Should the legislature’s schedule change? Gov. Healey stays out of debate, defends lawmaker | News

BOSTON (AP) — Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday she has no opinion on whether the legislative calendar should be adjusted, largely defending a Legislature that has left some of her top priorities in limbo amid cross-industry bickering.

The governor was asked on GBH Radio’s “Boston Public Radio” about a report last week in the Boston Globe in which House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz called for the end of formal sessions in even-numbered years (which are also election years). July 31st said. is “certainly something we will have to re-evaluate at some point.”

The Legislature has largely adhered to a rule that since the mid-1990s has discouraged major legislation from being passed in the weeks before and after biennial elections. But as Democrats in the House and Senate have failed to reach agreement on key bills in a timely manner in recent years, they have delayed some of their actions later in the year.

Michlewitz told the Globe that changing the Legislature’s schedule is a “conversation we should all just have.”

Lawmakers debate changes to their common rules every two years at the start of the session, and Democrats in the House and Senate have failed to find common ground on major changes in the last two cycles.

Healey, who has not served in a legislative body during her decades-long political career, said Wednesday that she has “no opinion” on whether or when that conversation will take place.

“I’ll leave that up to them,” the governor said, referring to lawmakers.

When co-host Jim Braude, who calls the Legislature’s five-month informal session a “vacation,” pressed the governor on whether she would prefer a formal session of the House and Senate at this time of year, she defended their work.

“Look, they keep doing their job. “I mean, just recently I was able to enact something that I proposed, the Federal Funds Act, which will allow us to leverage our ability to bring more federal dollars back into the state,” she said. “And that came out of the meeting and was implemented, which is a really good thing.”

Healey added: “I’ll leave it up to them to decide what they think is best for getting people’s work done.”

On the list of things lawmakers didn’t get done by the end of formal sessions this summer are two of Healey’s top priorities: massive borrowing for economic development and a policy bill that would allocate money for the climate technology industry, he believes the governor said this could be a repeat of the successful life sciences industry and an energy and climate package that includes wording reform for permitting and siting clean energy projects.

Legislative leaders said negotiations on these issues were ongoing, but no progress had been seen since August 1. Healey said Wednesday she hopes both reach her desk before the end of the two-year legislative session on Dec. 31.