Rep. Eldridge has filed the following bills for the 2007-2008 legislative session, grouped under the following categories for your reference. If you have any questions regarding any of these pieces of legislation, please feel free to call us anytime at 617-722-2060. 

Click here for a spreadsheet of the legislation Rep. Eldridge has filed, including bill numbers, and their current committees.

Click here for a spreadsheet of legislation Rep. Eldridge has co-sponsored.

EDUCATION

1. Relative to Minimum State Aid Education Aid for All Municipalities              

This legislation, filed last year as "the Acton Plan," establishes a Chapter 70 education aid funding floor of $2,000 per student for the Commonwealth's school districts.  This legislation was one of a handful of education bills filed last year geared towards the successful effort of establishing minimum state education aid for all Massachusetts communities, which is critical to continue supporting.

2)      Relative to Mandated Hours in High Schools 
This legislation would direct the Department of Education to commission a study on whether the state's mandated 990 hours of class time for high school students is still appropriate, or if hours mandate should be reduced or made more flexible.

ENVIRONMENT

4) Relative to Reducing Junk Mail (the "Do Not Mail" bill)
This legislation would require that all companies or businesses that send unsolicited or solicited mail through a United States Post Office to provide information printed on every mailing that informs consumers how to request that they no longer receive mailings from the business or company in the future.   The legislation would also direct the Massachusetts Office of Consumers Affairs and Business Regulation to establish a website that would provide consumers with the most up to date information on how to unsubscribe from receiving junk mail in their mailboxes.

5) Relative to Tree-Cutting in State Parks This legislation would require public notice from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) any time that the DCR has made a decision to cut down trees in a state park.

6) Relative to Increasing Recycling by Tenants This legislation would mandate that any landlord or owner of three or more apartment units would be required to provide the necessary materials and means to allow tenants to recycle.  (This bill is a refile of H. 4721)

STATE LANDS

7) Relative to the Disposition of State Surplus Land This legislation, brought by Rep. Tom Stanley and myself, updates the state's laws on selling, developing, or protecting state land that does not currently have a particular use or purpose.  This legislation, based on H. 4491 which passed the House in 2005, preserves the Legislature's vote on disposing of every parcel of land, gives communities the right of first refusal to purchase state land, and establishes clear notices, processes, and review committees to ensure that the future use of any state land is in harmony with the interests of the municipalities where the land lies.

8) Relative to the Leasing of State Land This legislation would establish that any state land that a town or individual leases from the Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) may sign a twenty-year lease in its use of the property.  Last year, DCAMM sent notice to some municipalities and farmers that their ten-year lease were being unilaterally limited to one-year leases, which caused a great amount of concerns amongst these parties.

HOUSING

9) Relative to Communities Charging Mitigation Fees to Developers This legislation would allow communities to charge developers mitigation fees or costs for any housing development, in order to pay for increased costs that result from additional housing.

10) Relative to Prioritizing Affordable Housing This legislation would amend the standards for the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) when reviewing applications by municipalities to receive community development action grants (CDAGs) to build affordable housing, in order to ensure that municipalities that have less than 10% of low or moderate income housing have equal access to state and federal housing funds.

11) Relative to Increased State Aid for Affordable Housing This legislation would change the state's Chapter 70 education aid formula by adding a provision that for every new unit of low or moderate income housing in a municipality, that municipality would receive additional state aid equal to the cost per pupil spent in that municipality multiplied by the total number of children in public school in the new affordable housing units.

12) Relative to the Counting of Affordable Housing Units in Chapter 40B Developments This legislation would make some sensible reforms to the state's affordable housing law, Chapter 40B, and includes provisions that passed the House in May 2004 (as Housing Committee bill H 4715), that will help communities more easily reach the state's 10% affordable housing requirement.  The two major components are:

A. Counting 50% of the homeowner units in a 40B development as being eligible to be included toward a city or town's affordable housing threshold (currently only 25% of the units are counted as affordable).  This would place 40B homeowner developments in line with 40B rental developments, in which 100% of the units are counted as affordable).
B. Counting mobile homes toward a city or town's affordable housing threshold.

13) Relative to 40B Developers
This legislation would prohibit a developer that has been determined either in a lawsuit or by a governing body to have earned too much profit from a 40B development as allowed by law, from building any additional 40B developments for a period of 5 years after the determination.

14) Relative to Deed Restrictions for Affordable Housing Units in 40B Developments This legislation would require that all affordable units in a Chapter 40B development, whether homeownership or rental units, have a deed restriction such that they remain affordable for at least 99 years. 

15) Relative to Inspector General's Audits of 40B Developments This legislation would require that the Inspector General audit all Chapter 40B developments.  Currently, many "small" 40B developments of 10 or so units are not audited by the state.

16) Relative to Municipalities Auditing 40B Developments This legislation would allow the municipality to audit Chapter 40B developments if the state or a state-authorized organization are not auditing such developments.  It has come to light that many "small" 40B developments are currently not being audited by the state.

