CLT UPDATE
Friday, November 20, 2009
CLT lives -- Onward with Revolution 2010!
Barbara Anderson is celebrating
the annual Citizens for Limited Taxation brunch, which drew more
than 180 in Randolph on Sunday. Had the turnout been poor, she was
intent on shutting down the organization rather than incurring debt.
"It was the biggest brunch ever," she says. Her e-mails now play "Got a
Revolution" by the Jefferson Airplane. After eliminating one of its four
workers, CLT now has enough money to last until winter fundraising
begins.
The Salem News
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Still got a revolution
I knew it was different when there was a line to get to the
sign-in table last Sunday.
In the past, when attending the Citizens for Limited Taxation annual
lunches, the check-in was pretty sparse. This year, in response to the enormous
outpouring of support, CLT had to book a bigger room at the last minute....
CLT had lost a few of its 'John Hancock' donors (so named because Hancock had
financed the Revolution) and dues were coming in slower in a bad economy. The
annual event had always been the biggest fund raiser, because even businesses
and individuals who were leery of being too publicly identified as a donor were
willing to support the brunch — after all, nobody wanted CLT to disappear
entirely" -- did they? ...
The CLT logo has long been a Concord Minuteman — and thanks to volunteer
donations, not extorted union dues or taxes, but help from those taxpayers who
are willing to support fiscal limits and responsible policy, the 2010 Revolution
just fired its first musket.
The Cape Cod Times
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Democrat scandals boost Revolution 2010
By Cynthia Stead
Despite the sputtering economy, seven area communities this
fall are plunging ahead with campaigns to raise property taxes for
multimillion-dollar school construction projects.
Rockland residents yesterday voted 2,092 to 942 to raise property taxes to build
an $86 million middle and high school, approving the second such tax increase in
six months by a more than 2 to 1 margin.
Over the next month, at least six other Bay State towns - Billerica, Hamilton,
Needham, Norfolk, Wayland, and Wenham - will hold similar special elections,
seeking debt exclusion to pay for big-ticket renovation or school
construction....
But fiscal conservatives caution voters should not get swept up with the promise
of state money, particularly as Massachusetts battles a $600 million deficit.
“The state is spending money it doesn’t have,’’ said Barbara Anderson,
executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, the taxpayer group
that pushed for the passage of Proposition 2˝. “I think voters should stop and
think: ‘Gee, are some of my neighbors unemployed or living on fixed incomes?
Even if I can afford it, should I be putting this onto my neighbors?’ ’’
The Boston Globe
Sunday, November 15, 2009
7 communities pushing to raise taxes for projects
A near-unanimous Town Meeting voted to approve the nearly $80
million renovation of Danvers High last night, a project that officials said
should provide for students for the next half-century.
Last night's vote in the multipurpose room of Holten Richmond Middle School was
the final step in an approval process that has been years in the making.....
The project will be paid for within the town's budget,
without the need to return to voters for an override of Proposition 2˝'s levy
limits....
To save money, officials eliminated a balcony in the auditorium, renovation of
the community's Vye gym, new fields and a stadium fix....
In 2000, Town Meeting approved a $60 million middle school/high school
renovation, but voters rejected an override to pay for the plan in a call to
segregate middle- and high-schoolers and rehab the Holten Richmond building.
In 2003, a renovation of what is now Holten Richmond Middle School on Conant
Street also failed on override at the ballot box, but the town switched gears
and decided to pay for the project within its budget.
Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Sandy Lane said she opposed two overrides for
school projects but likes how the town is going about things now.
The Salem News
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Danvers OKs high school renovation
A steamed Gov. Deval Patrick slammed lawmakers yesterday for
abruptly clocking out and taking an early holiday break as pending education and
crime reforms along with budget cuts hang in the balance.
“The Legislature ought to get back in here and finish this work before they go
off for six weeks,” Patrick said at a hastily called afternoon news conference.
“Whatever they have to do, it’s my understanding they can get it done in plenty
of time and still enjoy their holidays.” ...
Patrick added that lawmakers’ last-minute push to restore
$18.8 million to their own legislative fund showed a lack of shared sacrifice.
“It says, ‘Everyone else should cut except the Legislature,’ ” Patrick said.
