CLT
UPDATE
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Power games and perks challenged and
not
Gov. Mitt Romney, less than 24 hours after pledging not to raise taxes, signed a bill yesterday that promises tax hikes for businesses.
Romney signed a property tax reclassification bill without fanfare, letting as many as 50 cities and towns hike taxes on local businesses. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino strongly backed the bill....
Menino, flanked by aides, joined House lawmakers to lobby them to act on the measure minutes after Romney's State of the State address Thursday. Menino, on the House rostrum at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, hugged House Republican Leader Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) after he agreed not to block the session.
House Majority Leader Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) reopened the House session, declaring he has received unanimous consent to do so and the tax bill was passed without further debate by the few lawmakers present....
"This hurts business at a time when everybody is out there talking about how much they care about job providers," said
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation. "The political game has always been to use the business community to pay a larger share of property taxes, so people that vote for mayors don't get hit at an unbearable level."
The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Gov inks bill bumping biz taxes
It's a tradition that dates back to colonial times, when lawmakers from the far-flung corners of the state traveled to Boston by horse and buggy.
But last year Massachusetts taxpayers shelled out more money for their elected representatives to drive to work than ever before....
Lawmakers doubled their per diems three years ago. At the time, they said it was to help them contend with spending limits under the so-called Clean Elections campaign finance law. But they killed the law -- which was passed by voters on a statewide initiative petition -- in the last legislative session, claiming there was no money to fund it.
But local lawmakers say the pay hike is here to say.
"There's no chance we're going to roll back the increase," said Senate Democratic Leader Frederick E. Berry of Peabody, who collected $2,952 for 164 trips to the Statehouse in 2003. "That was the first time we increased the travel pay in more than a decade, but our expenses go up every year."
The Eagle-Tribune
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Legislators pocket record travel pay
Most courts frown on using a person's prior record against him, so as you read this, please disregard the fact that Rep.
Paul Kujawski (D-Commerce Insurance) has already paid a $10,000 fine for campaign-finance violations.
So here's the puzzler:
On Oct. 14 of last year, Cujo put in for his daily $36 "per-diem" travel allowance from Webster to the State House.
Oddly, on that same day, according to his just-filed campaign-finance report, he also paid a $117.79 car-rental bill - in Irving, Texas.
The next day, Oct. 15, Cujo again put in for his daily $36 "per-diem."
That same day, the Marriott Hotel in Irving, Texas, billed him $468.36.
A call was immediately placed to the globe-trotting solon asking him to explain his whereabouts on the days in question.
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 16, 2004
Cujo doggedly pursues payoffs from per diem
By Howie Carr
The party's over for politicians hunting for 11th-hour tickets to the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, after state ethics watchdogs ruled public officials can no longer trade their political clout for special access to entertainment events.
"All of us here at the commission hope the Patriots win as much as anyone else does," said State Ethics Commission Executive Director Peter
Sturges. "However, as public officials, we should keep in mind that free tickets or discounted tickets or special access to tickets is not a privilege of office."
The crackdown comes in the wake of a firestorm of controversy last fall, when dozens of politicians snatched Red Sox playoffs tickets either for free or at face value - whereas the average Joe was shut out entirely or shelled out hundreds of bucks to scalpers....
"Public service is not self service," said Ethics Commission Chairman E. George
Daher....
Others were angry, saying they felt singled out. "I think that's absurd, the fact that you're being criticized for being able to go to a game," said Rep.
Paul Kujowski (D-Webster), who went to one Sox playoff game with a ticket he bought at face value from a "local friend."
The Boston Herald
Friday, January 16, 2004
Panel nixes pol tix grab
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini has abruptly abandoned plans to attend this weekend's Patriots playoff game in the wake of a new ethics ruling cracking down on politicians' special access to tickets.
Earlier this week, Travaglini was busily running the phones in his State House office, making plans with other senators to scoot off to tomorrow's AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium....
The Senate president complained to colleagues at Thursday night's State of the State speech that he'd been looking forward to the big game.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Travaglini punts over ethical dilemma
The ethics panel came around to this rather
common-sensical way of thinking after getting a barrage of complaints from regular folk unable to get any closer to Fenway Park for the Red Sox playoffs than a bar stool at the Cask'N Flagon, while plenty of those in power got tickets.
