LIVE BLOG: 2019 Senate Budget Debate
This live-blog is being updated in real time. Check back for updates throughout the Senate budget debate.
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Watch Sen. Lesser’s 2019 Budget Preview:
TUESDAY, MAY 21
10 a.m.: Debate on the Senate version of the FY2020 budget is scheduled to begin.
1:05 p.m.: After opening remarks from the Senate Ways and Means Chairman, Sen. Michael Rodrigues; Minority Leader Bruce Tarr; and other members, the Senate passes Amendment #3, introduced by Sen. Cindy Creem, which directs additional funding for the Community Preservation Act.
Sen. Lesser had an extra staffer in the State House today:
About 4:30 p.m.: The Senate passes Amendment #331, sponsored by Sen. Michael Barrett, to increase funding for the state’s Disabled Persons Protection Commission, which protects adults with disabilities from the abusive acts or omissions of their caregivers through investigation oversight, public awareness, and prevention.
About 7:40 p.m.: The Senate votes to provide $200 million in Chapter 90 funding for road and bridge projects across the state.
9:35 p.m.: The Senate adjourns for the evening.
Wednesday, May 22
8:00 a.m.: Sen. Lesser is back in the office, working on talking points for the day’s amendments.
10:00 a.m.: Senators enter into closed-door caucus to discuss the schedule for the day’s budget amendments.
2:50 p.m.: Sen. Chandler speaks on her amendment, #202, to fund the Civics Project Trust Fund to help schools provide civics education to middle and high school students across Massachusetts.
2:55 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in favor of Amendment #202 and calls for a roll call vote on the amendment.
3:02 p.m.: Amendment #202 passes on a vote of 39–0.
3:40 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks on his amendment, #272, to provide funding for the Community Music School of Springfield’s Adaptive Music Program that gives music education to those with disabilities.
3:41 p.m.: Amendment #272 is adopted.
4:31 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in favor of his amendment, #376, to support programs at the local nonprofit Black Men of Greater Springfield.
4:33 p.m.: Amendment #376 is adopted.
5:12 p.m.: The Senate adopts Amendment #531, introduced by Sen. Barry Finegold, to support suicide prevention programming.
6:10 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in favor of his amendment, #614, to provide additional funding to the Naloxone Bulk Purchasing Trust Fund. The funds will come from a new fund established in the Senate version of the budget, the Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Fund, which will be paid for by a new tax on opioid manufacturers as a way to hold them accountable for causing the opioid epidemic.
6:15 p.m.: Sen. Vinny DeMacedo also speaks in favor of Amendment #614. It passes the Senate shortly afterward on a roll call vote.
8:43 p.m.: The Senate adopts Amendment #651, introduced by Sen. Julian Cyr, to prevent childhood lead poisoning.
9:56 p.m.: The Senate adjourns for the evening.
Wednesday, May 23
About 10:50 a.m.: The Senate is gaveled back into session for Day Three of budget debate.
11:32 a.m.: An amendment sponsored by Sen. Anne Gobi to increase reimbursements to regional school districts for the costs of school bus transportation passed on a unanimous, bipartisan vote.
11:53 a.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in favor of Amendment #705, sponsored by Sen. Jo Comerford, to provide $250,000 for marketing the Knowledge Corridor Rail pilot, set to begin this summer. MassDOT has indicated that the pilot may remain permanent if it achieves 24,000 new riders annually, but there is no marketing strategy or funding without this amendment to let potential riders know this is a transportation option.
About 11:55 a.m.: The Senate adopts Amendment #705.
12:20 p.m.: Sen. Anne Gobi speaks in favor of her amendment, #779, to provide $50,000 in a fund to assist homeowners who need to test their home foundations for crumbling concrete. She mentions that the Commission established by a Senate budget amendment last year, sponsored by Sen. Lesser, to study the issue of crumbling concrete foundations across the state is currently carrying out its study.
About 12:23 p.m.: The Senate adopts Amendment #779.
12:40 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks about his amendment, #801, to allow the state to protect entrepreneurs from “patent trolls,” firms that buy up patents in order to make bad faith assertions of patent infringement.
12:45 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks about his amendment, #803, to support a pilot program that will allow students to dual-enroll in vocational-technical schools and other high schools to meet their graduation requirements while gaining skills to enter the trades after graduation.
2:55 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in favor of his amendment, #1080, to provide $500,000 to the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for security upgrades at places where people gather to learn, play and worship.
3:25 p.m.: After speeches in support by Sens. Cindy Creem, Cindy Friedman, Barry Finegold, Becca Rausch and Harriette Chandler, the Senate adopts Amendment #1080 unanimously.
4:30 p.m.: Sen. Harriette Chandler speaks on her amendment, #1136, to ensure Regional Transit Authorities’ financial stability.
4:36 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in support of Sen. Chandler’s Amendment.
8:54 p.m.: Sen. Lesser speaks in support of his amendment, #952, increasing funding to the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP) to a record level.
8:58 p.m.: The Senate adopts Sen. Lesser’s amendment funding MEFAP.
10:26 p.m.: After closing speeches by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, Sen. Mike Rodrigues; Minority Leader Bruce Tarr; and Senate President Karen Spilka, the Senate votes unanimously to pass its version of the budget and adjourns for the evening. It is one of the earliest ends to a Senate budget debate in recent memory.
