Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 51 – Report No. 44
October 26 – 30, 2026
Copyright © 2026 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved.
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call reports local representatives’ votes on roll calls from the recent October 21 House session. Both roll calls are on proposed consolidated amendments to the recently approved $2.354 billion fiscal 2026 budget designed to close out the books on fiscal year 2026. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.
During the week of October 26-30, the House met for a total of 46 minutes and the Senate met for a total of 54 minutes.
There was no debate on either amendment. And neither key supporters nor opponents of the amendments responded to several requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them why they voted the way they did.
CONSOLIDATED AMENDMENT #1 (H 5699)- House 132-19, approved a lengthy amendment that consolidated 50 amendments into one consolidated amendment.
The consolidated amendment includes allowing stores to sell liquor on Thanksgiving Day; imposing up to a 5-year prison sentence on anyone who has been ordered to wear a GPS tracking device by a court and then intentionally damages, removes, modifies or deactivates the device; prohibiting a car license number plate from being covered or obscured by an opaque, transparent, translucent or tinted material; and imposing a $50 fine on any ice cream truck driver who does not have an amber dome light and the flashing orange lights on the back of their ice cream truck when the truck is parked and serving ice cream.
Neither supporters of the amendment nor opponents of it spoke for or against it on the House floor.
(A “Yes” vote is for the consolidated amendment. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – Yes
CONSOLIDATED AMENDMENT #2 (H 5699)- House 143-8, approved a lengthy amendment that consolidated 140 amendments into one.
The consolidated amendment includes millions of dollars in funding earmarked for projects and programs in local representatives’ districts. Critics say that these earmarks are used to secure votes of representatives for the budget itself and sometimes for other bills.
Once again, neither supporters of the amendment nor opponents of it spoke for or against it on the House floor. And House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy) and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston) again did not respond to repeated requests from Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them why they supported the consolidated amendment.
(A “Yes” vote is for the consolidated amendment. A “No” vote is against it.)
Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian – Yes
Rep. Donald Wong – 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.