In a flurry of late-night action, the Massachusetts Legislature closed out its two-year session early Tuesday morning by sending Governor Maura Healey nearly 100 bills, including proposals that would allow Boston to dramatically hike penalties on scofflaw property owners and crack down on drivers who park in bus-only lanes.
The legislative potpourri included a swath of hyper-local bills, animal-focused legislation, and an 11th-hour bid to prevent hundreds of drivers from losing their commercial licenses because of decades-old offenses.
Almost all of the legislation moved with no debate. With just a handful of legislators in either chamber at any time, neither the House nor the Senate took a full roll call vote over their 14-hour session. Ultimately, the chambers pushed 95 bills to Healey’s desk, with the Senate twice enacting batches of 16 or more proposals with a single voice vote, according to the State House News Service.
Both chambers wrapped up shortly after 1 a.m., effectively forgoing what would be the final day of the legislative session and the potential for late-night lawmaking on New Year’s Eve. It also spelled the death of any number of bills that didn’t survive one or both chambers.
That includes a bill that was designed to speed wheelchair repairs and another that sought to clarify when a beach that has changed locations, either due to erosion or rising sea levels, qualifies as public land — a change that has been closely watched by feuding, wealthy property owners on Martha’s Vineyard.
With lawmakers starting a new session Wednesday, Healey can either sign what the Legislature sent her or kill a bill by way of pocket veto — that is, by doing nothing after the Legislature has adjourned.
Here are some of the more notable bills whose fate she holds:
Problem property owners
While several of Boston’s more high-profile home rule petitions perished on Beacon Hill this session, some city-centric proposals passed in the waning hours of session.
Perhaps most notably, one bill would allow Boston to fine property owners, landlords, and others who violate city ordinances up to $2,000 while tying future increases of the fines to inflation.
The penalties have been capped at $300 for roughly decades, which city officials argue has “disincentivized” repeat violators, particularly businesses, from complying and has “emboldened scofflaws to view the low fines as the cost of doing business.”
Eyes on the bus
Lawmakers sent Healey a bill that would allow the MBTA and other regional transit authorities to use bus-mounted cameras to deter drivers from parking in bus-only lanes. It also would set new penalties, hitting drivers with fines of up to $125 for parking or standing in a bus-only lane and $100 for those who park at a posted bus stop.
Separate legislation sent to Healey would allow something similar on school buses, giving cities and towns the authority to install cameras to catch drivers who illegally pass a school bus while it is stopped and has its stop sign out.
State Senator Michael Moore, a Millbury Democrat who filed similar legislation, said it’s ultimately up to local police to review the footage and issue the fine. At least two dozen other states have approved similar bills, according to his office.
Pet-centric proposals
Massachusetts would ban cat declawing in many circumstances under one proposal, ending what advocates called a cruel practice and what is “in essence amputation.”
A separate proposal would ban the sales of any puppies or kittens who are less than eight weeks old, with offenders facing a $100 fine.
Expanding coverage
Lawmakers sent Healey a bill that would require that health insurers provide coverage for Down syndrome treatment, including speech therapy, physical therapy, and other services.
The bill is part of a slate of health care bills that moved in the Legislature’s final session, and was championed in the Senate. Senate President Karen E. Spilka’s younger sister, Susie, was born with Down syndrome, and Spilka later became her legal guardian. She died in 2017 before Spilka rose to become the chamber’s top Democrat.
Requiring insurance coverage for treatment is “not only the right thing to do but is also long overdue,” said state Senator Michael Rodrigues, the chamber’s budget chief.
Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.