CLT
UPDATE
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Too many Chiefs, not enough Indians
Today's announcement of sweeping changes in the ranks of the House Democratic leadership wraps up the process of naming House and Senate Democratic and Republican committee members and leaders for the new two-year session.
The base pay of legislators is $53,380. Under state law, the House Speaker and Senate President are granted an additional $35,000 per year, the House and Senate Ways and Means Committee chairmen receive an extra $25,000, and the majority and minority leaders in each branch get an additional $22,500. Other premium pay levels are spelled out in a law signed Friday by Gov. Romney and outlined below.
State House News Service
Monday, February 7, 2005
Leadership spots bring extra pay,
influence in session that lies ahead
In tapping Robert A. DeLeo as Ways and Means Committee chairman, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has handed the plum assignment to an unassuming insider who faces a steep learning curve in drafting a $23 billion state budget in three months....
DeLeo's legislative ratings by various interest groups rarely fall at either extreme (though the antitax
Citizens for Limited Taxation in 2002 awarded him the "village idiot dunce cap"). Like most urban Democrats, he favors spending for human services and education programs. DeLeo has long supported slot machines at the state's race tracks, two of which are in his district.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Stepping into the breach
Liked by colleagues, DeLeo tackles new task of crafting budget
Two weeks ago, DiMasi and Senate President Robert Travaglini met with some journalists to discuss their proposed legislative reorganization. This columnist came skeptical about the need for another House leadership position, particularly one with a $15,000 stipend.
But hearing DiMasi discourse about its value, one could have been forgiven for wondering how the Commonwealth has survived these several centuries without a House speaker pro tempore....
Of course, it's also true that if the Senate were a community, it would be Lake
Wobegon, where every child is above average. In the Senate, every Democrat is a leader. Or at least a member of leadership. It's a place where there are almost more human chairs than wooden ones....
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Beacon Hill loyalty oath
By Scot Lehigh
DeLeo was appointed by Sal DiMasi, the new House speaker from the North End. At best, Bobby DeLeo is a 20-watt bulb, but then, consider the new "speaker pro tempore," Tom
Petrolati, aka Petro.
If DeLeo is a 20-watter, what exactly is Petro? A nite lite?
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
The lights just got a whole lot dimmer in the House
By Howie Carr
Barbara Anderson's CLT Commentary
Nothing like getting off to a good start with the new House Ways & Means Chairman – not that it matters. We haven’t had a connection with any Ways & Means Chairman since Richard Voke left that post in 1990. Tom Finneran began his stint by attacking Prop 2˝, and
Rep. John Rogers was intent on killing the income tax rollback no matter what we said.
But the new guy, Robert DeLeo, must have been surprised to see in today’s Globe that he once received CLT’s “village idiot dunce cap.” We hope he doesn’t have his staff searching for it. In fact, there never was a dunce cap, or a village idiot award (though our Coalition for Legislative Reform once gave Rep. Gail Canderas a “potted plant award” reflecting some statement she made, and many years ago, CLT gave a Taxation Committee Chairman “the Count Dracula award” for wanting to suck the blood of taxpayers. Ah, the good old days...).
The village idiot thing was a rant by Chip Ford in his Updates commentary – the week the Legislature voted to “freeze” the
voters’ tax rollback. The Globe reporter, Brian Mooney, must have just done a search on our website for Robert
DeLeo. Nice to know the media is using it... !
We stopped giving real awards after Rogers threatened to report us to the Ethics Commission for giving him a gift (an outdated calendar counting off the days til
the reform that never happened). We decided they don't deserve awards.
Besides, too many idiots not enough dunce caps.
|
|
|
Barbara Anderson |
State House News Service
Monday, February 7, 2005
Leadership spots bring extra pay,
influence in session that lies ahead
Today's announcement of sweeping changes in the ranks of the House Democratic leadership wraps up the process of naming House and Senate Democratic and Republican committee members and leaders for the new two-year session.
The base pay of legislators is $53,380. Under state law, the House Speaker and Senate President are granted an additional $35,000 per year, the House and Senate Ways and Means Committee chairmen receive an extra $25,000, and the majority and minority leaders in each branch get an additional $22,500. Other premium pay levels are spelled out in a law signed Friday by Gov. Romney and outlined below.
