Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick could temporarily replace the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy as early as the fourth week in September under a timetable being considered by Democratic members of the Legislature, a key committee chairman said Thursday.
“It is possible to get it done” by Sept. 24 or 25, said state Rep. Michael Moran, a Boston Democrat and co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Election Laws.
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“Is it likely? I can’t answer that,” he said in an interview Thursday. “There are too many moving parts.”
Allowing the governor to name an interim replacement would mean a change in current law, which calls for a special election within five months of a Senate vacancy. There are no provisions for a temporary appointment.
The week before his death, Kennedy sent a letter to Patrick, a fellow Democrat, urging him to persuade lawmakers to change the law so that someone could fill in before the special election. Kennedy argued in the letter that the state, in order to be fully represented, should have a mechanism in place to allow for the full complement of two senators as soon as possible in the event of a resignation or death.
A Democratic appointee would help keep the party’s 60-vote majority needed to maintain U.S. Senate support for health care legislation, a top priority for President Barack Obama. Kennedy had called health care “the cause of my life.”
“Any time you get a letter from Ted Kennedy, you certainly read it and consider whether you can accommodate him,” Moran said.
The timetable outlined by Moran starts with a possible Sept. 17 hearing by the committee he co-chairs with state Sen. Thomas Kennedy, also a Democrat.
“That’s the date that’s been under discussion,” he said. “I caution that there is no agreement on this, but it’s the one we’ve been talking about.”
Procedurally, the bill would be heard by the committee on that Thursday. The panel would then go into executive session to poll the members. A report would be issued and the entire Legislature could vote within days, possibly by the end of the next week, Sept. 24 or 25.
Patrick, in an interview with the Boston public radio station WBUR on Wednesday, said he would sign such a bill when it landed on his desk. As soon as he signed, Moran said, he could choose the interim replacement.
“The biggest hurdle is that nobody, including me, wants to see this is as a handoff,” that is, having the governor appoint someone temporarily who then becomes the front-runner in the special election for the permanent seat, Moran said.
Lawmakers are negotiating the final language, trying to decide what wording best prevents that from happening, said state Rep. Robert Koczera, a Democrat who represents the New Bedford area. Koczera filed a bill in January to change the current law and allow for an interim U.S. senator.
Koczera said he had heard legislative leaders were working to schedule a hearing by mid-September. It was unlikely there would be any official announcement “out of respect” until after Kennedy’s Saturday funeral.
Democrats control both the Massachusetts House and Senate. Republican leaders who oppose the change could stall the process, said state Sen. Robert O’Leary, a Cape Cod Democrat.
