CLT UPDATE
Saturday, December 18, 2010
"The more things change, the more they remain the same"
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A jobs commission ordered
almost two years ago by Gov. Deval Patrick and
the Legislature to find ways to create and
maintain jobs in Massachusetts has never met,
causing some to view the panel as a missed
opportunity during a period of high
unemployment.
In interviews, stakeholders said it had taken
them two years to name commission members and
said they hoped to meet for the first time in
January, more than 18 months after their initial
reporting date. But loose ends remain. For
instance, those involved in the panel could not
provide a full list of its members....
An aide to commission co-chair Sen. Karen Spilka
(D-Ashland) said the lawmakers in October
extended the group’s reporting deadline until
June 2012, or three years after the commission’s
initial reporting date....
The Legislature has been largely inactive since
early August.
State House News Service
Monday, December 7, 2010
Amid high unemployment,
lawmakers fail to get jobs panel off ground
There's no better illustration of the folly of
relying on government to create jobs than this: A commission on job
creation created two years ago by Gov. Deval Patrick has yet to
meet.
In fact, no one even seems to know the full list of people who are
on the commission....
The commission was scheduled to issue its report in June 2009. That
date has since been pushed back to June 2012. In the wake of the
questions raised about the lack of meetings, the Democratic
legislators who chair the panel announced they would embark on a
statewide "listening tour" early next year.
This commission should collapse under the weight of its own
futility.
The citizens of Massachusetts are being asked to believe that people
who are incapable of the simple task of forming a committee have
significant insight regarding the creation of jobs in a down
economy....
Unleash the private sector and watch the employment numbers explode.
That's where jobs come from — not from a do-nothing commission that
can't get its act together even to hold a single meeting.
A Salem News editorial
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Do-nothing jobs panel should just go away
"Health care reform is
working in Massachusetts," Gov. Deval Patrick
declared Monday, noting that more than 98
percent of the state's residents are now covered
by some kind of insurance.
Except that same day the State House News
Service reported that "the Patrick
administration still faces a significant budget
gap, largely because of soaring costs in the
state Medicaid program."
According to the story, 75 percent of those
newly insured since passage of the health reform
law in 2006 "have found coverage through
publicly subsidized programs, including the
expanded Medicaid or MassHealth system." ...
It notes that just three months into the current
fiscal year last October, the Legislature
allocated an additional $327 million for the
state's $10 billion Medicaid program, and
officials are now warning that another $500
million might be required before the books close
on June 30. This single item now accounts for a
third of all state spending.
Which makes Monday's announcement by the
governor something for taxpayers to celebrate,
we suppose. After all, they're paying for it.
A Salem News editorial
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Hefty price for health reform's success
Massachusetts taxpayers have delivered more
revenue to the state Treasury nearly every month since October 2009,
but the Patrick administration still faces a significant budget gap
largely because of soaring costs in the state Medicaid program,
which has attracted almost a quarter million new enrollees since
June 2006 while playing a major role in helping Massachusetts
achieve the lowest rate of uninsured individuals in the nation....
And a News Service review of state finance documents and updated
Medicaid enrollment statistics, which the Patrick administration
refused to release this fall, shows enrollment and costs have shot
up during the recession, hitting struggling taxpayers with a big
bill while myriad other services were slashed....
The voracious demands of Medicaid mean a recent surge in tax
revenues, fueled in part by the 25 percent increase in the state
sales tax, is being offset in large part by spending demands in
Medicaid and is not leading to a significantly reduced structural
budget gap or in new sources of revenue for other services.
State House News Service
Monday, December 13, 2010
Medicaid costs surge past $10 Billion,
devouring uptick in tax receipts
Lame-duck lawmakers nabbed
nearly $100,000 in a last grab from taxpayers by
claiming travel stipends even as Beacon Hill was
shuttered for half the year, with one departing
politician saying he’s using the plum perk to
tide him over until his pension kicks in — next
month.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Lame-duck pols nab nearly $100G in per diems
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Yeah, I'm fed up with this
'government' stuff too, that it never seems to get any better or slow
down even for the holidays.
We're keeping only
about half of what we earn, one way or another, after government's
extraction from our potential income. Never mind who is taking it
from us – the state, the feds,
municipal, oh yeah, the "social security" payroll tax, whatever.
This has become
especially ridiculous, considering that extorted money from us is
paying to leverage more borrowing to spend on ever more waste.
This symbiotic
relationship is not working -- at least not for those of us who feed
it. If you have a job, keep working, harder and longer.
Those who don't are depending on us to continue feeding it.