Here's a rundown of the leadership ranks and the joint committee chairmanship pairings:
HOUSE LEADERSHIP:
Speaker: Salvatore DiMasi
Majority Leader: John Rogers
President Pro Tempore: Thomas Petrolati
Assistant Majority Leader: Lida Harkins
Second Assistant Majority Leader: Byron Rushing
Floor Division Chairs:
Reps. Gale Candaras, Christine Canavan, Stephen Tobin, David Nangle
Minority Leader: Rep. Bradley Jones
Assistant Minority Leader: Rep. Mary Rogeness
Minority Whip: Rep. George Peterson
Assistant Minority Whip: Rep. John Lepper
SENATE LEADERSHIP:
President: Robert Travaglini
Majority Leader: Frederick Berry
President Pro Tempore: Stanley Rosenberg
Assistant Majority Leader: Marian Walsh
Majority Whip: Joan Menard
Assistant Majority Whip: Robert Havern
Minority Leader: Brian Lees
Assistant Minority Leader - Richard Tisei
Minority Whip: Sen. Bruce Tarr
Assistant Minority Whip: Robert Hedlund
JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES CHAIRS:
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets - Sen. Mark Montigny, Rep. David Flynn; House Vice Chair - Benjamin Swan; Ranking Minority Member - Susan Pope;
Children and Families - Sen. Karen Spilka, Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks
Community Development and Small Business - Sen. Harriette Chandler, Rep. David Torrisi
Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure - Sen. Michael Morrissey, Rep. Vincent Pedone
Economic Development and Emerging Technology - Sen. Jack Hart, Rep. Daniel
Bosley; House Vice Chair - Jeffrey Sanchez; House Ranking Minority Member - Bradford Hill;
Education - Sen. Robert Antonioni, Rep. Rep. Patricia Haddad
Elder Affairs - Sen. Susan Tucker, Rep. Robert Correia
Election Laws - Sen. Edward Augustus, Rep. Anthony Petruccelli
Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture - Sen. Pamela Resor, Rep. Frank Smizik
Financial Services - Sen. Andrea Nuciforo , Rep. Ronald Mariano; House Vice Chair - Robert
Spellane;
Health Care Financing - Sen. Richard Moore, Rep. Patricia Walrath; House Vice Chair- James
Marzilli; House and Senate Ranking Minority members - Robert Hargraves, Scott Brown;
Higher Education - Sen. Robert O'Leary, Rep. Rep. Kevin Murphy
Housing - Sen. Brian Joyce, Rep. Kevin Honan
Judiciary - Sen. Robert Creedon, Rep. Eugene O'Flaherty
Labor and Workforce Development - Sen. Thomas McGee, Rep. Michael Rodrigues
Mental Health and Substance Abuse - Sen. Steven Tolman , Rep. Ruth Balser
Municipalities and Regional Government - Sen. James Timilty, Rep. Rachel Kaprielian
Public Health - Sen. Susan Fargo, Rep. Peter Koutoujian
Public Safety and Homeland Security - Sen. Jarrett Barrios, Rep. Cheryl Rivera
Public Service - Sen. Stephen Buoniconti, Rep. Jay Kaufman
Revenue - Sen. Cynthia Creem, Rep. John Binienda
State Administration and Regulatory Oversight - Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, Rep. Antonio Cabral; Vice Chair - Michael
Festa;
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy - Sen. Michael Morrissey, Rep. Brian Dempsey
Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development - Sen. Jack Hart, Rep. Eric Turkington
Transportation - Sen. Steven Baddour, Rep. Joseph Wagner
Veterans and Federal Affairs - Sen. Stephen Brewer, Rep. Anthony Verga
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEES CHAIRS:
Ways and Means - Therese Murray; Vice Chair - Stephen Panagiotakos: Asst. Vice Chair - Steven
Tolman; Ranking Minority member: Michael Knapik
Bills in Third Reading - Stephen Brewer
Post Audit and Oversight - Marc Pacheco
Rules and Ethics - Charles Shannon
HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
Ways and Means: Robert DeLeo; Vice Chair - Marie St. Fleur; Asst. Vice Chair - James
Vallee; Ranking Minority member: Viriato Manuel deMacedo
Bills in Third Reading: Thomas Golden
Ethics: Arthur Broadhurst
Personnel and Administration: James Miceli
Post Audit and Oversight: Geoffrey Hall; Vice Chair - Michael Costello;
Rules: Angelo Scaccia; Vice Chair - Marie Parente; Ranking Minority Member - Elizabeth Poirier;
Steering, Policy and Scheduling: Paul Donato
According to a law signed Friday by Gov. Mitt Romney, the following legislative leadership positions receive an annual bonus of $15,000, retroactively to Jan. 1, 2005:
- Senate President pro tempore and House Speaker pro tempore;
- Assistant floor leaders for each party in House and Senate;
- Second assistant floor leaders for each party in House and Senate;
- Third assistant floor leaders of the minority party in the House and Senate and of the majority party in the Senate;
- Chairmen of each of the four divisions of the House;
- House Rules Committee chairman;
- Senate and House Chairmen of the Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committees;
- Vice Chairman of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees;
