Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 49 – Report No. 50
December 9-13, 2024
Copyright © 2024 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved.
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.
During the week of December 9-13, the House and Senate each met for a total of two hours and 31 minutes.
Beacon Hill Roll Call’s research shows that there are several bills from the 2023-2024 session that have been approved unanimously by the Senate in 2023 but are languishing in the House Ways and Means Committee as of December 13, with only a few days left in the session. Bills not acted upon by the end of the session on January 1, 2025 die. With no opposition in the Senate, observers question why the bills have not yet been acted upon by the House Ways and Means committee and brought to the House floor for a vote.
Under House rules, any individual representative can move to discharge any and all of these bills from the Ways and Means Committee. There is a 7-day waiting period prior to the House considering the motion to discharge. The discharge motion must receive a majority vote of the members present. If the measure is discharged from the committee, the committee has four days within which to report out the measure for placement on the House’s agenda for action.
A bill may also be discharged from the Ways and Means Committee by any representative by filing a petition signed by a majority of the House. The bill would then be discharged seven days later and go onto the House agenda for the next session.
Here are three of the major bills that were approved unanimously by the Senate and are currently lingering in the House Ways and Means Committee:
MAKE OBTAINING ID CARDS EASIER FOR HOMELESS PERSONS (S 2251) – On July 27, 2023, the Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House legislation that would make it easier for homeless youth and adults to secure free state ID cards.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Jason Lewis Yes
MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS (S 2491)- On October 26, 2023, the Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would require all prisons, homeless shelters and K-12 schools to maintain free menstrual products, including sanitary napkins, tampons and underwear liners in private and public restrooms and to make them available in a “convenient manner that does not stigmatize any persons seeking the products.”
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Jason Lewis Yes
HIV PREVENTION DRUGS (S 2480)- On October 26, 2023, the Senate 38-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would allow pharmacists to prescribe, dispense and administer a short-term supply (60-days once in a two-year period) of HIV prevention drugs, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), to a patient without a prescription.
The bill requires pharmacists to provide counseling to the patient regarding the use of PrEP, to inform the patient’s primary care doctor that the pharmacist has prescribed the drug and to connect patients without a primary care provider with a health care provider for ongoing care and to obtain a prescription for PrEP.
Under the bill, pharmacists could only prescribe PrEP to patients who have tested negative for HIV within the past seven days, do not have HIV symptoms and are not taking medications that are not safe to use with PrEP.
(A “Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Jason Lewis Yes
For more information and details on each bill, roll call attendance, and other relevant information, please visit the Wakefield Daily Item at www.localheadlinenews.com.