A Boston Herald editorial
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Get in line with hoi polloi
Governor Mitt Romney yesterday sketched out a plan to replace and rebuild many of the state's aging public schools, pledging to eliminate a 420-project waiting list for state money within five years.
Speaking a day after promising in his annual State of the State address to tackle the problem, Romney told a gathering of local officials that borrowing money for the projects over a 40-year term instead of the current 20 years will save the state $150 million this year and allow it to pay for its share of every project on the waiting list by fiscal 2009. The state's bill for the 420 projects is about $4 billion....
Romney also renewed his call for changes in public construction rules, arguing that giving cities and towns more leeway in negotiating contracts will generate additional savings. He and his aides have pointed to public construction as an area where unions wield too much influence, bloating the cost and duration of projects.
"The more money we can save in construction reform, the more money we will have in our pool to get school construction done," the governor said.
The Legislature would have to approve any changes in construction rules or the school building program....
The typical waiting time for state dollars was two to three years in the late 1990s, but at the current rate towns on the list now can expect to wait 10 years....
Massachusetts is among the most generous states in the country in paying for school construction.
The Boston Globe
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Romney offers plan to rebuild schools
As a follow-up to his blunt "reform or hurt kids" State of the State address, Gov. Mitt Romney met with the Massachusetts Municipal Association yesterday and offered its members more of the same.
This is a theme we could grow to love....
As Romney press secretary Shawn Feddeman said, "See what reform can get you?" Yes we do, but the question remains, do the mostly Democratic local officials?
A Boston Herald editorial
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Local benefit from reform
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
One does have to wonder just where the governor is
going.
Shifting more of the tax burden from homeowners to
the business community is a revenue wash, technically not a violation of
the No New Taxes Pledge as currently interpreted. No doubt those
adversely affected will disagree, but the principle has been established
by the pledge's creator, Grover Norquist of Americans
for Tax Reform ["As this is revenue neutral, the pledge is not
violated"].
Putting his stamp of approval on the dark-of-night process by which this legislation was finalized --
especially so quickly before cuckold members could react --
unfortunately detracts from Governor Romney's image as a
"reformer." Do the ends ever justify the means; and if so, at
what cost?
*
*
*
What more can anyone say about the perks and
privileges of our elected elite. They doubled their per diems and office
expenses "because of the Clean Elections Law" then killed the
law (approved by ill-advised voters in 1998), kept the booty, and now
boldly announce that they won't give back their ill-gotten gains
attained under false pretense. Their take is now record-breaking, on top
of their automatic salary increases (approved by well-informed voters on
that same ballot).
Unfortunately for them, an honest Ethics Committee,
chaired by former Judge E. George Daher (who was persecuted for taking
on then-Senate President Bill Bulger and coined the term the
"Corrupt Midget"), just lowered the hammer on their free or
discounted tickets to events average citizens have either no access to
or must mortgage their homes to purchase. This loss has the pols
rattled, thank you Judge Daher.
Someday those who perceive their elected position as
a divine right with all the accompanying trappings of privilege might
realize at last that ... they serve at our pleasure. The voter apathy
which has sustained them for this long has become increasingly more
expensive for the average taxpaying eligible voter.
This could well be the year that voters' disgust reaches a
critical mass and affects the election outcome.
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Chip
Ford |
PS. Remember when
you hear about a $1 billion "deficit," a $1.5 billion "budget
gap," or a $2 billion "hole in the budget," they're
talking about the increase they want but can't have.
The budget next year will increase -- just as it did this year
-- only not by as much as those feeding at the public trough
would like.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Gov inks bill bumping biz taxes
By Staff and wire reports
Gov. Mitt Romney, less than 24 hours after pledging not to raise taxes, signed a bill yesterday that promises tax hikes for businesses.
Romney signed a property tax reclassification bill without fanfare, letting as many as 50 cities and towns hike taxes on local businesses. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino strongly backed the bill.
Through a spokeswoman, Romney had no comment on his action.
Menino, flanked by aides, joined House lawmakers to lobby them to act on the measure minutes after Romney's State of the State address Thursday. Menino, on the House rostrum at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, hugged House Republican Leader Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) after he agreed not to block the session.
House Majority Leader Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston) reopened the House session, declaring he has received unanimous consent to do so and the tax bill was passed without further debate by the few lawmakers present.
Senate passage of the measure swiftly followed. The reclassification law promises to cut tax hikes for Boston residents by as much as 50 percent. Municipal leaders say it will provide critical tax relief, but business groups strongly opposed the measure.