The Boston Herald
Friday, November 20, 2009
Gov. Deval Patrick to Legislature: Get back to work
When the state House of Representatives formally adjourned
for the year Wednesday night, it left important public business in limbo. The
chamber failed to pass a landmark education reform initiative - one that is
vital to competing for $250 million in federal education money. And while the
House took steps toward balancing the state budget among plunging revenue
projections, the cuts weren’t aggressive enough to close an expected $600
million shortfall.
Against the needs of students, and of the state in a time of economic crisis,
the Legislature’s desire to adjourn for a six-week vacation hardly seems
pressing. Speaker Robert DeLeo should call his chamber back into formal session,
and his Senate counterpart, President Therese Murray, should follow suit....
Vacation can wait.
A Boston Globe editorial
Friday, November 20, 2009
Fix schools and budget - Legislature’s recess can wait
Just when you think the Legislature might actually be
“getting it” - hearing the public’s outrage over their taxes going up
and how those taxes are being spent - they end their session by looking
out for Number One.
And Number One would be, yes, the Great and General Court as they
obviously now think of themselves.
You’d think in a fiscal crisis lawmakers could forego two holidays
unique to state employees (those “hack” holidays) - Bunker Hill Day and
Evacuation Day. It costs taxpayers - who don’t get the days off - about
$10 million to pay for those who do. But pay they will....
Yes, on Beacon Hill sometimes you can’t tell the players without a
scorecard. But you can tell who ends up a winner.
A Boston Herald editorial
Friday, November 20, 2009
Taxpayers never win
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
Greetings activists and supporters:
I'm opening with the latest
chapter of reports and congratulations that CLT has managed to eek
through another year, thanks to the support of many members, old and
new. We'll be down to a staff of three come December, with Loretta
joining the ranks of the unemployed, an unfortunate but necessary
sacrifice. She's been with us for twelve years, has done a
fantastic job especially using her exceptional organization skills to
pull together the successful annual brunches, and will be missed.
This, of course, means we
remaining three staffers will have to pick up the slack -- divide up and
add her duties to our own. We'll be analyzing how this will come
together in the next few weeks. It won't be easy, and some things CLT
has been doing may need to be changed, rearranged and prioritized.
But CLT's role in
Revolution 2010 is back on track, at least for another month or two
until the annual membership mailing goes out. The response to that will
determine how much longer this lasts.
Proposition 2˝ overrides
continue to threaten taxpayers, especially those less well-off and
financially secure than proponents of More Is Never Enough (MINE)
government. Barbara was on the mark when she observed, "I think voters
should stop and think: 'Gee, are some of my neighbors unemployed or
living on fixed incomes? Even if I can afford it, should I be putting
this onto my neighbors?'"
At the recent brunch,
Barbara noted that she was prepared to retire a few years ago -- but
couldn't if Prop 2˝ is at risk. She reminded the audience that,
back in 1980 when CLT put it on the ballot, its primary purpose was to
protect seniors from losing their homes to the tax collector.
"Now, many of us have become those seniors we set out to protect!"
Thanks to Proposition 2˝,
at least the never satisfied takers must go before voting taxpayers and
ask for more from them -- instead of just taking it without
permission -- and those voters have the final word. So long as
Prop 2˝ remains intact, permission can be denied.
As Danvers taxpayers
proved, by defeating overrides twice over the years for new schools --
eventually the town was able to devise a way to pay for them without
increasing property taxes. Raising taxes is always the easy way
out for tax-and-spenders -- those who can afford paying higher taxes and
those who benefit most from increased spending.
The Legislature is on an
extended vacation -- again. Our alleged "full-time" Bacon Hill
legislators, state representatives, senators, and their staffs, took a
two-month summer vacation in July -- returned in September. Now they're
off again until January, and they don't usually settle down to "work"
until March.
Never mind that the state
is in a "fiscal crisis" with an expected $600 million shortfall.
Regardless that $250
million in federal money will be lost if they don't adopt "Race to the
Top" education reform (including an increase in Charter Schools) by its
January 19 deadline. Of course that would make the teachers unions
happy, which have vociferously opposed this weakening of their
stranglehold.
Legislators are off on a
six-week vacation while the Bay State burns. But not before
rejecting the elimination of the High Hack Holidays of "Bunker Hill Day"
and "Evacuation Day" -- and not before restoring $18.8 million to their
own legislative slush fund.
