Special to the Patriot-Bridge
State Representative Dan Ryan (D-Charlestown) was recently appointed Chairman of the significant Joint Committee on Public Service by Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy). This assignment follows Ryan’s effective service as Chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws over the past two sessions from 2020-2024.
During Ryan’s tenure at Election Laws, he was charged with passing the VOTES Act, a comprehensive bill that made permanent COVID-Era election reforms that were deemed effective as well as popular among the vast majority of voters. Some of these changes include ensuring an expanded and consistent early voting period, permanent no-excuse mail-in voting, and requiring the Commonwealth to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to keep up-to-date voter rolls, among other items.
This week, under Ryan’s leadership, his new committee began hearing the well over five hundred bills it will be assigned by the end of this session. The Public Service Committee is critical to the function of state government, primarily ensuring that our public employee and civil service systems remain viable, fair, and responsive to the tax-paying public who rely on those services:
“It shall be the duty of the committee on Public Service to consider all matters concerning the salaries, civil service and retirement of public employees (including the retirement of judges, court personnel and county employees but excluding the salaries of said judges, court personnel and county employees), collective bargaining for state employees and other public employees and such other matters as may be referred.” (from malegislature.gov)
Ryan was sworn into his fifth full-term this past January as the Representative of the and Suffolk District, which now includes parts of Everett, Cambridge, and his hometown neighborhood of Boston, Charlestown, as well as precincts in the West Fenway/Kenmore/Audubon Circle and Allston neighborhoods of Boston. When reached to discuss the assignment, Ryan responded with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency.
“First, I want to thank Speaker Mariano once again for entrusting me with a position of importance within his legislative team”, Ryan graciously acknowledged before explaining his view on the n new role. “I come from a long line of dedicated public servants: firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and administrators. At a time when our federal government has turned its focus inward to look for enemies of the state, we must provide a forum for the dedicated men and women in our Commonwealth to demonstrate to the rest of the world how a government of the people truly works to provide a healthy, educated, and safe society. Massachusetts has a strong commitment to good government as a partner in a growing economy. We strive to ensure folks providing the public service piece of our collective are fairly compensated in a sustainable manner”.
Ryan acknowledged there is a steep learning curve to this new assignment, as there are many technical aspects to the pension and civil service systems that will fall under the committee’s purview. “I look forward to this assignment. As a believer in strong government as the backbone of a functioning society, I am ready to do a deep dive into the mechanics of how our Commonwealth sustains a robust workforce and retirement system”.
At the time of this writing, the first hearing for the Joint Committee on Public Service was being held at the State House on Monday, April 14. To find hearing schedules and to watch streams of past and future hearings, please visit: www.malegislature.gov