at work for you
Legislation is filed at the beginning of each legislative season shortly after the November election cycle. Representative Malia sponsored and co-sponsored dozens of pieces of legislation in the 2003-2004 session (which runs from January 1, 2003 through July 31, 2004). Some of those bills are listed here by issue area. If you have questions about this or any legislation, please feel free to call Liz’s office at the State House at 617-722-2060. Also, for more information on the Legislative Process in Massachusetts, please visit the Legislature’s website at: http://www.state.ma.us/legis/lawmkng.htm
Economic Development
An act establishing protections against predatory lending in the home lending market
House Bill 1617
Sponsored by Rep. Malia
This bill would enact provisions to protect vulnerable homebuyers and encourage responsible lending practices.
As the representative of parts of Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and Roxbury, I have seen that banks continue to fail to meet the lending needs of low to moderate income communities. Predatory lending agencies then actively target these people with offers of loans at extremely high costs (high interest rates, high fees, etc.). The effect of this lending does not strengthen neighborhoods by providing a quick infusion of resources; in fact these predatory lending practices have lead to high rates of foreclosure and further decline in the communities affected.
This bill is an essential piece of our strategy to responsibly increase homeownership in our communities. I have seen the remarkable benefits of high rates of homeownership in a community – increased stability, increased community participation of residents, reduction of crime and more. This bill has the support of many agencies that work in the field of housing in my district, including the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations and the Massachusetts Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. These groups have been crucial in the continued revitalization of neighborhoods in Boston and all support the efforts to strengthen rates of homeownership. more
Education Policy
An act to prohibit the use of MCAS for high school graduation
House Bill 3487
Sponsored by Rep. Ruth Balser
While we need to do all we can to strengthen our schools and support our kids and teachers, using the MCAS exam as a graduation requirement does not make sense. This is penalizing individual students and preventing them from moving forward with their education. Our drop-out rates, particularly in low-income and minority populations, are already staggeringly high. This high-stakes requirement is only making matters worse and that we need to refocus our efforts if we want to make any real educational reform. more
Environment & Environmental Health
An Act for a Healthy Massachusetts: Safer Alternatives for Toxic Chemicals
House Bill 2275
Sponsored by Rep. Jay Kaufman
We have increasing scientific evidence of the relationship between toxic chemicals and a range of severe chronic diseases. It is critical that more efforts be made to decrease our exposure to these toxic chemicals.
This bill provides for a gradual approach towards reduction of health impacts caused by toxic chemicals in our everyday settings. It requires that the Department of Environmental Protection develop and implement a plan to analyze the impact of the first list of ten toxic chemicals and make recommendations about potential alternatives for these substances. It also mandates that we develop options for assisting affected parties in the transition to safer alternative substances. more
An Act Relative to Mercury Reduction & Education
House Bill 2482
Sponsored by Rep. Doug Peterson
Mercury is known to be a powerful chemical with links to developmental disabilities in children. Mercury emissions, primarily from trash incinerators and coal plants, concentrate in our air and water, jeopardizing the health and well-being of our residents and our environment. Technological advances have now given us non-mercury or low-mercury alternatives to almost all mercury-based products.
This bill is a comprehensive approach towards reduction of mercury products in the Commonwealth. It includes provisions for “take backs” of existing products and phasing out future use. It also requires proper labeling of products containing mercury and proper disposal of mercury products. Passage of this important bill supports the New England regional strategy to reduce mercury emissions by 75% by 2010. Similar legislation has already been enacted in Rhode Island and Connecticut. more
Equal Rights
Relative to Civil Unions
House Bill 1194
Sponsored by Rep. Wolf
This bill provides eligible same sex couples the opportunity to obtain the benefits, protections, rights and responsibilities afforded to opposite sex couples by the marriage laws of the commonwealth. more
An act providing equal employment benefits for public sector employees
House Bill 1349
Sponsored by Rep. Paul Demakis
This bill, similar to those we have filed and supported for several sessions running, gives LGBT public employees the right to share benefits like health insurance with their same-sex partner. more
An Act to Protect Massachusetts Families through Access to Civil Marriage
House Bill 3677
Sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing
This bill is the first bill of its kind in Massachusetts, and shows we are leaders in this country in the fight to expand civil rights for gays, lesbians and their families. This bill makes a simple change to current law to allow same-sex couples equal access to the more than 1400 legal benefits of marriage. more
Health Care & Access
An act to Provide Health Insurance for direct care workers in long-term care
House Bill 3808
Sponsored by Rep. Malia
Approximately twenty-five percent of long-term direct care workers do not have health insurance. Yet they provide care to our frail elders and people with disabilities who depend on them for their basic needs. The nature of this work makes these workers susceptible to illness and injury. Yet these workers often work while injured or sick, and often forego needed treatment, tests and prescription drugs because of their lack of health insurance. This lack of coverage is not just detrimental to the workers themselves. The industry and the clients are affected because there is a high turnover rate among these caregivers. As our population of elders needing skilled care increases dramatically in the years to come, so does our need to improve the quality of these care-giving jobs.
