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CLT UPDATE
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Senate EBT card "reform" needs your immediate
attention!
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State Senate leaders are calling for a crackdown
on misuse of Electronic Welfare Benefit cards in Massachusetts, but
are taking a different approach than the House.
A proposed state budget unveiled Wednesday by the
Senate Ways and Means Committee would spend $750,000 to create a new
state police unit responsible for investigating benefits fraud in
Massachusetts. It would also for the first time impose criminal
penalties on people who sell or transfer their food stamp benefits.
Associated Press
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mass. Senate takes different tack on EBT cards
In a sign that Massachusetts finances are
recovering modestly from the Great Recession, the state Senate
released a $32.3 billion budget proposal Wednesday that would cut
some social services, but increase spending on local government and
education without raising taxes or fees.
The budget plan is similar to one approved by the
House on April 26. Though senators continue to talk about the strain
on state finances as a result of the economic downturn, they still
would increase overall spending by 3.7 percent.
Senate President Therese Murray said the spending
plan would close a projected $1.4 billion gap in the budget year
that begins July 1, the smallest shortfall in five years, in part by
taking nearly $300 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. The
Senate plans to debate its budget next week before reconciling any
differences with the House and sending a final bill to Governor
Deval Patrick....
Senators were quick to trumpet the areas that
would see spending increases....
To help prop up the budget without raising taxes,
the Senate would also pluck $290 million from the Rainy Day Fund,
which was designed for use in a budgetary emergency. That is $110
million less than the withdrawal proposed by the governor and
approved the House. The fund, which has been tapped repeatedly in
recent years, is projected to reach $1.2 billion by July 2013, a
relatively healthy balance.
Senators also responded to pressure to crack down
on welfare fraud. Following a burst of public outrage and a series
of high-profile arrests for the abuse of Electronic Benefit Transfer
cards, the Senate budget would create a State Police unit devoted
solely to rooting out welfare crimes, at a cost of $750,000.
The Senate, however, rejected a House crackdown
that would have banned the use of the cards at jewelers, bars, and
cruise ships and would have increased the penalties for misuse.
Representative Shaunna O’Connell, a Taunton Republican who has been
one of the sharpest critics of the program, blasted the Senate
changes as “very weak.’’
Brewer said the Senate wanted to tackle fraud but
did not want to go too far in banning specific uses for the cards,
which he likened to a slippery slope that could lead to dictating
“which hair color’’ recipients could use.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mass. Senate proposes budget plan with no tax hikes
Bill would boost spending 3.7%
The Senate Ways and Means Committee unveiled its
fiscal 2013 spending plan, a $32. 3 billion bill that includes no
new taxes or fees, a $275.4 million increase in unrestricted local
aid and $4.17 billion in local education support.
But after years of deep budget cuts, the bottom
lines of programs that provide critical services to needy
populations did not escape unscathed, and lawmakers are proposing a
decrease in funding for nursing homes and a reduction in hours from
six to five for an adult day home care program.
The budget also relies on $590 million in
one-time revenues, including a $290 million draw on the state’s
“rainy day” account to balance the bottom line. The Senate’s
withdrawal from the rainy day fund is $110 million less than the
House and would leave $1.2 billion in reserves - more than all but
the states of Alaska and Texas....
“The fact that there are no new taxes, no
dramatic increases in what people have to pay is an important thing
to underscore. It would have been too easy to go back to that,”
[Sen. Michael Knapik, the ranking Republican on the Ways and Means
Committee] said....
“Nevertheless, the budget increases overall
spending significantly compared to this year, and contributes to a
concerning trend of spending increases that are unlikely to be
sustainable,” [Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr] said in a
statement....
Like the House, the Senate Ways and Means budget
proposes to create a new criminal statute for the trafficking of
food stamp cards and bans the spending of welfare benefits on things
like tattoos, salon treatments and pornography, but the list is
shorter than the one adopted by the House. The budget also sets up a
new investigative unit within the State Police dedicated to welfare
fraud....