"This hurts business at a time when everybody is out there talking about how much they care about job providers," said
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation. "The political game has always been to use the business community to pay a larger share of property taxes, so people that vote for mayors don't get hit at an unbearable level."
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The Eagle-Tribune
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Legislators pocket record travel pay
By Shawn Regan, Staff Writer
It's a tradition that dates back to colonial times, when lawmakers from the far-flung corners of the state traveled to Boston by horse and buggy.
But last year Massachusetts taxpayers shelled out more money for their elected representatives to drive to work than ever before.
The state's 200 lawmakers and eight governor's councilors put in for a combined $740,541 in travel pay for 2003 -- up from the $692,546 they received in 2002, according to state treasury records.
Twenty North of Boston legislators took home $52,688 of the total pay grab, with Sen. Steven A.
Baddour, D-Methuen, tops among local senators with $4,238 and state Rep. William
Lantigua, I-Lawrence, leading the way among local state representatives with $4,784.
Rep. Bradford R. Hill, R-Ipswich, and Sen. Bruce E. Tarr, R-Gloucester, both ranked second among local lawmakers in the House and Senate in taking the so-called "per diem" travel allowance. Hill took $4,086 and Tarr $3,718, the 10th highest amount in the 40-member Senate.
Baddour, Lantigua and Tarr are each eligible for $26 each time they travel to Beacon Hill, while Hill may take $18 per round trip.
District 5 Governor's Councilor Mary Ellen Manning, who lives in Peabody and represents most of the North of Boston region on the panel that approve judges and meets at the Statehouse every other Wednesday, did not request any travel pay last year. Neither did state Sen. Thomas M. McGee, D-Lynn, or state Rep. J. Michael
Ruane, D-Salem.
There is no deadline for requesting travel pay, however, meaning that a lawmaker or governor's councilor may seek back travel pay at any time in the future.
The perk gives lawmakers between $10 and $90 a day, depending on how far they live from the Statehouse. The travel pay is on top of their $50,123 base pay and leadership stipends of up to $15,000.
Lawmakers doubled their per diems three years ago. At the time, they said it was to help them contend with spending limits under the so-called Clean Elections campaign finance law. But they killed the law -- which was passed by voters on a statewide initiative petition -- in the last legislative session, claiming there was no money to fund it.
But local lawmakers say the pay hike is here to say.
"There's no chance we're going to roll back the increase," said Senate Democratic Leader Frederick E. Berry of Peabody, who collected $2,952 for 164 trips to the Statehouse in 2003. "That was the first time we increased the travel pay in more than a decade, but our expenses go up every year."
Baddour, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he does not support revoking the pay increase either. He said another newspaper incorrectly reported recently that he would support rolling back the pay hike, but that he was talking about another legislative perk that reimburses lawmakers for office expenses.
"If somebody proposed travel pay out of the blue, I'd probably vote against it," Baddour said. "But per diems go back to colonial times. Lawyers, CPAs, doctors and CEOs put in for mileage, but for some reason everybody goes crazy when we get it."
Lantigua said he needs to take the per diem because he gave up his day job as a customer service representative when he was elected last year.
"Being a freshman and representing the poorest district in the state, it's no secret my constituents need a lot of help and attention," he said. "I come to Boston almost every day and I have yet to miss a vote. Sometimes, if I'm only here for a few minutes, I don't even put in for it."
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, D-Boston, was one of a handful of lawmakers who took no travel pay last year. His spokesman, Anne
Dufresne, said he did not take his per diem in 2002, either, and that he does not intend to put in for it for 2003. She added, however, that he is free to change his mind and take the money later.
House Speaker Thomas Finneran, who lives in Mattapan -- 8.4 miles from the Statehouse -- does not share Travaglini's reservations over collecting the per diem. He collected $1,980 last year for 198 trips to work.
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The Boston Herald
Friday, January 16, 2004
Cujo doggedly pursues payoffs from per diem
By Howie Carr
Most courts frown on using a person's prior record against him, so as you read this, please disregard the fact that Rep. Paul
Kujawski (D-Commerce Insurance) has already paid a $10,000 fine for campaign-finance violations.
So here's the puzzler:
On Oct. 14 of last year, Cujo put in for his daily $36 "per-diem" travel allowance from Webster to the State House.
