LGBTQ+ residents and advocates in Massachusetts are concerned about shifting legal protections for transgender people before president elect Donald Trump can put anti-transgender proposals into effect.
The Boston Globe reports there's a push to update legal papers like birth certificates and passports to match gender identities. Trump has promised many actions when he takes office in January, targeted at transgender people, as well as educators and doctors who support them. Reporter Chris Lisinski of the State House News Service explains what moves Massachusetts lawmakers or the governor are making to protect these residents ahead of Inauguration Day.
Chris Lisinski, SHNS: So far, we have not seen any real hard core legislative push to try and get something done in advance of Inauguration Day. I do, by all means expect protecting LGBTQ+ residents to be a real core theme of the next four years here in Massachusetts.
And there is some action that has been taken in past years that could return to the spotlight. A couple of years ago lawmakers and the governor enacted a new measure shielding both reproductive care providers and gender affirming care providers from lawsuits and legal action originating in other states that have much harsher laws on the books. I wouldn't be surprised to see that get new use in the four years we have coming up.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Governor Maura Healey recently announced changes to the state's emergency shelter system that were greeted with a lot of criticism from advocates for the unhoused. One of them told us that Healey's much stricter time limits, in particular, could exacerbate trauma. Have lawmakers publicly commented on the latest Healey reforms, or do they continue to leave the specifics of the policy here in the hands of the executive branch?
We've heard, I'd say, muted praise, at least from one of the Democrats who matters most here. That's Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues. He said he's glad to see movement in this direction from the Healey administration, given the enormous price tag on existing shelter services. Rodrigues, along with his counterparts in the House, of course, will be chiefly responsible for reviewing the actual proposals that Healey sends the legislature's way and opening up the purse strings to steer more money into the system. So that's an early indication that the sort of consensus from legislative Democrats is going to be supportive of these new restrictions, regardless of the criticism that it's drawn from some anti-homelessness advocates.
And what are the numbers that Healey is looking at saving here?
I think her goal is bringing costs back somewhere between $350 million and $400 million per year right now. Even with the most recent changes enacted, the administration is still projecting $1 billion plus per year on the system [currently]. So, the goal is to slash that by more than half.
And finally, Chris, since the formal legislative session ended this summer, state lawmakers have wrapped up some unresolved bills dealing with economic development and clean energy. Those were among a pile of bills that needed conference committees to reconcile the laws. There are some bills that cleared both branches with overwhelming votes that remain in negotiations. Only five weeks, of course, left to go to resolve them. What do we know about those bills?
It's a trio of health care bills that are in limbo right now, including measures trying to rein in the opioid epidemic that continues to rage, and what lawmakers in both branches pitched as their much-needed response to the steward health care crisis. Standing up new oversight measures. Tightening transparency laws that is stuck in negotiations. Steward Health Care is effectively no more in Massachusetts, but the law as written is basically the same as when that system first began its collapse, because Democrats cannot agree on the changes they want to put into place.
And if time runs out?
If time runs out, then they are going to have to start the entire process from square one come January 1st.
