DIYA: Leadership Changes and Shakeups

January 9, 2015

[dropcap type=”rounded-with-ring” color=”blue”]I[/dropcap]n November 2014, twenty new members were elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and five new members were elected to the State Senate. This Tuesday, these “freshmen” legislators, along with re-elected incumbents, were sworn into the 189th General Court of Massachusetts. Their first act was to elect a Speaker of the House and a Senate President.

As expected, Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) was re-elected to his fourth and final term*, while Senator Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst) was elected to be the new Senate President. DeLeo was unanimously re-elected by House democrats** and Rosenberg was unanimously elected by both democrat and republican senators***. Thus begins the freshmen’s education, or as they say in the state legislature, “edification.”

Incoming legislators are given this simple piece of advice: “No one in this building voted for you”. It often comes as a shock to some freshmen legislators to discover the House and Senate both have a hierarchical leadership arrangement. The Speaker and the President appoint their inner circle leadership team (such positions as “President Pro Tempore” and “Whip”). More info on the this leadership structure for both branches: https://malegislature.gov/People/Leadership

[blockquote align=”none”]In reality, leadership’s work is difficult and delicate, requiring consensus building, bipartisan cooperation, and compromise.[/blockquote]And, the Speaker and Senate President appoint every chairman and vice chairman of every committee as well as every member of a committee. All the committees will need to be reappointed and have yet to be reassigned at the time of this post.. There are three types of legislative committees: 1) Senate Committees (there are eight bipartisan**** Senate only committees); 2) House Committees (there are 9 of these committees and likewise they only have Representatives and are bipartisan); 3) Joint Committees (there are 27, are bipartisan, have members from both the House and Senate, and have two Chairs and Vice Chairs). For background info on committees: https://malegislature.gov/Committees

MALC watches and/or works with many of the committees and you might want to take the time to become familiar with them (i.e. see if your State Senator and/or State Representative gets appointed to them)

Here are some of the committees MALC watches and/or works with:

The three committees that work on the state budget:

Senate Committee on Ways & Means
House Committee on Ways & Means
Joint Committee on Ways and Means

And the following Joint Committees (https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Joint):

Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development
Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Businesses
Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure
Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies
Joint Committee on Education
Joint Committee on Elder Affairs
Joint Committee on Health Care Financing
Joint Committee on Higher Education
Joint Committee on Housing
Joint Committee on the Judiciary
Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Joint Committee on Public Health
Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
Joint Committee on Public Service
Joint Committee on Revenue
Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy

Along with the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President constitute the three most powerful people in state government. Some joke that the Speaker, President, and Governor could run the state all by themselves, without need of a legislature. In reality, leadership’s work is difficult and delicate, requiring consensus building, bipartisan cooperation, and compromise.

Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Rosenberg, and Governor Baker will drive policy discussions and initiatives during this legislative session (the next two years). They might not always get what they want, but arts advocates must pay close attention to the moves they make. Just as freshmen legislators learn to respect the structure of the legislature, advocates must understand it and learn to work within it.

—

*There are term restrictions for both the Speaker and the Senate President.

**http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/deleo.html

***http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_politics/2015/01/rosenberg_deleo_win_top_posts_in_legislatures_new_session

**** have both republicans and democrats appointed to them

—

Written by Kathleen Bitetti and John Weeks