The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • B3

fr iday, november 1 3 2 0 2 0 Metro b3 Speaker robert a. deleo said in a statement after the vote. but republican critics blast- ed deleo for taking up the measure as an amendment to a budget bill. the legislature had extended its session to the end of december in order to ad- dress an uncertain revenue pic- ture amid the Covid-19 pan- demic. debate on the abortion bill did not begin until early thursday evening.

deny the underlying issue is important critically important to members and the said minority leader bradley H. Jones of north reading. to deem it part of uABORTION Continued from Page B1 the budget process in a lame- duck session in the cover of darkness in the midst of a pan- demic is the passage followed a near- ly two-year-old campaign by re- productive rights advocates in massachusetts and other pro- gressive states to solidify access to abortion. last year, new york, rhode island, and ver- mont all passed laws codifying the principles of roe into their own state law, even as conser- vative states passed laws to cur- tail abortion rights or even wage a challenge to the Su- preme Court ruling. have been horrified by what has happened in other said representative Jay livingstone, a boston demo- crat and one of the lead spon- sors of the roe act.

so glad that massachusetts is taking a different but some republican mem- bers, dramatically outnum- bered in the House, argued that abortion rights are secure, espe- cially in massachusetts, and that reproductive rights activ- ists were taking advantage of a tense political moment. about taking away a i gh choose. there is no bill current- ly filed by our side to take away said represen- tative michael Soter, a belling- hamrepublican. nineteen democrats joined republicans in voting against the measure. one democrat voted present, one democrat did not vote, and one republi- can voted in favor.

themajority vote was strong enough towith- stand a potential veto by Gover- nor Charlie baker. under current law, those un- der 18 must have at least one consent to have an abortion or seek authoriza- tion through a legal procedure known as a judicial bypass. ac- tivists argued the court process is intimidating, disproportion- ately impacts low-income peo- ple of color, and causes delays in care. the measure passed by the House would make the legal age for abortion consistent with the age of sexual consent 16. the sponsor of the amend- ment, State representative Claire d.

Cronin, acknowledged that themeasure could pose dif- ficult issues for members, tap- ping both their emotions and, often, their religious beliefs. of you, myself includ- ed, are being called upon to act on something that may be con- trary to the teachings of your own faith. i get said Cronin, a democrat from eas- ton who chairs the Joint Com- mittee on the Judiciary. i remind you, one of our core american values is that we rec- ognize and value the separation of church and state. and to be an elected leader requires the ability to do archbishop Sean of boston and the bishops of Worcester and fall river said in a joint statement that extend- ing the time frame for abortion in cases of fatal fetal anomalies means would remain an option under certain cir- cumstances for the full term of the upon passage of the budget, the measure will now move to the Senate for consideration.

Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at Stephanie.Ebbert@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter Massachusetts House votes to expand access to abortion ByMatt Stout Globe Staff Gus bickford easily won re- election as chairman of the massachusetts democratic Par- ty on thursday, topping two challengers less than a week af- ter an internal probe found he violated party rules that barred him from getting involved in a contested primary. bickford, 57, won 229 votes out of 365 cast by the demo- cratic State Committee to earn a second, four-year term and hold off mike lake and bob massie, both former statewide candidates who pitched them- selves as the best choices to grow the already domi- nant political party. bickford, a veteran operative who has led the party since 2016, touted both his experi- ence and the gains the party has made under him, including adding to its super-majority in the legislature democrats picked up five seats this year without facing a true threat from republicans in keeping the all-democratic feder- al delegation intact. looming over the intraparty vote, however, were the results of a party-ordered investigation released last week.

the probe, conducted by former state Sen- ator Cheryl Jacques, found that bickford had violated party rules prohibiting him from be- ing involved in a contested pri- mary when he encouraged a group of college democrats to send a letter to Holyoke mayor and congressional candidate alex morse that raised miscon- duct allegations against him be- fore the Sept. 1 election. the College democrats of massachusetts in august had accusedmorse of inappropriate sexual relations with college students before and during his congressional campaign and said he used his position of power for or sexual morse, who had been a lecturer at the university of massachusetts amherst, quick- ly apologized to anyone he made feel uncomfortable, but maintained that he had done nothing wrong. bickford appeared to en- courage the students to talk to a reporter about the accusations against morse, whom bickford had once tried to from running against repre- sentative richard e. neal in the first Congressional district, Jacques wrote in her report.

