Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition

Artists leaders and artist-run groups addressing policy issues that affect artists in Massachusetts

How To Watch The MA Senate Budget Debate

Senate budget debate begins today, Tuesday, May 24th!

Today, the Senate is slated to start its debate on the proposed Senate budget. As MALC mentioned in an earlier post about the House Budget, when either the House or Senate is in what is called “formal session”, the State House, by law, needs to remain open to the public. This means if the debate goes into the late evening or early morning, the State House will be open to allow members of the public to watch the debate in person.

Many advocates and lobbyists are indeed up at the State House trying to meet with Senate members, officials and/or their staff to advocate for their budget amendment(s). MALC recommends taking the time at least once to watch these debates in person and/or also to be up at the State House after hours when they are in session. It is a first hand way to watch the democratic process at work.

How to Watch live!

If you can’t be at the State House in person to observe the budget debate, you can watch the session via live stream on the “the Senate Cam”. (Click on the session name. Adobe Flash Player required):

https://malegislature.gov/Events

(Note: you can watch both the House and Senate when they are in formal session via the live stream, as above)

To find out the time of the Senate formal session, and to watch it (just click on the session link):

https://malegislature.gov/Events/SenateSessions

Tips

You might want to open another window to monitor what actions the House “chamber” takes on the filed amendments by using the following link. The House clerk is tasked with keeping this page as up-to-date as possible:

https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FY2017/Senate/ChamberActions

Even if you are able to attend the State House debate, we recommend you open the Chamber Actions page (on your smart phone or tablet) to have a better chance of keeping track of the budget amendment debate process.

Please be informed of the Senate budget amendments MALC is following:

http://artistsunderthedome.org/malc/calls-to-action/senate-debate-budget-week/

[colorbox title=”Reminder” color=”#355b93″]Attend the free panel on May 31 – Athletes and the Arts – Integrating the Science of Sports Medicine into the World of Performing Arts[/colorbox]