CHANGING THE RULES — Was the fallout from last year’s end-of-session struggle enough to push the House and Senate into alignment? Legislative leaders will soon face their first major test as they decide how to tweak their lawmaking process. The House is rolling out its full rules package for the two-year session Monday, but leaders previewed some of the changes they’re eyeing Thursday — all part of an effort to make the Legislature “more accessible and efficient,” according to a statement from House Speaker Ron Mariano. Whether or not lawmakers in each chamber can agree changes to their joint rules — they haven’t since 2019 — will set the stage for the rest of the session. Mariano struck an optimistic chord speaking with reporters Thursday. "I guess for the first time in a while, there's some agreement and understanding between us and the Senate that we want to make some changes," he said. But the changes each chamber wants to see aren’t identical. Where they’re in sync: The House, like the Senate, is calling for “plain language” summaries of bills, like the Senate did, but it wants them to be drafted by committee staff, rather than individual lawmakers. And the House is on board with a proposal long pushed in the Senate to make public lawmakers' committee votes, as well as a newer pitch to allow House and Sante co-chairs to poll members of their own chamber on their respective bills. Where they’re not: The two chambers diverged over the timeline for when bills should be reported out of committees. The Senate proposal called to move the bill reporting deadline (aka Joint Rule 10 day) up to the end of the first year of the two-year legislative session. The House is pitching a rule that would require bills to be reported out from committees 60 days after they have a hearing (with the possibility of a 30-day extension), with a “drop dead” date of March 30, after which There are “significant differences,” from the Senate’s joint rules package, according to House Speaker Ron Mariano. But “the spirit of it is very similar,” Rep. Mike Moran told reporters Thursday. “Toward the end of the last session and the session before that, we struggled with some backlog and logjam,” Moran said. “Certainly, if you look at the Senate rules that they sent us, there was an attempt there to kind of solve that problem. So in that sense, we definitely agree with them.” There's a lot riding on the House and Senate’s ability to come to an agreement on this first hurdle. Leaders in both chambers weren’t happy with the way things ended during their marathon final formal season last summer — nor with the media pointing out that they left a lot on the table before breaking for what would normally be a quiet few months of lawmaking. For now, Mariano is optimistic about their chances. “We're cautiously optimistic that some of the things we're doing, they've already done, and some of the things that we're proposing we hope they take a look at,” he said. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. It was an OT win for Canada last night in a politically heated face-off against the U.S. in the final of the 4 Nations hockey series, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wasted no time in gloating. “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” he posted on X. TODAY — Secretary of State Bill Galvin is acting governor while Gov. Maura Healey is in D.C. and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll is out of state. Rep. Stephen Lynch joins a rally supporting federal workers at 1 p.m. in Boston. THIS WEEKEND — Sen. Elizabeth Warren hosts a town hall in Framingham at noon Saturday. Rep. Jake Auchincloss speaks at a “Stand with Ukraine” rally in Boston at 1 p.m. Sunday. SUNDAY SHOWS — Rep. Jim McGovern is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Lynch is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. WEST WING PLAYBOOK 2.0: One month in, Donald Trump’s second term is reshaping Washington in ways unseen since the New Deal. To track this seismic shift, we’ve relaunched West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government. Washington, remade: This new daily briefing will deliver blow-by-blow updates on Trump’s far-reaching efforts to overhaul federal agencies. From the actions of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to the strategy being carried out by the Office of Management and Budget under Russ Vought and the resulting conflicts playing out in the courts and Capitol Hill, our reporters will be your guide to the unprecedented disruption hitting Washington. Sign up now to get it delivered straight to your inbox. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.
| 
