Mariano sets legislative game plan for rest of year

HOUSE SPEAKER RON MARIANO issued a statement saying the House will take up the climate bill when the chamber is called back into formal session to approve economic development legislation.

Mariano laid out his end-of-session game plan on Monday after Republicans in the House blocked action on the climate bill during an informal session when traditionally only noncontroversial legislation is considered. 

The Republicans tried to convince Mariano and his leadership team to approve an order similar to one approved last week by the Senate. The Senate order allows the chamber to open a temporary formal session to deal with any legislation coming from a House-Senate committee set up to resolve differences between the two branches on a pending piece of legislation.

The order allowed the Senate to pass the climate bill last week with limited debate (so-called conference committee reports cannot be amended and can only be approved or rejected) and a roll call.

Roll calls in the Senate are fairly easy to pull off since senators are allowed to vote remotely. Roll calls are more difficult in the House, where remote votes are not allowed.

Rather than calling the House back into vote repeatedly to deal with the conference reports as they emerge from House-Senate negotiating teams, Mariano signaled that he will schedule one formal session with roll calls on all the pending legislation at one meeting. 

A formal session was required anyway for the economic development bill, which authorizes bond issuances that require the support of two-thirds of the Legislature. Mariano’s gameplan hinges on the House and Senate reaching agreement on economic development legislation, which has been stalled for months in a conference committee.

In announcing his legislative gameplan, Mariano’s statement suggested the House Republicans were being obstructionists for seeking a roll call vote on the conference reports.

“Because Republicans continue to block the passage of the clean energy bill, the House will take it up when we convene in a formal session to pass the economic development bill,” Mariano’s statement said.

The speaker also indicated he is very open to changing the Legislature’s rules in the future to provide more flexibility in approving legislation. “The Joint Rules and associated legislative timeline are both due for updates. That, however, is a discussion for the 194th General Court after the New Year,” he said.