July 8, 2012
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives:
Pursuant to Article LVI, as amended by Article XC, Section 3 of the Amendments to the Constitution, I am returning to you for amendment Sections 35-36 and 39-45 of House Bill No. 4200, “An Act Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2013 for the Maintenance of the Departments, Boards, Commissions, Institutions and Certain Activities of the Commonwealth, for Interest, Sinking Fund and Serial Bond Requirements and for Certain Permanent Improvements.”
These sections amend the membership of four licensing boards—for nurses; plumbers and gas fitters; cosmetologists; and sheet metal workers—by adding a seat for a vocational-technical educator or administrator recommended by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators. I am supportive of these changes because vocational-technical schools are an important part of our workforce development system, and it makes sense to strengthen the links between vocational-technical education and these boards.
I am concerned, however, that these additions will result in even numbers of seats on the impacted boards, creating the possibility of tie votes. Consequently, I propose to leave in place the addition of the vocational-technical seat and to add an additional member to each of the four boards, thereby creating an odd number of seats and eliminating the possibility of tie votes.
For this reason, I recommend that Sections 35-36 and 39-45 be amended by striking out the text and inserting in place thereof the following text:-
SECTION 35. Section 13 of chapter 13 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the figure “17” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 19.
SECTION 36. Said section 13 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 8, the words “112 and 2 consumers” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- 112; 2 consumers; 1 vocational-technical licensed practical nursing educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of 3 persons to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators; and 1 additional member.
SECTION 39. Section 36 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 3, the word “nine” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 11 and by striking out, in line 5, the word “seven” and inserting place thereof the following figure:- 9.
SECTION 40. Said section 36 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “systems”, in line 16, the following words:- , 1 of whom shall be a vocational-technical plumbing educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of 3 persons to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.
SECTION 41. Section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the word “seven” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 9.
SECTION 42. Said section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 35, the word “and”.
SECTION 43. Said section 42 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “cosmetology”, in lines 36-37, the following words:- and (c) 1 member shall be a vocational-technical cosmetology educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of 3 persons to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.
SECTION 44. Section 101 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the figure “5” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- 7.
SECTION 45. Said section 101 of said chapter 13, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting, after the word “work”, in line 9, the following words:- , 1 of whom shall be a vocational-technical sheet metal educator or administrator who shall be selected from a group of 3 persons to be nominated by the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.
Respectfully submitted,
Deval Patrick