Like so many other private
sector enterprises, CLT has had to lay off an employee to survive in a
state where the unemployment rate is pushing 10 percent. Meanwhile,
The Best Legislature Money Can Buy continues to gorge itself at our
expense, maintaining the lifestyle to which it has become accustomed, no
speed bumps in sight for the pols.
Reality for them returns
with Revolution 2010. Stay tuned, taxpayers . . . the best is yet to
come.
|
|
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Chip Ford |
The Salem News
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Still got a revolution
By Alan Burke
Barbara Anderson is celebrating the annual Citizens for
Limited Taxation brunch, which drew more than 180 in Randolph on
Sunday. Had the turnout been poor, she was intent on shutting down the
organization rather than incurring debt.
"It was the biggest brunch ever," she says. Her e-mails now play "Got a
Revolution" by the Jefferson Airplane. After eliminating one of its four
workers, CLT now has enough money to last until winter fundraising
begins.
One of Anderson's biggest worries was the number of long-term CLT
members who had simply died. After all, the organization was fighting
property taxes when it championed Proposition 2˝ back in 1980.
Sunday brought fresh blood.
"A lot of these were new people who hadn't been to CLT before," she
says.
Attendees included congressional candidate Bill Hudak (seeking John
Tierney's seat) and Republican U.S. Senate candidates Scott Brown and
Jack E. Robinson. Swampscott's Charlie Baker, running for governor,
bought several seats but did not attend.
Radio host Todd Feinburg spoke. He was accompanied by wife Rosalie,
namesake of her long-ago Marblehead eatery.
Anderson will be targeting the system in 2010, she says, and
spotlighting legislators who vote for taxes. CLT gives Marblehead state
Rep. Lori Ehrlich a zero rating, for example.
The Cape Cod Times
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Democrat scandals boost Revolution 2010
By Cynthia Stead
I knew it was different when there was a line to get to the sign-in
table last Sunday.
In the past, when attending the Citizens for Limited Taxation
annual lunches, the check-in was pretty sparse. This year, in response
to the enormous outpouring of support, CLT had to book a bigger room at
the last minute. Thanks to the CLT Web site, we could check and see if
the lunch had any additional local tax, and Lombardo's in Randolph was
surtax free!
I can vouch for the fact that there were twice as many people and half
as many with walkers as in other years. The table where I sat was a
pretty good cross-section — my husband and I, an older couple who were
long-time supporters, a Congressional candidate and his manager, the
editor of a conservative message board called Red Mass Group, and a
couple who live in Reading who had never been to a CLT function before.
New faces, all ages, and all committed.
Barbara Anderson, executive director of CLT, told the crowd that
a few weeks ago she had told Chip Ford, director of operations,
to send out a "Save the Date" e-mail to the CLT membership. More
importantly, she said he wouldn't get any more paychecks until after the
lunch, because there was no money for payroll.
"There is nothing that Chip hates more than not getting his paycheck, so
'Save the Date' became 'Save CLT.' Things are so different now — in the
past that might have gotten word out to a few hundred people. But with
blogs and the Internet, it got to a few thousand, and soon the Herald
was calling, the radio was calling."
CLT had lost a few of its 'John Hancock' donors (so named because
Hancock had financed the Revolution) and dues were coming in slower in a
bad economy. The annual event had always been the biggest fund raiser,
because even businesses and individuals who were leery of being too
publicly identified as a donor were willing to support the brunch —
after all, nobody wanted CLT to disappear entirely -- did they?
This was the kickoff for Revolution 2010, with a new batch of Hancocks
and Adamses. Along with fiscal activists, there were several candidates
attending, already announced for next year. For the Legislature, there
were Sandy Martinez, Ed McGrath, Brett Schetzsle and Geoff Diehl. For
Congress, there was Bill Hudak for the 6th District and Ray Kasperowicz
for the 10th. Mary Connaughton and Kamal Jain are running for state
auditor. And at the top of the ticket were Jack E. Robinson and Scott
Brown.
Pete Peterson from the Pioneer Institute and Frank Conte from the Beacon
Hill Institute were there, along with long-time supporter Avi Nelson.
Todd Feinberg of WRKO was the lead speaker. He acidly observed that
while he once thought the Obama administration was a plot by the left,
he now thinks it's a plot by the right — by exposing extreme liberalism
to public scrutiny, the majority center has turned away from its
ideology.
