001[Music] hello I'm Jack Patrick Lewis state representative here in Ashland also one of the state in Framingham and welcome to Beacon Hill briefings today this show is also being recorded for wca's podcasts so it's also available if you want a break from looking at our faces on video uh this audio podcast is available on Spotify YouTube and waca TV radio today I'm being joined by one of my colleagues in the legislature uh representative Brian Murray Brian thank you so much for joining us thank you Jack it's nice to be here again it's great to have you you reminded me that uh I had you on the show before the pandemic uh I guess it was I mean so much of our life revolves around covid preco that type of thing but yes I was here
002uh the studio looked a little bit differently so you've made some upgrades for my return the studio has changed but you and I haven't aged a day uh I won't go back to to verify that you and I came in actually the same day to the legislature uh we're just finishing up our fourth term our 8 years uh By the time this airs I'll be able to say congratulations on your re-election uh and we'll be starting our fifth term together January 1st looking back what are you most proud of over the last eight years serving the legislature other than the great opportunity to serve with me yeah um yeah it's interesting when you think about that and and try to be retrospective I mean I've certainly enjoyed the job uh coming into it um you
003know there were a lot of things I really didn't know what to expect to be honest with you my background was primarily on the municipal end of things I went into the State House very very infrequently um so so that was was kind of a whole exposure but I think and you know I think we've all been involved in in bills significant or insignificant but I I got to tell you the thing that really I get the most satisfaction out of and it's helping constituents and you know we've got we go through the same thing uh during covid primarily uh the unemployment claims with through the roof and during those times people uh their their their very livelihoods are at stake and everything seems so hopeless they can't get in touch with anyone to try
004to deal with state agencies is horrible and um it's it's very gratifying and has been I think to help these people and some of the email responses that you get the the the thanks that you get you know that that you know that you've truly made a difference whether it's dealing with you know do the RMV um Dua I mean you know just just pick one um that that to me really daytoday has been the most satisfying part of the work so if somebody lives in Milford Hopedale or menen yes I get the communities right yes you're their state route that's correct and if they have any issues with anything remotely connected to the state reach out to you uh and I always joke that there's no magic wand in our desk drawer but most
005of the time if folks are you know entitled to certain benefits if if they've lost their jobs or are struggling with something related to Mass health we can make sure they they get a phone call that somebody gets back to them uh it's unfortunate sometimes that legislators have to intervene to get people the the support they need uh but I know your office all of our offices are always willing willing to do that yeah and you know that guidance even you know supersedes that I mean recently one of my Town's Highway surveyors you know wanted uh wanted some direction on how to do a truck exclusion on a roadway so I mean I've had familiarity with that so I was able to send off the process and outline it for for him and and it
006just continues like that so so yes you do the personal benefit to the actual personal constituent but to the municipalities there there's a lot of guidance that's given as well and then there are those requests that we never would would have imagined on the campaign trail that we would have received uh where even when we check in with colleagues people maybe don't have an experience with such a request but you lean on each other you reach out to the appropriate agencies uh and you you get an answer uh and I think you like most of us are willing to acknowledge what you know and the areas where we could always learn more oh absolutely and you know that that's been probably you know a differentiating part of the job as well um because coming uh
007as an attorney and you know I've been in private practice for 37 years but also from the missile background things are are fairly straightforward most of the time now in this particular job you know you really have to know a little bit about a lot if if if that makes sense the the the breath of issues that we get presented with sometime even shock me it's like my goodness I I I don't know anything about this you know so so so that's kind of been been an eyeopener as well and then of course we get the things where we can do absolutely nothing about they want us to vote something in Congress and I have to get back to them and say I I don't go to Congress uh that's someone else um so so
008so you deal with that also yes and then there are the requests that don't we can't directly do something but uh if it's a local issue be put in touch with a city councelor a select board member uh if it's a passport issue or or um an immigration issue the the Congressional team or one of the US US senators uh can can take the lead on that and I I always joke that when I wake up and roll out of bed as I walk to the coffee machine I start checking emails like 5:30 in the morning and I I can never anticipate what the email is going to be because every day is a little different absolutely uh and every day there are emails that come through asking or advocating for things that the 6,000