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Chip Ford |
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State House News Service
Monday, December 7, 2010
Amid high unemployment, lawmakers fail to get jobs panel off ground
By Colleen Quinn
A jobs commission ordered almost two years ago by Gov. Deval Patrick and
the Legislature to find ways to create and maintain jobs in
Massachusetts has never met, causing some to view the panel as a missed
opportunity during a period of high unemployment.
In interviews, stakeholders said it had taken them two years to name
commission members and said they hoped to meet for the first time in
January, more than 18 months after their initial reporting date. But
loose ends remain. For instance, those involved in the panel could not
provide a full list of its members.
Under a resolve approved Dec. 31, 2008, state officials coping with the
effects of the recession were charged with creating a special commission
“for the purpose of making an investigation and study relative to the
economy in order to create and maintain quality jobs in the
commonwealth.”
Before and after the resolve’s approval, Massachusetts and the rest of
the nation were socked by record job losses and the nation is now
experiencing a slow recovery from a deep recession.
An aide to commission co-chair Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) said the
lawmakers in October extended the group’s reporting deadline until June
2012, or three years after the commission’s initial reporting date.
Sarah Blodgett, chief of staff to Spilka, said the group was delayed
because it took a long time to appoint all the commission members.
Co-chair Rep. John Scibak (D-South Hadley) did not return repeated phone
calls.
The Legislature has been largely inactive since early August.
Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), one of the original sponsors of the jobs
commission legislation, also said it was a lengthy appointment process.
It was only recently that all 17 members were chosen, she said.
“I think it is very timely, even though it took a long time to get it
passed, and a long time to meet,” Wolf said. “I think the purpose of it
is to look at what the state can do to support jobs creation.”
Sen. Bruce Tarr, a commission member, said meeting earlier should have
been a priority.
“This is not very good,” said Tarr (R-Gloucester). “I don’t think it
speaks well of this commission that it hasn’t met. Clearly one of the
number one priorities is job creation.”
“It shouldn’t have taken this long to appoint people,” Tarr said. “This
issue is going to be with us for some time. But it is unfortunate we
missed the opportunity to address it earlier.”
Rep. Paul Frost (R-Auburn) was appointed to the commission in July 2010
to replace Sen. Richard Ross, who was elected to the Senate. Frost said
in light of the recession, it is surprising the commission has not met.
“You would have thought, at least over the last couple of years, with
jobs being the number one issue facing the commonwealth, that we would
have had some meetings. That this is something we would have wanted to
work on,” he said. “In all honesty, jobs certainly should be a number
one priority.” He criticized the Democratic leadership: “Maybe for the
Democrats it seems to be campaign rhetoric, talking about jobs creation,
rather than sitting down to talk to people in business community about
how to create jobs,” Frost said. “How come we can’t get together and
meet on something we all should be caring about, that is creating jobs?”
The new reporting deadline, June 2012, allows a whole legislative cycle
to go by, Frost said.
“I would have thought this was something that had a little bit more
energy behind it,” Frost said. “We should be meeting now to finalize
what we heard, what we discussed, so we could have some recommendations
to go into the next legislative session.”
Wolf said the commission will look for ways to support private industry
so the state’s economy can better weather any downturns.
John Regan, the executive vice president of government affairs for the
Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said he was not surprised the
commission has not met. He added that state lawmakers were working to
spur economic development quickly during the recession. Regan pointed to
health care cost containment legislation and an economic development law
approved over the summer.
“The date when they were suppose to report was a pretty tight
timeframe,” Regan said. “At that time, there was an awful lot of stuff
going on. At the end of 2009, the Legislature, clearly, was trying to do
things to improve the state’s economic climate. It appeared to be a
pretty high priority.”
Even though the commission will not report its findings until 2012,
Regan said, it will be helpful. “Anytime we are talking about job
creation and economic development that is a good thing,” he said.
Another commission member, Aaron Tanaka, the executive director of
Boston Workers’ Alliance, said he feels not meeting yet was a “missed
opportunity.”
“I think it is a great opportunity to come up with new strategies for
bringing jobs to Massachusetts,” said Tanaka, who works with more than
700 unemployed people in Boston. “Obviously that should be at the top of
everybody’s priorities.”
Alan Clayton-Matthews, a professor of economics and public policy at
Northeastern University appointed to the commission by the governor,
said he was disappointed the commission has not met yet.
“This is not an easy task,” Clayton-Matthews said. “It is just not easy
to turn an economic ship around. Any policy recommendations we come up
with are really going to have a long-term impact and not be felt
immediately.”
