Senate lawmakers had been within the means of advancing three payments Friday, teeing up probably votes subsequent week on laws addressing feline declawing, client protections in actual property value determinations, and archaic legal guidelines coping with privateness round sexual exercise.
The Senate’s price range writing committee, which additionally acts as a clearing home for payments destined for a ground vote, opened polls of its members on new variations of three proposals from Sen. Mark Montigny, Majority Leader Sen. Cindy Creem, and Sen. William Brownsberger.
Committee members had till 11 a.m. to determine whether or not they wished to report the payments out favorably, based on a replica of a memo from Senate Ways and Means.
Legislation sponsored by Creem, a Newton Democrat, would require all actual property value determinations in Massachusetts be carried out solely by licensed or licensed appraisers. Appraisers looking for state certification or licensing should meet a lot of requirements together with finishing 200 to 300 hours of classroom instruction.
Massachusetts permits any particular person to carry out valuation providers for property settlements, divorces, enterprise dissolutions, and litigation with out having to satisfy any training or expertise requirements, based on a invoice abstract.
Supporters of the invoice say that exposes customers to “unreasonable risks” as an unlicensed particular person “may prepare unsupportable valuations while operating outside of regulatory oversight and accountability,” the invoice abstract mentioned.
A invoice sponsored by Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, would strike language from state legislation that criminalizes sodomy and “unnatural” acts between two adults, a transfer that backers say makes Massachusetts extra inclusive of people who’re LGBTQIA+.
Some language the invoice removes from state legislation dates again to the 1800s and contains phrases like “unnatural or lascivious” intercourse acts and “common nightwalkers.”
Brownsberger additionally proposed organising a everlasting legislation revision fee to look over statutes, judicial selections, and customary legal guidelines for “defects” or previous language that will want reforms.
The Senate handed a model of the invoice in 2022 however it stalled out within the House.
Montingy’s invoice would ban any surgical process like declawing or tendonectomy the place a portion of a cat’s paw is amputated to take away or restrict the mobility of the animal’s claw. The procedures would solely be allowed if the cat has a medical situation that’s threatening their well being.
New York and Maryland have put in place related statewide bans whereas 15 different cities in Texas, Pennsylvania, California, and Missouri bar the follow.
A flurry of legislative motion has taken place initially of 2024.
The Senate this week handed laws first filed by Gov. Maura Healey that might permit the state to make use of the curiosity earned off Massachusetts’ large wet day fund to pay down debt and chase federal grants. The House handed a invoice this week outlawing revenge porn.
That got here after the Senate handed a trio of payments final week overlaying wheelchair warranties, legalizing using fentanyl check strips, and directing state officers to create a blue envelope folks with autism can use to ease interactions with cops.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”