Mark Cusack
Mark Cusack | |
---|---|
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 5th Norfolk district | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office January 5, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Joseph R. Driscoll |
Personal details | |
Born | (1984-07-03) July 3, 1984 (age 40) |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | Braintree, Massachusetts |
Alma mater | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
Occupation | Politician |
Committees | House Chair, Joint Committee on Revenue |
Mark James Cusack (born July 3, 1984) is an American politician who represents the 5th Norfolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, Cusack's district encompasses all precincts in the town of Braintree and Precinct 1 and 2 in the town of Holbrook.
Public life
Cusack graduated from Braintree High School in 2003 and the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2007 with a B.A. in Political Science. He interned for Congressman Stephen Lynch and prior to his election to the House in 2010, worked as an assistant to Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan.
In 2011, Cusack was sworn into the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he is currently in his seventh term.
Cusack has served as House Chair for the Joint Committee on Revenue since 2019. He previously served as Chair for the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy and the Committee on Technology and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Vice Chair for the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy.
Additionally, Cusack served as a member of the Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports Commission, having been appointed by then-House Speaker Robert DeLeo in 2016.[1] He currently sits on the Tax Expenditure Review Commission.[2]
Marijuana Policy Committee
On November 8, 2016, during the Presidential Election voters of Massachusetts were able to vote on a ballot initiative (Question 4) to legalize adult-use marijuana in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The question passed by a percentage of 53.7% Yes to 46.3% No.[3] An extension was then passed by the legislature and the Governor in order for the legislature to review the current law as it stood. The task was to create a law that maintained the will of the voters, while making sure there were the correct consumer protection, public safety, and economic equality in the industry of marijuana. This task was given to the newly created Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy.[4]
Cusack was appointed Chairman for the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy by Speaker Robert Deleo at the beginning of the 190th Session of the Massachusetts General Court (2016–18).[5] The committee held five public hearings in a three month period to hear from elected officials, experts in the industry, law enforcement, veterans, concerned constituents, patients, and many other individuals whom testified with information pertaining to legalizing adult-use marijuana. The Committee did not reach a consensus bill between the House of Representatives and Senate, therefore two separate bills were passed in June 2016. The House bill was "an act to ensure the public health and safety of patient and consumer access to medical and adult use of marijuana in the Commonwealth" (House, No. 3776),[6] and the Senate amendment to that bill was Senate No. 2097.[7] A Conference Committee was appointed, whereas Cusack was one of the three members of the House of Representatives, in hopes to come to an agreement on a consensus bill. A consensus bill was signed by all conferees (6-0) in favor to pass and "An act to safe access to marijuana" (House No. 3818) was signed by Governor Charlie Baker on July 28, 2017.[8]
Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports
A special commission on online gaming, fantasy sports gaming and daily fantasy sports was created through the Economic Development Bill signed by Gov. Baker in 2016. This commission has nine commissioners appointed including the two co-chairs. Cusack was the appointment of Speaker Deleo to represent the leadership within the House of Representatives along with the Co-Chair. The commission's directive entailed a comprehensive study of the regulations surrounding daily fantasy sports and online gaming, which was officially legitimatized by Attorney General Maura Healey through the AGO's final regulations in January, 2016.[9] Meetings of the special commission took place throughout 2016-17, totaling eight, where the commissioners listened to testimony from experts in gaming, esports, daily fantasy sports, the attorney general's office, casinos, and other fields relating to online gaming in Massachusetts.
The special commission met on July 25, 2017, to finalize a report that was to be sent to the legislature for suggestions on how to proceed with online gaming and daily fantasy sports. Some disagreement ensued and the meeting was recessed until July 31, 2017 (the deadline for a report), On July 31, 2017, a final report was given to the commissioners for a vote in order to allow the report to be sent as is to the legislature. In a vote of 5–3 with one commissioner abstaining, the report was sent out of the special commission to the legislature. Cusack dissented to the report for multiple reasons, one of those reasons was defining daily fantasy sports as "online gaming". Another was the negative impact that this definition will have on investors for the DFS companies and the ultimate repercussions that will come to Massachusetts in the loss of innovative businesses.[10]
See also
- 2019–2020 Massachusetts legislature
- 2021–2022 Massachusetts legislature
References
- ^ SERVICE, Colin A. Young STATE HOUSE NEWS (October 31, 2016). "Commission begins exploration of online gaming, lottery excluded". Salem News. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ "Tax Expenditure Review Commission | Mass.gov". www.mass.gov. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
- ^ "PD43+ » Search Ballot Questions". PD43+. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy". malegislature.gov. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ Service, Matt Murphy/State House News. "Braintree Rep. Mark Cusack picked to head pot committee". Wicked Local. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "Bill H.3776". malegislature.gov. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "Bill S.2097". malegislature.gov. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "Charlie Baker signs bill making changes to marijuana law". Boston.com. July 28, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "AG Proposes Strong Consumer Protection Regs for DFS". Attorney General of Massachusetts. November 19, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ "State panel says daily fantasy sports should be classified as gambling - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
External links
- Biography of State Rep. Mark Cusack at Mass.gov
- Mark J. Cusack for State Rep
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Joseph R. Driscoll | State Representative Massachusetts 2011 – | Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by New Title | Assistant to the Mayor of Braintree 2008–2011 |
- v
- t
- e
- Speaker of the House
- Ron Mariano (D)
- Speaker pro tempore
- Kate Hogan (D)
- Majority leader
- Michael Moran (D)
- Minority leader
- Bradley Jones Jr. (R)
- ▌Chris Flanagan (D, 1st Barnstable)
- ▌Kip Diggs (D, 2nd Barn.)
