursday, the House and Senate both broke for three-day weekends that did not lead to the production of any compromises on the bevy of major bills bottled up in private talks ranging from legalizing sports betting to reproductive health access to cannabis industry reforms.

The outlook for the key bills that cleared both chambers in different form remains cloudy.

Legislative leaders on Monday did tee up some bills, like a Senate proposal to rein in the insurance practice known as step therapy, but the schedule for the remaining days between now and the July 31 end of formal business will largely be dictated by the eight active conference committees and the others that could still get formed.

That puts most lawmakers outside the narrow Democrat leadership hierarchy in a holding pattern, waiting to be told when they will vote on an accord three of their colleagues reached with a trio from the other branch.

The House gaveled out of a light session Monday with plans to return in a full formal session Tuesday, where representatives could take the final enactment vote on a nearly $5.2 billion general government bond bill. But plans for Tuesday's votes were not clear to the representative who wielded the gavel at Monday' session.

"We are busy waiting for the work of the conference committees to make recommendations or to report out different reports," Arlington Rep. Sean Garballey, who presided over Monday's session, told the News Service. "I'm hoping that we can reach agreement on a lot of important matters that are before conference."

Deals on any of the bills in conference could emerge any minute, land late into the night on July 31 or never materialize at all before the Legislature shifts to five months of informal sessions, when a single lawmaker's objection can stall action on any bill.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker will kick off the final end-of-session flurry of his eight years in office in a position he has rarely taken: on the offensive against top Democrats.

Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will bring sexual assault and domestic violence survivors to the State House at 2:30 p.m. Monday for another "roundtable" discussion on the administration's so-called dangerousness bill, which would reform police and courts' ability to detain suspects they deem threats.

At five similar events Baker and Polito have held in the past seven months -- all of which took place away from Beacon Hill - speakers have called for lawmakers to advance the bill. Monday's roundtable will feature criticism of Democrats for killing the proposal in committee for the third straight session.

The Judiciary Committee on Friday polled members about sending the latest version of Baker's bill (H 4290) to a dead-end study, effectively dooming its chances during the governor's final year in office. Aides for committee chairs Rep. Michael Day of Stoneham and Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Acton on Monday morning did not make poll results available.

In a statement Friday, Baker said the "incomprehensible" move "protects abusers at the expense of survivors." His written statement did not end the story. Instead, Baker has decided to try to keep the issue in the public spotlight by bringing people affected by violence in front of cameras to discuss the committee's decision.

Civil rights groups have opposed the legislation, contending that it would "greatly increase the number of people who can be held pre-trial and greatly increase the length of time that they can be held."

"These people will be held not because they are unable to afford bail but instead based on a perceived but unproven danger to society," more than two dozen groups including the ACLU of Massachusetts wrote to lawmakers in March. "There is no data to support these reforms, but there is ample history of racial disparity in the criminal legal system to know that their impacts will be felt most acutely by Black and Latino individuals, families, and communities."

The governor and legislative leaders have enjoyed a collegial relationship for most of his tenure, and their priorities align on many issues still in play. Lawmakers are expected to send him redrafted bond and spending bills Baker originally filed, and the outgoing Republican has also called for action on other topics pending in conference committee talks such as legalized sports betting and improved access to mental health services.

Baker, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka once met as regularly as once a week, but since the spring, their private gatherings -- where Baker might have a more direct venue to air his frustrations or offer thoughts about the multitude of bills heading to his desk -- have sharply declined in frequency.

The Big Three talked by phone last week while Baker was out-of-state, but otherwise have not huddled face-to-face in more than a month and have not advised any plans to do so Monday.