The group was charged with creating lasting economic solutions like
strengthening education and jobs creation, not “short-term fixes,”
Clayton-Matthews said.
“In the short-term, the best thing you can do is support those out of
work,” by extending unemployment benefits and job retraining, he said.
Gov. Patrick appointed four members: Tim Sullivan from the AFL-CIO,
Aaron Tanaka from the Boston Workers’ Alliance, Alan Clayton-Matthews
from Northeastern University, and Eileen McAnneny from Associated
Industries of Massachusetts. Senate President Therese Murray and House
Speaker Robert DeLeo each appointed a co-chair and Tarr and Frost were
appointed by Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei and House Minority
Leader Brad Jones. All nine Cabinet secretaries were charged with naming
appointees. An economic affairs aide could not find information about
the commission. Legislative aides contacted by the News Service were
unable to produce a complete list of commission members.
The Salem News
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A Salem News editorial
Do-nothing jobs panel should just go away
There's no better illustration of the folly of relying on government
to create jobs than this: A commission on job creation created two
years ago by Gov. Deval Patrick has yet to meet.
In fact, no one even seems to know the full list of people who are
on the commission.
The State House News Service reported last week that many of those
appointed to the job commission believe the failure to meet during a
time of high unemployment was a missed opportunity.
"This is not very good," state Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester,
commented. "I don't think it speaks well of this commission that it
hasn't met. Clearly one of the No. 1 priorities is job creation."
Patrick established the commission on Dec. 31, 2008, with the goal
of "making an investigation and study relative to the economy in
order to create and maintain quality jobs in the commonwealth."
Those interviewed said the delay in meeting has been due to the time
it has taken to appoint members to the commission. Still, the news
service has been unable to find anyone who could produce a full list
of members of the panel.
The commission was scheduled to issue its report in June 2009. That
date has since been pushed back to June 2012. In the wake of the
questions raised about the lack of meetings, the Democratic
legislators who chair the panel announced they would embark on a
statewide "listening tour" early next year.
This commission should collapse under the weight of its own
futility.
The citizens of Massachusetts are being asked to believe that people
who are incapable of the simple task of forming a committee have
significant insight regarding the creation of jobs in a down
economy.
Our political leaders are all talk and no action. If jobs could be
created out of the hot air emanating from Beacon Hill, we'd never be
at less than full employment.
The fact is that if our governmental leaders are serious about
creating jobs, the best thing they could do is get government out of
the way of the engine of job growth which is the private sector.
Tear down the barriers of regulation and taxation that make it
difficult if not impossible to build new businesses and add
employees to payrolls. Reward commercial success, don't punish it.
Stop enacting measures to protect the public sector from competition
with privately-owned concerns.
Unleash the private sector and watch the employment numbers explode.
That's where jobs come from — not from a do-nothing commission that
can't get its act together even to hold a single meeting.
The Salem News
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A Salem News editorial
Hefty price for health reform's success
"Health care reform is working in Massachusetts," Gov. Deval Patrick
declared Monday, noting that more than 98 percent of the state's
residents are now covered by some kind of insurance.
Except that same day the State House News Service reported that "the
Patrick administration still faces a significant budget gap, largely
because of soaring costs in the state Medicaid program."
According to the story, 75 percent of those newly insured since
passage of the health reform law in 2006 "have found coverage
through publicly subsidized programs, including the expanded
Medicaid or MassHealth system."
"The trends," the story continues, "point toward an entitlement
program with runaway costs that's devouring new state revenues and
leaving other services ... subject to continuing budget cuts amid a
sluggish economic recovery and dried-up federal revenue sources."
It notes that just three months into the current fiscal year last
October, the Legislature allocated an additional $327 million for
the state's $10 billion Medicaid program, and officials are now
warning that another $500 million might be required before the books
close on June 30. This single item now accounts for a third of all
state spending.
Which makes Monday's announcement by the governor something for
taxpayers to celebrate, we suppose. After all, they're paying for
it.
State House News Service
Monday, December 13, 2010
Medicaid costs surge past $10 Billion, devouring uptick in tax
receipts
By Michael Norton and Kyle Cheney
Massachusetts taxpayers have delivered more revenue to the state
Treasury nearly every month since October 2009, but the Patrick
administration still faces a significant budget gap largely because
of soaring costs in the state Medicaid program, which has attracted
almost a quarter million new enrollees since June 2006 while playing
a major role in helping Massachusetts achieve the lowest rate of
uninsured individuals in the nation.