- ▌David Vieira (R, 3rd Barn.)
- ▌Sarah Peake (D, 4th Barn.)
- ▌Steven Xiarhos (R, 5th Barn.)
- ▌Dylan Fernandes (D, Barn., Dukes, Nan.)
- ▌John Barrett (D, 1st Berkshire)
- ▌Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D, 2nd Berk.)
- ▌Smitty Pignatelli (D, 3rd Berk.)
- ▌F. Jay Barrows (R, 1st Bristol)
- ▌Jim Hawkins (D, 2nd Bris.)
- ▌Carol Doherty (D, 3rd Bris.)
- ▌Steve Howitt (R, 4th Bris.)
- ▌Patricia Haddad (D, 5th Bris.)
- ▌Carole Fiola (D, 6th Bris.)
- ▌Alan Silvia (D, 7th Bris.)
- ▌Paul Schmid (D, 8th Bris.)
- ▌Christopher Markey (D, 9th Bris.)
- ▌William M. Straus (D, 10th Bris.)
- ▌Christopher Hendricks (D, 11th Bris.)
- ▌Norman Orrall (R, 12th Bris.)
- ▌Antonio Cabral (D, 13th Bris.)
- ▌Adam Scanlon (D, 14th Bris.)
- ▌Dawne Shand (D, 1st Essex)
- ▌Kristin Kassner (D, 2nd Ess.)
- ▌Andy Vargas (D, 3rd Ess.)
- ▌Estela Reyes (D, 4th Ess.)
- ▌Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D, 5th Ess.)
- ▌Jerry Parisella (D, 6th Ess.)
- ▌Manny Cruz (D, 7th Ess.)
- ▌Jenny Armini (D, 8th Ess.)
- ▌Donald Wong (R, 9th Ess.)
- ▌Daniel Cahill (D, 10th Ess.)
- ▌Peter Capano (D, 11th Ess.)
- ▌Thomas Walsh (D, 12th Ess.)
- ▌Sally Kerans (D, 13th Ess.)
- ▌Adrianne Ramos (D, 14th Ess.)
- ▌Ryan Hamilton (D, 15th Ess.)
- ▌Francisco E. Paulino (D, 16th Ess.)
- ▌Frank A. Moran (D, 17th Ess.)
- ▌Tram Nguyen (D, 18th Ess.)
- ▌Natalie Blais (D, 1st Frnk.)
- ▌Susannah Whipps (I, 2nd Frnk.)
- ▌Todd Smola (R, 1st Hpdn.)
- ▌Brian Ashe (D, 2nd Hpdn.)
- ▌Nicholas Boldyga (R, 3rd Hpdn.)
- ▌Kelly Pease (R, 4th Hpdn.)
- ▌Patricia Duffy (D, 5th Hpdn.)
- ▌Michael Finn (D, 6th Hpdn.)
- ▌Aaron Saunders (D, 7th Hpdn.)
- ▌Shirley Arriaga (D, 8th Hpdn.)
- ▌Orlando Ramos (D, 9th Hpdn.)
- ▌Carlos Gonzalez (D, 10th Hpdn.)
- ▌Bud Williams (D, 11th Hpdn.)
- ▌Angelo Puppolo (D, 12th Hpdn.)
- ▌Lindsay Sabadosa (D, 1st Hampshire)
- ▌Daniel R. Carey (D, 2nd Hpsh.)
- ▌Mindy Domb (D, 3rd Hpsh.)
- ▌Margaret Scarsdale (D, 1st Middlesex)
- ▌James Arciero (D, 2nd Mid.)
- ▌Kate Hogan (D, 3rd Mid.)
- ▌Danielle Gregoire (D, 4th Mid.)
- ▌David Linsky (D, 5th Mid.)
- ▌Priscila Sousa (D, 6th Mid.)
- ▌Jack Lewis (D, 7th Mid.)
- ▌James Arena-DeRosa (D, 8th Mid.)
- ▌Thomas M. Stanley (D, 9th Mid.)
- ▌John J. Lawn (D, 10th Mid.)
- ▌Kay Khan (D, 11th Mid.)
- ▌Ruth Balser (D, 12th Mid.)
- ▌Carmine Gentile (D, 13th Mid.)
- ▌Simon Cataldo (D, 14th Mid.)
- ▌Michelle Ciccolo (D, 15th Mid.)
- ▌Rodney Elliott (D, 16th Mid.)
- ▌Vanna Howard (D, 17th Mid.)
- ▌Rady Mom (D, 18th Mid.)
- ▌Dave Robertson (D, 19th Mid.)
