UPDATES

FY2016 Budget Process

Mugar Development in Arlington

Mass Ave Reconstruction Update

• The week of June 1st: Signal foundations will be laid at the intersection of Teel St/Thorndike St/Mass Ave, sidewalks will be poured from Cleveland Street to Marathon Street, between Marion Street and Elmhurst Street, and between Amsden Street and Henderson Street, and sidewalks will be excavated between Marathon Street and Trowbridge Street.
• The week of June 8th: Sidewalks will be excavated and curbs reset from Henderson Street to the Alewife Brook Parkway as well as from Orvis Road to a stopping point opposite Oxford St., and underground work to support site lighting will take place from Orvis Road to Lake Street and from Marathon Street to Trowbridge Street.
• The week of June 15th: Sidewalk pouring will continue on the left side of Massachusetts Avenue to the Alewife Brook Parkway and sidewalks will be excavated and curbs reset from Egerton Road to the vicinity of Milton Street.

Legislation

• H1556: An Act providing further protection for Grand Jurors: Grand jurors have expressed dissatisfaction that they are only exempt from future service for the same amount of time (three years) as trial jurors, despite the significantly greater commitment required of grand jurors. This proposal expands the exemption period to six years. This bill also addresses concerns about retribution from their employers due to prolonged absence by amending amend the statute to require an explanation of employer civil and criminal liability in the materials provided to grand jurors.

• H1557: An Act to properly punish the solicitation of felony crimes: Currently in the Commonwealth, the crime of solicitation (encouraging someone else to commit a crime) is a misdemeanor, even when the crime being solicited is a felony. So, for example, solicitation to commit murder can only be prosecuted under the common law misdemeanor crime of "solicitation of a felony" which provides for a maximum penalty of no more than 2½ years in the house of correction.  This proposal tracks the conspiracy statute to provide appropriate penalties for solicitation based on the crime which is being solicited.  Our state supreme court touched on this issue in Commonwealth v. Barsell, 424 Mass. 737 (1997) (vacating state prison sentence for conviction for solicitation to commit murder, on grounds that solicitation is an offense at common law and thus merely a misdemeanor, and noting, “The task of revising the schedule of punishments, long overdue though it may be, must be undertaken by the Legislature.”). The Boston Globe recently published a piece about a case in which the changes proposed in this bill would be helpful.

• H1558: An Act to Define Inducing a Minor into Prostitution: In response to a 2011 Appeals Court decision, this bill provides a much needed clarification to this criminal statute by broadening the circumstances under which someone can be prosecuted for inducing a minor into prostitution. Currently G.L. c. 272, section 4A, reads in part that “whoever induces a minor to become a prostitute, or who knowingly aids and assists in such inducement, shall be punished...”  In 2011, the Appeals Court adopted a narrow interpretation of the words in the statute “become a prostitute” to mean that the prosecution would need to offer proof that the minor had never engaged in prostitution before.  The bill would eliminate this “defense” by amending the statute.  The bill replaces “induce a minor to become a prostitute” with “induce a minor to engage in or to agree to engage in or offer to engage in prostitution or in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee.”