009emails that came before them didn't even get close to uh and it keeps us on our toes you served you mentioned in local government beforehand what were you what did you do uh locally before um I was first elected to the Milford school committee in 1989 okay I served there until 2001 and at that point I moved to the select board uh I had just gotten reelected in April of 2016 when the prior state representative announced that he was not going to be running again so the time frame you know we have to get our signatures in by April 30th so that gave me about three weeks to decide number one do I want to do this thing and number two how do I do this thing so um I jumped right into that and
010you know we got elected in 2016 um I resigned I stayed on as select uh as a select board member uh until the next annual election which was April so when we were sworn in January of 17 I was doing double duty just until April um and now you know I've closed my private practice and I have a uh part-time appointment as Town Council for the town of Milford so that's been a new and interesting experience for me as well I'm always curious uh colleagues who come in and they've been on the school committee or select board so they're used to being one of five or one of eight or somewhere around there and then all of a sudden they're one of 160 in the house one of 200 in the Massachusetts legislature and they're
011the newest uh person and watching folks no matter what their background is sort of come to terms with there are similarities and it is a very different animal at the same time it really is and I remember John Fernandes the the the the prior representative who was a good friend of mine and we served on the school committee together we talked about this he said this is a totally different job and you know I just echoed that uh a couple of months ago dealing with an issue with the RMV and what they're trying to do to commercial driver's license which caused me to file a bill um and and and I just said it again you know this job is so different from serving on the municipalities because like you say when you're on aard
012our select board is three members so you know if something needs to get done you can probably put it together pretty easily in in our job now there's a vast sea of stakeholders both elected and unelected and each one has particular ideas opinion input Etc and a lot of that has to be weaved through uh dealt with uh to really try to make progress particularly on a bill but even if you're trying to facilitate something as well I uh we sometimes hear complaints that and it's hard I'll only speak for myself and not not put words in your mouth but that somehow the legislature moves too slowly but it also doesn't compromise enough and that we need greater diversity of voices but we also need to move faster and it's to pass something in the
013house as as this is the case in every state a bill has to pass the house and the senate in ident language and has to be signed by the governor and then potentially you know overriding uh the governor's veto that takes time uh and even though there are a lot more Democrats than Republicans we have conservative Democrats we have Progressive Republic we have a a variety of colleagues who all do their best to represent their districts and Menan is very different than Ashland which is very different than Arlington uh but at the end of the day we need to get a majority in the house and the Senate to agree to something and then the governor to also agree to it and so to do things right to truly compromise sometimes the final product isn't
014something where I agree with 100% of what's in there and sometimes it just takes more time than those of us who who want great change oh I know and that's you know I mean you just basically outline the Democratic process yes and and and that's what we operate under and you know I deal with it and I'm sure you do too to constituents who feel very strongly about a particular issue are absolutely certain that this is the way to go it needs to be done no one in fact would disagree with them and then when I meet with those folks and I explain to them um we have a democratic process we have public hearings stakeholders from all areas in this particular uh uh point that you're talking about have opinions ideas and and and
015need to be part of the conversation so you think that this is a great Bill and it certainly may be but someone who doesn't would say X Y and Z and that needs to be wound into the process and sometimes it it takes people back a little bit like oh okay yeah well all right I can see that I said so then meanwhile that has to weave through the process that you've just outlined in terms of the public committee uh the public hearing rather at the committee level uh probably multiple committees um and and then you know a full house senate and Governor so so yeah that that's the process we operate under but you know as I outline it to folks it's like you feel a certain a certain way about something and that's
016fine there are other people who feel differently these are their reasons This Is What comes forth and I found when you give people information um when you give them um some some beef to to to the issue uh there they're definitely more understanding of it I uh I think the other thing that I'd like to reflect on with constituents uh is around the end of the legislative process like at the end of the day we have a bill before us and and if the bill came from conference committee there's nothing we can do to amend it it is literally an up or down vote and as legislators I just came off of a campaign myself some of the things that were used against me were pieces of bills that I never agreed with but at
