Pols & Politics: What’s next for Beacon Hill Democrats after finishing early-term priorities

Beacon Hill Democrats largely cleared their plates this past month of major priorities that had shaped the early part of their two-year term including a state budget crafted under the shadow of federal funding cuts and a set of internal rules hashed out amid House-Senate tensions The open schedule likely leaves room for each branch to keep churning through House or Senate-specific priorities like a bill reforming cannabis oversight the House passed early last month or a reproductive and transgender soundness proposal the Senate approved weeks ago House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka could find common legislative ground over the vitality care bill which the Senate introduced as a measure to shore up state laws in the face of alleged threats from President Donald Trump s administration After an unrelated meeting late last month Mariano announced the House could take up the matter sometime in early July We ve been working on this We worked on it a little bit last year so particular of it we were familiar with and we re anxious to see what s new and what s different the Quincy Democrat declared The bill dubbed the SHIELD Act by supporters bars state agencies and law enforcement from cooperating with other states or federal investigations into legally protected reproductive or transgender vitality care provided in Massachusetts Businesses that manage electronic physical condition information would be limited in how they share information connected to those services The ordinance also allows prescriptions to be issued with the name of a healthcare practice rather than an individual practitioner Democrats explained the proposed law is necessary in the wake of attacks on gender-affirming care for transgender people including a U S Supreme Court decision that upheld a Tennessee statute banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments for trans minors Massachusetts lawmakers also pointed to efforts by states that restrict abortion medication to punish doctors elsewhere who prescribe the pills to patients living in those states even when such prescriptions are legal in the medical professional s own state In one circumstance a Texas judge in February ordered a New York physician to pay more than in fines for prescribing abortion pills to a woman from outside of Dallas in violation of the Lone Star State s laws The same physician faces a felony charge in Louisiana for sending abortion medication through the mail to a pregnant teen in the state In a comment last month Spilka announced the SHIELD Act makes it clear that the Massachusetts Senate will not back down when it comes to protecting our residents and defending our values Our residents indeed all Americans deserve the right to make their own vitality care decisions in consultation with their providers In Massachusetts we do not discriminate based on the type of care you seek she revealed The Legislature could also coalesce around reforms to the Cannabis Control Commission House lawmakers passed a bill at the start of June that overhauls oversight at the agency in part by handing the governor of Massachusetts the power to appoint all commissioners while cutting down the number from three to five The bill cleared the chamber after several years of dispute at the commission including the ousting of and subsequent legal battle to reinstate former Chair Shannon O Brien a litany of internal conflicts and a scathing record from the Office of the Inspector General Democrats in the House argued that the Massachusetts cannabis industry is still facing myriad challenges from raising capital to increasing costs Giving the governor full power over appointments would create more accountability a key House lawmaker reported last month We figured by bringing it together under one appointing authority reducing the number to three makes it a more nimble body a more nimble force announced Rep Daniel Donahue a Worcester Democrat who co-chairs the Cannabis Police Committee But it is unclear whether the bill will come up in the Senate any time soon if at all In an interview with the Herald last month Spilka announced she had not yet had a chance to dive into the House bill I think it s a big bill Certainly will meet with the Senate chair of the Cannabis Committee Sen Adam Gomez and meet with other stakeholders to take a look at it the Ashland Democrat announced We will certainly consider it in totality Materials from the Associated Press were used in this overview