This past week, much of the nation was shocked when a leaked Supreme Court majority opinion from Justice Samuel Alito showed intent to reverse the decision from Roe v. Wade in 1973. As many know, the Roe v. Wade decision helped make first and second trimester abortions legal across the U.S., but in the wake of its undoing, the legality of abortion will be left up to the states. In Massachusetts, abortion is already a codified state right, thanks to the ROE Act passed in 2020. This and other ongoing legislative efforts exemplify how Massachusetts prioritizes abortion access, but as our data reveals, the state still can be impacted by the Alito opinion.

Starting at 11:00 AM today, the Massachusetts State Senate will be debating an important bill for thousands in the Commonwealth, the Work and Family Mobility Act, SB2851. The bill, previously passed in the House (as HB4470) will allow for undocumented immigrants living in Massachusetts with a Real ID (valid or expired) to apply for a driver’s license in Massachusetts. While the license would still differ from a typical driver’s license and primarily provide certain protections for undocumented immigrants in the state, the legislation is a hot button issue. Many Democrats favor the bill’s passage, while many Republicans in Massachusetts are vehemently opposed. Our legislative data helps detail the journey of the Work and Family Mobility Act to this point, and forecasts how it could change through today’s Senate debate.

From fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2023, there have been many differences between each budget in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. This is in part due to administrative and legislative changes, but also because of the changing needs of the Commonwealth over the past ten years. As debate concluded yesterday evening in the House on the amendments included in the 2023 appropriations act, our data from the last ten years reveals some interesting trends worth noting. 

Last week from 1:00 PM on April 13th to 5:00 PM on April 15th, the Massachusetts House of Representatives released 1,521 amendments to their FY23 (fiscal year 2023) proposed budget (HB4700). In comparison to the House budget for FY22, the proposal in HB4700 had 355 more amendments, marking a 30% increase in the number of filed amendments between 2022 and 2023. This increase in proposed amendments is not atypical of the House of Representatives, but analyzing the budget reveals some interesting trends for FY23 in Massachusetts.

Each legislative session in Massachusetts includes a deadline for joint committees to report their bills out to the House and Senate floor. For most joint committees, this date was February 2nd of this year. However, one committee differs from the rest: the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing (HCF). Their deadline was last week on March 30th. Our data reveals some interesting trends from this session’s HCF deadline, and how the committee greatly differs from others in the Massachusetts legislature.

In the 2021-22 Massachusetts legislative session, there were over 3,000 people who testified at joint committee hearings. Our analysis found that 494 of these individuals were “frequent” testifiers, meaning that they testified in more than one hearing. This group included various state officials, interest groups, and concerned citizens, all of whom are highlighted in our data.

Ahhh. Massachusetts. So many stereotypes, so little time. While outsiders may associate Massachusetts with its iconic accent or inclement weather, in reality, there are so many other things that make us special. And of course, we want to share them. Click to view this session’s proposed “official” symbols of the Commonwealth.

The Joint Rule 10 deadline for this legislative session was set for February 2, 2022, by when (in theory) all legislation must be acted for further consideration on the House and Senate floors. The committee process in the Massachusetts legislature is notoriously elusive, but our data (as of February 11) reveals some interesting patterns.

A review of the committee hearing calendar this session showed that nearly half of all committee hearings (44.3%) occur on Tuesdays of each week. Sometimes there are as many as 6 hearings occurring simultaneously! Hence, the nickname “Terrible Tuesdays”.

The General Court calls it an outside section. While technically outside sections are only supposed to relate to appropriations, here in Massachusetts, they are often used to bypass the legislative process.

Of the 7,817 bills filed to date, only 115 have become law during the first year of the 2021-2022 General Court session. That’s a mere 1.4 percent! What were those laws about? Two words: local government. Here's a quick look at 2021 session laws by category.

From the end of the pre-filing deadline to the start of winter recess, there is plenty of data to inform your efforts when the second half of the 192nd General Court begins in January. Check out our infographic to learn more!

As we near the end of the first year of the 2021-2022 two-year legislative session, we wanted to take a few minutes to review activity by the Mass Legislature. When it comes to roll call votes, the Statehouse is way behind.