Will Brownsberger -- State Representative, Democrat, 24th Middlesex District

The two year formal legislative session, now ended, has been a mixed bag. Perhaps the best news about the session is that we got through it.

Read this post for an official overview of the accomplishments of the 2009-2010 session.

I attended an information session on health care reform ran by Representative Hogan, Jessica Constantino of AARP and Deb Thompson of the PASS Group (Public Advocacy and Support Strategies) a couple of weeks ago. The material that was handed out and the presentation given were very informative, and I thought what I learned could be useful to constituents, especially for senior citizens and those on Medicare.

After two days of debate, the house passed a bill facilitating the siting of land based wind facilities. The vote was 101 to 52 and I voted in the majority.

In 2008, Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting gifts by drug and device companies to doctors. I voted for the ban then. After revisiting the issue, I continue to support the ban. I will listen carefully to the arguments on the floor, but I expect to vote against repeal.

The driving bill that the House approved last week, which should shortly become law, makes some important changes.

Legislation to revise the law of non-competition agreements took a step forward this week. The Committee on Labor and Human Resources reported out a bill with a favorable recommendation.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on this issue before the vote. I read all of the comments. I did vote for the bill. The House did strengthen the bill on the floor in one important respect. We gave the financial overseer the power to trigger a financial control board at any time.

Although it is true that Lawrence is a relatively poor city, Lawrence’s financial crisis largely reflects relatively recent municipal management decisions, some fairly attributable to the recently ousted Mayor. And that is grounds for believing that the crisis may be easier to resolve than some fear.

The House took action today on its own version of a driving safety bill. The House version still needs to be reconciled with the Senate version.

On Tuesday, the Governor signed into law a bill eliminating any question about the exemption from Proposition 2.5 of the Wellington School bond issue. I am extremely grateful to the Governor, to my colleagues in the House, and to Senator Tolman and his colleagues in the Senate for moving the bill through so quickly.

In this week before our national day for honoring our veterans, the House passed a bill which assists Massachusetts veterans in a number of important ways.

Cape and Islands Public Radio (WCAI) is running an excellent clip from reporter Molly Connors.

Responding to constituents who had complained about outrageous bank overcharges, I filed a bill earlier this year that would limit bank overcharges to one per day.

Representative Ehrlich and I are pleased to now publish a next draft for continued input. A hearing on the legislation will be held at 10:30AM on October 7 in Room A-2 in the state house.

Some had asked to see the roll call on the senatorial succession vote. Here is the tally sheet for the major roll call that settled the issue.

This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted by 97 to 58 to authorize the Governor to appoint a senator pending the outcome of the special election in January. After a lot of soul searching, I had committed to vote in the majority and did so.

Thanks to all who have weighed in on this issue at this website or by e-mail. You have greatly contributed to my understanding. I’ve submitted a post with some further thoughts to the Belmont Citizen Herald.

I’m cognizant of the importance of the decision that we will have to make about Senator Kennedy’s proposal. I will make the decision deliberately and I certainly welcome your input in the interim.

Since the BBO symposium a number of interesting exchanges have occurred by e-mail and in the blogosphere. Here are some links and thoughts.