It’s That Time of Year Again

As people race to finish holiday shopping, there’s a growing curiosity about which bills in the legislature will actually make it all the way to the governor’s desk during the session’s final weeks.  With one eye on our current bills and where they are during the informal sessions, we’ve also begun taking a hard look at our legislative priorities for the next session. 

This process started months ago and probably won’t be completed until January.  The BBA has been reviewing our portfolio of bills that we’ve filed in the past and determining whether or not the issues are still timely and important. For those that make the cut, we must take a careful look to ensure that the language in the bill still reflects the reforms we sought. 

The BBA’s issues are varied and far reaching; including everything from complicated tax issues to criminal justice reforms to family law matters and consumer protection, so the input and expertise of our member volunteers is crucial.  The goal is to present complete, up-to-date, and meaningful legislation that will have real world, positive impacts on the citizens of the Commonwealth and practitioners of the law.

Some bills are time sensitive and require immediate action.  Other bills get filed each session until we are able to focus enough of the legislature’s attention on them at just the right time.  For example, legislation updating the Homestead exemption and creating the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code took many years to become law. 

An example going forward is our bill that would update the dollar amounts in Massachusetts for bankruptcy exemptions.  In 2004, amid concerns that the new federal bankruptcy law would make it harder for people to seek bankruptcy relief, and that under Massachusetts’ obsolete exemption statute, debtors are vulnerable to losing the very tools that allow them to earn a living, the BBA began to work on updating the state exemption statute.  Tying the dollar amounts in the statute to cost of living adjustments was just the beginning.  Our proposal also recognizes the need for things like computers, sophisticated and specialized power tools, and automobiles as items necessary for earning a living today.   It is critical to update the exemptions to ensure they are relevant to the real world in which we live.

Generally speaking, the exemptions remain unchanged until someone summons the energy to introduce and pass a bill increasing them – and in Massachusetts this hasn’t been done in over 30 years.  While there is no mechanism by which these exemptions are regularly reviewed and other reforms are needed as well, updating the personal exemption statute will be an important step in helping a very vulnerable population.

When legislation is filed, many of the volunteers that work on it have visions of attending a grand signing ceremony in a large community hall.  They imagine getting commemorative pens from the governor, along with cameras flashing from a full press corps.  But what usually happens is that bills fortunate enough to make it to the governor’s desk are rarely ever afforded any media coverage.  Instead most become law quietly without much notice. 

-Kathleen Joyce

Government Relations Director

Boston Bar Association

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