017the end of the day if 95% of what I'm fighting for makes it into a bill uh and 5% is something I disagree with that's an a uh and that's a really good day as a legislator uh and so it's just it's so interesting trying to to balance the reality of how a bill actually becomes a law if we were more creative and had great voices we could record a Schoolhouse Rock video about how it actually works uh but at the end of the day we're going to vote on things and uh we're going to have a record that's peppered with things that we 100% support and they're going to be I I point to almost every single Bill we've passed sentences or paragraphs where you know if I had the magic wand and I
018was a constituent of one and the the the the sole voice maybe I would do it differently but to your point for every email we get in favor of something we often get an email and opposition uh at the end of the day we have to vote and every time we take a vote it makes one group of people very happy and another group of people very angry and most of the time a much larger group of people who are just maybe not aware uh because media doesn't cover most of what we do uh I was going to ask you your favorite part in your District but I think that's unfair because you love all of your communities the same you love all of the businesses in your communities the same uh but I will
019admit I almost only go to your District to go to the men and Drive-In uh and I remember learning like not only that Menon was near Milford uh but every time my family goes down and spends money at the drive-in it feels like we're going back in time to the 50s but it also feels good because I can I can drop some money uh in your District yeah no a great attraction the men and driving it's been around oh gosh I mean I grew up in Milford it's been around as long as I can remember I mean I remember going there when I was in high school with my friends and a and a date and back then um you don't you're too young but but you had the big gray metal speaker which was
020hanging on a post and you had to take it and put your window up because you rolled your window and and this this metal thing kind of hung on your window and and that's the sound that you got you know from from the drive-in so you know that business has persevered it's changed it's adapted over time and uh it's still an attraction and there aren't many drive-ins uh left certainly in the Commonwealth so it's really nice to have that in the district and to have it down the road from where you live and even for me I yeah 35 minutes to go to the drive-in we can do it and growing up in the 80s in Ohio my first drive-in experiences were the thing in the window oh okay so you I miss it because
021you know every time you go to drivein somebody's car you know you have to leave the radio going and somebody's car needs to be jumped and the great folks that men and Drive-In come out and they they uh they'll help you get underway uh but if I were you I'd probably never leave the drive-in and not accomplish as much as much as you have uh you've been legislature for eight years you currently serve as the uh Vice chair of the the house Vice chair on The Joint Committee of Transportation uh and then you also serve on ways and means uh healthare Finance there's a couple more but I'll just say for your constituents who are listening who maybe those those committees don't mean as much as as to some as they would to others you're
022a vice chair and you also serve on probably the most important committees that you could Ways and Means and Healthcare Finance uh can you tell us a little bit about what it means to serve on those committees uh but also to be the vice chair of Transportation yeah so um um I didn't realize that during our first term and and if you remember we had some reps that came in midterm or something and I got the call from leadership and they said you know we have to take you off one of these committees because you know you you're on more committees than anybody and at that point I was on global warming uh house ways and means general Ways and Means uh Revenue I didn't even know so I said fine you know whatever you
023want to do is fine um this this particular session um I I've enjoyed it a lot lot you know being a vice chair on Transportation um I've really found that it's the type of thing that has issues that I can relate to it it really deals with practical problems um practical problems that really need short-term and long-term attention um I've been fortunate to serve under an excellent chairman uh Bill Strauss out of matap poet who oh my gosh and and I know I'll get this wrong but I think he's been chair for over 25 years I I know been in the in the state house for a number of years so uh he's not running again um we're going to be losing a wealth of information and experience uh from chair Strauss but um I
024I I have benefited certainly from from his leadership uh developed contacts with the MBTA uh Mass Highway um the registry of motor vehicles um had a tremendous learning experience in terms of how those entities operate the issues that they have uh I'm still member of as you indicated The Joint Committee on healthc care financing which has handled all of the major legislation dealing with the healthc care industry uh which you know is facing some serious serious issues even beyond the Stewart Hospital uh private Equity Fiasco um there are a number of bills that are pending right now House and Senate versions dealing with the prescription drugs um um Healthcare uh Healthcare reform that uh hopefully we'll get resolution on before the term ends because it is important legislation I also serve on the economic development
