The public hearing for the statewide “dark-sky bills” (S.1937 / H.2858) took place on May 30th before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, which is co-chaired by Sen. Mike Barrett and Rep. Tom Golden.

The hearing went very well! Three members of IDA’s MA chapter testified: James Lowenthal (Smith College), Tim Brothers (MIT Wallace Observatory), and Kelly Beatty (representing New England Light Pollution Advisory Group). Leo Smith, who heads IDA New England, drove up from Connecticut to testify about the multiple rounds of outdoor-lighting legislation passed in that state since 2000. Thanks, Leo!

Robert Kearns (Sierra Club MA) testified in support, as did someone from Acadia Center (a climate/efficiency nonprofit here in the Northeast).

Sen. Barrett was very engaged and asked good questions. Sen. Cynthia Creem, our bill’s Senate sponsor and a member of the Joint Committee, wasn’t present, but she called Sen.  Barrett to voice her full support for the bill. Catherine Anderson, our principal contact in Creem’s office, took a snapshot during the hearing and posted it on Twitter.

In addition, written testimony has been (or will be) submitted by IDA Headquarters (John Barentine), American Medical Association (Mario Motta), Appalachian Mountain Club, and Mass Audubon. Ariela Lovett, a policy coordinator from the highly influential Massachusetts Municipal Association, attended the hearing — we’re hopeful that MMA will file testimony in support soon.

We also have been in frequent contact with Magdalena Garncarz, a staffer who has helped raise the bill’s visibility within the Committee. So every indication is positive — no one has opposed the bill — and we’re hopeful that the bills will be reported out favorably and move to Ways & Means in the coming weeks.

If anyone has a state rep/senator who has co-sponsored the bill, it would be a big help to ask him/her to contact the Joint Committee to voice continued support. You’ll find the legislative cosponsors on the first page of the Senate and House versions of the bill.