Rep. Shaunna O’Connell called the EBT reforms
“weak at best,” noting that the Senate did not ban the spending of
benefits outside New England or take steps to reduce cash
withdrawals. She said Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) would push in
the Senate for stronger restrictions.
State House News Service
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
With focus on local aid,
Senate budget knocked for bottom line, exclusions
A South Shore lawmaker wants to pump up
welfare-reform measures in the Senate’s version of the state budget,
after the proposal unveiled yesterday by his Senate colleagues
omitted several House-backed proposals aimed at cracking down on EBT
card abuse.
Sen. Robert L. Hedlund (R-Weymouth) plans to file
an amendment today that would end cash access for EBT recipients,
ban EBT spending in border states, impose fines on businesses that
take welfare as payment for forbidden goods, and require the state
to study the cost of putting users’ photos on their cards.
“I was hopeful that the Senate budget would
include real reforms to tackle fraud and abuse in the EBT system,”
Hedlund said. “Unfortunately, since the budget is clearly devoid of
any real changes to the EBT system, I will pursue these necessary
reforms through the amendment process.” ...
The Senate budget measures would not, however,
restrict cash access, a key component pushed unsuccessfully by Rep.
Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton), who led the reform effort in the
House....
“If we don’t address the fact that there’s
absolutely no oversight over cash access, and that people can just
go to an ATM and get cash out, none of these reforms does anything,”
said O’Connell, a rogue member of an EBT reform committee who was
strongly critical of its narrow recommendations. “This does not
address the concerns of the taxpayers at all ... this Senate budget
does nothing to stop the abuse.”
The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Senator tries to fortify EBT reform
It’s clear that Senate budget-writers got the “no
new taxes” memo, which will come as a relief to taxpayers. Like the
House budget proposal released last month (but unlike Gov. Deval
Patrick’s budget plan) the Senate budget released yesterday doesn’t
try to reach fiscal balance by taxing Coca-Cola and Reese’s cups....
And to its credit the Senate joins the effort to
tame the EBT beast, both criminalizing food stamp trafficking and
agreeing to add to the list of items that can’t be purchased with
taxpayer-funded benefits cards (leaving off a few items the House
had listed, like cosmetics). The Senate would also create a new
anti-fraud unit within the state police.
But neither budget addresses the problem of EBT
cards being used to access cash that can be spent on, well,
anything.
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sense in the Senate
Under Senate President Therese Murray’s
schedule, state senators this week were given 52 hours to draft
amendments to a $32.3 billion fiscal 2013 budget proposal (S 4),
which will hit the floor for consideration on Wednesday at 10
a.m....
In eight of the past 10 years, the Senate has
finished work on its annual budget bill in two days....
While technically a full-time Legislature,
Massachusetts lawmakers spend most of the two-year session
meeting in once-a-week formal sessions, if that, opting instead
for informal sessions that most members do not attend.
Priority bills are identified by legislative
leaders, with many lawmakers in the dark about their session
schedules until informed by higher-ups of which bills will be
considered and when. The new House jobs bill is a good example.
While it’s before the House Ways and Means Committee, there’s no
suspense over whether it will advance – Speaker DeLeo’s office
informed members Friday afternoon to plan to discuss the bill in
a closed caucus Tuesday afternoon, with the bill scheduled to
hit the House floor Wednesday afternoon. The House Bonding
Committee rubber-stamped the bill after a brief review earlier
this week.
Sen. Murray has opted to start the Senate
budget debate on Wednesday, which means senators will likely
feel added pressure to rush through amendments in order to wrap
up budget deliberations before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
State House News Service
Friday, May 18, 2010
Advances – Week of May 20, 2012
THIS COMING WEEK'S SENATE SCHEDULE
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012
— SENATE BUDGET CAUCUS: Before
the public deliberations begin on Wednesday, Senate
Democrats plan a private caucus to go over the 694 fiscal
2013 budget amendments they filed before Friday’s 3 p.m.
deadline. The caucus starts at noon in Senate President
Murray’s office.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012
— SENATE BUDGET DEBATE: The
Senate plans to launch into its budget deliberations on
Wednesday at 10 a.m. A high volume of amendments is
expected, but senators in recent years have shown a
willingness to plow through their amendments quickly. A
final budget vote could occur Thursday, or perhaps on
Friday.