bickford denied that he was trying to push the students to leak their concerns about morse, who is gay, or that he tried to involve himself in the race that neal ultimately won by nearly 18 points. but the findings inflamed not just criticism of bickford but what had already been un- ease within the lGbtQ membership, who felt the alle- gations against morse perpetu- ated homophobic ropes against an out gay candidate. after the investigation was re- leased, the bay State Stonewall democrats called for a new par- ty chair to for an ave- nue to repair the relationship between the party and the lG- bickford offered an apolo- getic message thursday before the vote, saying he was sor- ry for the pain caused to many members of the community" while promising to implement several recom- mendations included in the re- port. is out there is not who we are. there is not a ho- mophobic bone in this bickford said.

a short period of time, i mishandled a crisis. and i can do better. there was Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Gus Bickford easily wins race to chair state Democratic party lane Staff ATTENTION, CLASS in another push to bring more massachusetts students back to school in person, Governor Charlie baker on thursday visited a Carlisle school and praised the students for all wearing masks. after learning it was teacher linda (left) birthday, baker led the class in singing By Matt Stout Globe Staff democratic leaders in both legislative branches say the state does not need broad- based tax hikes to survive the rest of the fiscal year, even as they increase spending in a range of proposals surfacing on beacon Hill.

the massachusetts Senate on thursday was the latest to release its spending plan, a $46 billion proposal that, simi- lar to the House bill unveiled last week, relies on up to $1.5 billion from the savings account and chunks of federal funding to bridge a $3.6 bil- lion revenue shortfall spurred by the economic wreckage from the coronavirus pandem- ic. facing a tight clock, legisla- tive leaders appear to be in a rare lockstep on navigating the finances, with both branches largely following the budgetary framework Gover- nor Charlie baker laid out last month. they and baker have com- mitted to several approaches, including plans for a $108 mil- lion increase in direct aid to schools which means more cash for K-12 education but at levels far below what officials had planned for under a newly remade school funding formu- la passed before the pandemic hit. legislative leaders also back pursuing a baker propos- al to accelerate how the state receives sales taxes, a move that could generate hundreds of millions in one-time reve- nue. it makes up the majority of what Senate leaders called $420 million in new targeted revenue-generating initiatives this fiscal year, which ends in June.

was no need at this time, in our opinion, to im- pose new taxes in the com- said state Senator michael rodrigues, the cham- budget chairman. never say never. but we were able to utilize fiscal restraint, utilize federal monies, and uti- lize our own reserves" to cre- ate a balanced budget. the biggest point of con- tention in the budget process may ultimately be on policy. the House, anticipating the possibility that a newly conser- vative Supreme Court could threaten abortion rights, passed an amendment, 108- 49, on thursday that would re- move barriers to abortion ac- cess, including allowing an abortion after 24 weeks of ges- tation if the fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly and is not expected to survive.

the initial propos- al does not include the lan- guage, but Senator Karen e. Spilka, who with House Speak- er robert a. deleo promised to move quickly to expand abortion rights, said thursday she expects an amendment to emerge in the own de- bate. cannot work in a vacu- the ashland democrat said, framing the proposal as a response to potential changes on the federal level. but baker, a republican who supports a right to choose to have an abortion, has previously said he has con- cerns about changing the state law and that he opposes late- term abortions.

the House released its own $46 billion spending plan, which, like the plan, leans on $1.38 billion in feder- al funds. House leaders also ditched proposals to increase costs on uber and lyft trips, which would have raised the per-ride fee to $1 from 20 cents, and a proposed 15 per- cent tax on opioid manufac- turers. the Senate and House both call to delay by one year a charitable giving tax deduc- tion residents could have be- gun using on their state re- turns starting in January, a move officials say will save the state more than $60 million. the Senate is also including a measure that would allow peo- ple to use debit cards to buy scratch tickets and other lot- tery products, a move it esti- mates will generate $30 mil- lion in new revenue. the budget releases come more than four months into the fiscal year, during which the state has relied on three stop-gap bills to keep state government funded.