Liberals (now called Progressives) were once a wing of the Democratic
Party, but have become the majority, pushing that agenda left, and
leaving old guard Democrats behind.
"We need to challenge the story line — Democrats are not good guys, for
the working stiff." They are the 'Education Candidates,' who own the
failure of the urban school systems because of their hegemony.
Democrats' reliance on public employee unions for campaign funding has
caused a fiscal crisis for cities and towns by creating unsustainable
pensions and benefits in legislation. The new slavery is ignorance — be
it civic or academic — and we need to be ready to seize this opportunity
to restore fiscal sanity.
Barbara Anderson ended by saying that for years, when asked for a
comment on legislative fiscal foolishness, she would blurt out, "That's
outrageous!" In fact, she joked with reporters that if they couldn't
reach her by deadline, they could just write as her quote, "That's
outrageous!"
Now she says, "That's WONDERFUL!" Every outrage, every scandal, every
lie exposed — it's wonderful because it's all a boost for Revolution
2010.
The CLT logo has long been a Concord Minuteman — and thanks to volunteer
donations, not extorted union dues or taxes, but help from those
taxpayers who are willing to support fiscal limits and responsible
policy, the 2010 Revolution just fired its first musket.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, November 15, 2009
7 communities pushing to raise taxes for projects
Rockland voters back $86m school
By Kathy McCabe
Despite the sputtering economy, seven area communities this fall are
plunging ahead with campaigns to raise property taxes for
multimillion-dollar school construction projects.
Rockland residents yesterday voted 2,092 to 942 to raise property taxes
to build an $86 million middle and high school, approving the second
such tax increase in six months by a more than 2 to 1 margin.
Over the next month, at least six other Bay State towns - Billerica,
Hamilton, Needham, Norfolk, Wayland, and Wenham - will hold similar
special elections, seeking debt exclusion to pay for big-ticket
renovation or school construction.
Most of the projects have been in the pipeline for years, but now the
final step is coming amid grim economic conditions. With the state
offering millions of dollars in matching money, the towns have little
choice but to ask for a tax increase that will raise enough money to
match the state’s share.
“It’s a difficult time for everyone, ’’ said Marilyn Werkheiser, a
member of the Rockland School Committee, referring to the weak economy.
“But I think people really understand the need to do these things
[increase taxes] to make our town better.’’
This year, 29 communities have voted on property tax increases,
according to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, a trade group
representing cities and towns. Of that number, 15 were for general
overrides, with seven winning approval. The other 14 were debt
exclusions, for which the association did not track results. “Compared
to prior years, it’s been fairly quiet,’’ said John Robertson, deputy
legislative director for the association.
The latest round of property tax requests, under the state’s Proposition
2˝ law, is triggered by requirements of the Massachusetts School
Building Authority.
A flurry of votes aim to meet a 120-day deadline, which is up Jan. 1,
for a community or school district to finalize funding for a project or
risk losing reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building
Authority. The authority approved 15 new projects, with reimbursements
totaling $321 million on Sept. 30. The state’s share of the cost ranges
from 64 percent for Rockland to 40 percent for projects in Needham and
Wayland, according to the MSBA.
The 15 projects were among the largest number approved at a board
meeting this year.
“The list was quite long,’’ said Emily Mahlman, a spokeswoman for the
state agency. “Communities are now getting their finances in order.’’
In Rockland, the debt exclusion - a temporary tax increase allowed under
the state’s Proposition 2˝ property tax cap - would raise taxes by $23
next year. But the amount would gradually rise to $400, according to
estimates. Voters in May approved a $2.8 million permanent tax increase
to keep an elementary school open.
Rockland is due to receive $53 million, one of the highest state
reimbursement grants awarded this year. The project would build a new
middle school, renovate the high school, and connect the two buildings.
“This would be a brand-new facility, right smack in the middle of
town,’’ said John W. Rogers, the chairman of the School Building
Committee and a retired Rockland school superintendent for whom the
middle school is named. “It would take care of our building needs for
the next 50 years.’’
But fiscal conservatives caution voters should not get swept up with the
promise of state money, particularly as Massachusetts battles a $600
million deficit. “The state is spending money it doesn’t have,’’ said
Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited
Taxation, the taxpayer group that pushed for the passage of
Proposition 2˝. “I think voters should stop and think: ‘Gee, are some of
my neighbors unemployed or living on fixed incomes? Even if I can afford
it, should I be putting this onto my neighbors?’ ’’
Holly Horrigan of Needham thinks the proposed debt exclusion to pay for
the $27.4 million renovation of her town’s Newman Elementary School is
ill-timed.