Oddly, on that same day, according to his just-filed campaign-finance report, he also paid a $117.79 car-rental bill - in Irving, Texas.
The next day, Oct. 15, Cujo again put in for his daily $36 "per-diem."
That same day, the Marriott Hotel in Irving, Texas, billed him $468.36.
A call was immediately placed to the globe-trotting solon asking him to explain his whereabouts on the days in question.
"Those dates on the campaign statement - those are simply when the business transactions were posted."
What? On my credit cards, they seem to post my charges before I've even signed the slip. For
Cujo, though, apparently they just sit on his bills. That's his story, anyway, and he's sticking to it. So if you weren't charged on the day you paid, when exactly were you in Dallas?
"October 11 and 12," he said. "I was at a weekend conference."
Weekend conference? Another mystery. Don't most conferences end on Fridays, so everyone can go home? What conference were you at,
Cujo?
"Look," he said, "you asked about how I could file for per-diems when I was being billed for charges in Texas. You didn't ask me about the conference."
So I'm asking you now. What conference were you at?
"I'm not telling you," he said. "You asked me how I could file for per-diems when I was being billed ..."
Whatever this "conference" was, I'm guessing it wasn't a gathering of Mensa members.
This is what Mitt Romney is up against. Think of Cujo as the Everyman of the Legislature - venal and stupid, a very bad combination. This is a guy you wouldn't dream of allowing to park your bicycle, and suddenly, he's rolling in dough, a $58,000 salary, over $3,000 in per-diems, plus this campaign account that he uses as his own personal piggy bank.
In 2002, he spent $63,036.94 out of the campaign account, mostly on himself - phone bills, restaurants, bar tabs, leased cars, gasoline, magazines, etc.
Last year, he spent another $59,101.62, on things like this "conference" in Dallas.
As long as I had him on the line, I decided to ask him about some of last year's fine dining, specifically at Abe & Louie's, the pricey steakhouse on Boylston Street.
Cujo's total bills last year at Abe & Louie's: $2,495.20. It was all written off as "meetings" or "dinners" with constituents or "colleagues." And three weeks ago, on Dec. 22, there was an "employee holiday reception."
Tab: $418.13.
I asked Cujo how come he goes to Abe & Louie's so often.
"I was looking for you," he said.
No seriously, Cujo. Why Abe & Louie's so often?
"I was looking for you," he repeated, confirming once again that to a battle of wits he comes unarmed.
But if he's been waiting for me to show up, he's had a long wait. The last time I was there was in 2002, with the president of the radio company I work for and two of his vice presidents.
I haven't been back in two years, and Cujo was there seven times just last year. What's wrong with this picture? I'm going to have to go to a conference to figure out what I'm doing wrong. A weekend conference. In Dallas
Howie Carr's radio show can be heard every weekday afternoon on
WRKO-AM 680, WHYN-AM 560, WGAN-AM 560, WEIM-AM 1280 and WXTK 95.1 FM.
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The Boston Herald
Friday, January 16, 2004
Panel nixes pol tix grab
By Elisabeth J. Beardsley and Ellen J. Silberman
The party's over for politicians hunting for 11th-hour tickets to the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl, after state ethics watchdogs ruled public officials can no longer trade their political clout for special access to entertainment events.
"All of us here at the commission hope the Patriots win as much as anyone else does," said State Ethics Commission Executive Director Peter
Sturges. "However, as public officials, we should keep in mind that free tickets or discounted tickets or special access to tickets is not a privilege of office."
The crackdown comes in the wake of a firestorm of controversy last fall, when dozens of politicians snatched Red Sox playoffs tickets either for free or at face value - whereas the average Joe was shut out entirely or shelled out hundreds of bucks to scalpers.
The five-member ethics panel approved the new policy Wednesday, after receiving "numerous" complaints about the Sox playoffs, when the team set aside a pool of face-value tickets just for dignitaries.
Under the ruling, politicians will now be banned from such special access deals, and won't be allowed to buy tickets at face value when high demand has driven the price tag higher than $50 above the stated value of the ticket.
Politicians will also face ethics trouble if they manage to secure tickets that aren't available to the general public, or if they are able to avoid any "cumbersome and time-consuming process" to which the public is subjected to get tickets, the commission ruled.
The ruling applies to sporting, theatrical, musical and other events, and each violation will carry a hefty $2,000 fine.
"Public service is not self service," said Ethics Commission Chairman E. George
Daher.
