Highlights of recent legislative accomplishments

The House of Representatives passed several key pieces of legislation, as well as local bills affecting Hingham and Cohasset, in the week leading up to the end of formal sessions November 20.  The House and Senate will continue to conduct routine business during informal sessions, however no roll-call votes can take place until the formal session reconvenes in January.

Autism Data System Included in IT Bond

Among the items approved was a bill authorizing the borrowing of money to pay for projects and services related to information technology.  The legislation includes $12 million secured by Rep. Bradley for the executive office of health and human services to establish an integrated confidential data system among all state agencies that interact with individuals with autism to track diagnosis, treatment, services and outcomes of individuals with autism.

Local Bills Become Law

Several local bills were approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, including one which changes the position of treasurer-collector in Hingham from elected to appointed, and another which amends the special act establishing the Cohasset board of sewer commissioners.  Another bill for Hingham which became law authorized the town to change a 3 acre parcel of land for municipal use in exchange for adding 10 acres to Bare Cove Park.  A home-rule petition amending the town manager act in Cohasset passed the House and is awaiting further action in the Senate.

Right to Repair bill signed into law

On Wednesday, November 20th, the Legislature approved legislation (H.3757) aimed at reconciling two state laws governing access to auto repair diagnostic information. In July of 2012, the Legislature passed H.4362, An Act protecting motor vehicle owners and small businesses in repairing motor vehicles. The intent of this bill was to provide consumers and independent repair facilities with diagnostic and repair information and tools equivalent to the information provided to dealers and authorized repair facilities. H.4362 was the result of years of negotiations on “right to repair” and represented a compromise among the parties. However, the compromise bill passed too late, precluding the removal of the “Right to Repair” initiative from the November 2012 election ballot.  The Massachusetts Right to Repair Act ballot initiative passed and was also enacted as law. The version passed by the voters was slightly different, for example, requiring automakers to share diagnostic information by car model year 2015 instead of 2018 as enacted by the Legislature.

The bill passed by the House and Senate would harmonize both laws so as to avoid confusion and was agreed to by all the parties.  The Governor signed the bill into law as Chapter 165 of the Acts of 2013.

Early Voting and Online Registration

The House also passed legislation that establishes early voting for presidential elections and provides resources to local officials and residents to make the voting process more efficient.

Early voting for presidential elections will begin in 2016. It is expected to significantly decrease wait times on Election Day and allow more individuals to vote.  The bill also creates a secure online portal through which individuals can register and view their registration status. 

Early voting will take place ten business days prior to presidential elections in accordance with regular business hours of the municipal office. Following the 2016 election, a task force will issue a report including information on costs, administrative requirements, voter turnout and the lines at polling places.

The online portal allows new applicants to register and existing voters to change their address, look up their polling place and confirm they are registered. The system will streamline the voter registration process and is expected to cut costs.