State rep. Tommy Vitolo briefs Select Board on Brookline home-rule petitions, urges focus on which to refile

Representative Tommy Vitolo briefed the Brookline Select Board on Feb. 4 about the town’s recent home-rule petitions, describing which items passed, which did not and how the refiling process works at the state legislature.

Vitolo said Brookline filed 16 petitions in the last legislative session and passed one — an Article 97 home-rule petition allowing geothermal work at Pierce School that required a two-thirds legislative majority and tight deadlines. He thanked town staff, the town administrator, the Select Board and the town’s legislative partners for shepherding that item through at the last hour of session.

Vitolo reviewed how home-rule petitions work: they are legislation that applies specifically to a single municipality, and they are filed either in the state House or Senate. He said many petitions fail because they have statewide implications or exceed the traditional scope of local exceptions. He explained that if a petition fails at the legislature once, the Select Board can send a letter with the town seal to request refiling; if a petition has been filed and failed twice, it cannot be refiled without a new town-meeting vote.

He urged the Select Board to review the packet of petitions and recommend which have a realistic chance of passage before town staff and legislative partners allocate time to refile them. Vitolo said the choice to refile is an action of the Select Board, not automatic. He also said that while some petitions may be appropriate only for Brookline, others could be subsumed into future statewide legislation.

Select Board members asked that Vitolo explain the differences between items that reached a “third reading” and those that were “sent to study.” Vitolo responded that, for home-rule petitions in particular, the procedural label (third reading, study, etc.) does not reliably predict ultimate enactment, and the key test is whether the content is unique to Brookline or could reasonably be statewide policy.

Vitolo said he and Senator Senator (name referenced in packet) divide filing responsibilities for Brookline petitions and welcome Select Board guidance on which to pursue. He offered to answer questions and to appear at town meeting or other forums to explain the process to town-meeting members if the board wishes.

The briefing concluded with Select Board members asking staff to review the petition list and return with recommendations on which petitions the board should ask the legislature to refile.