- Ranking minority members of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees;
- Chairmen of the House and Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committees;
- Chairmen of the House and Senate State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committees;
- Chairmen of the House and Senate Health Care Financing Committees;
- Chairmen of the House and Senate Financial Services Committees;
- House Chairman of the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee;
Under the law, the following positions will receive an additional $7,500 in annual compensation:
- Chairmen of all other House and Senate committees established by joint, or House or Senate rules;
- Vice Chairman of the House Rules Committee;
- Ranking minority member of the House Rules Committee;
- Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Post Audit and Oversight;
- Assistant Vice Chairman of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees;
- House Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Committee;
- House Vice Chairman of Health Care Financing Committee;
- House Vice Chairman of the Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committee;
- House ranking minority member of the Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Committee;
- House Vice Chairman of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee;
- House Vice Chairman and the House ranking minority member of the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee;
- House and Senate ranking minority members of the Health Care Financing Committees.
Need background about policy issues and the history of current news stories?
http://www.IssueSource.org
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Stepping into the breach
Liked by colleagues, DeLeo tackles new task of crafting budget
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
In tapping Robert A. DeLeo as Ways and Means Committee chairman, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has handed the plum assignment to an unassuming insider who faces a steep learning curve in drafting a $23 billion state budget in three months.
DeLeo, whose last chairmanship involved mostly technical oversight of all bills before final passage, said he is up to and eager for the challenge.
"Do I have the knowledge of a Ways and Means chairman? No," DeLeo said in an interview. "But I do go in there with a knowledge of the budget and the expectation that I will work very hard."
An eighth-term Democrat from Winthrop, DeLeo is in some ways the mirror opposite of DiMasi -- far more conservative, particularly on social issues; steady, even cautious, in contrast to the edgy ebullience of the speaker. Unlike
DiMasi, DeLeo has avoided controversy and the spotlight.
For DeLeo, a 54-year-old lawyer, Ways and Means is his fourth chairmanship under three successive speakers. Under Charles F. Flaherty, DeLeo chaired the Ethics and then Local Affairs committees. Thomas M. Finneran elevated his former Boston Latin School classmate to chairman of the Committee on Bills in the Third Reading, the last stop for all legislation before final action.
For all his legislative experience, however, DeLeo has never been directly involved in budget writing, the principal duty of his new assignment. He said he intends to deliver by late April or early May a draft of the House version of the state budget for the next fiscal year.
DiMasi acknowledged that in naming a successor to John H. Rogers, who moves from Ways and Means chairman to majority leader, he reached beyond the committee because both of Rogers's deputies, Representatives J. Michael Ruane of Salem and Peter J. Larkin of Pittsfield, have left the House.
"With Rogers, Ruane, and Larkin gone, I didn't have a lot of people with Ways and Means leadership experience," DiMasi said. "But Bobby DeLeo has great legislative experience. ... He's hard-working and dedicated to the job."
Colleagues describe DeLeo as low-key, fair, intelligent, and affable.
"You'll have a hard time finding anyone who doesn't like him," said Representative Martin J. Walsh, Democrat of Dorchester. "In Third Reading, he was always very fair."
"He has always been well regarded by the members," said minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican of North Reading. "I have absolutely no doubt that I can work with him."
If a string of chairmanships qualifies him as an insider, DeLeo said, "that's not necessarily a bad thing." He said he maintained his independence under Finneran on issues he felt strongly about. For example, he opposed Finneran's successful effort to lower the standard of educational service required for special education students. A self-described political moderate, DeLeo's highest-profile issues are those that affect his district, which includes all of Winthrop and a large slice of Revere.
