Constitutional Convention (Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004)
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Several members shouted Mr. President.
Rep. Tobin, in the center aisle, shouted you don’t need us. We will see you later.
Many House members began leaving the chamber at 10:44 pm, but stopped when Rep. Bradley posed a point of order.
Rep. Bradley said under rules 66 and 67 it says a member may move the question at any time? Can I please have an interpretation from the clerk?
Sen. Travaligni said a member while speaking may be interrupted for five reasons: point of personal privilege, point of order, point or personal inquiry, to yield to another speaker or to question the presence of a quorum.
Sen. Joyce said now we get to the compromise. He read the names of the many legislative sponsors of the amendment and said it states as follows. [He started to read the amendment]
House members, in the lobby outside the chamber near the lounge chanted, “we want a vote,” making it difficult to hear Sen. Joyce.
Sen. Travaglini banged the gavel and asked the court officer to please shut the door.
Sen. Baddour strode to the well and doubted the presence of a quorum at 10:46 pm.
After a review, Sen. Travaglini said a quorum is not present.
Rep. Hynes said he doubts the vote.
Sen. Travaglini said we do not have a quorum so we cannot conduct any business.
Rep. Hynes asked for a recorded quorum vote please.
Sen. Travaglini said the court will call the roll. Time was 10:47 pm.
A ROLL CALL VOTE INDICATED 191 MEMBERS PRESENT
A QUORUM OF 191 MEMBERS WAS ESTABLISHED AT 10:56 PM
FINNERAN ANNOUNCE HOUSE CAUCUS: At 10:57 pm, Speaker Finneran said that under House rules, a caucus of House members in the House lounge will be held immediately and we will recess until 11:10 pm.
House members quickly departed, leaving the chamber and rostrum full of senators only.
At 11:10 pm, House members began returning to the chamber. Speaker Finneran and Sen. Travaglini conferred on the rostrum. In the rear of the chamber, Rep. Festa spoke to a large group of people.
RETURNS: Sen. Travaglini called the convention to order at 11:16 pm and asked members to clear the well.
Rep. Bradley was recognized and said I move the previous question.
Sen. Travaglini said you cannot move the previous question.
Rep. Bradley said I doubt the ruling of the chair.
Sen. Travaglini said you cannot doubt the ruling of the chair. There was laughter.
Rep. Bradley said point of parliamentary inquiry. Rule 67 may be moved and shall stop all debate. I believe that stops all debate pending. I don’t see anywhere that the individual has to leave or give up the floor.
Sen. Travaglini said the chair informed the membership when they were walking past some of the divisions and voicing opinions of the conditions they could arise. I thought I explained the five clearly and fully. He explained them again.
Rep. Bradley doubted the ruling of the chair.
Sen. Travaglini said that’s not one of the five reasons you can rise.
Sen. Joyce said two people who shall go unnamed said they prefer the bird sightings from the Globe. This is serious business. We had an amendment narrowly defeated yesterday, defining one man and one woman for marriage with the hope to get to civil unions. This compromise is now before us. I was prepared to accept this compromise offered by legislative leaders. It suggests we would put before the voter the definition of marriage as one man and one woman and also put before the voters as part of the same amendment civil unions. It would be in the constitution. There seemed to be some acceptance of that. Certainly it would get the two votes. I was beginning to hear people who supported this compromise initially were scurrying around and saying vote no on this compromise and vote on the next matter offered by Mr. Loscocco which would put before the voters a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman and put a statutory civil union into effect that could be amended from time to time. The House has refused to take up domestic partnership, a much lesser benefits package. It just seems to me that there’s a lot of palace intrigue here in the State House. The hour is late. We would have an opportunity March 10 to have flushed these matters out and think more clearly than at 11:15 at night. The reality is the latter amendment is likely to pass which holds out a fig leaf of some civil union but not codified in the constitution. That was the purpose of my action.
Sen. Travaglini recognized Rep. Wolf.
