As of midday, negotiations over several major bills had apparently not produced any compromises. They also passed and sent to the governor a bill that establishes the state’s first regulations on ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
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The measure would “authorize the largest procurement of renewable energy in the history of the Commonwealth of MA”, said Rep. Thomas Golden, a Lowell Democrat and lead House negotiator on the bill. In a statement early Monday, the Republican thanked the Democratic-controlled Legislature for passing what he called “several important pieces of legislation”, adding to bills approved earlier in the session including one to address the state’s opioid addiction crisis.
Lawmakers can continue to meet informally for the remainder of the year, but only to pass non-contested bills.
House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a bill to regulate ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft in MA.
The House and Senate have been busy during informal sessions all week but did not have sessions scheduled for Friday, which shapes up as a travel and recovery day for those who attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, which culminated Thursday night with Hillary Clinton accepting the party’s presidential nomination. He says police already fingerprint cab drivers.
The legislation allows drivers to pick up customers at the Boston Convention and Exhbition Center as well as Logan Airport.
The energy bill, meant to increase the state’s procurement of renewable energy, has been the object of intense lobbying, since it will have a major economic impact on a variety of different energy industries, including wind and hydropower.
By rule, the Legislature must end formal meetings no later than July 31.
The bill would require utilities to solicit long-term contracts with offshore wind farm developers with the goal of generating at least 1,600 megawatts of wind power in the next ten years.
The bill would also encourage the purchase of Canadian hydropower and other forms of renewable energy.
The deadline for legislation to emerge for a vote is 8 p.m. Friday for bills that will be taken up Saturday, and 8 p.m. Saturday for bills that will be taken up Sunday.
Senate Democrats also held a morning caucus.
The Massachusetts Senate has joined the House in approving a wide-ranging bill created to help city and town officials better govern their communities and cope with ever-increasing financial pressures.
Working against a Sunday deadline for ending formal meetings, lawmakers reached agreement on several major bills that are now on the Republican governor’s desk.
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Asked by reporters recently whether legislators will have enough time to review the bills before voting on them, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said, “All the bills we have talked about have been debated and talked about for so long a period of time I think everyone really has a strong idea in terms of what’s included, what’s excluded in terms of the differences”.