He is a founder and chairman of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Legislative Caucus, which monitors issues affecting the quasi-independent authority. The agency's massive treatment plant is on Deer Island, at the tip of Winthrop, and DeLeo has led the fight to restore state funding that is passed through in the form of rate relief. He was also a founder of the Legislative Caucus on Air Transportation and a leader in the losing fight to stop a new runway at Logan International Airport, which has an enormous impact on his district.
Joseph Favaloro, executive director of the MWRA advisory board that represents 60 communities in the agency's service area, called DeLeo "a relentless fighter" for the interests of ratepayers. MWRA executive director Frederick A. Laskey said the lawmaker is "thoughtful and not afraid to put us on the spot."
DeLeo's legislative ratings by various interest groups rarely fall at either extreme (though the antitax
Citizens for Limited Taxation in 2002 awarded him the "village idiot dunce cap"). Like most urban Democrats, he favors spending for human services and education programs. DeLeo has long supported slot machines at the state's race tracks, two of which are in his district.
Conservative on many social issues, he opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights, except in very limited cases, and favors the death penalty for first-degree murder. For
DeLeo, the climb to prominence has been a long one. After Latin School, he graduated from Northeastern University, and while working in the Suffolk County Register of Probate office, DeLeo attended Suffolk Law School at night.
As Ways and Means chairman, DeLeo said he will scale back his law practice, based in Revere and specializing in real estate. For the past few years, he has reported earning $40,000 to $60,000 per year from the practice on annual financial disclosure forms. He reported owning no securities or investments worth more than $1,000. As Ways and Means chairman, his salary will jump from $63,069 to $80,569.
A divorced father of two, DeLeo lives modestly in the home of his late parents. His father, Alfred, operated the restaurant at Suffolk Downs. His mother, Anna, worked in the Winthrop Public Schools food services department.
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Beacon Hill loyalty oath
By Scot Lehigh, Globe Columnist
In the State House debate over whether, as House speaker, Sal DiMasi will suddenly discover his inner process liberal or comport himself as the arm-twisting patronage-pushing pol he has long been, several clues have just emerged.
Let's label the largest one House Speaker Pro Tempore Thomas Petrolati.
Two weeks ago, DiMasi and Senate President Robert Travaglini met with some journalists to discuss their proposed legislative reorganization. This columnist came skeptical about the need for another House leadership position, particularly one with a $15,000 stipend.
But hearing DiMasi discourse about its value, one could have been forgiven for wondering how the Commonwealth has survived these several centuries without a House speaker pro tempore.
"Institutional knowledge needs to be maintained so that we can know what we have done before, how successful it was, and the history of legislation and the history of this body," said the speaker, describing the role the shadow speaker would play. And besides, the Senate already has a president pro tempore.
Of course, it's also true that if the Senate were a community, it would be Lake
Wobegon, where every child is above average. In the Senate, every Democrat is a leader. Or at least a member of leadership. It's a place where there are almost more human chairs than wooden ones.
The Senate president pro tempore is Stanley Rosenberg. That post was created for Rosenberg after he was outmaneuvered for the top job by Robert Travaglini, a more skilled inside player. Still, it's hard to begrudge Rosenberg the position. A former Ways and Means Committee chairman, he is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable members of the Senate.
But on the House side, even before the new role was created, word was circulating that it was wired for DiMasi's pal and Mini-Me. That is, Tommy
Petrolati. Now, Petro is a gregarious guy in a back-slapping, share-a-laugh-in-the-hallway kind of way, but a legislative Socrates he is not. Ask what qualifies him for a top leadership spot and skittish members shrug, grimace, roll their eyes, or turn their palms heavenward in a desperate game of corridor charades whose purpose is to avoid uttering anything that might be pinned to paper.
So back in that meeting, I asked DiMasi: Given his expansive rhetoric about the importance of the new position, we could expect a person widely recognized as an extraordinarily talented legislator, right? The speaker hemmed. And started to haw. The staff interrupted, saving him from answering.
I did, however, get a reply to this query: Was it true that the new post was being created for
Petro?
"I haven't made any decisions at all," DiMasi claimed. "I am considering maybe 10 people for that position right now."
Imagine the shock, then, when on Monday the speaker announced his choice for speaker pro tempore: Thomas M.
Petrolati.
The appointment raises this question: What, exactly, won Petro the job? (And this more fanciful query: Who were the nine legislators judged less able?)
"Tom Petrolati is an experienced legislator and he is [from] Springfield, which is in the west," explained the speaker, expatiating about the need to better represent the Massachusetts frontier.
