Another Informal Session nightmare: One State Representative singlehandedly passes bill to spend $730 million of “supplemental budget” items

A long, complicated, nearly incomprehensible catalogue of spending

Corruption on a scale found nowhere else in America

November 24, 2024

On October 17, a Massachusetts House of Representatives “informal session” with only one member present “voted” to pass a bill to spend $730 million of your tax money on “supplemental” items!

Since August 1, the elected members of the Massachusetts Legislature have been on a five-month paid vacation. But there’s still legislative work that must be done. So they do it in unconstitutional “informal sessions” where one or two members meet in an empty chamber and “pass” laws.

The Massachusetts Constitution requires a quorum of half of the body to transact business – but the legislators ignore that.

The “supplemental budget”

Between April and July this year, the Massachusetts Legislature met for weeks to hammer out the state budget for the upcoming year. There were committee meetings and floor debates. The process was not completely transparent (this is Massachusetts, after all), but draft versions and the final version were available to read. There were roll call votes of all the House and Senate legislators when the budget passed.

Then in October, the governor decided that she needed more money – well over half a billion dollars – to pay for some more “necessary” stuff. She delivered a list of the spending she wanted to the legislature’s Democrat leadership. They dutifully concocted a bill to give her what she wanted.

On October 17, an informal session consisting of only Rep. Paul Donato (D-Medford) passed this massive bill. Donato took a “voice vote” on it, which was both comical and maddening to watch (see video above).

What’s in this spending bill?

Most of the $730 million – over $556 million – goes to pay for MassHealth deficits. MassHealth has always been a scam for taxpayers. But now that it’s apparently covering the flood of illegal aliens in the state, it’s completely out of control. We’re told that at some point the federal government will reimburse the state for most or all of the MassHealth part of it. We’ll see.

What about the remaining $165 million? You can try to read the bill yourself and figure it out. It’s complicated. It appears to be a slush fund of the governor’s pet projects. Some examples:

• 235 7061-9805 Teacher Diversity Initiative $12,000,000
• 237 1596-2425 DHE Endowment Match $1,900,000
• 238 1596-2432 Capacity Building for Free Community College $9,100,000
• 7006-0060 Division of Standards $223,000
  
• 599-4448 Collective Bargaining Reserve $59,000,000

Are these items really needed? Is this a good way to be spending taxpayer dollars?

There are currently 157 members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. It’s a safe bet that none of them (except a few in the leadership) even bothered to read this, much less ask questions or debate the merits of it. (After all, they’re on their paid vacation!) They simply don’t care and are willing to let one State Rep “pass” it. Both Republicans and Democrats – even the “good” legislators – are in on this corruption.

On October 24 the Senate took up this bill - and actually met with a quorum that day. They debated the bill, and added as amendments some of their own pet projects. For example, one of the amendments expands “gender affirming care” – though in a manner that’s difficult to figure out. They purposely passed it on a voice vote instead of a roll call.

Supposedly, a conference committee will iron out the differences between the two versions. So this bill hasn’t reached the governor’s desk yet – but it will surely get there soon.

And many more are being passed

And this is just one of several horrible bills that have been “passed” in informal sessions of the Massachusetts Legislature since August. We will continue document these for you.

As we’ve said before, no other state in America does anything like this. Even relatively corrupt legislatures like in New York and California at least legally vote on everything they pass.

MassResistance is determined to permanently stop this illegal and unconstitutional practice!