17) Relative to a Buffer Zone for Chapter 40B Developments This legislation would require a 100-foot buffer zone from wetlands or vernal pools for all Chapter 40B developments.
18) Relative to Last's Month Rent for Tenants This legislation would prohibit a landlord from charging a tenant who is renting an apartment last month's rent as part of a rental agreement or lease, in order to make it easier for Massachusetts residents to afford the up front costs of renting an apartment.  (This is a refile of H. 3216)

TAXES

19) Relative to Freezing Seniors' Property Taxes This legislation would freeze the property taxes of seniors once they turn 65, for any senior, married or single, with an annual income of $40,000 or less.

20) Relative to Increasing the Senior Citizen Circuit Breaker Tax Credit (CBTC) This legislation will increase the state property tax refund from $840 to $1500, and expand the income eligibility ceiling to any single senior earning $62,500 or less, or a married senior couple earning $80,000 or less.

21) Relative to Establishing Biennial Tax Incidence Reports This legislation would direct the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to study how different state and local taxes affect different income groups every two years, and report the study's findings to the Legislature. If this information were available for Massachusetts, it would allow legislators to make better informed decisions about changes in tax policy.

HEALTHCARE

22) Relative to Mandating Insurance Coverage for Cochlear Implant Services This legislation would require insurance companies, including MassHealth, to provide coverage for cochlear implant surgery and post-surgery services for children.

23) Relative to Ensuring Health Insurance Access for Recent College Graduates This legislation would require that all private and public Massachusetts post-secondary educational institutions contract with health insurance companies that allow college students to extend their school health insurance coverage through the federal COBRA Act.  (This is a refile of H. 3096)

PUBLIC SAFETY

24) Relative to Regional Dispatch Services To encourage communities to establish regional dispatch centers for police and fire in order to reduce costs and improve level of service, this bill would order the Executive Office of Public Safety to prioritize grants to municipalities that have established regional dispatch services for two or more municipalities

25) Relative to Reducing Domestic Violence This legislation, co-sponsored with Senator Barrios, would increase protections for victims of domestic violence through the following measures.

 * Direct the Executive Office of Public Safety (EOPS) to promulgate regulations for the creation of a uniform "Dangerousness Assessment".
 * Expand Victim Notification Services to include the County Corrections system.
 * Allow the utilization of a Global Positioning System (GPS) bracelet as a condition of bail.
 * Disallow the resolution of domestic violence cases by use of an "Accord and Satisfaction" agreement.
 * Direct EOPS to create a uniform system of data collection for domestic violence incidents in the Commonwealth. 
 * Order a study of the effectiveness of new sentencing options available for those convicted of domestic violence crimes including enhanced coordinated community response through monitoring, containment, and accountability of abusers.
  

ELECTION LAWS

26. Relative to Prohibiting Political Signs on Public and Non-Profit Property
 

This legislation would prohibit the placing of any political signs on any property that is tax-exempt, including municipal, state, and federal property and any property owned by a non-profit corporation.   (This is a refile of H. 136)

27) Relative to Authorizing Municipalities and School Districts to Send Certain Information to Registered Voters

This legislation would allow towns, cities and regional school districts to send out impartial information on town questions before the voters, including overrides.  (This is a refile of S. 457)

PUBLIC SERVICE

28. An Act Putting Police and Fire Dispatchers in Group 4 of the Retirement System

This legislation would move police and fire dispatchers into Group 4 of the state retirement system.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS & CONSUMER PROTECTION

29) Relative to Wage Protections in Bankruptcies This legislation would improve wage protections for Massachusetts residents who have filed for bankruptcy.  The current law, MGL Ch. 246, Section 28 provides only $125 per week in protection.  This legislation would increase that protection to 200% of the Federal poverty level.

LAW

30) Relative to Encouraging Lawyers to Practice Public Interest Law

This legislation would encourage Massachusetts law students and lawyers to practice public interest law by exempting the portion of their income used to pay law school loans from the state income tax.  (This is a file of H. 2589)

31) Relative to Increasing Access to Prepaid Legal Services

This legislation will enable more Massachusetts citizens to access pre-paid legal services, which can significantly expand the number of Massachusetts residents who can afford to hire a lawyer.  The legislation provides for a new professional licensing scheme for the sellers of such products and redefining prepaid legal service plans as a non-insurance product, while still keeping the regulatory authority for these plans under the Division of Insurance.

OPEN MEETING LAW

32) Relative to Penalties Regarding Open Meeting Law This legislation would establish a penalty of $100 for every violation of public records access under the Open Meeting Law. 

33) Relative to Citizens' Seeking Relief in Public Participation Retaliation Lawsuits ("anti-SLAPP" laws) This legislation would provide citizens the right to seek court damages in a court of law under the state's "anti-SLAPP" (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) law, MGL Ch. 231, Section 59H.  Currently citizens who file a court action against a party which filed a civil claim that allegedly targets a citizen's constitutional right to petition may only be awarded costs and reasonable attorney's fees by a court of law in that court action.