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012
— SENATE BUDGET SESSION: The
Senate plans on Thursday at 10 a.m. to resume its fiscal
2013 budget deliberations. In recent years, finishing work
on the budget has required two long sessions. A budget vote
may occur Thursday night. The House and Senate will use a
conference committee to come up with a consensus budget. The
fiscal year begins on July 1.
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
The Senate Ways and Means committee released its
proposed $32.3 billion FY 2013 state budget on Wednesday. Within it
was a watered-down version of the House's watered-down version of
what is being touted as EBT card "reform" [See: CLT Update:
Apr. 28, 2012 - House Budget Debate: After-Action Report].
Instead of controlling egregious EBT card abuse
— such as using them like debit cards
for cash withdrawals at ATM machines
— the Senate proposes to spend $750,000 to create a
new state police unit to investigate EBT card
fraud.
State Senator Bob Hedlund
(R-Weymouth) — who along with state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell
(R-Taunton) was a member of the late EBT card reform commission
— has filed an amendment to the Senate budget.
Sen. Hedlund's budget amendment —
EPS 405, EBT Reform — would end that far too easy abuse.
The Senate "reform" would
spend an additional three-quarters of a million dollars to
chase down "anecdotal" EBT card criminals all over the state, arrest
and charge them, process them through the already overcrowded court
system at an additional expense to taxpayers (including the cost of
their taxpayer-funded 'public defenders'), theoretically convict
them, then potentially jail them at yet more taxpayer expense. Even
if the state obtains convictions, how do deadbeats pay restitution
or a fine?
Why not simply end the
problem the easy and most efficient way — by restricting easy access
to cash, our tax money?
"In eight of the past 10 years, the Senate has
finished work on its annual budget bill in two days."
The game begins at noon on Tuesday.
It could be all over by Wednesday night, by
Thursday at the latest.
The time is NOW to make your voice heard.
Speak out now or forever hold your peace —
and keep paying for the giveaways.
Please contact your state senator immediately
and ask him or her to end EBT card abuse by supporting the Hedlund
budget amendment #405.
Find your State Senator
HERE
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Chip Ford |
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Associated Press
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mass. Senate takes different tack on EBT cards
State Senate leaders are calling for a crackdown on misuse of
Electronic Welfare Benefit cards in Massachusetts, but are taking a
different approach than the House.
A proposed state budget unveiled Wednesday by the Senate Ways and
Means Committee would spend $750,000 to create a new state police
unit responsible for investigating benefits fraud in Massachusetts.
It would also for the first time impose criminal penalties on people
who sell or transfer their food stamp benefits.
The budget would ban welfare recipients from using EBT cards for
tattoo parlors, strip clubs, gambling or to post bail. The House
budget includes a much lengthier list of banned EBT purchases,
including cosmetics, jewelry, travel services, health clubs and
firearms.
It's currently illegal to purchase alcohol, tobacco or lottery
tickets with EBT cards.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Mass. Senate proposes budget plan with no tax hikes
Bill would boost spending 3.7%
By Noah Bierman and Michael Levenson
In a sign that Massachusetts finances are recovering modestly from
the Great Recession, the state Senate released a $32.3 billion
budget proposal Wednesday that would cut some social services, but
increase spending on local government and education without raising
taxes or fees.
The budget plan is similar to one approved by the House on April 26.
Though senators continue to talk about the strain on state finances
as a result of the economic downturn, they still would increase
overall spending by 3.7 percent.
Senate President Therese Murray said the spending plan would close a
projected $1.4 billion gap in the budget year that begins July 1,
the smallest shortfall in five years, in part by taking nearly $300
million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. The Senate plans to debate
its budget next week before reconciling any differences with the
House and sending a final bill to Governor Deval Patrick.
Senators said most of the service reductions would come from
programs that would not get funding increases needed to keep up with
inflation. Some programs, however, would see actual cuts, a
reflection of how lawmakers are resigned to a long and grinding slog
back from the depths of the recession three years ago.
