hf 0904 Solomon Goldstein Rose by diane lederman.jpg

State Rep. Solomon Goldstein Rose. (Diane Lederman / The Republican File)

(Staff-Shot)

With thousands of bills filed for the 2017 state legislative session, Western Massachusetts lawmakers have been busy advancing their priorities. The bills will now go through a committee hearing process, and some will be considered by the full House and Senate. An even smaller number will make it into law.

Here's a look at a few of the bills filed by local lawmakers.

Ranked-choice voting

When Cambridge voters choose their city councilors, they do not mark just one choice on the ballot. Instead, they rank as many councilors as they want in order of preference. The winners are chosen through a system that involves counting first-choice rankings, eliminating the lowest performing candidate, then recounting until someone gets a majority of first-place votes.

This system takes into account not only someone's first choice, but potentially their second or third choices. So for example, a Republican running against two Democrats in a City Council race in a Democrat-dominated district would not necessarily win just because the Democrats were splitting the vote. Similar systems are used in a handful of countries and municipalities, although Maine is the only U.S. state to anticipate using ranked choice voting for the first time statewide in 2018.

State Rep. Solomon Goldstein-Rose, D-Amherst, is introducing a bill, HD.1148, An Act relative to election modernization, that will include a potpourri of election-related ideas, including a move to statewide ranked-choice voting. Goldstein-Rose acknowledged that he is introducing the bill "purely to get ideas on the table," not because he thinks it will pass.

But he said he thinks ranked-choice voting makes sense. It could eliminate the need for a state primary and eliminate the current system of one Democrat running against one Republican in the general election. "This would be huge in terms of reducing the partisan polarization we see nationally, because the election would be nonpartisan," Goldstein-Rose said.

Patent Trolling

State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, has introduced a bill -- SD.1109 An Act to protect innovation and entrepreneurship in the Commonwealth -- to prohibit the practice of "patent trolling." Patent trolling is a practice in which a company buys up patents, often from a bankrupt company, then earns money by suing companies for violating that patent. Patent trolls do not actually manufacture or research products -- they make money off of suing others for patent violations.

Lesser's bill would prohibit someone from "making a bad faith assertion of patent infringement" and would create a legal means for companies to defend themselves from patent suits.

Anyone making a significant investment in research and development, manufacturing or providing goods would not be affected by the bill.

The bill would provide a legal claim if someone claiming a patent violation fails to reveal who they are, fails to disclose what patent is being violated and how, and does not allow the recipient of a demand letter time to review and respond to the claims. Someone who violates the law could be subject to court fees and fines, including damages, court costs, and up to $50,000 or three times the total costs and damages.

Lesser said the bill is meant to target large companies that send out blanket cease and desist letters to small entrepreneurs, threatening a lawsuit and demanding a sum of money to drop the case. The charges, Lesser said, "are often unsubstantiated and meant to stifle innovation and prevent competition."

Criminal records

Currently, if the governor pardons someone for a crime, the offense still shows up on a person's criminal record. State Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, has sponsored a bill, S.871 An Act mandating that offenses for which a pardon has been granted be expunged from criminal offender record information reports, that would remove any offense for which someone receives a pardon from their record.

Pardons in Massachusetts are rare. Petitions for pardons are reviewed by the Massachusetts Parole Board, which makes a recommendation. They must then be granted by the governor and confirmed by the Governor's Council.

Hinds' bill comes amid a push by many senators to reform the criminal justice system and make it easier for former prisoners to reintegrate into society. Having a crime turn up on a criminal records check can jeopardize someone's chance at finding employment or housing.

Hinds' bill would eliminate any mention of the crime or pardon from a person's criminal record after a pardon is granted.