JOHN VELIS
Hello Westfield! Hope you all are having a great weekend and surviving the snowstorms well. Although the whole Statehouse had a snow day on Thursday, we still had a very busy week.
Currently, the House of Representatives is in a state of great anticipation. Although the 190th General Court was sworn in on January 3rd, the legislative process is still in the very beginning phases. The first four weeks of the session are a time for filing bills and adding co-sponsors. With the filing phase passed, we are now awaiting our committee assignments so that we can begin to hold hearings on the thousands of bills that were filed for the new session. New legislators will be getting their office assignments, and seasoned legislators may be moving offices or committees. I am very excited to find out what I will be working on this session, and will keep you updated as soon as I find out.
We are also beginning the budget process. Governor Baker published his budget draft a few weeks ago- now it’s the legislature’s turn to add their priorities and come to a consensus between both chambers. Once this happens, it is sent back to the Governor, who can veto line items he doesn’t agree with. Then, it will go back to the legislature and repeat this process until a budget can be decided on. Although it is a long process, it is one of the most important things that will happen in the legislature this year- it’s the one bill that always needs to be passed!
In the meantime, I am using my time to meet with constituents about many different issues. Just this week, I was able to meet with several of you regarding veteran’s programs, Western Massachusetts tourism, and budget priorities. I look forward to meeting even more of you in the coming weeks, and as always, if there is an issue that is important to you, I want to hear about it. Feel free to contact my office at (413) 572-3920 or [email protected]!
