How To File A Bill
You Can File Bills in the Massachusetts Legislature – Here’s How Excerpted from article by Tom Joyce, The New Boston Post
Massachusetts is the only state in the country where its citizens have an explicit constituional right to file bills directly in the state legis- lature, as the State Library of Massachusetts points out. The idea came from English com- mon law, and first appeared in the Massachu- setts Body of Liberties in 1641, and once again in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. The current rendition from the 1780 state constitution reads: “The people have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, to assemble to consult upon the common good; give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by the way of addresses, petitions, or remonstrances, redress of the wrongs done them, and of the grievanc- es they suffer.” So can you call up or email your state legis- lator and get a bill written? Yes, state Repre- sentative David DeCoste (R-Norwell) told NewBostonPost. “You could have someone ask a politician to do that,” DeCoste told NewBostonPost in
a telephone interview. “I have no problem doing that. I’ve had success with it working on Foster Care. We’re working with a constituent on a bill about Licensed Site Professionals, as well as a Bill of Rights for property owners. I have also worked with local police families to resume the death penalty of cop killers.” A member of the Massachusetts legislature can simply “present” the bill “by request,” meaning the legislator who presents it is not a sponsor of it. Yet DeCoste has worked on trying to pass the aforementioned bills and has put his name behind them. In some cases. he has found co-sponsors across the aisle for them. For example, H.204 is a foster care bill of rights. DeCoste got the idea from a constit- uent, but it has three petitioners, including a Democratic state representative: Colleen Can you call up or email your state legislator and get a bill written? YES!
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank was a German-born Jewish girl who kept a diary in which she documented life in hiding under Nazi persecution. She is a celebrated diarist who described everyday life from her family hiding place in an Amsterdam attic. Her family’s hiding place was discovered by the Nazis and she was murdered along with two million other Jewish children among the six million Jews slaughtered in the Holocaust.
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