Legislature Ends Formal Sessions for the Year

Last week, I joined my colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in passing a number of important pieces of legislation as the legislature adjourned formal sessions for the year. In the House, we passed a habitual offender bill, and joined the Senate in sending bills expanding gaming, reforming the pension system, extending equal protections to transgendered persons, tightening penalties for human trafficking, and redrawing congressional maps to Governor Deval Patrick. 
 
I am pleased with the breadth of legislation we were able to pass before the legislative break. These bills address a number of important issues in the Commonwealth from creating jobs, and protecting our citizens, to ensuring equal rights for all residents.
 
Responding to public safety concerns, the House adopted a bill modifying current law governing cases of repeat criminal offenders. Under the new legislation, habitual offenders would have to serve 2/3 of their sentence, rather than half, before becoming eligible for parole. A habitual offender is someone convicted of a third major crime, which can include murder, manslaughter, rape, child enticement, kidnapping, or other offenses. Habitual offenders would also be ineligible for parole upon conviction of a third offense. The bill now heads to a conference committee to be reconciled with a version passed in the Senate earlier this month.
 
The House also enacted a number of bills released from conference committees with the Senate. One bill would expand legal gaming, permitting up to three resort casinos in separate regions, and one openly-bid slot parlor in the state. The legislation could provide 10,000 to 15,000 long-term jobs in the Commonwealth and generate hundred-of-millions of dollars a year in additional revenue. The compromise bill includes licensing fees of at least $85 million for each casino and $25 million for the slot facility, as well as a 25% tax on casino revenue and a 40% tax on the slot facility. The collected revenue would be used to fund essential state and local services, including public safety, education, transportation, public health, debt reduction, and local aid. Governor Patrick is expected to sign the bill later this month.
 
Salary spiking and other manipulations of the pension system would be shut down under another bill enacted in the legislature this week. The final version of the bill, approved by both the House and Senate, is projected to save the Commonwealth more than $5 billion over 30 years. The legislation prevents inappropriate salary spiking by increasing the career “look back” period from 3 to 5 years to more accurately reflect an employee’s career earnings. It also raises the minimum retirement age in each Group and builds on the pension reform bill passed two years ago by closing more loopholes and addressing the system’s unfunded liabilities.
 
The House and Senate also passed a civil rights bill extending equal rights protections to transgendered persons. Current anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws do not include provisions protecting people based on their gender-identity. The bill, now headed to the Governor for his signature, adds gender identity and expression to the list of protected persons in the Commonwealth.
 
Under a bill also approved by the House and Senate this week, anyone involved in the organization of forced labor and sexual servitude will face tougher criminal penalties. The crackdown on human trafficking, which is being hailed as the toughest legislation of its kind in the nation, also establishes important protections for victims and children to help them access necessary services. The conference report includes criminal sentences up to five year in prison for attempted trafficking, up to 20 years for trafficking adults, and up to life imprisonment for the trafficking of minors. Businesses involved in trafficking would face up to a $1 million fine for the first offense, with a mandatory minimum of 1 year to a maximum of life for a second offense. The legislation also removes any statute of limitations for trafficking crimes and creates the “Victims of Human Trafficking Trust Fund” to help provide services and protections for victims.
 
The final bill passed by the House and Senate this week reconfigures the Commonwealth into nine Congressional Districts. After collecting over thirty hours of testimony from fellow legislators and the public, the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting ushered through a map redrawing the state’s congressional districts. The new plan includes the strongest minority-majority congressional district in the state’s history and a new incumbent-free district made up of Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. This bill will join the others on Governor Patrick’s desk as the legislature ends its formal sessions for the year, and I concentrate my time on assisting my constituents and working in my district.