#2022-17 August 2, 2022

After Marathon Final Session House & Senate Pass 36 Bills including Sports Betting; Leaves Economic Development Bill in Conference

Early Monday, House and Senate negotiators struck early morning agreements on sports betting and mental health access but will keep a significant economic development bill in conference committee as they continue to wrestle with an existing law that could trigger nearly $3 billion in tax relief this year.

The deals on sports betting and mental health access were announced at about 5:15 a.m., more than five hours after the legislative rules called for the formal sessions to end for the year. The deals represent victories for both House Speaker Ronald Mariano (D- Quincy), who has been a strong advocate for sports betting, and Senate President Karen Spilka (D – Ashland), who prioritized the mental health bill. All told, the Legislature enacted 36 bills during the marathon session that stretched nearly 24 hours from Sunday into Monday.

The sports betting bill (H 5164) will legalize wagering on professional and some collegiate contests, though betting on Massachusetts colleges and universities will not be allowed unless they are playing in a tournament like March Madness.

The state’s slots parlors, casinos and racetracks would be able to obtain sports betting licenses subject to a $5 million application fee and each casino would be allowed to partner with two mobile betting platforms. Another seven mobile betting platform licenses would be available as well. Wagers would be taxed at a rate of 15 percent if placed in person and 20 percent if placed via a mobile platform.

The Legislature’s major economic development bill, H 5034, which included the House and Senate’s preferred tax relief plans, did not emerge from its conference committee on Monday and its borrowing provisions will die on the vine since the branches will not be able to take the required roll call votes. The decision means the one-time rebates of $250 to eligible individual taxpayers and $500 to married taxpayers who filed jointly, which lawmakers have promoted in recent weeks, will not be issued. The revelation earlier this week that a 1986 voter law could trigger $3 billion in tax relief complicated matters as Beacon Hill struggled to decide whether to pass a $4 billion economic development bill, that includes about $1 billion in tax relief, or backtrack and chart a new path – the latter now being the ultimate result – over the final hours of debate. The Association is hopeful that any new path forward will continue to include Association-backed measures such as much-needed estate tax reforms and additional support for homeowners dealing with crumbling foundations.

Sessions that started at or before noon Sunday went deep into Monday morning and were marked by long recesses. At around midnight, Legislators moved one bill out of a House-Senate conference committee, agreeing on a slate of cannabis reforms, S 3096, to bring more equity to that sector, regulate host community agreements, and clear a path for cities and towns to authorize cafes where people can use marijuana.

Earlier in the day, the branches returned a climate policy and clean energy bill, H 5060, to Gov. Charlie Baker, adopting some amendments he recommended but leaving others out. Democrats said they hoped the changes would win Baker’s signature on their bill, which a veto would kill since lawmakers waited until formal sessions were ending for the two-year session to settle on a plan and would not have a chance to override the governor.

Other bills sent to Baker’s desk would authorize $11.3 billion in new infrastructure spending, crack down on the taking or transmission of images of crime victims by first responders, and extend the laws enabling wagering on simulcast horse and dog races.

The Legislature last month sent Baker an overdue $52.7 billion annual budget which raises state spending by about 10 percent and Baker signed off on nearly all of it, and said he believes the state can afford both the Chapter 62F tax relief under the 1986 law and the spending and tax relief in the economic development bill.

The Senate adopted a proposal to expand the dangerousness law governing which defendants can be detained before their trial early Monday. The House on Saturday rejected a dangerousness law amendment recommended by Gov. Baker. The narrower Senate amendment was attached to a state budget initiative designed to make phone calls free between prisoners and their families, a measure that’s now in jeopardy due to the differences between the branches over the pre-trial detention proposal.

Informal sessions are likely to continue in the House and Senate through early January, giving lawmakers the opportunity to keep moving bills as long as there’s unanimous consent among legislators who are present. Senate Ways & Means Chair Rodrigues (D- Westport) said a pared down economic development might move during informal sessions and Speaker Mariano said he hoped the Legislature would “pick away” at it throughout informal sessions.

For a full list of all bills on Governor Baker’s desk, click here.