BOSTON – The House of Representatives and Senate have finalized legislation creating a new dedicated revenue stream to pay for municipal police training in Massachusetts. The bill is now on Governor Charlie Baker’s desk awaiting his signature.
House Bill 4516 authorizes a new $2 surcharge on car rentals to support the Municipal Police Training Fund, which was created as part of the criminal justice reform law signed by Governor Baker on April 13. Money from the fund will be used to provide basic training for new police recruits, as well as mandatory in-service training and specialized training for veteran police officers.
State Representative David DeCoste, R- Norwell, supported the bill when it first came before the House on May 23, where it passed on a vote of 149-4. The bill was engrossed by the Senate on July 18, and enacted in both branches the same day.
The Municipal Police Training Fund is already authorized to receive money generated by the licensing of marijuana establishments, the state excise tax on recreational marijuana sales, and civil penalties imposed under the voter-approved recreational marijuana law. The car rental surcharge – which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2019 – is expected to produce an additional $8 million in revenues for the fund.
Certain car rentals will be exempt from the surcharge, including rentals lasting less than 12 hours. The surcharge will also not apply to ride-sharing services offered through companies like Uber and Lyft.
House Bill 4516 caps the amount of money that can be deposited in the Municipal Police Training Fund from the car rental surcharge at $10 million annually, with any additional revenues transferred to the General Fund.
Governor Baker has until July 28 to sign the bill into law.
Boston – State Representative David DeCoste (R-Norwell) is calling for the removal of a Massachusetts judge following a controversial decision to release a defendant facing drug trafficking charges. “We have seen a pattern of leniency and total disregard for public safety on the part of Judge Feely. He has violated his oath of office and must be removed from this powerful position of trust,” commented Mr. DeCoste.
Representative DeCoste is one of more than 40 House and Senate members co-sponsoring a resolution calling on Governor Charlie Baker to recommend a vote by the Governor’s Council to remove Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Q. Feeley from the bench. A majority of legislators in both branches must approve the resolution to initiate the removal process.
Last month, Salem Superior Court Judge, Timothy Q. Feeley oversaw a hearing of Manuel Soto-Vittini, convicted of trafficking drugs with the intent to distribute 40 bags of heroin. In the midst of an opioid epidemic consuming the state of Massachusetts, this not only created an uproar amongst those on Beacon Hill, but further angered legislators and constituents when the transcripts of Soto-Vittini’s pre-sentencing hearing arose, showing Feeley considering a probationary sentence for the 33-year old Dominican.
“If he was a citizen, I’d send him – I’d probably do House time, but I’d send him to the House. I would,” Feeley said at a lobby conference. These statements followed a discussion with Soto-Vittini’s defense attorney Eduardo Masferrer regarding the fact that a jail sentence would make it more likely for Soto-Vittini “to be found, discovered, and interviewed by ICE officials,” according to Feeley. This was later disproven by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who revealed to the Boston Herald, as Soto-Vittini’s conviction was “just under the mandatory legal threshold” to trigger his removal.