Sen. Joyce yielded to Rep. Wolf.
Rep. Wolf said she opposes the amendment. I know it is labeled a compromise. I do not believe we can compromise on people’s rights, on their civil rights. I do not believe we can compromise on people’s equality. I do not believe we can compromise on votes of fairness in this body. I do not believe we can compromise within our constitution, our sacred constitution, by making second-class citizens of some of our colleagues and friends and constituents and residents. Sen. Lees said do not turn your back on some of the citizens of the Commonwealth. I echoed his comments. We must not turn our back. We are here to see we do not turn our back. I heard it’s not great to talk about personal experience. I have been a leading advocate for gays and lesbians and bisexual and transgendered people. It does go to this issue of equality and fairness. Don’t’ set this aside as the goo-goo from Cambridge. The former mayor said that’s a good government person. I came from Nazi Austria as a five-year-old. We were very fortunate. This country was a haven. Before we came here, you know many things happened. I am not going to go there, to the Holocaust. But it is very relevant. You should know what can happen on the day to day life of a family when there is gross discrimination. I was a little kid and my parents could not take me to the local playground because we had to wear a yellow star because we were a Jewish family. That was all. Others wore other colored stars. There were gays and lesbians, Catholics and gypsies. We could not go to the neighborhood park.
At 11:28 pm, Rep. Teahan asked if the lady would yield. She did not.
Rep. Wolf said other things happened as well. My parents were concerned about my well-being. The Nazi’s invaded and our whole community was at risk. I learned quite recently that my parents sent me to live with a friend in a small town where they felt I would be out of danger. They made a profound decision. I thought it was a week or two. It was several months. They separated me hoping they could save me. Another time my mother and father were getting on a bus and the Gestapo brought my mother to jail. Friends got her out of jail.
Sen. Travaglini urged members to quiet down.
Rep. Wolf said my mother was released and came back. The rest I guess you could say is history because we were able to come to this wonderful country and I can stand here and explain this to you. Imagine two mothers taking their child to a playground and being scorned. It is no different to what happened to me. Or the person stopped for driving while black. These experiences of people living through discrimination are common. We have heard them at this rostrum. They are frightening experiences.
Rep. Wolf declined to yield to Rep. Hargraves.
Rep. Wolf yielded to Rep. Blumer.
Several representatives were shouting Mr. President.
Rep. Pedone said point of order under the rules a member rising to be recognized has to be in their seat and those people rising in their seat have to be recognized by the chair before those who are not in their seat. I rose before the lady from Framingham and you recognized the lady. Under the rules I believe I need to be recognized. Sen. Travaglini said I recognized her because she had not spoken.
Reps. Casey, Gobi, and O’Flaherty shouted Mr. President.
Sen. Travaglini recognized Rep. Reinstein, who asked if the lady would yield. Rep. Wolf did not yield.
Rep. Pedone said the chair did not address my original point of order.
Sen. Travaglini said there are unique circumstances present here today. We have 200 members here today and seated in an unusual way. [Senators were assigned to temporary plastic seats in the well] We’re trying to accommodate everybody. The chair has that luxury.
Sen. Morrissey said point of parliamentary inquiry. If I am not in assigned a seat because I don’t have one, I wont be chosen to speak?
Sen. Travaglini said there are no assigned seats for the convention because there are not enough seats.
Rep. Wolf said I would like to finish on a note of optimism. In 1990 as mayor of Cambridge, I had the honor on the day of the gay pride parade to open Cambridge City Hall for a brunch.
Many members again shouted Mr. President. Time was 11:39 pm.
Rep. Casey said point of parliamentary inquiry. The lady of Cambridge, though we doubt she yielded, she did yield to the lady from Framingham. Sen. Travaglini said I don’t believe she yielded.
Rep. Casey said yes she did sir, you recognized her.
Sen. Travaglini said the lady did yield but the representative from Framingham did not take the podium so the podium is still hers to speak from.
