Massachusetts State Senator
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE is set to clarify a confusing and outdated tax law, which had been stymying solar projects around the state.
A compromise hammered out between the state’s assessors and solar developers has made it into the final version of a climate change bill. The bill was reported out of a conference committee on Sunday and is expected to be passed by the Legislature Monday and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker.
SPRINGFIELD — Power from wood-to-energy plants — like the long-proposed Palmer Renewable Energy in East Springfield — won’t qualify as “green power” for municipal power utilities for at least five years under new rules announced over the weekend by state lawmakers.
A conference committee of state senators and representatives also called on Gov. Charlie Baker and his administration to complete a new study examining the impact of these biomass plants on greenhouse emissions, global climate change and public health. The conference report – meant to hammer out differences between the Senate and House bills passed in 2020 – will go to lawmakers for a vote before the term ends Tuesday.
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Today the Conference Committee on Climate is pleased to issue its report, An Act Creating a Next-Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy (S.2995).
This bill is a climate toolkit. Reducing emissions to net zero is the contribution Massachusetts must make to the nation’s, and the world’s, larger climate effort. No question, doing our part is a big lift. With the tools the Legislature brings together here, we can construct the response we need and provide a blueprint to other states. The toolkit approach is not a vision statement. It is not abstract or general. It is detailed. It is concerned with the practical. It focuses relentlessly on the work of reducing greenhouse gases, creating jobs, and protecting the vulnerable. It’s about the ‘how’ of it, as in “Here’s how we get this done, one step at a time, starting now.”
The climate change bill includes a host of provisions that spell out how the state should move forward and on what terms, but perhaps its biggest impact is that it gives those terms the force and durability of law.
“Without the force of law, it can all evaporate with the next governor,” said Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington, the lead Senate negotiator on the bill, in a phone interview.
The Massachusetts Senate and Statehouse recently gave final approval to the state’s budget for the current fiscal year, which included amendments written by State Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Waltham, aimed at funneling $225,000 to programs in the city.
The Massachusetts Senate and House gave final approval to the state’s budget for the current fiscal year. State Sen. Mike Barrett, who represents Chelmsford, wrote an amendment to secure an additional grant of $25,000 for the Chelmsford Senior Center.
The $25,000 will go to support the Senior Center’s Nutrition Program. Since the start of the COVID pandemic in March, the Program has provided between 140-160 home-delivered meals per day.
The Mass. Senate and House have given final approval to the state’s budget for the current fiscal year.
With help from local State Representative Ken Gordon, Bedford’s State Senator Mike Barrett secured funding to mitigate the costs the town incurs for educating children of families living on nearby military bases. More than one-hundred Hanscom Air Force Base students attend high school at local expense.
With a week before Thanksgiving, the tenants at 240 Beaver St. have a major milestone to be thankful for: the approval of a bill at the State House that will enable the purchase sale agreement of the land between owner—UMass Amherst, and buyer—the City of Waltham.
UMass is a state agency which means that Waltham’s legislative delegation needed to pass a special law authorizing the sale, according to Senator Michael Barrett’s office.
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