In addition, 75 percent of the estimated 410,000 individuals newly
insured in Massachusetts since passage of the 2006 health reform law
under Gov. Mitt Romney have found coverage through publicly
subsidized programs, including the expanded Medicaid or MassHealth
system, according to a state report released on Friday. Only 25
percent of the newly insured got coverage through employers, of
which 76 percent offer insurance in Massachusetts, or by purchasing
coverage on their own.
And a News Service review of state finance documents and updated
Medicaid enrollment statistics, which the Patrick administration
refused to release this fall, shows enrollment and costs have shot
up during the recession, hitting struggling taxpayers with a big
bill while myriad other services were slashed.
The trends point toward an entitlement program with runaway costs
that’s devouring new state revenues and leaving other services in
areas like public safety, human services, education and local aid,
subject to continuing budget cuts amid a sluggish economic recovery
and dried up federal revenue sources.
In October, just three months into the state’s new fiscal year, Gov.
Deval Patrick and the Legislature directed another $327 million in
funding to the state’s $10 billion Medicaid program when allocating
about $400 million in onetime federal funds okayed by Congress and
President Barack Obama.
Less than three months later, the Patrick administration is warning
of up to $500 million more in extra spending that might be required
to keep pace with caseloads at Medicaid and in state emergency
shelter and public defender services. Medicaid alone accounts for
about a third of all state government spending.
The voracious demands of Medicaid mean a recent surge in tax
revenues, fueled in part by the 25 percent increase in the state
sales tax, is being offset in large part by spending demands in
Medicaid and is not leading to a significantly reduced structural
budget gap or in new sources of revenue for other services.
For instance, as state tax collections plunged from their recent
high of $20.9 billion in fiscal 2008 to a projected $19.1 billion
this fiscal year, spending on Medicaid, which is shared between the
state and federal governments, rose from $8.2 billion to an
estimated $10.2 billion this fiscal year, according to figures the
Patrick administration and Treasurer Tim Cahill included in a recent
statement to bondholders.
In light of the extra money allocated to Medicaid in October, the
News Service inquired with the Patrick administration about updated
enrollment statistics. An Executive Office of Health and Human
Services spokeswoman declined to release the figures and said the
program also does not publish an annual report.
But according to enrollment numbers subsequently acquired by the
News Service, the program has become a magnet for thousands of
residents struggling during the recession, including scores of
individuals classified as “long-term unemployed” and reliant on
Medicaid for health insurance coverage.
In September 2010, there were 106,560 individuals identified as
“long-term unemployed” on Medicaid. That’s up by nearly 53,000 from
June 2006, for a nearly 100 percent increase.
In other major categories, Medicaid listed 650,649 family members in
September 2010, up 18.2 percent from June 2006, as well as 222,986
disabled individuals, up 17.8 percent from June 2006, and 112,740
seniors, an increase of 10.3 percent from June 2006.
Overall, Medicaid enrollment since June 2006 has grown 23.7 percent,
or by 244,780 members. The program counted 1,279,225 members as of
September 2010.
Budget writers in the Legislature say Medicaid growth has confounded
Beacon Hill for years.
“Pat McGovern [former Senate Ways and Means chairman] talked about
it in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s the budget buster,” Sen.
Steven Panagiotakos, the Senate’s budget chief, said Monday
afternoon. “Until that reins in, it continues to take money away
from other accounts because that continues to increase at a much
higher level than anything else in the state budget.”
Panagiotakos said more people are turning to MassHealth “because
they’ve lost their jobs and COBRA has run out.” He said higher cost
associated with Medicaid growth are “pretty close” to eating up the
excess revenue from tax collections so far this fiscal year.
But Senate President Therese Murray questioned whether projected
Medicaid costs are accurate.
“We frequently get really bad advice, numbers from Medicaid that we
then go back and change later,” she told reporters after a meeting
with Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Monday. “What we’d
like to know is what the real numbers are, and the governor has
somebody that he’s asked to look at that and to do a better
forecasting for [the Group Insurance Commission] and Medicaid.”
Asked whether he was concerned at the rate with which Medicaid costs
have crowded out other budgetary spending, DeLeo said, “That’s
always been – if you look at Medicaid, if you look at local aid,
education funding, those are some of the big ticket items that we
have in the budget, so those are always concerns.”
Other fiscal observers were less restrained.
“It’s a huge problem,” Massachusetts Taxpayers President Michael
Widmer told the News Service Monday morning after being apprised of
the News Service’s findings on trends in Medicaid. Widmer called
Medicaid “seriously underfunded” and said most tax revenue the state
collects this fiscal year above its benchmarks will need to be
rolled into that program.
