Signing of health care law opens gates for dozens of stuck bills

BOSTON --Last week's signing of the state's landmark health care reform law not only ended months of tense negotiations on Beacon Hill, it also opened the floodgates for dozens of bills stuck in the legislative pipeline.

Lawmakers are now free to pick from a grab bag of pending issues, from allowing the purchase of hypodermic needles without a prescription and increasing the state's minimum wage to toughening teen driving laws and overhauling the state's welfare rules.

But the Statehouse clock is ticking.

The Legislature's formal session ends July 31 and the House and Senate still must debate and approve a final version of the hefty state budget by the end of June.

One of the bills hung up by the months-long haggling over health care is a plan to make major changes to Massachusetts' welfare system designed to bring the state regulations closer in line with federal rules. About 14,000 people in Massachusetts who now receive benefits wouldn't get them under the federal rules.

Gov. Mitt Romney has pushed for state regulations that closely mirror the federal rules, but Democratic lawmakers have pushed to create a small, parallel system that keep benefits in place for recipients who don't qualify under federal rules.

The goal is to protect those recipients currently getting benefits while making sure federal funds keep flowing into the state. Without the changes the state could lose more than $50 million in annual federal welfare dollars.

A conference committee trying to hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill is hoping to release a compromise bill soon, now that health care has been signed into law by Romney.

"Some of the people who were working on health care were also working on the economic stimulus bill and welfare and since there was so much going on, that's why things were sort of on hold," said Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, a member of the welfare committee. "I'm hoping we can wrap this up in a fairly short time."

State Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, said she hopes the passage of the health care bill will clear the way for one of her top priorities, legislation that would allow intravenous drug users and others to purchase syringes directly from a pharmacist without a prescription.

Fargo said the bill is designed not only to slow diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C which can be spread through the shared use of syringes, but it's also intended to increase safety for EMTs, firefighters and police officers who might get accidentally stuck by concealed needles.

"I'm hoping it will start to move again now," Fargo said of the bill. "It's a part of the emphasis in the health care bill on prevention."

Another bill that has bogged down under the weight of the health care overhaul is a proposal to increase the state's minimum wage from $6.75 to $8.25 per hour by 2008 and link any additional increases to the rate of inflation.

The bill has the backing of labor unions, who say it's the best way for the minimum wage to keep up with the rising cost of living in Massachusetts.

"It's a real social and economic justice issue for us. It's inconceivable that this progressive state hasn't raised the minimum wage since 2001," said Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes. "We think we should be able to move this thing soon."

The single biggest bill moving forward now that the health care bill is finished is the annual state budget.

The House plans to start debating the bill next week. Lawmakers will have to wade through 1,600 proposed amendments to the spending plan before approving the budget and sending it to the Senate.