Massachusetts House reaches deal on coronavirus emergency rules after clash over debate parameters fall along - MassLive.com

Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement and passed the House’s emergency rules Monday afternoon, avoiding a large, in-person gathering of lawmakers on Beacon Hill.

Now both the House and Senate have emergency rules in place that enable lawmakers from across the state to legislate from their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. The agreement means that the House can take up the governor’s short-term borrowing bill, which is expected to help the state cover costs during the rest of the fiscal year due to the tax filing extension.

Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat, said the temporary order strikes a balance of safety, security and equity.

“We look forward to taking up and debating important items that require formal votes in the sessions ahead. This historic order is the result of hours of work, discussions and research,” he said in a statement Monday.

For more than a week, House members debated the terms of the drafted emergency rules, including the threshold needed to trigger a roll call vote, how often members can speak and how long the temporary rules would last.

Democrats and Republicans found a compromise Monday, passing an amendment that allows members to be recognized more than once in certain cases.

“It retained or gave the ability for any member — not just a Republican member, not just a Democratic member — who maybe have filed a bill or an amendment the ability to come back,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones, a North Reading Republican. The author of that proposal thus has a chance to rebut or answer questions from the members who speak afterward.

Jones said the House’s GOP caucus still has concerns with the emergency rules, but considered the amendment enough of an improvement to allow the order to pass Monday.

“This is consistent with some of the changes that we suggested to them last week,” Jones said.

Republicans objected to the higher threshold for members to trigger a roll call, which was reversed, and the 10 a.m. deadline to sign up to speak, limits on how often a member can be recognized and when the temporary rules would sunset. Jones blocked the order from moving forward Wednesday and Thursday, prompting criticism from Speaker Robert DeLeo and members of the COVID-19 working group.

“We’re now devolving into some kind of partisan vote that is unnecessary and is hurting our commonwealth,” Rep. Denise Garlick, a Needham Democrat and a member of the working group, told MassLive last week.

Jones said there’s still uncertainty over when the rules would sunset, as the rules state the restrictions could be in effect until the state of emergency is lifted or at the end of the year.

It is unclear exactly when the state of emergency is expected to lift. Gov. Charlie Baker extended his non-essential business closures and ban on large gatherings until at least May 18, but he said the state will engage in a gradual, “phased” reopening where some businesses will resume operations sooner than others.

The House is scheduled to meet Wednesday for its first formal session under the new rules. The short-term borrowing bill, which the House expected to take up last week, will be a priority for the lawmakers.

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