The Legislature is notorious for its procedural maneuvers to avoid roll call votes that force members to take a stand on contentious issues. But sometimes a recorded vote is just what some lawmakers want.
A case in point: The up-or-down vote on the $1 billion cut to Mass Save included in the House energy affordability package offered a chance for vulnerable or battle-ready Democrats to show their stripes in an election year.
A roll call vote on an amendment offered by Somerville Democratic Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven that would have stripped those cuts from the overall bill failed, 17-138, putting each member on the record over the energy efficiency program that’s come under political heat.
But several of the 17 members who voted for the amendment are either facing competitive elections later this year or are seeking other office, giving them a chance to break from Beacon Hill leadership in a symbolic way, even as they voted for the overall bill after the amendment was defeated.
Rep. Marjorie Decker, a Democrat from Cambridge, is facing a primary challenger from the left, Evan MacKay, whom she narrowly beat in 2024. MacKay serves on the executive committee of the state chapter of the Sierra Club, which strongly opposed the cuts to Mass Save, and was spotted in the gallery as lawmakers debated the bill. Decker supported Uyterhoeven’s amendment while later voting for the overall measure that included the deep Mass Save cuts.
Rep. Christine Barber and Rep. Vanna Howard, Democrats from Somerville and Lowell, respectively, were both running for state Senate at the time of the vote and followed the same pattern as Decker. (Howard has since been sworn in to the Senate after winning a special election.) Also following that vote pattern was Rep. Tram Nguyen, from Andover, who is running for the US House.
Four days after the energy bill cleared the House, Uyterhoeven herself announced her candidacy for an open state Senate seat. With the Mass Save cuts remaining in place, she voted against the overall legislation.
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Published by MassINC