The ruling drew mixed reactions - starting with vows of obedience from public officials who've engaged in the now-banned behavior.
"I would abide by any ethics ruling, as I always do," said Boston City Councilor Michael Ross, who grabbed nearly 30 face-value tickets to the Sox playoffs last year.
Others were angry, saying they felt singled out. "I think that's absurd, the fact that you're being criticized for being able to go to a game," said Rep. Paul
Kujowski (D-Webster), who went to one Sox playoff game with a ticket he bought at face value from a "local friend."
But some welcomed the ruling - like Rep. Martin J, Walsh, who said he turned down Sox playoffs tickets for fear of getting in trouble.
"I don't think I should be given any special privileges because of who I am or the position I hold," Walsh (D-Boston) said. "It's not right."
Mayors, governors and other dignitaries will still be able to toss out the first pitch at baseball games without paying full freight, under an exemption for "legitimate, public ceremonial purposes."
The ethics ruling took effect yesterday, and only applies going forward - meaning that any public official who secured football playoff tickets prior to yesterday has dodged the bullet.
Accepting free or face-value tickets to corporate skyboxes - where luxury-seat values are far in excess of the $50 limit - is also a no-no under the ruling.
The ruling comes just a few days after Gov. Mitt Romney was photographed hanging out with Donald Trump at last weekend's playoff game between the Patriots and the Titans, where Romney took in the contest from Pats owner Bob Kraft's luxury box.
Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman insisted Romney paid Kraft for his ticket, although she declined to release the price tag. "The governor did reimburse Bob Kraft for the full cost," she said.
Red Sox spokesman Kevin Shea said, "We are committed to following the law." The Ethics Commission made clear that it had found no wrongdoing by any sports team.
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The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Travaglini punts over ethical dilemma
By Elisabeth J. Beardsley
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini has abruptly abandoned plans to attend this weekend's Patriots playoff game in the wake of a new ethics ruling cracking down on politicians' special access to tickets.
Earlier this week, Travaglini was busily running the phones in his State House office, making plans with other senators to scoot off to tomorrow's AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.
But within hours after the State Ethics Commission's Thursday ruling, the East Boston Democrat was telling other lawmakers the tickets-for-pols controversy had gotten too hot to handle.
"He's not going," spokeswoman Ann Dufresne confirmed on behalf of Travaglini, who refused to be interviewed.
The Senate president complained to colleagues at Thursday night's State of the State speech that he'd been looking forward to the big game.
The Ethics Commission banned politicians from using their clout to secure free or discounted event tickets - even prohibiting them from paying face value for tickets the public can't get.
The crackdown followed a flap last year over Red Sox officials' decision to offer scarce playoffs tickets at face-value prices to politicians, including House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran.
Finneran issued a statement insisting he never sought or received free or discounted tickets - even while admitting he "occasionally" had the chance to secure pricey seats at "face value," and "even less occasionally" capitalized on it.
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The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
A Boston Herald editorial
Get in line with hoi polloi
Let's welcome politicians to the ranks of the teeming masses yearning to go to a sold-out sporting event or concert. The State Ethics Commission, in a deliciously timed decision, has ruled that not only is receiving free tickets to such events a violation of state ethics laws, but having special access to tickets not readily available to the public is, too.
What a way to put a crimp in the plans of those politicians eager to root for the Patriots in person this Sunday.
The ethics panel came around to this rather common-sensical way of thinking after getting a barrage of complaints from regular folk unable to get any closer to Fenway Park for the Red Sox playoffs than a bar stool at the Cask'N Flagon, while plenty of those in power got tickets.
There's an exception for dignitaries asked to throw out a first pitch or perform some other ceremonial duty. But otherwise, elected leaders have just been given an opportunity to better understand the pain of their constituents.
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The Boston Globe
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Romney offers plan to rebuild schools
By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff
Governor Mitt Romney yesterday sketched out a plan to replace and rebuild many of the state's aging public schools, pledging to eliminate a 420-project waiting list for state money within five years.
Speaking a day after promising in his annual State of the State address to tackle the problem, Romney told a gathering of local officials that borrowing money for the projects over a 40-year term instead of the current 20 years will save the state $150 million this year and allow it to pay for its share of every project on the waiting list by fiscal 2009. The state's bill for the 420 projects is about $4 billion.
