With today's edition, (name of newspaper) begins coverage of the 2011-2012 Massachusetts legislative session with our weekly Beacon Hill Roll Call report. This feature is a clear and concise compilation of the voting records of local state representatives and senators on Beacon Hill.

Beacon Hill Roll Call provides an unbiased summary of bills and amendments, arguments from floor debate on both sides of the issue and each legislator's vote or lack of vote on the matter. This information gives readers an opportunity to monitor their elected officials' actions on Beacon Hill.  Many bills are reported on in their early stages and readers often have the opportunity to contact their legislators and express an opinion prior to the measure being brought up for final action.
 
   The feature "Also Up on Beacon Hill" informs readers of other important matters at the Statehouse.
 
   Beacon Hill Roll Call is provided by Bob Katzen who has covered the Legislature for more than 35 years. He has been providing this feature to hundreds of newspapers across the state since 1975.
  
   THE HOUSE AND SENATE. Last week was full of activity on Beacon Hill. The Legislature approved and sent to Gov. Deval Patrick dozens of bills on voice votes, without roll calls, prior to the end of the 2010 session on Tuesday and the governor signed some of the measures into law.
 
   The Legislature convened the 2011-2012 session on Wednesday. The governor addressed a joint session of the Legislature on Thursday.
 
   Most of Wednesday's activity was ceremonial with the exception of the election of a Speaker of the House and Senate President.
 
HOUSE RE-ELECTS ROBERT DELEO
   The House re-elected Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) as Speaker of the 160-member House. DeLeo received the votes of 128 Democrats while GOP Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) received all 31 Republican votes and was re-elected Minority Leader.
 
Rep. Thomas Calter           for DeLeo                                   

Rep. James Cantwell          for DeLeo                                   

Rep. Geoff Diehl             for Jones                                   

Rep. Daniel Webster          for Jones                              
 
SENATE RE-ELECTS THERESE MURRAY
   The Senate re-elected Sen. Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) as president of the 40-member Senate. Murray received the votes of all 36 Democrats. The four GOP members voted for Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) who becomes the Republican Minority Leader.
 
Sen. Robert Hedlund          For Tarr                                    

Sen. Brian Joyce             for Murray                                  

Sen. Thomas Kennedy          for Murray                                  

Sen. Therese Murray          for Murray                              
 
 
ALSO UP ON BEACON HILL
 
   PATRICK ANNOUNCES $307 PER YEAR PAY CUT FOR LEGISLATORS - Gov. Deval Patrick announced that the 200 members of the Legislature will receive a 0.5 percent pay cut for the 2011-2012 legislative session that began last week. The cut will reduce the base salary of each senator and representative by $307 - from the current $61,439 to $61,132.
 
   The total savings from the $307 per member pay cut for the 200 legislators is $61,400 per year. Over the two-year 2011-2012 session, the savings is $122,800.
 
    Patrick was required under the state constitution to determine the amount of a pay raise or cut that the state's 40 senators and 160 representatives would receive for the 2011-2012 session. All Massachusetts governors are obligated to increase or decrease legislative salaries biennially under the terms of a constitutional amendment approved by the voters in 1998. The amendment, approved by a better than two-to-one margin, requires legislative salaries to be "increased or decreased at the same rate as increases or decreases in the median household income for the Commonwealth for the preceding two-year period, as ascertained by the governor."
 
    Until last week, legislators' salaries have been raised every two years since the $46,410 base pay was first raised under the constitutional amendment in 2001. The new $61,132 salary means legislative salaries have been raised $14,722, or 31 percent, since the mandated salary adjustment became part of the state constitution.
 
   House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray, both Democrats, also receive a $35,000 bonus for their service - boosting their salaries to $96,132. Republican House Minority Leader Bradley Jones and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr receive a $22,500 bonus for their service - boosting their salaries to $83,632.
 
   The remaining 196 legislators currently receive the new base salary of $61,132.
 
   Over the next few weeks, DeLeo, Murray, Jones and Tarr will choose their leadership teams and also appoint dozens of members to committee chairs, vice chairs and other leadership positions. At that time, many legislators will see their base pay boosted by bonuses ranging from $7,500 to $25,000.
 
   MANY BILLS ON GOVERNOR'S DESK - The House and Senate sent dozens of bills to the governor in the final days of the 2009-2010 session. Here are a few awaiting his signature:
 
   GRACE PERIOD FOR GUN LICENSES (H 2229) - The House and Senate approved and sent to the Gov. Patrick a bill that would allow the expiring firearms license of anyone on active military duty to remain valid until 90 days after  the cardholder is released from active duty.
 
   Supporters said this courtesy should be give to the brave men and women who are defending our nation.
 