Rep. Blumer was recognized, from her seat. She asked if Rep. Wolf would yield. She did.
Rep. Blumer said good evening. I rise to speak to you about the future. I have been thinking about the meaning of this convention to my grandchildren. In January, I brought my 11-year-old granddaughter to the State of the State with me while the governor talked.
Rep. Swan I rise to request order.
Sen. Travaglini said the point is well taken. Will the membership subdue their conversation? Time was 11:42 pm.
Rep. Blumer said I talk to you of our children and grandchildren, of the principles we teach them. We teach them about justice and fairness and the meaning of liberty. The Commonwealth is a very special place to live. As I talked to her class and their rights to initiate a petition, the kind of community our children are asked to build is a community of unity. That’s the world we want our children to live in and the world we reach for not just for ourselves, but for all of our children and grandchildren. Article 1 of the Declaration of Rights says all people are free and born equal and have inalienable rights to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties. Article 6 provides that no man has any title to obtain exclusive privileges from the community. Article 7 says government is for the common good. I cannot deny the right of marriage. Think about this in the human terms of our lives. We need to be better than we ever were in the past. I wore a pin today designed by women jailed as part of the suffrage movement.
At 11:49 pm, Rep. Pedone said the chair has been recognizing all opponents of this amendment. Is the chair going to recognize a sponsor like the gentleman from Worcester to speak on this amendment?
Sen. Travaglini said I have a list of speakers. The observation is not entirely accurate. Two people have yielded their time to other colleagues. I am unaware of even the identity of some of your colleagues and I apologize. If I don’t know who they are I don’t know where they stand and you are trying to tell me where they sit. [Laughter]
Rep. Knuuttila said point of personal privilege. Rep. Knuuttila from Gardner. Thank you. A determination if you will by the chair for my edification sir, will there be any votes between now and adjournment at midnight in your determination?
Sen. Travaglini said we are discussing a complicated and personal matter. We have been here for the last two days. If you evaluate our progress, realizing we have five minutes to go, I don’t suspect we will involve ourselves in any vote.
Rep. Casey said point of parliamentary inquiry. Could you please oblige this august body as to what list and who might be on it?
Sen. Travaglini said no.
Rep. Blumer said thank you. It was 11:52 pm. I represent Framingham.
Rep. Teahan said will the lady yield? She did.
Rep. Teahan said it’s very appropriate that I stand to discuss marriage. Today is my 33rd wedding anniversary. [Members stood and applauded] My husband and I took our vows in Whitman and at that time my husband was 50 and I was 23. No one thought it would work. They said this is not normal. At that time my husband had been engaged to someone else and I was also. For some reason we met and we came together.
Sen. Travaglini asked the members to quiet down. It’s her wedding anniversary. If that isn’t reason enough. After 33 years, you have earned the right to be listened to and responded to.
Rep. Teahan said when my husband was 8 his father died and his mother raised his brother, his sister and him and she didn’t have a partner for the rest of his life. My husband left coaching and teaching to become a legislator. He took some difficult votes and he voted for rights for gays and lesbians between 1973 and 1976. That was not an easy vote for him to take. When my husband left the chamber in 1976, he worked for the Patriots and scouted on the East Coast. He died when he was scouting part time. What I remember from all the comment when he passed away, it was not thank you for being a wonderful coach or for the lectures, it was thank you for helping me realize I could be an important person in the world. I want to be able to live with my vote and be proud of what we do in this chamber. I love the people from my district. They feel my vote will not let them vote. It is not that simple. The framers realized that constitutional changes needed to be thought out carefully. This is the first step, a decision after a long deliberation. I have to vote what is in my heart.
IT’S MIDNIGHT: Sen. Travaglini said the clerk informs me it is midnight. Is there objection to proceeding. There were numerous objections voiced.
CONVENTION RECESSES: Sen. Travaglini at midnight said the convention stands in recess until March 11 at 2 pm.