Senate seeks high court opinion on two ballot questions (it doesn’t like)

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Hours of budget talks, an advocacy blitz, energy concessions, ballot question strife, and a power outage?

House and Senate session livestreams were down Thursday after an electrical line that feeds the State House failed Wednesday night, disrupting State House business nearly the entire morning. 

Representatives didn't attend to any business during a three-minute House session, while the Senate gaveled in a few minutes later and unveiled a ballot question surprise with only about a handful of senators present.

Taking advantage of an infrequently-used constitutional option, the Senate voted to seek a high court advisory opinion on the constitutionality of two petitions that seem pretty unpopular with the current occupants of the House and Senate. One would reform the stipend system that raises the base pay of many lawmakers, and the other would subject most of the records of the Legislature and governor's office to the public records law. 

The state Constitution grants each branch of the Legislature the authority "to require the opinions of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, upon important questions of law, and upon solemn occasions."

Sen. Paul Feeney framed it as a matter of "good government," ironically the same goal of reformers behind the questions. Senators say they just want key legal questions answered about issues heading for the ballot, and a nonbinding opinion from the court could address their "grave doubt" about the proposals' constitutionality.

Supporters of the questions say the move is "a deliberate attempt to keep voters from having their voices heard on needed legislative reforms on transparency and accountability." Attorney General Andrea Campbell already determined last year that the petitions met constitutional requirements to appear on the ballot. 

The move quickly surfaced the voter-approved legislative audit law and why lawmakers didn't seek clarity on that, either before or after its passage. Senate Republicans formally urged Democrats to do just that, writing that "The voters who approved this law by a decisive margin deserve a clear and authoritative answer as to its constitutionality and the Legislature's corresponding obligations."

Perpetually at odds with lawmakers and backing the public records measure, Auditor Diana DiZoglio said that  Bay Staters need "to speak out loudly against the Senate abusing the judicial system to deny the people from having direct access to public records." A judge recently rejected DiZoglio's motion for special representation in court in a bid to sue the Legislature for noncompliance with the audit law.

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They won't get a court opinion but it's also a pretty solemn state of affairs for ratepayers. The week began with House Speaker Ron Mariano conceding on WCVB's "On the Record" that ratepayers won't save all that much money right away if the energy bill the House passed in February becomes law. Mariano told News Service reporters on Tuesday that he deliberately downplayed the short-term savings that could result from legislation because he didn't want to promise relief that wouldn't show up immediately on utility bills. 

The buzz about his comments seemed not to have died down by Thursday, when his office sent a new statement attempting to clarify his words but mostly circling back to House talking points about the bill. 

“In an effort to avoid creating unrealistic expectations regarding an immediate reduction in residents’ utility bills, my comments from earlier this week were intended to instead focus the conversation on the long-term savings that the House’s energy bill will create – $9 billion over the next 10 years," Mariano's statement read. 

According to a House Ways and Means breakdown of the $9 billion, some of the largest savings over the 10-year period would include $780 million from basic service reforms, $388 million from alternative compliance payment returns, $1.27 billion from flexible interconnection, $3.13 billion from retail storage incentives, and $650 million related to competitive electric suppliers. And, of course, $1 billion from Mass Save cuts. 

Mariano reiterated House plans to take up legislation to protect immigrants, offering a spring timetable for that effort, which is clearly a work in progress that involves respecting federal authority over immigration policy.

Join Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Senate Majority Leader Creem, Event Hosts Senator Payano, and Representatives Consalvo, Garballey, and Williams, other leaders of legislature, advocacy,and  medicine for Virtual 17th Annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Day, held on March 24th, 10 am to 2 pm. You will take part in expanding a Massachusetts model of national leadership in prostate cancer awareness, medical education, research and reducing health disparities. You will learn about the cutting-edge advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment – and Prostate Cancer Resource Project, bringing the best available quality care to Massachusetts men and supporting them every step of their medical journey. This event is organized by AdMeTech Foundation, in cooperation with the Prostate Cancer Action Council.

And 'tis the season of budget hearings, when lawmakers have a chance to get face time with officials across the executive branch. Hearings in Barnstable and Amherst this week covered budget stress plaguing a quarter of cultural organizations and frustrations over accessing unemployment benefits despite dropping call wait times. 

There's been "an enthusiastic interest" in lifting the centuries-old outright ban on Sunday hunting in Massachusetts, Fish and Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea told lawmakers in Amherst. The state plans to shrink its family shelter system to about 3,200 units, officials said on Cape Cod, though lawmakers said there are dozens of beds empty and some homeless families still being turned away. And the winter weather wiped out the state snow and ice budget, according to Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. While the fiscal 2026 budget included $35 million for snow and ice removal, year-to-date spending is already over $160 million. 

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Rep. Richard Neal, the dean of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and ranking member of House Ways and Means.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is South Boston Sen. Nick Collins.

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