In its version the Senate scrapped the House’s plan to charge solar customers a minimum bill to offset the utilities’ costs for maintaining infrastructure. It also requires pharmaceutical companies to establish or participate in drug take-back programs. Paul additionally blasted Senate leadership on Thurs. for not contemplating his modification to the Transportation, Housing & Urban Development funding bill in that might have blocked any current refugees in america from getting public housing. The committee approved an amendment that calls for a study of whether the Legislature’s long-standing exemption from the public records law should be lifted. Benjamin Downing, the lead Senate solar negotiator said.
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“I’m not against it”, he said.
Pam Wilmot, of the group Common Cause, said the bill is headed in the right direction, but that it still can be improved.
The bill passed by the House would use money from the Federal Reserve Bank surplus account that the Fed uses to cushion against potential losses.
The bill was crafted after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that people who use the “stand your ground” defense have the burden of showing they should be shielded from prosecution.
The bill came under fire by the MA Municipal Association, which contended that it would end up being a financial burden on cities and towns.
“It’s a very important bill and I strongly support it”, Kocot said, adding that DeLeo recently voiced support for its passage. “I know that’s a goal that both sides have, and every day that we don’t that’s a missed opportunity, but I know everyone wants to get something done so we’ll keep working on it”, Sen.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), ranking member of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee and one of the “Big Four” transportation leaders that got the House to pass a six-year surface transportation bill, today spoke out about urgent priorities for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the first Conference Committee meeting to reconcile the Senate and House transportation reauthorization bills. But the two chambers disagree on several provisions including the reimbursement rate for large solar projects, with the Senate supporting a more generous rate than the House.
Gavi Wolfe, legislative counsel at the ACLU of MA, which lobbied for the bill, said the bill is about putting in place the same privacy protections for online communications as exist for written communications – for example, if someone were to write a letter to a friend.
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He said the full conference committee would reconvene after the Thanksgiving break, but the panel’s staff would continue to work on their differences.
