The Massachusetts House of Representatives adopted a new set of rules to govern how they conduct their daily business after mostly rejecting proposals offered by Republican lawmakers, many of which were aimed at bringing the lower chamber into agreement with Question 1.
Changes offered by Republican Minority Leader Brad Jones to a set of rules presented by House Committee on Rules Chairman William Galvin were rejected in party-line votes held Tuesday.
Lawmakers even nixed an amendment that would see the question of whether State Auditor Diana DiZoglio has the authority to audit the Legislature — as voters indicated when passing Question 1 in the fall — sent to the Supreme Judicial Court for review.
Braintree’s Rep. David Vieira urged his Democratic colleagues to accept the amendment, saying that the standing rules for the General Court demand the SJC be consulted when questions of constitutionality arise between the Legislature and another branch of the government.
“In the rules, anytime that either branch of the General Court has a conflicting opinion with a constitutional officer relative to the constitutionality of legislation that presents an important question of law and constitutes a solemn occasion, that branch of the General Court will request an opinion of the justices of the Supreme Judicial Court,” Veira said.
“I ask you, Madam Speaker (Kate Hogan), what could be a more important question of law than the separation of powers?” he said.
House and Senate leadership have, in the months following Question 1’s passage, made very clear that they are not going to let the State Auditor look into their affairs without a fight, out of concern over the legislative branch’s independence from the executive.
House Speaker Ron Mariano, ahead of voting on Tuesday, signaled that any attempt to force the Legislature to comply with Question 1 through an internal rule change was likely doomed. His prediction proved true by the time lawmakers adjourned for the evening.
The rules package under consideration does include a plan to allow the auditor to recommend an “outside, independent financial audit of the House’s financial accounts be conducted for each fiscal year.”
The new rules would require that committee chairs, when possible, develop summaries of the bills the House will take up and post the summary online before a vote occurs.
The adopted rules package also dictates that committee members would not be allowed to vote remotely, but public remote participation will still be allowed. Except for House members who have an “active reserve military duty, a serious health condition, or limitations related to a member’s pregnancy, including pregnancy loss,” lawmakers will be required to be present to vote from the floor.
The House will also extend the chance for formal lawmaking at the end of the two-year session to handle “reports of conference committees formed by July 31, appropriation bills filed after July 31, and gubernatorial actions related to conference reports,” according to their new rules. Previously, lawmaking was supposed to mostly stop on July 31.
According to the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the House rules leave too much room for troublemaking.
“This is an open door to bring back the corruption of the past, not move us into a more transparent future,” MassFiscal spokesman Paul Craney said in a statement. “Rushing these changes through with barely a day’s notice is an insult to taxpayers and a clear attempt to further consolidate their power.”