“I think the town officials who put this package together are frankly
out of touch with the economic realities that many members of the
community and state are experiencing,’’ said Horrigan, a mother of two
children at the school. “I think we should have learned by now that
buying on credit . . . is a very bad idea.’’
Many of the current projects were stymied in the past by many factors,
such as a state moratorium on new funding for school building projects
in 2004. Under new state regulations, a community or school district
must have a plan to finance the entire cost of a project, before it
would be eligible for a state reimbursement grant. The state reimburses
for design and construction costs, but not to buy or improve land for a
project. If the 120-day funding deadline is not met, a project has to be
resubmitted, with no promise of receiving the same rate of
reimbursement.
“One concern of the new program is that cities and towns may have to pay
a much bigger share if a [debt exclusion] is rejected,’’ said Robertson,
of the MMA. “What happens then?’’
Proponents of school projects are betting on the promise of state
reimbursement to help them win at the ballot box.
Wayland voters three times have rejected debt exclusions to build a new
high school. Now, with the approval for 62 percent reimbursement, or
about $25 million, the odds are better with this proposal, observers
said.
“We’re contracted for 40 cents [reimbursement] on the dollar,’’ said
Joseph Nolan, chairman of the Wayland Board of Selectmen, which voted 5
to 0 to place the debt exclusion question on the ballot. “That’s huge in
this economy.’’
This week, Wayland voters will take two votes on whether to finance a
new $70 million high school. On Tuesday, a special election will be held
to approve a debt exclusion. The next day, a special Town Meeting will
be held to authorize bonds to pay for the project over the next 25
years, according to the funding plan. “They’re big votes,’’ said Lea
Anderson, chairwoman of the Wayland High School Building Committee.
“There is no way the town can afford to pay for it without the funding
approved.’’
Billerica, where a special election will be held Nov. 21, could not
afford to pay for the new $33.6 million Parker Elementary School out of
the town or School Department budget. “We pride ourselves on being able
to do things in budget,’’ said Marc Lombardo, chairman of the Board of
Selectmen. “A project like this, however, is just too much of a cost.’’
Voters in Hamilton and Wenham, which share a regional school district,
will hold separate votes to approve a $1.5 million debt exclusion to
replace the heating system at Cutler Elementary School, a project which
is due to receive 42.5 percent state reimbursement. Hamilton votes on
Nov. 24 and Wenham on Dec. 17, officials said.
Norfolk and Needham have put debt exclusion proposals on the ballot of
the Dec. 8 special state primary election to fill the seat of the late
Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Norfolk is seeking $37 million to replace
Freeman-Centennial School. The town is in line to receive 53 percent
reimbursement, or $17.2 million.
“There is no way we would ask the voters to bear the full cost,’’ said
Beth Gilbert, a School Committee member who also sits on the School
Building Committee. “Right now, there are historically low construction
costs . . . That’s another advantage.’’
Needham is due to receive a 40 percent state reimbursement, or about
$8.6 million, to renovate the Newman school.
“We are convinced that this is a sound project and a fiscally prudent
project,’’ said Caroline Sabin, an organizer of Citizens for Needham
Schools, a nonprofit that lobbies for the public schools. “It’s the
right time.’
Globe Correspondent David Rattigan contributed to this story.
The Salem News
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Danvers OKs high school renovation
By Ethan Forman
A near-unanimous Town Meeting voted to approve the nearly $80 million
renovation of Danvers High last night, a project that officials said
should provide for students for the next half-century.
Last night's vote in the multipurpose room of Holten Richmond Middle
School was the final step in an approval process that has been years in
the making. The vote happened after an hour's worth of debate.
"This is a milestone, it's a very important milestone," Town Manager
Wayne Marquis said. "We have four years of work ahead of us."
The project will be paid for within the town's budget, without the need
to return to voters for an override of Proposition 2˝'s levy limits. A
maximum grant from the Massachusetts School Building Authority of $42
million on school-related portions of the building was also an
enticement some Town Meeting members could not resist.
Precinct 5 Town Meeting member John Filippone likened the state grant to
the government's Cash for Clunkers program that spurred car sales over
the summer.
