Joint Session Calendar for Thursday, June 14, 2007

NOTICE: - While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the data herein, this is an UNCORRECTED proof of the Joint Session Calendar. It is published to provide information in a timely manner, but has not been proofread for accuracy.

CALENDAR

OF THE

JOINT SESSION OF THE TWO HOUSES

FOR

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007

[At one o'clock P.M.]

[And for Subsequent Sessions if Ordered.]

__________________________

[Concurrently Assigned for Consideration.]

[CONTINUATION OF RECESSED SESSION OF MAY 9, 2007.]

[All amendments to be offered should be drafted so that the line numbers correspond with the line numbers in the printed Convention Calendar and not with the printed Proposals.]

__________________________

1. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 2220) (introduced into the General Court by the initiative petition of Raymond L. Flynn and others) having received, in joint session, the affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all members elected [see House, No. 4617 of 2005], has been referred in accordance with Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, to the present General Court.

[After the proposal has been read, the question is on again agreeing to the amendment.]

[Vote required: – The affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all the members elected – 50 minimum.]

[Under the provisions of Article XLVIII, Part IV (under THE INITIATIVE), Sections 3 and 4, of the Amendments of the Constitution, a Proposal for an Initiative Amendment “shall be voted upon in the form in which it is introduced, unless such amendment is amended by a vote of three-fourths of the members voting thereon in joint session;” and the “affirmative votes of not less than one-fourth of all members elected” are necessary to agree to the amendment.]

Proposal for an Initiative Amendment to the Constitution to define marriage.

Not less than one-fourth of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby, declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of the next General Court and approved by the people at The state election next following]:

	ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	When recognizing marriages entered into after the adoption of
2	this amendment by the people, the Commonwealth and its
3	political subdivisions shall define marriage only as the union of
4	one man and one woman.

2. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 2221) (introduced into the General Court at the request of Ross J. Rajotte), having received, in joint session, the affirmative votes of a majority of all the members elected to the preceding General Court [see Senate, No. 9, amended of 2005], has been referred in accordance with Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, to the present General Court.

[After the proposal has been read, the question is on again agreeing to the amendment.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members elected to the General Court – minimum number 101.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution authorizing the General Court to provide for absentee voting by any voter.

A majority of all the members elected to the Senate and House of Representatives, in joint session, hereby declares it to be expedient to alter the Constitution by the adoption of the following Article of Amendment, to the end that it may become a part of the Constitution [if similarly agreed to in a joint session of General Court and approved by the people at the state election next following]:

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article . Article XLV of the Amendments to the Constitution, as appear-
2	in Article CV of the Amendments, is hereby annulled and the following is
3	adopted in place thereof:—
4	Article XLV. The general court shall have power to provide by law
5	for voting, in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question
6	submitted at an election, by any qualified voter of the commonwealth by
7	absentee ballot.

3. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 20), the committee on Education has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Antonioni-Haddad.]

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to changing Artile XLVI of the Constitution.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Article XLVI of the Articles of Amendment to the
2	Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby amended by adding the
3	following sentence to the end of section 2:-
4	In addition, nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent
5	the Commonwealth from making grants-in-aid to students or parents or
6	guardians of students attending private primary and secondary schools
7	and nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the Commonwealth
8	from providing tax deductions or tax credits for educational expenses,
9	including tuition, textbooks, and transportation incurred by taxpayers
10	whose dependents attend public or private primary and secondary
11	schools.

4. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 21), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Spilka and Representatives Atsalis of Barnstable and Rogeness of Longmeadow dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution increasing the term of the General Court from two to four year.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article LXIV of the Amendments to the Constitution amended by
2	Article LXXX and Article LXXII Amendments, is hereby annulled, and
3	the following is adopted in place thereof: -SECTION 1. Article LXIV.
4	The Governor, lieutenant governor, secretary, treasurer and receiver-
5	general, attorney general, auditor, senators, and representatives shall be
6	elected quadrennially, and counselors shall be elected biennially. The
7	terms the governor and lieutenant-governor shall begin at noon Thursday
8	next following the first Wednesday in January succeeding their election
9	and shall end at noon on the Thursday following the first Wednesday in
10	January in the fifth year following their election. If the governor-elect
11	shall have died before the qualification of the lieutenant-governor-elect,
12	the lieutenant- governor- elect upon qualification shall become governor.
13	If both the governor-elect and the lieutenant-governor-elect shall have
14	died, both said offices shall be deemed vacant and the provisions of
15	Article LV of the Amendments to the Constitution shall apply. The
16	terms of the secretary, treasurer and receiver-general, attorney-general,
17	and auditor shall begin with the third Wednesday in January succeeding
18	their election and shall extend to the third Wednesday in January in the
19	fifth year following their election and until their successors are chosen
20	and qualified. The terms of the councilors shall begin at noon on the
21	Thursday next following the first Wednesday in January succeeding their
22	election and shall end at noon on the Thursday next following the first
23	Wednesday in January in the third year following their election. The
24	terms of the senators and representatives shall begin with the first
25	Wednesday in January succeeding their election and shall extend to the
26	first Wednesday in January in the fifth year following their election and
27	until their successors are chosen and qualified.
28	SECTION 2. The general court shall assemble every year on the first
29	Wednesday in January.
30	SECTION 3. The first election to which this article shall apply shall
31	be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in the
32	year two thousand and two, and thereafter elections for the choice of
33	governor, lieutenant-governor, auditor, secretary, treasurer and receiver-
34	general, attorney-general, auditor, senators, and representatives shall be
35	held quadrennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in
36	November and elections for the choice of councilors shall be held
37	biennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.

5. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 22), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senators Augustus, Spilka and Brown and Representatives Rogeness of Longmeadow, Frost of Auburn and Eldridge of Acton dissent)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution establishing an independent redistricting commission and criteria for redistricting for state House, Senate, and Councillor Districts.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	Article CI of the Articles of Amendments to the Constitution of the
2	Commonwealth is hereby annulled, and the following is adopted in
3	place thereof:
4	Article CI. The House of Representatives shall consist
5	of one hundred and sixty members, each of whom shall be elected from
6	one representative district. Every representative shall have been an
7	inhabitant of the district for which he or she is chosen for at least one
8	year at least immediately preceding his or her election and shall cease
9	to represent such district when he or she shall cease to be an inhabitant
10	of the Commonwealth, provided, however, that for the first redistricting
11	following the adoption of this article, the General Court may suspend
12	the residency requirement of this section.
13	SECTION 2. The Senate shall consist of forty members, each of
14	whom shall be elected from one senatorial district. Every senator shall
15	have been an inhabitant of the Commonwealth for at least five years
16	immediately preceding his or her election and shall be an inhabitant of
17	the district for which he or she has been selected at the time of his or
18	her election and shall cease to represent such senatorial district when he
19	or she shall cease to be an inhabitant of the Commonwealth.
20	SECTION 3. The manner of calling and conducting the elections
21	for the choice of representatives, senators, and councillors, and of
22	ascertaining their election, shall be prescribed by law.
23	SECTION 4. The federal census shall be the basis for determining
24	the representative, senatorial, and governor’s council districts for the
25	ten-year period beginning with the first Wednesday of the third January
26	following the commencement of the taking of said census.
27	SECTION 5. In the year after each census is commenced, and only
28	in that year, an Independent Redistricting Commission
29	(“Commission”) shall be convened and shall divide the Commonwealth
30	into one hundred and sixty representative districts, forty senatorial
31	districts, and eight councillor districts. All districts shall comprise
32	contiguous territory, shall be equal in population to the extent required
33	by law, and shall comply with federal constitutional and statutory
34	requirements. No district shall be drawn for the purpose or with the
35	effect of diluting the voting strength of any group based on race,
36	ethnicity or language minority status, or for the purpose of augmenting
37	or diluting the voting strength of a political party, or any individual. In
38	drawing district lines, the Commission shall not consider residential
39	address, party affiliation, or partisan voting history of any individual or
40	groups of individuals, except to the extent necessary to avoid dilution
41	of voting strength based on race, ethnicity or language minority status.
42	In addition, to the maximum extent possible, district boundaries shall
43	be drawn so as to: (1) maintain the unity of well-defined municipal
44	neighborhoods; (2) observe municipal boundaries; (3) establish
45	senatorial districts that follow representative district boundaries; (4)
46	establish councillor districts that follow representative district
47	boundaries and (5) promote geographic compactness of districts. If it is
48	not possible to draw district boundaries that fully comply with these
49	criteria while also complying with the mandatory requirements set forth
50	herein, then they shall be drawn to optimize the criteria in the order of
51	priority set forth hereinabove. The Commission shall also consider
52	communities of interest in determining which cities, towns, or
53	neighborhoods thereof to aggregate into a single district.
54	SECTION 6. The Commission shall consist of seven member
55	commissioners. On or before January 15 of the year following the
56	commencement of the federal census, the following offices shall each
57	appoint one member of the Commission: the Governor of the
58	Commonwealth, who shall appoint a dean or professor of law or
59	political science or government at an institution of higher learning in
60	Commonwealth; the Attorney General of the Commonwealth, who
61	shall appoint a retired justice who resides in the Commonwealth; and
62	the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who shall appoint an expert in
63	civil rights law who is a resident of the Commonwealth.
64	By the same date, the House Speaker, the House Minority Leader,
65	the Senate President, and the Senate Minority Leader shall each
66	nominate three individuals. The appointees chosen by the Governor,
67	Attorney General, and Secretary of the Commonwealth shall then select
68	one of the three nominees named by each said official.
69	If nominations or appointments are not made by January 15 of such
70	year, the office responsible for making the appointment or nominations
71	shall forfeit its rights under this section and the remaining direct
72	appointees shall then make an appointment to fill the vacancy.
73	Nominations and appointments shall reflect the geographic, racial,
74	ethnic, gender, and age diversity of the Commonwealth to the
75	maximum extent feasible and shall be selected on the basis of civic
76	involvement and knowledge of redistricting policy, civil rights,
77	political science, demographics or statistics, election expertise, voting
78	rights, community organizing, or law. No person nominated or
79	appointed to the Commission, in the five years preceding such
80	nomination or appointment, shall have held Congressional, state
81	legislative or statewide elective office, or shall have served as mayor or
82	city councillor of a city in the Commonwealth, governor’s councillor
83	or shall have been elected to a state or federal party committee; or shall
84	be a current employee, agent or family member of any of the above;
85	or, in the two years preceding such nomination or appointment, shall
86	have been a legislative agent. The Commissioners shall agree: (1) not
87	to stand for election to the General Court, Congress, or the Governor’s
88	Council until districts are redrawn following the next census; (2) to
89	apply the provisions of this article in an honest, independent, and
90	impartial fashion; and (3) to act at all times so as to uphold public
91	confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
92	SECTION 7. The Commission shall be convened no later than
93	February 15 of the year following the commencement of the decennial
94	census. The Commission shall disband only upon final adoption and
95	exhaustion of judicial review of challenges to representative,
96	councillor, and senatorial districts.
97	SECTION 8. The Commission shall hire staff and may retain
98	experts to assist it in the performance of its duties. The Commission
99	shall establish rules governing its operation and procedures.
100	Commissioners may receive compensation for actual time spent on
101	Commission duties and shall be reimbursed for reasonable and
102	necessary expenses. The budget of the Commonwealth shall provide
103	adequate funding for the operation of the Commission.
104	SECTION 9. A member of the Commission or an appointing
105	authority may petition the Supreme Judicial Court to remove a com-
106	missioner on the grounds of neglect, misconduct, or inability to per-
107	form the duties of a commissioner. A vacancy so created shall be filled
108	by the office which appointed the removed commissioner or by the
109	nomination and selection process set forth in Section 6, as applicable.
110	SECTION 10. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the
111	public, consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth concerning open
112	meetings as of the date of the adoption of this Article. All documents
113	produced by or for the Commission shall be public. The Commission
114	shall hold public hearings in at least five geographically disbursed
115	counties. The public shall be afforded the opportunity to submit
116	proposed maps for consideration by the Commission and the
117	Commission shall make map-making software available for public use.
118	The Commission shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the public
119	can exercise its right to review and comment on proposed district maps
120	before they are approved and shall publish all preliminary and final
121	plans in publicly accessible forums that are free of charge and that
122	ensure wide public distribution. Proposed districts shall be presented in
123	both graphic and narrative form.
124	SECTION 11. Within one hundred and twenty days of the
125	completion of the decennial census, the Commission shall prepare and
126	publish for or public comment a preliminary plan for representative,
127	councilor, and senatorial districts. The public shall have a three-week
128	period to comment on the preliminary district plan. The Commission
129	may revise the preliminary district plan in response to public comment
130	and shall submit the revised plan to the General Court, which shall vote
131	on the revised plan. If the plan is rejected, then the Commission shall
132	prepare, publish, revise, and submit a second-round preliminary district
133	plan in the same manner as the first. Following the period for public
134	comment, the Commission shall submit the revised plan to the General
135	Court for a vote. If the General Court votes to reject the second-round
136	plan, then the Commission shall prepare, publish, revise, and submit a
137	third-round preliminary district plan, in the same manner as the first. If
138	the General Court rejects the third-round plan, then the Commission
139	shall prepare, publish, and revise a fourth-round plan in the same
140	manner. The plan so revised, shall become law without submission to
141	or approval by the General Court.
142	With respect to each plan the Commission submits to the General
143	Court for a vote, the vote must be taken within two weeks of
144	submission. No amendments to the plan as submitted may be made. If
145	the plan is approved by a majority of the members of the House and
146	Senate present and voting or if no vote is taken within the two-week
147	period, then the plan as submitted shall become law.
148	SECTION 12. Original jurisdiction is hereby vested in the
149	Supreme Judicial Court upon the petition of any voter of the
150	Commonwealth for judicial relief relative to the establishment of the
151	representative, councillor, and senatorial districts. The General Court
152	may by law limit the time within which judicial proceedings may be
153	instituted to challenge any redistricting map.

6. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 23), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Creedon dissents.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to emergency appointments of elected officials.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. The Constitution of the Commonwealth is hereby
2	amended by striking out Article LXXXIII of the Amendments to the
3	Constitution, and inserting in place thereof the following Article of Amendment:-
4	Article LXXXIII. The general court shall have full power and
5	authority to provide for prompt and temporary succession to the powers
6	and duties of public offices, of whatever nature and whether filled by
7	election or appointment, the incumbents of which may become
8	unavailable for carrying on the powers and duties of such offices in
9	periods of emergency resulting from disaster caused by enemy or
10	terrorist attack, and to adopt such other measures as may be necessary
11	and proper for insuring continuity of the government of the
12	commonwealth and the governments of its political subdivisions; except
13	that, notwithstanding Article XXX of Part the First, if more than 1/3 of
14	the senate or more than 1/3 of the house membership is vacant as a result
15	of enemy or terrorist attack, the General Court shall fill the vacancies by
16	appointment, and in making the appointments it shall fill each vacancy
17	with a person who is a resident of the district where the vacancy
18	occurred and is of the same political party as the person who held the
19	office at the time the vacancy occurred. A person so appointed shall
20	serve until a successor is elected and qualified in accordance with the
21	provisions for filling vacancies in the general court.

7. On the following proposal (see Senate, No. 25), the committee on Election Laws has reported, in accordance with Joint Rule 23, recommending that the amendment ought NOT to pass. [Augustus-Bradley.] (Senator Brown and Representatives Rogeness of Longmeadow and Frost of Auburn dissent.)

[Question on ordering the proposal to a third reading – after the proposal is twice read in succession.]

[Vote required: - Majority of members present and voting.]

Proposal for a Legislative Amendment to the Constitution relative to Constitutional Officers.

ARTICLE OF AMENDMENT.

1	SECTION 1. Article LXIV of the Amendments to the Constitution
2	is hereby amended by inserting after section 3 the following new
3	section:-
4	SECTION 4. Upon a vacancy in the office of the secretary,
5	treasurer and receiver-general, attorney general and auditor by reason
6	of death, resignation or removal, such vacancy shall be filled by an
7	election called by the Governor within six months of said vacancy,
8	unless the vacancy occurs between January 1 and seventy days prior to
9	the state primary, in which case the election shall be held at the
10	regularly scheduled biennial election. Prior to the election to fill said
11