025and emerging Technologies committee which I've had since uh since the start uh that's a great committee I really enjoy that as well again some of the issues that we deal with in terms of um the life sciences industry and and other uh new industries that that have issues and are looking for for assistance and Aid that legislation has been very very interesting to me so I mean I've enjoyed the committee work um I always make it a point to attend the public hearings um you know we all have different obligations and and it's and it's tough to make those but I find that you really learn a lot being at the public hearings and listening to the legislation that gets presented so every bill that's filed uh and for folks tuning in if a bill
026is filed by a certain day in a session it's guaranteed a hearing and a hearing means that anyone in the Commonwealth can come into the room or come in virtually to speak for typically it's three minutes but sometimes if it's like a 12-h hour hearing they'll limit it to two minutes and so residents have that ability to do that on any bill they want and every Bill no matter the topic has an opportunity for a public hearing which is something I don't think we talk about enough uh the legislative process can be a complicated one but it is very clear and I think there's a lot of transparency about you know bills are filed bills get a hearing folks know the role they can play and of course at any time folks can reach out
027to their State Rep or state senator to advocate for a bill uh but each bill is assigned to a committee based on its topic and then that committee makes the decision of if it moves forward uh looking back over the last how has it been eight years but somehow eight years uh both of us in the legislature what are some of the the bills that stand out that you're most proud of passing I I don't know that's that's tough to gauge I mean certainly we've had some major legislation on some of the bills that I've sponsored I mean most recently I mean in the um long-term care bill I was able to get the uh certified medical AIDS uh bill in as an amendment on that that came to me from the uh nursing home
028industry um essentially dealing with Workforce shortages particularly in the nursing area so the idea is to have these certified medication AIDs that can administer medication to to to the patients to the residents um and kind of um offset a little bit of the responsibility of of nurses um and and and kind of get maybe more bang for their buck in terms of the workforce so so so that was was nice to get in there um you know in terms of the veterans context uh under the medal of Liberty I I was able to get um the law passed so that the medal of Liberty is not only given to family members of veterans who were killed in action but also veterans who died in training exercises so often times you you read about Unfortunate Events
029where a marine uh stat side uh training um may have lost his life in a helicopter crash or or whatever it is uh at that point they had not been eligible for the medal but um I I didn't think that that was fair and a lot of folks didn't as well so that that was um very gratifying in the sense I got to work alongside with the National Guard the agitant general and his staff and um at that time Governor Baker was was in place uh he came up with the medal of fidelity so it it that was quite a process and and that was nice to get in as well each of those bills were important folks had worked on them you invested more time than I think folks realized to get them across
030the Finish Line I doubt any of them made it to the front page of the Milford paper and so I think that's one of the things too that takes him getting used to with his job that we can inv invest eight years of our time focusing on an issue that's helping countless folks but it's hard to put what you just said in a social media post uh like you can try and you do we all do but it doesn't have the same uh connection to folks in the same way that an old-fashioned newspaper headline would uh and because now we pass fewer small bills and now more larger bills that have bills contained within them uh which I think is efficient and you know people need to I think media needs to collectively take a
031deep breath and realize that one bill that's 500 pages can actually have way more in it than 20 bills that are only a page each uh but it's then hard to show hey look this is this whole page of this bill is something I've worked on uh because there are 500 pages of other things that other folks have worked on uh but I think your focus on your community uh veterans the the workforce shortage has not gone unnoticed uh in the legislature and we're not done yet uh we still have three more months at the point of filming here yes uh we're going to get some more things across the Finish Line uh and you have an election running un opposed so congratulations thank you January 1st you and I will be sworn in for
