State House spat: W.Mass lawmaker blocked from testifying on his own bills
State Sen. Jacob Oliveira, D-Hampden/Hampshire/Worcester, was reminded of that first-hand on Monday when he attempted to testify remotely before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.
The Ludlow lawmaker has several bills before the committee. And on Monday, he was back in his district meeting with childcare providers, according to Senate President Karen Spilka's office.
When it was his turn to speak, the panel's House chairperson, Rep. Tacky Chan, D-2nd Norfolk, cut him off, citing House rules requiring committee members to participate in hearings in person, Politico reported Tuesday.
'Pursuant to the House rules, the chair is not recognizing committee members who are not here physically in person,' Chan, of Quincy, said, according to State House News Service. 'As a result ... the chair does not recognize Senator Oliveira.'
A bit of context: The two chambers are still sparring over joint operating rules that govern the flow of legislation between both sides of the State House.
While the House and Senate each have agreed to their own internal rules, they've yet to reach an accord on this key bit of interchamber wheel-greasing.
Negotiators are set to meet again on Thursday, State House News Service reported.
Sen. Pavel Payano, D-1st Essex, the committee's Senate chairperson, protested, accusing his House colleagues of violating the 'sacred principle that no voice in democracy could be silenced,' the wire service reported.
Sidelining Oliveira was the same thing as sidelining his constituents in Belchertown, Palmer, Wilbraham, Longmeadow, South Hadley, Warren, Hampden, Springfield, Granby, East Longmeadow and Ludlow, Payano continued.
'I think that that is a travesty,' Payano said, according to State House News Service. 'You're telling the entire community your concerns are not welcome here. This is just not a matter of procedural fairness. To me, I find it discriminatory. You know, the folks out in western Mass., it's not the same as people that are closer to Boston.'
Payano then read the testimony that Oliveira had prepared to deliver.
Chan, who said he understood 'there are complications for some folks,' reiterated the House stance that legislators should testify in person.
The committee pile-up netted a stern rebuke from Spilka, who called the House's power play 'deeply troubling.'
'The joint rules the House and Senate mutually agreed to in January do not prohibit remote participation, and the notion that one branch's rules can bind the operations of joint committees is without merit,' Spilka said.
The Ashland Democrat said she could 'personally attest to [Sen.] Oliveira's hard work and dedication to his district, his constituents, and the Senate. I thank him for ably serving all three this morning.'
That wasn't the end of the day's drama.
On Monday, the House announced that it had reached an agreement on a short-term funding bill to keep the doors open at the agency that provides health insurance for state employees.
The Senate gaveled out for the day without taking up the rather urgent legislation, saying it would do so on Thursday.
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