Romney's idea won plaudits from city and town officials, whose taxpayers are saddled with additional financing costs when it takes years for the state to pay its share. But the office of Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill raised questions about the governor's financing plan, noting that stretching out the payments will burden future generations and raise taxpayers' overall bill.
Aging buildings and skyrocketing enrollment in some school districts have increased the demand for state school-building assistance. Massachusetts kept up with the demand during the economic boom of the late 1990s, when its coffers were overflowing with tax revenue. But as its fiscal situation worsened -- and the demand for new construction continued unabated -- the waiting list grew: In 1998, there were only 125 projects on the list, according to the treasurer's office. Last year, the state was forced to shut it to new applicants.
Massachusetts covers an average of 70 percent of school construction costs, with cities and towns paying the rest. Under the current system, the state reimburses cities and towns over a period of years, but Romney wants to shift to an upfront, one-time payment. The 420 projects on the waiting list have not gotten any state money yet, though construction has begun on about half of them. The state owes another $4 billion for 748 projects it has begun paying for.
Romney also renewed his call for changes in public construction rules, arguing that giving cities and towns more leeway in negotiating contracts will generate additional savings. He and his aides have pointed to public construction as an area where unions wield too much influence, bloating the cost and duration of projects.
"The more money we can save in construction reform, the more money we will have in our pool to get school construction done," the governor said.
The Legislature would have to approve any changes in construction rules or the school building program.
At last year's Massachusetts Municipal Association meeting, Romney received an icy reception after announcing cuts in state aid to cities and towns. But Romney promised a "modest increase" in that aid during his State of the State speech Thursday night, and he was greeted warmly yesterday. His suggestion that the state pay its school construction share upfront elicited a smattering of 'wow's' from the audience.
"If his plan would come to fruition, we'd be overjoyed," said town administrator Jeffrey Nutting of Franklin, which opened a new school two years ago but is buried in the middle of the waiting list for state money. The typical waiting time for state dollars was two to three years in the late 1990s, but at the current rate towns on the list now can expect to wait 10 years.
But officials at the state Treasury are wary. Cahill has been working on his own plan to overhaul the school building program, though he hasn't yet put forward a specific proposal.
"The question we have is, is there a more fiscally responsible way to help save this program?" said Doug Rubin, one of Cahill's deputies. "We are concerned about putting off the payment onto future generations."
Romney argues that it makes sense to finance school construction over 40 years, since schools typically last at least that long. The state Department of Education official in charge of the school construction backed that claim.
"It's an interesting idea. Certainly nobody else has come forward with any serious proposal to solve what we all acknowledge to be a serious problem," said Jeff
Wulfson. "The basic premise is an accurate one: When we build or renovate a building we are expecting it to have a useful period of 40-50 years."
Romney promised that the state will follow through on its share of the funding for every project now on the waiting list. But his aides left open the possibility that the Commonwealth will pay less than 70 percent of future projects. Massachusetts is among the most generous states in the country in paying for school construction.
In an interview two weeks ago, Cahill said that "everyone in the building knows that we cannot continue to give 70 percent or more on reimbursements to cities and towns," a view backed by
Wulfson.
"Everybody understands that if we're going to be able to meet the demand, we may not be able to continue to pay an average of 70 percent, and in some cases 80 or 90 percent, for a project," he said.
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The Boston Herald
Saturday, January 17, 2004
A Boston Herald editorial
Local benefit from reform
As a follow-up to his blunt "reform or hurt kids" State of the State address, Gov. Mitt Romney met with the Massachusetts Municipal Association yesterday and offered its members more of the same.
This is a theme we could grow to love. And municipal officials should, too. Romney was able to bring MMA members very good news: local aid growth in the range of $70 million for communities still struggling with
MCAS.
And no community would see state aid cut in Romney's budget either, allaying fears that cities and towns would, again, have to help close a huge state deficit.
That's not all. Romney dangled the possibility that every school building project on the waiting list for funding would be given the green light - a total of 420 projects statewide over the next five fiscal years.
The governor would achieve these feats by both refinancing the School Building Assistance bonds and applying construction reform savings. That is, he will if the Legislature comes around to backing reforms that up to now have been strongly opposed by unions.
The new approach to school construction and financing will free up some $150 million in fiscal 2005, thus paying for the local aid increase and the jumpstarting of the SBA waiting list.
As Romney press secretary Shawn Feddeman said, "See what reform can get you?" Yes we do, but the question remains, do the mostly Democratic local officials?
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