Murray may shift on Kennedy Senate request-She is open to bid altering selection law

[babylonsister]

Murray may shift on Kennedy Senate request
She is open to bid altering selection law
By Frank Phillips
Globe Staff / August 25, 2009


Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray, who had privately expressed opposition to Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s plea for a temporary appointment to any US Senate vacancy, is now open to the idea, according to a colleague, who said she has given him the green light to round up the necessary votes.

State Senator Robert A. O’Leary, a Democrat from Barnstable, said Murray told him yesterday that she is listening carefully to the arguments for a change in a 2004 law that established a special election process to fill any vacant US Senate seats, but made no provisions for a temporary appointment during the five-month election process.

“She is listening to the members and keeping an open mind,’’ O’Leary said yesterday. “I am full steam ahead and she understands that and is fine with it.’’

In a letter to Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo last week, Kennedy - who is battling brain cancer - said that it was vital for Massachusetts to have two votes in the US Senate during an interim period. He asked them to approve a law swiftly giving the governor the power to appoint a temporary successor.

Murray, who has remained publicly silent on the issue, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But her apparent signal that she will not block any attempts to make the change - and could potentially support it - is significant, given that her opposition could defeat the effort.

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/25/murray_changes_mind_on_kennedy_request/