PAX Centurion - March / April 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2015 • Page 21 Heard on the Hill: Lawrence A. Calderone, BPPA Legislative Agent Legislative session starts taking shape W e’re three months into the new legislative session and things are starting to take shape on Beacon Hill. The Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo, has made his committee appointments for the next two years. He has selected Representative Brian Dempsey (Haverhill) as Chairman of Ways and Means, Representative Ronald Mariano (Quincy) is the Majority Leader, Representative Patricia Haddad (Somerset) is Speaker Pro Tempore, Representative Byron Rushing (South End) is theAssis- tant Majority Leader, Representative Michael Moran (Brighton) has a Division Chair and Representative Harold Naughton, Jr. (Clin- ton) is the Chairman of Public Safety. Congratulations and we look forward to working with all of you in future. In our last Pax issue, I spoke of House Dockets that had been filed in this new Legislative Session. Over the past few weeks, the process has started where Dockets are given a Bill Number and assigned to an appropriate committee for discussion and/or debate. The following is a list of some of the Bills we are currently tracking that have been the subject of repeated inquiry by our Members: House Bill 1199: AnAct Relative to anAssault on a Police Officer Responding to Criminal Activity. This Bill was filed by Representa- tive Michael Brady of Brockton. It intends to insert a new section into the Chapter 265 13D Law. It would make it a felony toAssault a police officer while responding to criminal activity in the performance of his/her duties, where the assault and battery results in injury to the of- ficer. It shall be punished by imprison- ment in the state prison for not more than ten years or by fine of not more than $1,000.00 and imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2½ years. House Bill 1511: AnAct Relative to Impeding the Flow of Traffic on a PublicWay.” This Bill was filed by Representative David Nagle of Lowell. It calls for a fine ranging from $500 to a maximum of $5,000. In addition to the fine or without the fine, the offender may face imprisonment for up to one year for “intentionally and without lawful authority” impeding or interfering with traffic on a public street or highway. If convicted, subsequent offenses would be met with fines of $2,500 to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year. The bill further stipulates that if the action results in substantial bodily injury to anyone, the fine for the first conviction is $5,000 to $10,000 and imprisonment up to two years. If it results in someone’s death, there would be a jail term of 2½ to 5 years. Anyone found guilty of violating the provisions of the law, if it were enacted by the legislature, would also be required to make res- titution to responding public-safety agencies and private emergency services agencies. House Bill 2017 : AnAct to Provide Concurrent PoliceAuthor- ity for Massachusetts Port Authority Properties. This Bill was filed by Representative Nick Collins of Dorchester. It intends to provide concurrent jurisdiction on all Port Authority properties with the Mas- sachusetts State Police and the municipality where the property is located (other than aviation and port operation). House Bill 2113: AnAct Relative to Critical Incident Intervention by Emergency Service Providers. This Bill was filed by Representa- tive Edward Coppinger of West Roxbury. It intends to amend the Mass General Laws by adding Chapter 148B, “Emergency Service Critical Incident Providers Confidentiality”. House Bill 2318: AnAct Relative to Increasing Killed-in-the- Line-of-Duty Benefits for Public Employees. This Bill was filed by Representative Thomas Golden, Jr. of Lowell. It intends to increase Killed-in-the-Line-of-Duty benefits from $100,000.00 to $250,000.00 for subsections C thru F (Police, Fire, EMS, Correction Officers, Higher Ed Officers, and more LE Personnel). House Bill 2339: AnAct Relative to Retired Boston Police Offi- cers (formerly H4529). As you know, this Bill was filed Representative Dan Hunt from Dorchester. This new law would allow the Police Com- missioner of the City of Boston to appoint retired Boston Police Of- ficers as “Special Police Officers” in order to perform police details or any imperative duties during the course of police detail work. We are hopeful this will move swiftly through the legislative process. House Docket 3284: An act relative to public safety and public health worker protections” (infectious disease transmitted by bodily fluid). This legislation was filed by Representative Nick Collins of Dorchester on the behalf of the BPPA and Boston EMS. The bill applies to any first responder, police officer, fire fighter, emergency medical technician, corrections officer, ambulance operator or attendant who, while acting in his/her profes- sional capacity, attends, assists, or transports a person to a health care facility and has an “unprotected exposure capable of transmitting an infectious disease dangerous to the public health.” This would ultimately allow the court to issue an order compelling the testing of a patients’ blood or bodily fluid for infectious disease. This docket has not yet received a “Bill” number. We will continue to follow these important pieces of legislation as they proceed through the legislative process. If there is a particular Bill of interest or “rumor” you here about, please feel free to contact me through my cell or through the BPPA at 617-989-2772. In closing, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the members of The Boston Police Gaelic Column for their attendance at The DiDo- menico Foundation’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on Friday, March 6, 2015 at the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown. The event is a major fundraiser for the Foundation which raises funds for scholarships for high school seniors and toys for children during the holiday season. The request was made just a few days prior to the event, but these officers were gracious enough to volun- teer their services on short request.Your dedication and professional- ism make us all proud to wear the uniform.