      STANDARDIZED POLICE ID CARD (S 2649) - The House and  Senate approved and sent to the governor a proposal establishing a procedure to provide high-tech, standardized photo identification cards to state, local and MBTA police officers. The expenses would be funded by federal homeland security funds and the new, secure cards would be created by the same company that issues Massachusetts driver's licenses.
 
   Supporters said the proposal, designed to reduce police impersonation, would establish a single recognizable law-enforcement identification for all police officers. They noted it is currently too easy for imposters to purchase a badge online and impersonate a police officer.
 
   DENTAL HYGIENISTS (S 804) - The House and Senate approved and sent to Gov. Patrick legislation that would allow dental hygienists to make emergency minor adjustments on the dentures of seniors in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
 
   Supporters said this would make the service more available to these seniors and help quickly help alleviate the pain they are suffering from ill-fitting dentures.
 
   SPECIAL MILITARY LICENSE PLATES (H 4588) - The House and Senate approved and sent to Gov. Patrick a proposal that would allow special military license plates to be issued by the Registry of Motor Vehicles at no cost to all active military personnel who have received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross or Purple Heart. Under current law, only veterans who have been discharged from the military are eligible for the plates.
 
   Supporters said active military personnel should be entitled to these plates. When the governor filed the measure in March, he said that denying these plates to active duty personnel is a "disservice to the honored men and women who remain on active duty."
 
   EXCLUDE COVERAGE FOR DAMAGE FROM TERRORIST ACTS (H 960) - The House and Senate approved and sent to the governor a bill that would allow insurance companies that sell commercial property and casualty insurance to exclude coverage for loss by fire or other perils if they were caused directly or indirectly by terrorism.
 
   Supporters said it is difficult for insurance companies to offer this coverage when reinsurance companies that back and assume risk for regular insurance companies rarely cover losses from acts of terrorism.
 
QUOTABLE QUOTES
 
   "(I will now introduce) the confidant and the continuing confidant of the last three Speakers, including the present one, my dear friend, Charles Flaherty. The next two gentlemen I’ll introduce here, because many years ago they came in together and they sat next to each other, and they contrived many, many things. And before you knew it, one became Speaker, and as soon as that term was over, the next became Speaker of the House. Two of the brightest Speakers we have ever had in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Thomas Finneran and Salvatore DiMasi ...   Thank you, we all thank you, for coming back every two years to pay homage to this institution that you love."
 
   Rep. Angelo Scaccia (D-Boston) acknowledging the three most recent former Speakers of the House attending the inauguration ceremony for the 160 House representatives. Flaherty and Finneran both resigned and were convicted of crimes. DiMasi resigned and is awaiting trial on charges that he received $57,000 in payments from Cognos, a Canadian software company that he helped land nearly $20 million in state contracts.
 
 
"We will not raise taxes."
 
   House Speaker Robert DeLeo
 
 
   "No new taxes. That’s my commitment."
 
   Senate President Therese Murray
 
 
   "We have ... a tax code that needs simplicity and fairness."
 
   Gov. Patrick
 
 
   "My concern is that his (Patrick's) definition of a fair tax would include a graduated tax, something I oppose. In my opinion, that was what he was trying to put between the lines when he was talking about a fairer tax."
 
   Freshman Rep. Richard Bastien (R-Gardner)
 
    HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK'S SESSION? Beacon Hill Roll Call tracks the length of time that the House and Senate were in session each week. Many legislators say that legislative sessions are only one aspect of the Legislature's job and that a lot of important work is done outside of the House and Senate chambers. They note that their jobs also involve committee work, research, constituent work and other matters that are important to their districts. Critics say that the Legislature does not meet regularly or long enough to debate and vote in public view on the thousands of pieces of legislation that have been filed. They note that the infrequency and brief length of sessions are misguided and lead to irresponsible late night sessions and a mad rush to act on dozens of bills in the days immediately preceding the end of an annual session.
 
   During the week of Jan. 3-7, the House met for a total of 19 hours and 24 minutes while the Senate met for a total of 19 hours and 14 minutes.
 
Mon.   January  3    House  11:01 a.m. to   3:30 p.m.
                                  Senate 11:01 a.m. to   3:26 p.m.
 
Tues.  January  4    House  11:03 a.m. to   8:52 p.m.
                                  Senate 11:03 a.m. to   8:52 p.m.
 
Wed.   January  5    House  11:14 a.m. to   1:57 p.m.
                                  Senate 11:03 a.m. to   1:43 p.m.
 
Thurs. January  6    House  11:04 a.m. to   1:27 p.m.
                                   Senate 11:07 a.m. to   1:27 p.m.
 
Fri.   January  7    No House session
                               No Senate session
 
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