By Jess Nahigian, State Political Director
I'm writing in the morning after a long day in the state house, where Sierra Club staff, members, and allies worked hard to strengthen the House version of the climate bill by amending it.
First I want to celebrate our wins. The House bill came out on Tuesday around 12. We had 5 hours to read 97 pages, and file amendments. Our legislative group digested 107 amendments and identified our priority and supported amendments within 3 hours. We sent that information out to our members Tuesday night. Then, on Wednesday, along with partners, we handed out coalition priorities and Sierra Club priorities to legislators and emailed them to every office in the state house, along with petition signatures in support of amendment 17. All in all, one of our priority amendments (17) was one of the most supported amendments, with 51 cosponsors. If you were a person who called or emailed your legislator, you should take credit for that. Find out which amendments your legislator supported in the Mass Power Forward tracker and thank them as a reminder you're watching.
Despite all this effort, none of our priority amendments went through. In fact, only 13 of 107 amendments went through, and nearly all were watered down. There were NO VOTES on any of these. Leadership and internal politics decided which were adopted. You can see the full list of amendment outcomes here: H.4876
What comes next? Now the bill heads to conference committee, where three members of the House and the Senate will decide how to reconcile the differences between the Senate bill and the House bill. Whatever comes out of that committee will likely be voted on a "yes/no" basis.
Let's acknowledge how dysfunctional and disconnected this process is. Because we have no record of votes, we have no way to know how your legislator would have voted on any of these issues. And because committee votes are not public records, we also can't see how they voted in committee. Again, coming out of the conference committee, you won't have a meaningful understanding of what your legislator supports other than "pro" climate action generally or "anti" climate action generally. In addition to the lack of transparency, it's easy to feel weak. But the truth is, advocates across many issues are contending with this broken process.
We are powerful. But we are up against powerful opponents. The wins I described earlier prove that. The stench of the utility lobby was strong in the House, whether directly working with legislators, or contributing thousands to key legislative leaders. We will come out of this session stronger, with lessons learned, with your support.
Finally, it ain't over until it's over. There still may be a path for some of our priorities. And others were already included in the Senate bill, like commuter rail electrification. We'll need to push to ensure those make it through the conference committee process.
Now what??
- Sunday at 4pm: Attend a phone bank, where we'll mobilize members to make this bill strong and just
- Next two weeks: Come into the state house at 1pm to put the pressure on legislators! Dates and registration here: 7/23, 7/24, 7/25, 7/29, 7/30, 7/31
- Next two weeks: Snail mail tsunami. Send a postcard or two to your representatives! Instructions here
- Join our legislative group, which meets on Monday at 6:15pm! We'll be strategizing for the rest of session and then preparing for the next session. Our mission is to identify and advance the Sierra Club's Massachusetts legislative agenda in service of the Sierra Club's mission to create a healthier, more equitable planet and Massachusetts. Email me (jess.nahigian@sierraclub.org) if you're interested!