the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the budget forecasting, and officials are still cautiously watching re- ceipts amid a resurgence in the virus, though they had held steady through the end of october. there are, of course, other pressures. the mbta this week de- tailed a slate of potentially deep service cuts to help solve its own budget problems, in- cluding curtailing commuter rail service, eliminating some bus routes, and running sub- way trains less frequently. more than two dozen busi- ness groups have pressed law- makers to take a ap- on new taxes on busi- nesses, warning in a letter to legislative leaders this week that already facing oth- er costs amid the uncer- tain economic landscape. Progressive groups, mean- while, have repeatedly pushed the legislature to consider hiking taxes on the wealthy and corporations to avoid trickle-down cuts, though the efforts have so far produced little.

the House on tuesday rejected an amendment that would have raised the tax rate on unearned income from 5 percent to 9 percent. legislative leaders and bak- er have said they hope to nail down a final version of the budget by thanksgiving, if not the end of the month. House democrats have said they still believe a tax package they passed in march should still be in play, though the Sen- ate has shown little appetite in pursuing it amid the revenue crunch. the bill, which sought to raise as much as $600 million a year for transportat ion spending, would hike the gas tax 5 cents, similar- ly raise ride-sharing fees, and create a new system for taxing corporations, including re- quiring companies with $1 bil- lion or more in sales to pay at least $150,000. but the timing ultimately proved less than op- timal for its supporters.

the House, after spending months weighing its details, approved it just six days before baker declared a state of emer- gency in response to the pan- demic, immediately consum- ing most, if not all, of the at- tention of the policy makers. Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter State Senate leaders, like House, say no new taxes $46b proposal from lawmakers ByMatt Stout Globe Staff the head of the massachu- setts republican Party on thursday parroted several of the baseless voting fraud claims that President trump has been pushing, including citing with- out proof that people vot- Jim lyons, the state party chairman, signed a fund-rais- ing appeal thursday afternoon that charged that President- elect Joe biden is pos- ing as the winner of the 2020 presidential offer- ing similar rhetoric as many leading republicans who have refused to acknowledge victory. voting fraud is extremely rare, and officials in massachu- setts and elsewhere have said not aware of any evi- dence of widespread cheating. trump, however, has launched a torrent of legal challenges and has repeatedly sought to under- mine the results with unproven claims they were extraordinary claims were notable, not just for their purported specificity but their timing: Just two days earlier, Governor Charlie baker, a re- publican, blasted trump for making about fraud and stalling the transition to the next administration.

lyons, with whom baker has regularly clashed, dis- agreed. is no denying that there has been some funny business this election appeal from lyons states. among the examples it cites: in Pennsylvania, he said, re- publican observers not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting lyons was citing a Pennsyl- vania ruling that al- lowed vote observers to stand closer to election workers pro- cessing in Philadelphia. but in the same state, an attorney for trump told a federal judge last week the observers did have access to the facility, saying there was a of GoP observers. the e-mail also pointed to a in Wisconsin, claiming it over 100,000 votes to tally in the dead of night, and Zero to any other it appears to be a mistaken amalgamation of an error officials caught in michi- gan and the fact that in mil- waukee, officials completed process ing mai in votes around 3:30 a.m.

at a central lo- cation, after which biden had vaulted ahead of trump in the vote count in the state. but in the Wisconsin case, not a sign of fraud, and not true that trump receive any votes, said Charles Stewart iii, anmit political sci- ence professor who studies elections. in michigan, a prob- lem that initially showed biden winning in antrim County was not a software glitch, but hu- man error, and officials quickly corrected it, giving trump the lead there. asked to explain what evi- dence it had for the claim, party officials sent a link to the con- servative website, the federal- ist, which purports that demo- crats are trying to the election in several states, in- cluding michigan and Wiscon- sin. lyons also charged that people a claim apparently based on allegations from campaign, which said it found four votes were cast under the name of deceased people in Georgia.

(biden currently leads by more than 14,000 votes in the state.) but past claims of votes be- ing cast in the names of the dead have been attributed to clerical errors, and the few sto- ries citing specific examples dissolved upon Stewart said. are pretty much a collection of the Stewart said of claims. baker, who has clashed with lyons since he took over as par- ty chairman in 2019, had said tuesday that he was of no legitimate claims of wrong- that could affect the outcome. no credible third-party entity verified the claims in any baker said. to make these claims erodes trust in the system when in fact the election system is working ex- actly as it was designed to Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com.

Mass. GOP, in bid to drum up funds, pushes debunked fraud claims.