MMA testimony on several bills before the Municipalities and Regional Government Committee

The Honorable James J. O’Day, House Chair
The Honorable Barbara L’Italien, Senate Chair
Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government
State House, Boston
 
Dear Representative O’Day, Senator L’Italien and Members of the Committee,
 
On behalf of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Municipal Association appreciates the opportunity to offer comments on the following bills before you for public hearing today.
 
Please Oppose H.1833, an Act Relative to the Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns
 
This proposed new law would severely limit local Home Rule authority by prohibiting cities and towns from adopting any local rules, regulations, bylaws and ordinances regulating any “product or consumer good” or “interfering with interstate or intrastate trade or commerce.” Of course communities cannot interfere with interstate commerce, based on the U.S. Constitution, so that provision is entirely unnecessary. The other language, however, would impose an unprecedented and extraordinarily far-reaching and unwarranted restriction of local rule-setting authority that would largely negate the ability of citizens in cities and towns to govern themselves. The bill would result in highly negative impacts on local rules from zoning to public health and safety in our cities and towns. Municipalities have long acted in a prudent and judicious manner to protect residents from harm through the enactment of sensible ordinances, through measures such as zoning that prohibit heavy industrial work from occurring in residential neighborhoods and harming both the health of residents and their quality of life, to ordinances that restrict the hours of establishments that serve alcohol to promote the safety of the public. The negative impact of this legislation on cities and towns across Massachusetts cannot be overstated.
 
We request that the Committee reject H. 1833, and issue an adverse report.
 
Please Oppose S.1074, an Act Encouraging Municipal Recycling and Composting
 
This bill would require all cities and towns to implement recycling programs and would remove the authority for local approval of these programs by the municipal legislative body. Recycling programs are currently approved and governed locally. S. 1074 would not “encourage” recycling programs –the bill would impose a sweeping and costly unfunded mandate on the cities and towns, while ignoring the private-sector parties who are responsible for the generation of most of the solid waste in the Commonwealth. In Massachusetts, municipalities control only about 35 percent of all the disposed tonnage in the state, mainly residential. According to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, approximately two-thirds of the estimated 5 million tons of trash generated in the state was collected by the private sector (2011). With an increasingly complex waste stream, we request that the Legislature focus responsibility for difficult-to-manage waste items on the producers and private haulers who generate and handle the majority of trash. It should not be the primary responsibility of cities, towns and local taxpayers to manage all consumer product waste. Communities are already doing much more than state government or any private industry waste generator to implement recycling and innovative programs to reduce the waste stream. Please do not punish local taxpayers with the unaffordable unfunded mandate that would be created by S. 1074.
 
We request that the Committee give S. 1074 an adverse report.
 
Please Support S. 1104, an Act Relative to Local Licenses and Permits
 
We support S. 1104, which would amend section 57 of Chapter 40 of the General Laws to reduce from 12 months to six months the period for certain overdue unpaid taxes, fees and other municipal charges before a city or town may deny or suspend a local license or permit as a measure to enforce payment. The legislation would not apply if an application for abatement has been filed.
 
Section 57 of Chapter 40 is a local-option statute that must be implemented through adoption of a local bylaw or ordinance.  The law includes opportunities for payment agreements, waivers and other features to provide local flexibility. The current provision is an important tool to help cities and towns collect local revenues, and S. 1104 would enhance the law’s effectiveness.
 
We request that the Committee give S. 1104 a favorable report.
 
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide local government’s perspective on these three bills. We respectfully ask you to oppose H. 1833 and S. 1074, and support S. 1104. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me or MMA Legislative Director John Robertson at (617) 426-7272ext. 122 at any time.
 
Thank you very much.
 
Sincerely,
Geoffrey C. Beckwith
Executive Director & CEO, MMA