Beware The Third Wednesday Of March
The third Wednesday of March is upon us. And since we’re in the second year of the current Massachusetts legislative session, this Wednesday, March 19, Joint Rule 10 applies.
By Wednesday, all joint committees of the legislature (committees with members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate) must make final reports on any of the bills before them that were filed at the beginning of the legislative session last year.
Here are a few of the bills we’re focused on:
Bills We Support:
- An Act Relative to the Creative Economy Bill House Bill 1738 and Senate Bill 875
- An Act Establishing a Disaster and Emergency Aid Fund for Massachusetts Artists Senate Bill 1625
- Resolve establishing a commission to study the inclusion of arts in STEM related programs House Bill 2994
Bills We Oppose:
- An Act Relative to Eligibility for Cooperative Housing Corporations Senate Bill 596 and House Bill 1143
By Wednesday, these bills (along with others we’ve been monitoring) should be 1) favorably voted out of their respective joint committees, or 2) killed by an unfavorable vote, or 3) referred to a study (the nice way of killing a bill).
Of course, the committees could always avail themselves of a rule suspension in order to extend their reporting deadline. We’ll see what happens! And we’ll keep you posted.