A health care reform bill targeting state oversight of expanding hospital networks and legislation allowing for continued mail-in voting remain on the House’s to-do list with just over two weeks remaining before the holiday recess, Speaker Ronald Mariano said Monday.
Mariano, who last week said he and Health Care Financing Committee Co-chair Rep. John Lawn were crafting a policy-focused bill to complement a massive spending package, told reporters the proposal is still in the works and that discussions with Senate counterparts are ongoing.
The speaker suggested the bill would address a “loophole” in the determination of need process governing substantial health care facility expansions, ownership transfers and changes in services.
“It is a bill that would close the DON loophole that’s being exploited now, especially around market conduct studies,” Mariano said, referencing the Health Policy Commission’s cost and market impact review. “So we’re working it through, and we will continue to work the process.”
He added that he would “like to see it come up before (Nov.) 17,” when lawmakers are scheduled to conclude formal lawmaking business for the year and shift back into a lighter workload until January. Mariano also said “the hope” is for the House to figure out a way to enact mail-in voting legislation before the recess.
In June, the House approved an amendment to a supplemental budget bill that would have permanently allowed mail-in voting and expanded early voting ahead of biennial state primaries and general elections.
The final midyear spending bill Gov. Charlie Baker signed (H 3973) restored pandemic-era voting provisions through Dec. 15, and the Senate last month voted in favor of a standalone permanent elections reform bill (S 2545).
“We’re looking for a vehicle,” Mariano said Monday when asked about the House’s next steps on permanent mail-in voting authorization. “We’ve already supported it in the House, and we’re looking for a way to fix a glitch in the system that was created by the bills going back and forth.”
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