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| State Representative Provost votes on bills and resolutions based on their merits, not purely by political party preference. |
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By Cathleen Twardzik
On
February 11, State Representatives voted on House rules and joint
rules, including "a local aid resolution," requiring annual adoption by
March 15, 2011. However, the amendment, which would have required the
state to provide each city and town with a fixed amount of aid by
mid-March, each fiscal year, did not pass. In the immediate area
surrounding Somerville, Representative Denise Provost who represents
the twenty-seventh Middlesex District, was the sole member of the House
to support its passage.
The issue of local state aid is
paramount to Provost. "It's important for cities and towns to know what
their local aid is going to be when they are building their budgets. I
would venture to say that the reason there were so many votes against
the amendment is because it was brought by a member of the minority
party," she said.
However, the last two budgets were secured,
according to Provost. Therefore, "we have adopted local aid resolutions
in a timely way, without it having to be a rule, but I think that it is
a fine thing to impose upon ourselves, a rule that we will have a local
aid resolution every year in time to allow cities and towns to plan
their budgets," she said. The matter is especially pertinent in
Somerville because of the amount of state aid which the city receives.
Interestingly,
Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi resigned in January 2009.
Therefore, the adoption of rules by the House was postponed until
February.
Although this local aid resolution was not slated to
go into effect until 2011, because the legislature has two year
sessions, voting for various pieces of legislation can take place well
before they would actually take effect.
Why did other members
of the Democratic Party vote "no," on a rule to require that a specific
date be set for local aid? It is quite common for votes in the House to
"break along party lines." Provost predicts that chances are high that
"most of the amendments that were offered by Republicans were voted for
by the Republicans." A few Democrats may have also voted for
Republican-offered amendments, she suspects.
"Many, many
members, I would guess, vote by party, and I always take my votes on
the merits. If you look at the other amendments, I voted for several
other amendments that day that were offered by Republicans, which most
of the Democrats voted against, and which did not pass," she said. It
is clear that she followed that sentiment during the last vote. "If I
think that a bill or a rule or an amendment or a person has merit, I
will vote for them."
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