- ▌Bradley Jones Jr. (R, 20th Mid.)
- ▌Kenneth Gordon (D, 21st Mid.)
- ▌Marc Lombardo (R, 22nd Mid.)
- ▌Sean Garballey (D, 23rd Mid.)
- ▌Dave Rogers (D, 24th Mid.)
- ▌Marjorie Decker (D, 25th Mid.)
- ▌Michael Connolly (D, 26th Mid.)
- ▌Erika Uyterhoeven (D, 27th Mid.)
- ▌Joe McGonagle (D, 28th Mid.)
- ▌Steven Owens (D, 29th Mid.)
- ▌Richard Haggerty (D, 30th Mid.)
- ▌Michael Day (D, 31st Mid.)
- ▌Kate Lipper-Garabedian (D, 32nd Mid.)
- ▌Steven Ultrino (D, 33rd Mid.)
- ▌Christine Barber (D, 34th Mid.)
- ▌Paul Donato (D, 35th Mid.)
- ▌Colleen Garry (D, 36th Mid.)
- ▌Dan Sena (D, 37th Mid.)
- ▌Bruce Ayers (D, 1st Norfolk)
- ▌Tackey Chan (D, 2nd Norf.)
- ▌Ron Mariano (D, 3rd Norf.)
- ▌James M. Murphy (D, 4th Norf.)
- ▌Mark Cusack (D, 5th Norf.)
- ▌William C. Galvin (D, 6th Norf.)
- ▌William Driscoll (D, 7th Norf.)
- ▌Ted Philips (D, 8th Norf.)
- ▌Marcus Vaughn (R, 9th Norf.)
- ▌Jeffrey Roy (D, 10th Norf.)
- ▌Paul McMurtry (D, 11th Norf.)
- ▌John H. Rogers (D, 12th Norf.)
- ▌Denise Garlick (D, 13th Norf.)
- ▌Alice Peisch (D, 14th Norf.)
- ▌Tommy Vitolo (D, 15th Norf.)
- ▌Matt Muratore (R, 1st Plymouth)
- ▌Susan Gifford (R, 2nd Plym.)
- ▌Joan Meschino (D, 3rd Plym.)
- ▌Patrick J. Kearney (D, 4th Plym.)
- ▌David DeCoste (R, 5th Plym.)
- ▌Vacant (6th Plym.)
- ▌Alyson Sullivan (R, 7th Plym.)
- ▌Angelo D'Emilia (R, 8th Plym.)
- ▌Gerard Cassidy (D, 9th Plym.)
- ▌Michelle DuBois (D, 10th Plym.)
- ▌Rita Mendes (D, 11th Plym.)
- ▌Kathleen LaNatra (D, 12th Plym.)
- ▌Adrian Madaro (D, 1st Suffolk)
- ▌Daniel Joseph Ryan (D, 2nd Suff.)
- ▌Aaron Michlewitz (D, 3rd Suff.)
- ▌David Biele (D, 4th Suff.)
- ▌Christopher Worrell (D, 5th Suff.)
- ▌Russell Holmes (D, 6th Suff.)
- ▌Chynah Tyler (D, 7th Suff.)
- ▌Jay Livingstone (D, 8th Suff.)
- ▌John F. Moran (D, 9th Suff.)
- ▌Bill MacGregor (D, 10th Suff.)
- ▌Judith García (D, 11th Suff.)
- ▌Brandy Fluker Oakley (D, 12th Suff.)
- ▌Daniel J. Hunt (D, 13th Suff.)
- ▌Robert Consalvo (D, 14th Suff.)
- ▌Sam Montaño (D, 15th Suff.)
- ▌Jessica Giannino (D, 16th Suff.)
- ▌Kevin Honan (D, 17th Suff.)
- ▌Michael Moran (D, 18th Suff.)
- ▌Jeff Turco (D, 19th Suff.)
- ▌Kimberly Ferguson (R, 1st Worcester)
- ▌Jonathan Zlotnik (D, 2nd Wor.)
- ▌Mike Kushmerek (D, 3rd Wor.)
- ▌Natalie Higgins (D, 4th Wor.)
- ▌Donnie Berthiaume (R, 5th Wor.)
- ▌John Marsi (R, 6th Wor.)
- ▌Paul Frost (R, 7th Wor.)
- ▌Michael Soter (R, 8th Wor.)
- ▌David Muradian (R, 9th Wor.)
- ▌Brian Murray (D, 10th Wor.)
- ▌Hannah Kane (R, 11th Wor.)
- ▌Meghan Kilcoyne (D, 12th Wor.)
- ▌John J. Mahoney (D, 13th Wor.)
- ▌Jim O'Day (D, 14th Wor.)
- ▌Mary Keefe (D, 15th Wor.)
- ▌Dan Donahue (D, 16th Wor.)
- ▌David LeBoeuf (D, 17th Wor.)
- ▌Joseph D. McKenna (R, 18th Wor.)
- ▌Kate Donaghue (D, 19th Wor.)
- ▌Democratic (133)
- ▌Republican (25)
- ▌Independent (1)
- ▌Vacant (1)