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BEACON HILL HAPPENINGS

– When can we expect a final climate bill? Soonest looking like last week of February (Tim Cronin):  Last Thursday the Senate and House overwhelmingly passed their roadmap climate bill, sending back to Governor Baker the exact same bill he vetoed in January. The Governor now has 10 days, until this Sunday (February 7th), to consider whether he wants to sign the bill outright, return it with amendments, veto the bill, or let it take effect without his signature.

It’s widely believed that Baker will return the bill with amendments. According to an email from Senator Barrett, the chief Senate sponsor for the bill, “Governor Baker will almost certainly choose door #2 [sending it back with amendments]. This is his opportunity to suggest changes.”

If the Governor does indeed propose changes to the bill, the Senate and the House have a few options of their own. They can accept each amendment, reject each, or further amend each. Technically, if they accept any of the new language from Governor Baker it is considered a new bill, which restarts the clock all over again. Each legislative branch then takes as long as it needs to decide on this new version, hypothetically even to the end of the two-year session (January 2023). Yet, according to Senator Barrett, “the understanding is that both the President and the Speaker will want to move quickly. Given the complexity of a 200-person Legislature, there is always potential peril at this stage, in the form of either major weakening amendments or delay.”

Once they’ve come to a decision on the Governor’s amendments, legislators will again pass a version of the bill (with any changes included) and return it to Gov. Baker. Again, Baker gets to consider his choices for up to another 10 days, but this time his options are more limited. He can either veto it, sign it, or let the bill take effect without his signature.

If the legislature does choose to consider any of the Governor’s amendments to the climate bill, no matter how small, the bill would likely become law in the last week of February (and that’s assuming the House & Senate quickly agree on which changes to accept).

Climate advocates, including Environment Massachusetts’ State Director Ben Hellerstein, are calling on the legislature to pass the bill without any major amendments, as soon as possible. Meanwhile, NAIOP Massachusetts, A Better City, and some building trades unions continue to push against provisions that seek to create an option net-zero stretch energy code for cities and towns.

[Email the Governor’s office and share your views on the bill here.]

– “Gov. Baker sees potential in regional approach to wind energy (Colin A. Young, SHNS via the Herald News): [read the article]

– “Take Two: Lawmakers Again Send Climate Bill to Baker” (Katie Lannan and Sam Doran, State House News Service via Earthwhile): [read the article]

– “Let’s try this (climate change bill) again” (Bruce Mohl, Commonwealth Magazine): [read the article]

– “Can Massachusetts Democrats Overcome the Power of Business Lobbyists and Pass Climate Legislation?” (Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News): [read the article]

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