BOSTON- Senator Sal DiDomenico recently received the 2017 Public Official award from VinFen Family Advisory Council, a leading provider of community-based services to people with psychiatric conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and behavioral health challenges. The Senator received this award during VinFen’s annual dinner in Norwood, surrounded by hundreds of families, direct care workers, and community leaders.

“I would like to sincerely thank VinFen for presenting me with this award,” said Senator DiDomenico. “It was an honor to be recognized by such a distinguished organization that has been dedicated to positively transforming lives for over 40 years. I am proud to support their mission through our work in the Massachusetts Senate.”

The award was presented to Senator DiDomenico for his recognition of the human and civil rights of constituents with intellectual, psychiatric and other disabilities, promotion of legislation that reinforces and respects those rights, and his support Vinfen's mission to help transform lives together.

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BOSTON – Senator Sal DiDomenico and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate passed recently passed Senate Bill 2168, An Act Relative to Handicapped Parking. S.2168 combats handicapped parking fraud and implements the recent recommendations addressing this important public safety issue from the Office of the Inspector General of Massachusetts.

“The chronic misuse of handicap placards is reprehensible, as it keeps individuals with disabilities from finding much-needed accessible parking, said Senator DiDomenico. “By cracking down on offenders, this bill takes critical measures to reduce handicap parking fraud and help disabled residents throughout the Commonwealth.”

The 2016 Inspector General’s report entitled “The Abuse of Disability Parking Placards in Massachusetts” revealed rampant abuse of handicapped placards. The IG and State Police identified more than 300 cars that parked in downtown Boston using special parking identification placards issued to other people. The Office of the Inspector General has investigated the misuse of handicapped placards for 15 years and repeatedly found drivers using expired placards and placards that had been issued to individuals who had since died.

The bill changes powers and procedures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles to curtail handicap placard abuse. S.2168 empowers the RMV to require proper documentation before issuing a handicapped placard, and expands the RMV’s ability to detect and punish placard abuse. 

The bill imposes fines of $500 for a first offense and $1000 for a subsequent offense for those who lie to obtain or replace a handicapped placard; strengthens license-suspension for misusing a handicapped placard; creates a $100 fine for those who do not return a revoked or canceled handicapped placard; and allows for fines or imprisonment for those acting with intent to distribute placards illegally.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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Multiple devices found after Las Vegas mass shooting

BOSTON-Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate by voting to ban bump stock and trigger cranks and classify them under the same general law that governs machine guns.  The amendment establishes identical penalties, eighteen months to life in prison, for the use and possession of bump stocks and trigger cranks as current law holds for machine guns.

“The tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas exposed just how dangerous devices like bump stocks and trigger cranks can be,” said Senator DiDomenico. “There is no need for these devices, which is why the Senate has produced this much needed amendment that both protects the safety of our residents and ensures that there is adequate time for compliance with this change in the law. I am very proud of the action taken by my colleagues and I in the Senate, and I hope that similar legislation will soon be adopted on the federal level as well.” 

“Bump stocks and trigger cranks effectively change the nature of a semi-automatic weapon to make it into a machine gun.  There is no legitimate purpose for the use, sale, and possession of these devices other than to cause as much damage as possible,” said Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst).  “Taking this action today protects public safety, provides ample time for residents to comply, and establishes sufficient penalties for violations.”

The Senate’s bipartisan action means that those who are not appropriately licensed to possess devices that are in effect approximating a machine gun will be in violation of our state’s comprehensive firearms laws," said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester).  

The amendment also instructs the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to notify licensed owners and manufacturers of bump stocks and trigger cranks of the effective date of the changes.

Bump stocks use the recoil power of a weapon to effectively increase the rate of fire to make the gun a fully automatic assault weapon, which have been illegal in Massachusetts since 1994.  On Sunday October 1, fifty-eight people were murdered and hundreds injured by alleged killer Stephen Paddock at a Las Vegas country music festival.  Law enforcement found multiple bump stocks and trigger cranks in Paddock’s hotel room where the shooting originated.

The House of Representative passed a similar bump stock ban and the two versions will be reconciled before being sent to the Governor’s desk for his signature.

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