State Senator Mike Barrett

CommonWealth Magazine

A second legislative committee plans to hold oversight hearings related to the MBTA – this time concerning the role the Department of Public Utilities plays in overseeing safety issues at the transit authority. The House and Senate chairs of the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy — Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington and Rep. Jeffrey Roy of Franklin — invited the chair of the DPU to testify at a hearing planned next month.

Relying on a safety report released Wednesday by the Federal Transit Administration that criticized the DPUs failure to carry out many of its duties, the two chairs said they questioned whether the agency is “motivated enough, independent enough, big enough, focused enough, and expert enough” to do its job.

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Boston Globe

Days after the Federal Transit Administration criticized the state Department of Public Utilities for failing to provide proper oversight of the MBTA, lawmakers said Friday that they plan to hold a hearing in October to determine whether the agency should continue its role as the MBTA’s safety regulator.

“Is the DPU motivated enough to fill the safety role for the T?” state Senator Michael J. Barrett and state Representative Jeffrey N. Roy, cochairs of the Joint Legislative Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, asked in a letter sent Friday to DPU Chairman Matthew H. Nelson. “The authors of the federal report imply that it isn’t.”

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7News Boston

BOSTON (WHDH) – State lawmakers have scheduled a second hearing on state MBTA oversight days after the Federal Transit Administration released a scathing report on the T’s operations, calling into question its prioritization of long-term projects over day-to-day safety and maintenance.

“We’ve been disturbed and disappointed to read the contents of the Safety Management Inspection of the Federal Transit Administration,” said state Sen. Mike Barrett and Rep. Jeff Roy, Senate and House Chairs of the Joint Legislative Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. The legislators questioned whether “the DPU is motivated enough, independent enough, big enough, focused enough, and expert enough.”

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Boston Globe

Sen. Barrett and Rep. Roy, Senate and House Chairs of the Joint Legislative Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, sent a letter of invitation this morning to DPU Chair Matt Nelson, inviting him to testify at the proceeding, set for early October. 

“We’ve been disturbed and disappointed to read the contents of the Safety Management Inspection of the Federal Transit Administration.” The legislators questioned whether “the DPU is motivated enough, independent enough, big enough, focused enough, and expert enough.” 

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Boston Globe

As the state recovers from two record-breaking heat waves, Senator Michael Barrett, a Democrat from Lexington and one of the bill’s architects, noted that the passage of the state legislation — along with the expected passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act, with its $369 billion in energy and climate financing — should give people hope. “There’s plenty more to do, but nothing motivates like success,” he said.

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Patch.com

The law, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind, emerged from conference committee on July 20 and was passed on July 31 after Baker submitted several of his own amendments. One of those amendments was the elimination of the 10-community fossil fuel development ban, but lawmakers left the provision in.

According to bill coauthor state Sen. Mike Barrett, the law contains dozens of items aimed at reducing carbon emissions, and numerous items aimed at economic development.

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State House News Service

Sen. Michael Barrett, who has co-chaired the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy for most of Baker’s time in office, said Thursday that it “has been a nail-biter” waiting to see what the governor would do with a bill that included sections he had already indicated he was no fan of.

“I believe the governor is really committed to the housing issue in the suburbs and wanted to figure out if there was a way to join climate and housing together. I am grateful to him that he isn’t holding one hostage to the other,” Barrett said. “The good news is that the state does have a working bipartisan consensus in favor of efforts to push back on climate change. How many other places can say that?”

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Washington Post

Described as a “landmark bill,” the Massachusetts climate legislation notably includes a provision — the first of its kind for the state — that would allow 10 municipalities to legally ban fossil fuel infrastructure in new and major construction projects. With this policy, certain cities and towns in Massachusetts could soon join others across the country that have taken similar steps to change local building codes to block the use of fossil fuels, such as natural gas — meaning many people who want gas stoves or furnaces are probably out of luck in these places.

“It’s a great day for Massachusetts,” tweeted state Rep. Jeffrey N. Roy (D), who, along with state Sen. Mike Barrett (D) and others, helped move the bill through the legislature.

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Boston Globe

“The Legislature’s original bill would have allowed 10 communities — Cambridge, Newton, Brookline, Lexington, Arlington, Concord, Lincoln, Acton, Aquinnah, and West Tisbury — to adopt bans. To implement the bans, communities would first have to ensure at least 10 percent of their housing is considered affordable under state law. All life sciences labs and health care facilities would also be exempt from the bans — a response to concerns from NAIOP Massachusetts, a lobby for developers and building owners, said Senator Mike Barrett.”

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Lowell Sun

“Barrett, who was first elected to the Legislature in 1979, argued his colleagues were focusing too closely on a handful of harrowing anecdotes that would lead them to “overlegislate just as we did during the Bill Clinton years.”

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