Now, Napoleon might just believe that geography is destiny, but on Beacon Hill, everyone knows it was Petrolati's unswerving loyalty that carried the day.
Pressed further, DiMasi deflected, noting his appointment of two African-American members to lower leadership positions: Byron Rushing as assistant majority whip and Marie St. Fleur as vice chairman of Ways and Means.
"You should pay attention to those factors as well as the others," the speaker counseled. Balance the bad with the good, in other words?
OK. To be fair, it is true that DiMasi has both diversified the House leadership and recalled some of the liberals from the lonely Finneranian Siberia where they have long chilled their toes. But let's not lose sight of the problematic, either.
The speaker argued for the creation of a big new leadership job with a handsome stipend, selling it as important to an effectively run House. He then delivered it to a loyal but undistinguished crony.
Put another way, when it comes to the question of whether we'll get the same old Sal or a late-blooming reformer, the appointment of Petro was decidedly retro.
Return to top
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
The lights just got a whole lot dimmer in the House
By Howie Carr
As the new House chairman of Ways and Means, state Rep. Bobby DeLeo will be getting a $25,000 pay raise, and let's hope he can use the extra dough to move to a residence more fitting of his new august stature.
DeLeo's current home address is P.O. Box 520456, which doesn't have much of a ring to it, does it? Especially for a guy who will be at least nominally in control of the $25 billion state budget.
Bobby used to live on Cottage Park Road in Winthrop with his wife, Barbara, but in 2000, according to his Ethics Commission filings, he transferred the house to her, while retaining the $100,000-plus mortgage for himself. For the past few years in the Massachusetts Political Almanac, he's listed no spouse and his home address is now ... P.O. Box 520456.
Maybe now he can move to a P.O. box with four digits.
Bobby did not return a call yesterday seeking clarification about his present living arrangements.
DeLeo was appointed by Sal DiMasi, the new House speaker from the North End. At best, Bobby DeLeo is a 20-watt bulb, but then, consider the new "speaker pro tempore," Tom
Petrolati, aka Petro.
If DeLeo is a 20-watter, what exactly is Petro? A nite lite?
Then there's the new "second assistant majority leader," Rep. Byron Rushing of the South End. You can usually judge a position's importance - or lack thereof - by the number of diminutives in the title itself. And Byron is ... second ... assistant.
This means, I assume, that he helps count votes. Let's hope he's improved his arithmetic since the time he turned in only 122 valid signatures on his renomination papers when he needed 150. He had to run in the primary on stickers.
Then there's the new chairman of "Revenue," which is a lot like taxation. That's Rep. John "Spuds" Binienda of Worcester, who is currently in the headlines for his disputes with his Hispanic constituents, which probably hurts his career less than the tiffs he used to get into with his now ex-wife. In 1992, Mrs. Spuds obtained a restraining order against Mr. Spuds after, she charged, he "pinned me down on the floor with his knee on my neck."
They were having a dispute early one Saturday morning over which television program to watch. Charges were dismissed, and Spuds said,
"Muchas gracias, amigo!"
Granted, the talent pool in the House is so shallow it would be difficult to give a flea a foot bath. But this is a sad collection of nonentities that Sal has put together.
Plus, why make enemies needlessly? It's only natural to want to put your own stamp, so to speak, on the leadership, but Sal seems to have gone out of his way to demote everyone who was with his opponent for the
speakership, another low-watter named John Rogers.
Considering that the fight was over in about 24 hours, what's with the bitterness. Consider who got whacked - Quinn, Fagan, Toomey, Walsh. It's safe to say Sal probably won't be a guest speaker at the Clover Club anytime soon. But it wasn't just Irishmen who got clipped. Rep. Paul
Kujawski, the drink-challenged public urinator from Webster, was also demoted.
OK, maybe you don't want a drunk driver as chairman of "steering," but what about the Committee on Mental Health & Substance Abuse.
If there's any rep more qualified than Kujo to chair Substance Abuse, it would only be ... Brian Dempsey.
There's only one word for this whole House crew. The word is pitiful, and, that, as Spuds Binienda would say, es
verdad.
Howie Carr's radio show can be heard weekday afternoons on WRKO AM 680, WHYN AM 560, WGAN AM 560, WEIM AM 1280, and WXTK 95.1 FM.
Return to top
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or
payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this
information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For
more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
|