IN THE END, all it took for the Democrat-controlled House to pass a stalled $3.1 billion spending bill containing $250 million for the state’s emergency shelter system was for 81 members to show up and vote.
After three informal legislative sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday where Republicans blocked action on the bill by successfully doubting the presence of a quorum, more than 100 House members showed up on Monday (only 81 were needed for a quorum) and via a standing vote approved the measure 105-14.
The bill, which includes the emergency shelter funding, pay raises for public employees, and assorted other appropriations to close out the books on fiscal 2023, then moved to the Senate, where a similar scenario played out in a single afternoon with one significant difference.
Instead of using parliamentary rules to block or delay action on the bill, as Republicans in the House did, the Senate Republicans struck a deal with Democratic leaders. In return for the Republicans agreeing not to delay action on the bill, the Senate Democrats supported a Republican motion to suspend the Legislature’s joint rules so the bill could be taken up in a formal session and be debated. The motion wasn’t embraced by the House, so it didn’t go anywhere, but it was a moral victory for the Senate Republicans and it allowed the bill to move quickly to enactment, which is what the Democrats wanted.
Senate President Karen Spilka called it a “win-win for everybody.”
The end result was the long overdue spending bill was sent to Gov. Maura Healey, who signed it immediately. All the parliamentary maneuvering didn’t change anything, but it captivated Beacon Hill for nearly a week in the middle of a holiday recess. The drawn-out process was mostly about optics and placing blame for delays that held up raises for public sector unions, disaster relief, and funding for the stretched-thin emergency shelter program.
Democrats opened the door to delays by failing to get a deal resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of the spending bill done by the end of formal sessions on November 15. Once a conference committee of the House and Senate reached a compromise on bill on November 30, the 24 Republicans in the House saw an opportunity to highlight their concerns about providing more money for the emergency shelter system without addressing the inflow of migrants from other countries.
During informal sessions, when typically only a handful of lawmakers show up, the Legislature generally does not take up controversial issues. It’s often said that one lawmaker can block action on any bill during an informal session, but House Republican leader Brad Jones said that’s not actually true. He said a single legislator can block action by questioning whether a quorum is present, but once a quorum is present the House can move forward with a vote with no debate allowed.
The House lacked a quorum and had to recess on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but on Monday more than 100 members showed up. House Speaker Ron Mariano said he didn’t urge members to show up, but somehow they got the message. The speaker said the members showed up because of the high stakes involved — “the importance of $250 million for homeless folks who are going to be out in the street if we don’t build shelter for them,” he said.
Members of Mariano’s leadership team counted the lawmakers who were present around noon on Monday and once enough for a quorum were in the chamber they ordered the doors to the chamber shut and prohibited any of the lawmakers from leaving. The vote itself took a matter of minutes as each member stood and had to be counted.
“This has highlighted the dysfunction on Beacon Hill. It highlighted the shortcomings of a one-party monopoly on Beacon Hill,” Jones said afterward outside the chamber, flanked by his fellow Republicans.
Mariano, at his own meeting with reporters, suggested the Republicans were grandstanding. “I don’t know what they hoped to accomplish,” he said, adding that the House-Senate agreement on the spending plan was not going to change.
Jones said the Republicans sought to make their point about the emergency shelter funding in a “respectful way” without being “obstructionist.” He added: “I know my Democratic colleagues would disagree. Our very existence to them is an obstruction.”
Mariano criticized the Republicans for holding up a final vote “The point was that even after everything was done and agreed to they still held it up,” he said. “They have to bear that responsibility.”
Jones countered that any blame for the delay in passing the bill falls to the Democrats. “You guys control the House, Senate, and governor’s office. No excuses. Don’t try to put this off on anybody else. If you want to see why this didn’t happen in a timely fashion, grab a mirror and look at it,” Jones said.
In the Senate, the optics were very different, illustrated by the joint press conference after the final vote held by Senate President Karen Spilka, the chamber’s top Democrat, and Sen. Bruce Tarr of Gloucester, the chamber’s top Republican.
Spilka and Tarr said they struck a deal that allowed the Republicans to make their case that the bill should be debated in a formal session. When that didn’t happen — and no one thought the Republican motion would pass the House — the Republicans stepped aside and let the bill move to the governor’s desk quickly.
“We’ve set an example in the Senate for how folks can work collaboratively together. For us it was never about obstruction. For us it was about principle,” Tarr said.
“I think it’s a victory for us,” said Sen. Ryan Fattman, a Republican from Sutton and one of four Republicans in the chamber.
Spilka made clear that she didn’t agree with Republicans who wanted the spending bill debated in a formal session. Indeed, she said the bill was already debated in formal sessions and everyone knew what was in it.
But Spilka was happy to give Tarr the symbolic motion he wanted because her goal with the spending bill was more concrete. “We got it done,” she said.