032our fifth term uh and immediately we then have to file bills uh for the new two-year term tell us a little bit about what you're working on and what you think you might want to focus on yeah so so I think uh and and you know as well certainly after the election but you know before like you indicated New Year's Day that holiday time period That's traditionally been the area the time period where I've kind of thought about things and kind kind of um re-evaluated what what I do have in on the table that you know may not have passed so that'll be the first thing that I'm looking at there are a couple of bills that you know I feel um strongly about but I've got to talk to The Advocates to see if
033they want to go forward on them um so so the first thing I think we kind of do at least I do and I'm sure you do as well kind of evaluate what we what we have out there outstanding and then going forward you know what what needs to be uh addressed that that that's approached towards so I mean I actually have a couple of Transportation bills that I've been working with the the chairman on and the staff um to try to maintain some continuity on the committee um in terms of going forward for for bills that got passed uh but got submitted but not passed but are definitely going to come back next session um so I'll be looking to handle a couple of those um I just talked to one of The Advocates
034that deal with the U elder law attorneys um they have a couple of bills that they're looking at in terms of durable power of attorneys and and and those types of things that the gravitation I guess and and I think this has just happened organically but I guess the gravitation that I have to these more technical bills that are very very important to a segment of people but they're very very difficult to to try to explain um broadly and it's not the the the climate bill you know what I mean but you know a particular bill I have is how Mass health prices a life estate for a family that has someone in long-term care it's a huge issue in that field um so so I guess I've kind of gravitated to that area and
035it's those kinds of bills that that I look at what one of the other bills that I was lucky to get passed through the housing Bond bill was uh a very very um important bill in terms of simplifying how to get real estate out of the registered land section of the registry again this is not glamorous stuff uh but it's highly Technical and I was able to to work with the real estate ba and also the house Judiciary Committee which you know CH day is excellent his staff is excellent and and and we got that passed um so very very important to the real estate community so so I I guess like I said Jack I mean I haven't really thought about it but it seems like those are the kind of ones that I
036gravitate toward it that it makes sense and you've had success uh so it makes sense to continue continue down that road uh our time has gone by very quickly uh and in closing looking back over the last eight years just curious is there anything you wish you would have known in the beginning any decision you made that you wish in hindsight you could have done differently uh regrets we've all had a few uh well I think back on I didn't even know how to get in the building you know when I first got elected I hadn't been in the state house so long but I mean I think you understand because you're in a decision-making uh uh position as as as I am and you know I think everything we do is evaluative you know
037um so everything that we make motion on you know similar situations arise later on and I think we look back and evaluate what we've done well let me see I did this that way I did that I talked to this one did let me let you know I should be doing this so you know I don't know that it's anything that's that Stark that black and white but it's all an evaluation process of what I have done or what we have done and as we go forward how we can perfect uh what we've done I good advice to be reminded of uh as one of your colleagues as well uh oh since I asked you the question I'll I'll I'll answer it as well just to be fair I think when you come in you
038don't necessarily you don't know most of your colleagues uh and we all have did other things beforehand but no system is quite like the state house and you quickly realize that nothing happens in a vacuum nothing happens alone it's not great speeches or tweets or social media post uh it's not praise from a loud group of people that gets anything accomplished it's relationships and collaboration and you a lot of compromise as well uh and I for one wish I would have learned that earlier uh because you come in you're excited you come off the campaign Trail and you then have to quickly realize that there were people who were doing doing this work before you and after you and I are put out to pasture there will still be people continuing to do this work
039uh and I like to think now we play a role for the time we have uh to advance it as far down the field as as we can uh but you know bringing some humility into the job I think goes a long way and acknowledging that some of the stuff we spend a lot of time working on is dismissed by a lot as minutia or behind the scenes but it it changes lives uh and until you need government to play a role a very specific role in your life maybe you don't think about what what it means to have a family member on Mass health who is going into long-term care uh Brian it is an honor to serve with you to have been sworn in with you eight years ago uh to be a
040Metro West rep with you uh I'll keep going down to your District I'll try to spend more money in some of the other parts not just not just Menan uh but thank you so much again for making the time to come to Ashland to come on the show uh to share with my constituents and the greater region uh the great work you're doing great thank you enjoyed it as always for those tuning in at home uh until next time