"We are getting rid of a clunker of a building," Filippone said.
"I'm looking forward to my 10-year-old grandson going to this nice, new
high school," said Precinct 8 Town Meeting member Bill Nicholson.
The plan calls for a 250,000-square-foot addition and renovation to the
school, which dates back nearly 50 years. Architects plan to reorient
the building's facade away from Cabot Road to Burley Street.
The new and improved Danvers High will house approximately 1,000
students and include a new three-story science wing, the renovation of a
1960s academic wing, new cafeteria and library spaces, and a revamped
550-seat auditorium.
To save money, officials eliminated a balcony in the auditorium,
renovation of the community's Vye gym, new fields and a stadium fix. The
project will begin in the fall with students moving to the Dunn Wing at
Danvers High and wrap up in September 2013.
The roll call vote, in which 106 Town Meeting members called out "yes"
and just five said "no," ensured the project will move ahead, given the
need for the plan to pass by a two-thirds majority.
"Reluctantly, yes," said former Selectman Mark Zuberek, an outspoken
Town Meeting member who never mounted a campaign against the proposal.
Instead, the engineer for 37 years said the town was at a "fish or cut
bait" moment, praising its financing plan but also raising concerns
about some of its assumptions, while questioning the need for the
"superintendent's 30-plus-office complex."
He warned the town had to be careful with how it treats $12 million
worth of contingencies in the project budget.
"We must treat these allowances as our own money," Zuberek said. Zuberek
then called for Town Meeting to end debate and move the question. It
did, but not before Nicholson called for a roll-call vote.
The town plans to pay for the project by borrowing money and shoehorning
debt costs within the town's operating budget. Officials plan to keep
borrowing costs around 5 percent of the town's budget.
Taxpayers are not going to foot the entire bill. A grant of up to $42
million from the Massachusetts School Building Authority will pay for
education-eligible costs. The cost to the town will be just under $38
million.
A 30-year repayment schedule, a high school/middle school stabilization
account, the expectation the project will come in under budget and
keeping an eye on future debt will help the town afford the project,
said Selectman Keith Lucy, whose spreadsheets have helped the town gauge
its spending well into the future.
Town Meeting member Bob Ryan said the project may prove too expensive
for the town to bear, and "we will be faced with annual (debt)
exclusions" of Prop. 2˝. The renovation of the high school has been
debated for the past dozen years.
In 2000, Town Meeting approved a $60 million middle school/high school
renovation, but voters rejected an override to pay for the plan in a
call to segregate middle- and high-schoolers and rehab the Holten
Richmond building.
In 2003, a renovation of what is now Holten Richmond Middle School on
Conant Street also failed on override at the ballot box, but the town
switched gears and decided to pay for the project within its budget.
Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Sandy Lane said she opposed two overrides
for school projects but likes how the town is going about things now.
"The question is ... can we afford not to do this project," Lane said.
Some cited the success of the award-winning Holten Richmond Middle
School project as a justification for the high school project. It opened
in 2005 with a modern design at the back and a reuse of the facade of
two old school buildings at the front. That project was on time and
under budget.
School votes have a history of stirring controversy in Danvers, said
Town Archivist Richard Trask, a Town Meeting member in Precinct 7.
"This is a real historic vote," Trask said, "and a credit to all the
work people have done."
The Boston Herald
Friday, November 20, 2009
Gov. Deval Patrick to Legislature: Get back to work
By Hillary Chabot
A steamed Gov. Deval Patrick slammed lawmakers yesterday for abruptly
clocking out and taking an early holiday break as pending education and
crime reforms along with budget cuts hang in the balance.
“The Legislature ought to get back in here and finish this work before
they go off for six weeks,” Patrick said at a hastily called afternoon
news conference. “Whatever they have to do, it’s my understanding they
can get it done in plenty of time and still enjoy their holidays.”
Patrick called both House Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) and Senate
President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) and asked them to come back and
vote on key legislation, including education reform and additional cuts
to the budget.
“We’re in the middle of a crisis right now,” Patrick said. “I hope
members will realize that their rules are within their own making and
they have it within their grasp to get it done.”
Legislators worked until midnight Wednesday, but managed to pass only
four overrides that restored about $24 million to various accounts. Left
on the table was a bill that would lift the charter school cap and
qualify the state for $250 million.