Widmer acknowledged Medicaid eligibility expansion under the 2006
health care law, but added, “I think the Medicaid phenomenon is less
health reform and more the recession. The employment base has eroded
and as you lose your job of course you lose your health care.
“Medicaid is gobbling up more and more of the state budget, a trend
that has been going on for many years. It’s not surprising that
Medicaid costs have continued to grow, particularly in a recession
but the consequences for the rest of state spending are troubling.
Virtually every state program except Medicaid has seen reductions
during this extended fiscal crisis.”
Gary Gottlieb, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare, said in a
recent interview that many of the increased costs borne by Medicaid
represent patients who may have been obtaining free care beforehand.
Although Medicaid costs are climbing, he said the “worrisome” part
is doctors who accept Medicaid patients have seen reimbursement
rates cut, which “overloads the burden on the commercial industry.”
Eileen McAnneny, senior vice president at Associated Industries of
Massachusetts, wondered whether the uptick in Medicaid enrollees
included individuals churning on and off the program, questioned the
ability of the state to sustain its spending rate on Medicaid, and
highlighted the need for payment reforms.
“The increase in Medicaid enrollment has been by design in that
Massachusetts has more generous eligibility requirements than
federal law requires and than most other states,” McAnneny said.
“Medicaid is experiencing what a lot of commercial insurers are
experiencing. To the extent that costs keep increasing year of year,
it’s unsustainable over time.”
Neil Cronin, at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, told Patrick
administration officials at a hearing Monday that health reform
could not have happened without Patrick’s commitment to Medicaid.
“We know that’s where the big bucks are,” Cronin said. “We know
we’re asking for money out of the sky but Medicaid is where it’s at
and it keeps the state healthy.”
Cronin said curtailing optional Medicaid services would prevent more
individuals from receiving care at home and drive health costs
higher.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Lame-duck pols nab nearly $100G in per diems
By Hillary Chabot
Lame-duck lawmakers nabbed nearly $100,000 in a last grab from taxpayers
by claiming travel stipends even as Beacon Hill was shuttered for half
the year, with one departing politician saying he’s using the plum perk
to tide him over until his pension kicks in — next month.
“There will be a hiatus until I collect my retirement. It takes a little
bit of the edge off for the next few weeks,” said state Rep. Robert S.
Hargraves (R-Groton), who’s pocketed $4,342 in taxpayer-funded travel
reimbursements this year on top of his $61,440 salary.
The controversial payments are based on how far a lawmaker lives from
the State House and are meant to be used for travel, dining and lodging
while legislators are working.
But the stipends kept coming this year long after formal sessions ended
July 31. In all, 30 departing lawmakers scored a staggering $91,555, a
Herald review found.
Among them:
• State Rep. Christopher J. Donelan (D-Orange) put in the most per diems
of any outgoing legislator, raking in $7,350 for 147 days; driving in
from Orange, 72 miles from Boston, he got $50 for every day he came in
to the State House.
• State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley (D-North Adams) pulled in $6,120 for 68
travel days on top of his $76,000 salary. He asked to be reimbursed for
travel days until Nov. 11, four months after lawmakers formally closed
up shop.
• State Rep. Brian P. Wallace (D-South Boston) requested 143 days of
travel pay despite living only 2.6 miles away from the State House. He
took home $1,430 in addition to his $61,440 salary.
Neither Donelan nor Wallace returned calls for comment, but Bosley
defended the stipends.
“I’m unapologetic about it,” he said. “Per diems are the way that we
equalize the playing field in this state and let anyone other than rich
people serve in the Legislature.”
Bosley added that legislative work doesn’t end once lawmakers are out of
formal session. He said he’s gotten two regional bills passed in the
past two weeks.
The formal legislative calendar ends July 31 during election years to
allow lawmakers to run for re-election and prevent retiring legislators
from pushing through controversial pet projects.
While business is still conducted on Beacon Hill during informal
sessions, attendance is often sparse.
“It’s a problem because they have a pay structure and a benefit
structure that are wholly untethered to the realities that workers in
the private sector face,” said Andrew Moylan, director of government
affairs at the Washington D.C.-based National Taxpayers Union. “It’s a
symptom of these full-time legislatures — they turn it into a way of
life and not just a public service. It contributes to a larger and more
expensive government.”
But some legislators remain undeterred despite the public cost.
Democratic state Rep. Denis E. Guyer of Dalton, who’s already pulled in
$4,510 for 108 days this year, said he’ll likely cash in more per diems
before his last day Jan. 4.
“I’ll probably put in for a couple more,” Guyer said. “I’ll be in there
to clean up my office next week.”
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
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