PAX Centurion - November / December 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • November/December 2015 • Page 17 BPPA passes first bill!!! Heard on the Hill: Lawrence A. Calderone, BPPA Legislative Agent Attention To all members of the Boston Police Relief Association – Active Duty or Retired If you need to change your beneficiary or you are not sure of who your beneficiary is you can contact the relief office at 617-364-9565. If you leave amessage your callwill be returnedand if necessary thepaperworkwill be sent out to you. Thank you. William F. Carroll, Clerk, Boston Police Relief Association I ’m proud to report that Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association has passed its first Bill into law! House Bill #2339, AnAct Allowing theAppointment of Retired Boston Police Officers as Special Officers to Perform Police Details, had been vetoed by Governor Charlie Baker because of a language concern flagged by the Federal Department of Labor. Looking out for the better welfare of the Commonwealth, the bill was sent back to the House of Representatives by Governor Baker to fix the problem, along with his “strong letter of support” for a quick refile. A short time later, the House of Representatives and the Sen- ate, voted to “override” the Governor’s veto and place the language change into the supple- mental budget (HB # 3829) where it has also now become law. The final result allows the Police Commissioner of the City of Boston to appoint retired Boston Police Officers as “Special Officers” to per- form Paid Details on Boston roadways. We owe a great deal of thanks to all of our elected officials. Governor Baker, Mayor MartyWalsh, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, thought long and hard on ways to help the BPPA get this new law on the books without starting the lengthy process all over again. ThankYou!! We also can't say enough thank you’s to Representative Dan Hunt and Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, for their tireless effort to get this bill passed and into law for us. Without their determination, knowledge, and work ethic, we may still be looking and waiting for this to happen. Please take a moment this holiday season to pick up the phone (or if you see them in your neighborhoods) and call both of these elected officials and let them know how much we appreciate their hard work and support for our Membership. They truly deserve our gratitude. Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention Representatives Nick Collins, Dan Ryan, and Russell Holmes who all signed on as petitioners of the bill and have been very supportive to our concerns throughout the year. Next, we were extremely successful with our endorsements of this year’s Boston City Council Election, theWeymouth Mayoral Elec- tion, and earlier in the year, our support of newly-elected Representa- tive of East Boston, Adrian Madaro. The BPPA is on a roll!! With the assistance and approval of our House of Representatives, we formulated a new questionnaire that was sent to all candidates seeking our endorsement. I am very happy to report that six of the seven candidates we endorsed this past November were elected to public office. Congratulations to City Councilors at-Large Annissa Essaibi-George, Michael Flaherty, and MichelleWu; District City Councilors Frank Baker and TimMcCarthy; and newly-elected Mayor of Weymouth, Senator Robert Hedlund. We look forward to working closely with all of them as we begin 2016. While on the election topic, I'd like to thank all of the BPPA Representatives and members who have been attending fundraisers, standouts, and other political events with me this past year. Part of our success can be attributed to our presence at these events. Throughout the year, more and more of our members have been attending political events in the City of Boston and the Commonwealth. Our show of strength and unity has been noticed and well-received by elected officials who are eager to be our friends and work with us on important issues. Please continue to attend these events as we are gaining momentum and display- ing how important it is to receive the endorse- ment of the BPPA. I strongly encourage others to join us in the future and continue to show our solidarity and strength! In closing, congrat- ulations to the BPPA Leadership! It's been one full year since their election to office. We have all worked very hard throughout the year and everyone should be proud! There's so many things we could talk about; from providing the food truck at numerous charity and family events, clearing up grievances, celebrating our fifty year anniversary, continuing with bargaining issues, implementing monthly training seminars for the House of Reps, the purchasing of our new building at 295 Freeport Street in Dorchester, the passage of our first bill through the Legislature, to our strong financial position, but instead, I'll just say congratulations to everyone for the many accomplishments throughout our first year. I am extremely proud to be a member of this team and to serve the membership of the BPPA! I am looking forward to the future. I would like to wish the entire membership and their families a happy holiday season and a safe NewYear!