It was a busy weekend in Bay State politics. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick made several important policy decisions. Today and tomorrow also promise to be busy, with lawmakers racing to pass bills by midnight Tuesday - the end of the legislative session.
The controversial three strikes crime bill is now up in the air. It would bar parole for career criminals after a third violent crime.
The House and Senate passed the bill overwhelmingly. But, on Saturday, the Governor rejected it, sending it back to the Legislature with an amendment calling for more judicial discretion. Now the Legislature has to approve or reject the amendment. House Speaker Robert Deleo has said the amendment would gut the bill. In this election year, there is pressure on the Legislature to appear tough on crime. Nevertheless, since it took so long to get the bill’s final version out of conference committee, there’s a risk, if the amendment is rejected, the governor could veto the bill, leaving the Legislature nothing to show for its efforts.
Also this weekend, the Governor vetoed a bill aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from registering and operating vehicles. He said it was inappropriate for the state to enforce federal immigration laws. Lawmakers passed the proposal after a high profile case where a 23-year-old Milford man was killed by an illegal immigrant driving drunk. The House and Senate likely have enough votes to override the veto.
The governor also signed a welfare reform law, but said he couldn’t enforce certain parts of the bill. Welfare recipients can use electronic benefit transfer - or EBT - cards like debit cards, to buy almost anything. This law bans EBT purchases at places like nail salons, jewelry stores, liquor stores and casinos, and for things like tattoos, pornography and guns. But Patrick said because of the way the EBT system is structured, while it’s possible to ban EBT cards at locations, it’s impossible to ban certain items like pornography, since it can be sold anywhere.
And the Legislature still has to act on lowering spiraling health care costs, funding transportation and infrastructure projects and spurring economic development by both funding research at state universities and creating an online resource for businesses.
