Rep. Tom Golden

STATE CAPITOL BRIEFS – AFTERNOON EDITION – WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2014
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

GAS LEAK FIX BILL CLEARS HOUSE
Predicting positive public safety, environmental and economic impacts, the Massachusetts House unanimously approved legislation Wednesday aimed at repairing and replacing leaky underground natural gas pipes.   There was no debate prior to the 142-0 vote to accept the bill, which was released Monday by a six-member conference committee and could surface for a vote in the Senate on Thursday.   Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee Co-chairman Rep. John Keenan said the bill would lead to ratepayer savings by preventing gas worth millions of dollars from being wasted, cut down on environmental degradation caused by methane gas releases, and improve public safety by reducing the risks posed by the most hazardous leaky pipes.  Keenan said the bill also included mechanisms to facilitate more widespread distribution of natural gas to areas where oil customers may wish to convert to gas, which he said is less expensive.  Referencing a deadly natural gas explosion earlier this year in Harlem, N.Y., Keenan said, “First and foremost this is a public safety bill.”   Massachusetts, Keenan said, has 5,000 miles of “leak-prone pipe.”  In talks with Senate negotiators, lawmakers agreed to a “soft deadline” of about 20 years to complete the replacement and repair of the 5,000 miles of pipe and to make sure state regulators conduct a review “so it’s not too impactful on our ratepayers," Keenan said. – M. Norton/SHNS

UMASS PANEL RECOMMENDS TUTION AND FEE FREEZE
A University of Massachusetts board of trustees subcommittee on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for a freeze in tuition and mandatory fees for students across the system’s five campuses. The Finance Committee voted unanimously to freeze the student expenses after they say the House and Senate made good on a commitment to reach a 50-50 funding split between the university and the state in the annual budget for fiscal 2015 that is still being negotiated. Both versions of the state budget now in conference contain funding for UMass at just under $519 million, though it remains unclear whether lawmakers will appropriate sufficient funding to convince leaders of other public universities to also freeze tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year. According to UMass, tuition and mandatory students fees for in-state undergraduate students at UMass Amherst would be frozen at $13,258, with the total cost of attending college on the flagship campus with room and board totaling $24,215. Tuition and fees would also be frozen at $11,966 at UMass Boston, $11,681 at UMass Dartmouth, and $12,447 at UMass Lowell. The full board of trustees is expected to vote on tuition rates on June 18 when it meets in Dartmouth. – M. Murphy/SHNS