THIS BILL is the product of the work of the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute and the Direct Care Workers Initiative (a Massachusetts coalition of consumer advocates, providers, labor unions and worker advocates that seeks to improve the quality of long-term care by improving the quality of jobs for direct care workers). It requires the Commonwealth to administer a plan of health care benefits for these long-term care workers. more
An Act Establishing a Program to Reduce Prescription Drug Prices to Residents of the Commonwealth
Senate Bill 494
Sponsored by Seantor Barrios
This bill directs the commonwealth to become a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), in order to buy drugs at reduced prices from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The drugs will then be sold to commonwealth residents who qualify for a MASS-RX card. The program established by this bill would be directed by the department of public health. more
Public Health
An Act Relative to a Ban on Smoking in the Workplace
House Bill 2599
Sponsored by Rep. Rachel Kaprelian
This legislation, which bans smoking from most workplaces in the Commonwealth, cleared the House on October 22nd with a vote of 127- 25 in favor of the legislation. The legislation now moves to the Senate and then on to the Governor, who has not yet taken a position on the bill. more
An act to provide fo the funding of substance abuse addiction treatment programs
Senate Bill 1843
Sponsored by Sen. Marian Walsh
The cost of substance abuse on our state budget is notable. Recent studies indicate that in 1998 17.4% (roughly $2.7 billion) of the state budget was spent to deal with the consequences of substance abuse and addiction. Of this only approximately $97 million is being spent on prevention, treatment and research. Clearly the cost of substance abuse has significant public impact, in the areas of public safety, corrections, the courts, family support services and more.
This bill calls for a reasonable increase in the excise tax on alcohol and directs a portion of the funds to be used to pay for substance abuse treatment, education and prevention. The excise tax on alcohol has not been increased since 1976, and I believe now is the time to implement this modest change.
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Public Safety & Quality of Life
An Act Relative to Mufflers
House Bill 1722
Sponsored by Rep. Malia
This bill makes it illegal to sell or install “modified mufflers” – the mufflers that actually AMPLIFY noise emitted from exhaust systems and torture our urban neighborhoods. These mufflers are already illegal to use for most cars, but this bill would make them illegal to sell or install as well. more
An Act to Amend the Speed Limit in Thickly Settled Areas
House Bill 3392
Sponsored by Rep. Malia
This bill allows cities and towns to lower local speed limits from 30 to 25 in thickly settled areas. The City of Boston helped craft this legislation and is eager for its passage. It is a critical tool in slowing down traffic on our residential streets, and allowing police another opportunity to make our neighborhoods safer. more
An act to extend the ban on assult weapons and further reduce gun violence in the commonwealth
Senate Bill 1326
Sponsored by Sen. Cheryl Jacques
The state’s current assault weapons ban, adopted in 1998, references the federal definition of an assault weapon. The federal Assault Weapons Ban will sunset in 2004 unless reauthorized by Congress. This legislation, S. 1326, will amend the definition section of the Mass Assault Weapons Ban to reference the federal ban so as to avoid confusion over whether the state ban continues if the federal ban is not reauthorized. In addition, this bill would close the assault weapons loophole by banning the future sale of all assault weapons and high capacity magazines regardless of the date of manufacture and ownership. This is a common sense bill that will improve the safety of the residents of the Commonwealth. more
Act to improve the tracing of guns used in crime
Senate Bill 1327
Sponsored by Sen. Jacques
Ballistic fingerprinting is a tool that would aid law enforcement in solving gun crimes. It would create a databank of ballistic fingerprints across the Commonwealth, in the same way that other states (Maryland and New York) and our federal law enforcement agencies (FBI and ATF) have. This bill will require gun manufacturers to provide both a discharged projectile and a spent shell casing from every gun distributed for sale in Massachusetts. It then requires that gun sellers forward those samples to state law enforcement officials upon sale of a firearm. In a time of diminished public resources and strained public safety budgets, we are seeking creative solutions to some of our most difficult public safety challenges. It is the time to hold the industry that profits from the manufacture and sale of firearms responsible for sharing these costs. more
Tax Policy
An Act Requiring Combined Taxable Income Reporting
House Bill 3825
Sponsored by Rep. Paul Demakis
This legislation allows the Commonwealth a new tool to penalize corporations using schemes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Under combined reporting, all corporate taxpayers in the Commonwealth would be required to list all of the profits earned by all of their subsidiaries, regardless of their location. The Massachusetts apportionment formula would then be applied to the full amount of profits listed in the combined report in order to determine how much of those profits are taxable in the Commonwealth. Massachusetts-based companies that do not have any such subsidiaries would not be impacted by this legislation. Sixteen states, including Maine and New Hampshire, already require corporate taxpayers to use combined reporting. more
An act to provide fo the funding of substance abuse addiction treatment programs
Senate Bill 1843
Sponsored by Sen. Marian Walsh
The cost of substance abuse on our state budget is notable. Recent studies indicate that in 1998 17.4% (roughly $2.7 billion) of the state budget was spent to deal with the consequences of substance abuse and addiction. Of this only approximately $97 million is being spent on prevention, treatment and research. Clearly the cost of substance abuse has significant public impact, in the areas of public safety, corrections, the courts, family support services and more.
This bill calls for a reasonable increase in the excise tax on alcohol and directs a portion of the funds to be used to pay for substance abuse treatment, education and prevention. The excise tax on alcohol has not been increased since 1976, and I believe now is the time to implement this modest change. more
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