Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka called for Massachusetts to pass same-day voter registration laws Tuesday. The House plans to hear a state voting reform bill Thursday that the Senate passed last October, though it is unclear whether the House version will include same-day voting.
“Eighteen other states have same day registration, I believe that Massachusetts should be at least the 19th at this point in time,” Spilka said on Boston Public Radio Tuesday. “Too bad, we should have been number one earlier, but at least we should be doing it. I believe we should be doing anything to help people who want to vote.”
House Speaker Ron Mariano on Monday once again expressed his opposition to voters registering on election day.
The bill also includes support for helping incarcerated residents who can vote, no-excuse voting by mail and early voting options expanded by the pandemic. “I'm hoping that it gets not only passed, but on the governor's desk before this session is out,” Spilka said. The session ends in January 2023.
Spilka also said she would possibly consider blanket relief for people who accidentally received too much money in unemployment claims, but that she wants more information first.
The state is trying to gain back around $2.7 billion in unemployment overpaid to citizens, much of which was already spent by residents who followed the rules and did not know about the error. Currently, residents have to submit waivers and attend hearings to waive the repayment, rather than blanket relief for anyone who did not commit fraud.
Spilka said part of the problem is that not everyone knows they must appeal, and that a public awareness campaign will begin soon. Still, she said she wants to know what portion of the overpaid money comes from the federal government versus the state before considering blanket waivers.
“I think we need more information,” she said. “I believe that everything is still on the table for me to take a look at.”
When it comes to the State House reopening, Spilka said she would have liked to have seen the building open around New Year’s, but that the omicron variant delayed plans, and that they are now aiming for next month. Massachusetts will be the last state to reopen its State House amid the pandemic.
“At this point, I believe that it’s beyond time, I think that the State House just simply should be open,” Spilka said. “I am really optimistic and hoping that we are open by next month. If we agree, we could have a vaccination mandate, we would probably require people to wear masks.”
Spilka also voiced support for a shifting statewide mask mandate that would turn on and off based on the prevalence of cases or another metric. Massachusetts currently has a mask advisory, which encourages but does not require masking.
“I personally think it would be wise to implement a flexible mask mandate tied to maybe transmission rates or something so that it's required … when there's a surge, and then it subsides,” she said. “There’s a lot more flexibility when the administration, when the governor does something like that.
