By Katie Curley
BOSTON — Just hours after the bill to appoint an interim senator was delivered to the Senate, Gloucester Republican Bruce Tarr moved to temporarily block the bill, buying more time for lawmakers to weigh the decision.
The delay came a day after the Massachusetts House voted 95-58 in favor of the bill Thursday night, with 42 House Democrats joining all 16 Republicans in opposition. West Newbury Democrat Harriett Stanley was the only member to vote "present," essentially abstaining from a vote.
Supporters, including House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat, said the change is needed to ensure Massachusetts continues to be represented by two senators until voters can choose a replacement in the special election.
Democrats changed the succession law in 2004 to create a five-month special election campaign and block then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, from naming a temporary replacement if Sen. John Kerry had won his presidential bid.
To change the law now that there is a Democrat in the governor's office smacks of hypocrisy, the GOP says. The special election campaign is underway, with party primaries scheduled for Dec. 8 and the special election set for Jan. 19.
Tarr raised the objection, saying he assumes Democratic leaders believe they have the votes to pass the bill, yet he still holds out hope enough Democrats may be swayed to vote against it.
"I think there is some doubt about the ultimate outcome. Clearly the vote in the House was not a completely partisan vote," he said. "I'm not sure that anyone has an accurate count on who is on the yes side and who is on the no side."
Republicans, who hold just five of 40 seats in the state Senate, objected to the bill being taken up without formal notice. Under Senate rules, the objection means the bill can't be debated until the next formal session.
Tarr said it was important for him to object to the bill as a way to ensure the process is slowed.
"It is being rushed through," Tarr said. "The pace needs to be deliberate and cautious because we are making a change that doesn't just affect our current situation but that of the indefinite future."
Tarr said it is fair to say he has deep reservations about passing a law to benefit one party.
"We can't change the law every time a different contingency arrives in political power," Tarr said. "We got the bill at noon, and it was supposed to be filed at 10 p.m. That's not enough time to look at it."
Tarr said that after reading through the bill's amendments yesterday afternoon, there is nothing he objects to and called the majority of the bill positive.
"I wanted the chance to think about it some more," Tarr said. "Slowing the pace makes sense, and after reading the bill, it is positive."
The body will next meet in a formal session on Monday. Senate President Therese Murray, a Democrat, has been tight-lipped about the bill's chances.
Kennedy, in a letter sent to lawmakers before his death, urged the change in law in letters to Patrick and legislative leaders shortly before his death last month of brain cancer.
He said, "It is vital for this commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens."
Besides President Obama and his team, others in Washington closely watching the debate include Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Massachusetts' all-Democratic delegation to the U.S. House.
Obama presidential counselor David Axelrod has contacted Massachusetts officials, and the Massachusetts branch of Obama's political arm, Organizing for America, has sent out e-mails advocating for the change.
The bill initially would have required the appointee be from the same party as the person who created the vacancy, a Democrat in the case of Kennedy's successor.
That requirement was stripped after critics in the House raised constitutional concerns and noted that more than half of voters in Massachusetts aren't enrolled in any party and would be barred from consideration.
Patrick has said he would extract from the appointee a promise not to be a candidate in the special election.
Gov. Deval Patrick said yesterday that Obama had personally talked to him about changing the Senate succession law in Massachusetts, and White House aides were pushing for him to gain the power to temporarily replace the Kennedy seat amid the administration's health care push.
A month after a White House spokesman labeled the issue a state matter, Patrick said he and Obama spoke about changing the law, as they both attended Kennedy's funeral in Boston last month. He also said White House aides have been in contact frequently ever since and pushing for the change so they can regain their filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.
"He and his whole team have been very clear about that," Patrick told reporters after holding a Cabinet meeting near his Berkshire Mountains vacation home.
"It's out there that the Senate president and the (House) speaker are trying to figure out whether this can be accomplished, and he fully understands, as do his aides, who I have talked to more about it, the importance of having the support for a change agenda down in Washington," Patrick added.
— Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
