Now state Representative Dan Winslow, Republican of Norfolk, has proposed a smart idea to use the House’s own rules to make that body livelier and more open.
Under his plan, representatives from both sides of the aisle would agree to support one another’s effort to pry bills loose from the Ways and Means Committee or the Third Reading Committee, two panels that strong House speakers have often used to hold legislation they oppose or prefer not to debate. That isn’t an agreement to support the particular legislation on the merits, but simply to bring it to the floor for debate.
“I am a Republican in Massachusetts, so I am used to losing,’’ jokes Winslow. “But let’s at least have a discussion about it.’’
It takes a majority of House members present and voting to discharge legislation; this pact would take effect if and when a majority of the 160-member House signed on.
So far, the “Rule 28 Coalition,’’ named after the relevant House rule, includes all 33 House Republicans and two outspoken Democrats, Charles Murphy of Burlington and Harriett Stanley of West Newbury. Murphy is a particularly interesting addition; he served as majority whip until he was forced out by House Speaker Robert DeLeo in December.
“Many of our colleagues have expressed frustration over the past several years [about] the lack of substantive debate on the House floor, and many have surrendered to the current model that results in very few bills making it to the floor for consideration or debate,’’ Murphy wrote his Democratic colleagues in a recent e-mail. “The Rule 28 Coalition will change that model.’’