A DeLeo spokesman blasted Patrick’s comments as “political,” saying the
speaker is working to make the education reform bill better.
“Speaker DeLeo’s obligation is to the commonwealth’s schoolchildren -
not Gov. Patrick’s political calendar,” DeLeo spokesman Seth Gitell
said.
Murray spokesman David Falcone said the senate passed both the education
and criminal records reform.
Patrick added that lawmakers’ last-minute push to restore $18.8 million
to their own legislative fund showed a lack of shared sacrifice.
“It says, ‘Everyone else should cut except the Legislature,’ ” Patrick
said.
The Boston Globe
Friday, November 20, 2009
A Boston Globe editorial
Fix schools and budget - Legislature’s recess can wait
When the state House of Representatives formally adjourned for the year
Wednesday night, it left important public business in limbo. The chamber
failed to pass a landmark education reform initiative - one that is
vital to competing for $250 million in federal education money. And
while the House took steps toward balancing the state budget among
plunging revenue projections, the cuts weren’t aggressive enough to
close an expected $600 million shortfall.
Against the needs of students, and of the state in a time of economic
crisis, the Legislature’s desire to adjourn for a six-week vacation
hardly seems pressing. Speaker Robert DeLeo should call his chamber back
into formal session, and his Senate counterpart, President Therese
Murray, should follow suit.
To its credit, the Senate passed the education bill, which would raise a
cap on the number of charter schools in Massachusetts and give
superintendents more power to reorganize failing schools. But DeLeo
rebuffed calls to push the measure through the House. The loss of
momentum is discouraging. Opponents - specifically unions representing
teachers and other public employees - have launched an all-out assault,
complete with blatantly misleading ads stating that the reform bill will
create larger class sizes. DeLeo and his leadership team should be
steeling members for a tough vote on an important piece of legislation,
not giving opponents more than a month to scare legislators into voting
against it.
Still more pressing is the need for further action on the state budget.
The House rejected or hacked away at many of Governor Patrick’s proposed
cuts, protected a legislative slush fund, and rejected the governor’s
request for authority to make emergency cuts to agencies outside the
executive branch. Yes, legislators are entitled to defend their own
prerogatives against what they see as encroachment by the governor. But
this fight has grim consequences. Granting Patrick’s request would allow
him to spread cuts across a broad variety of agencies and across the
seven months left in the fiscal year. Denying the request only
concentrates the pain - especially for human services agencies.
In an interview, House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Murphy
said the governor’s estimate of the revenue shortfall is on the high end
of a range of forecasts, and that lawmakers have time to revisit the
issue in January. But no one is expecting dramatic improvement in the
state’s finances. Indeed, Murphy predicted that fiscal 2011, which
begins next summer, “is going to make this year look like a walk.’’
That’s all the more reason not to punt on tough decisions now.
Vacation can wait.
The Boston Herald
Friday, November 20, 2009
A Boston Herald editorial
Taxpayers never win
Just when you think the Legislature might actually be “getting it” -
hearing the public’s outrage over their taxes going up and how those
taxes are being spent - they end their session by looking out for Number
One.
And Number One would be, yes, the Great and General Court as they
obviously now think of themselves.
You’d think in a fiscal crisis lawmakers could forego two holidays
unique to state employees (those “hack” holidays) - Bunker Hill Day and
Evacuation Day. It costs taxpayers - who don’t get the days off - about
$10 million to pay for those who do. But pay they will.
And the governor thought a fiscal crisis was also a good time to trim
money going to pay police officers for getting their college degrees -
the so-called Quinn bill. About $5 million to pay those costs was put
back into the budget by lawmakers.
But it was in overriding some gubernatorial vetoes that legislators
really showed who they were looking out for - and it wasn’t pretty. An
$18.8 million legislative slush fund was restored with House Ways and
Means Chair Charles Murphy (D-Burlington) insisting the money was
“critical” to take care of the needs of the State House. He can tell
that to the families who have put off replacing their worn-out carpeting
because they can’t afford it.
And then there’s the $4.1 million in spending restored for the
Legislature’s favorite sandbox - the Probation Department. Had the union
representing probation officers agreed to a modest furlough plan that
wouldn’t be necessary. But they took the gamble of saying no, knowing
full well their pals in the Legislature would make it all better.
Yes, on Beacon Hill sometimes you can’t tell the players without a
scorecard. But you can tell who ends up a winner.
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