“In past recoveries, the state has been able to restore spending
cuts that took place in the prior recession and then often reach a
new high-water mark,’’ said Michael J. Widmer, president of the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-funded budget
watchdog group. “That era is over.’’
Senators were quick to trumpet the areas that would see spending
increases.
Their budget would give $16 million more than the House plan to
elementary and secondary schools, even as it would cut $11.3 million
that the House had devoted to help cities and towns transport
homeless children to school. Funding for special education would
increase by $20 million over the House plan.
Local aid, which pays for municipal services such as police officers
and firefighters, would see a $275 million increase over the current
budget year, the same bump that the House approved.
Geoffrey Beckwith - executive director of the Massachusetts
Municipal Association, which represents local officials - called it
a “very strong, favorable budget for cities and towns.’’
But not everyone was pleased.
The Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers said the
Senate budget included “stunning reversals for key disability
programs’’ and no annual raise for direct support professionals,
despite assurances from Murray, “who earlier pledged to do
everything within her power to help.’’
“This budget is as shocking as it is devastating,’’ said Gary
Blumenthal, the association’s chief executive. “We are going to do
everything within our power to ensure these crucial cuts are
restored and important programs are spared.’’
David Falcone, a Murray spokesman, said the Senate president hopes
that if the state’s finances improve during the year, lawmakers will
be able to restore money to programs that have been trimmed.
For now, the cuts include a $4.5 million reduction in family support
services, which means 4,400 of the 9,000 families who currently
receive an average yearly stipend of $2,000 to help them hire
in-home care or buy specialized equipment will lose that benefit,
according to The Arc of Massachusetts, which advocates for the
developmentally disabled.
In addition, the budget would trim the number of hours provided for
a home care program for developmentally disabled adults from six per
day to five per day. That program serves more than 6,900 adults.
“We’re surprised and upset that they would go this far,’’ said Leo
V. Sarkissian, executive director of The Arc, who argued that the
cuts would upend the lives of developmentally disabled adults and
their caregivers.
The Senate plan would keep open Taunton State Hospital, which would
close under budgets proposed by Patrick and approved by the House.
But the hospital would have a reduced capacity for patients, 45 beds
instead of its current 169.
“Some of these efficiencies aren’t pleasant,’’ said Senator Stephen
M. Brewer, Democrat of Barre, chairman of the Senate’s budget
committee.
But Brewer contrasted relatively stable state finances with the
tumultuous budget debate in California and other states. During a
committee meeting to unveil the budget, he held up a news article
about California’s struggles. “Shortfall in California swells to $16
billion,’’ he said, referring to the news account. “Not in
Massachusetts.’’
Republicans, who hold just four of 40 seats in the Senate, praised
their Democratic colleagues for retaining the safety net without
raising taxes.
“Make no mistake about it. Massachusetts has been positioned in such
a way that it is in a stronger frame than other states,’’ said
Senator Michael R. Knapik, a Westfield Republican who sits on the
budget committee.
But Knapik said the state needs to seek more long-term budget
solutions while the fiscal situation remains uncertain. “This is the
fifth year of the situation, and we go month to month: Are the jobs
going to improve? Are the revenues going to improve?’’ Knapik asked.
To help prop up the budget without raising taxes, the Senate would
also pluck $290 million from the Rainy Day Fund, which was designed
for use in a budgetary emergency. That is $110 million less than the
withdrawal proposed by the governor and approved the House. The
fund, which has been tapped repeatedly in recent years, is projected
to reach $1.2 billion by July 2013, a relatively healthy balance.
Senators also responded to pressure to crack down on welfare fraud.
Following a burst of public outrage and a series of high-profile
arrests for the abuse of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, the
Senate budget would create a State Police unit devoted solely to
rooting out welfare crimes, at a cost of $750,000.
The Senate, however, rejected a House crackdown that would have
banned the use of the cards at jewelers, bars, and cruise ships and
would have increased the penalties for misuse. Representative
Shaunna O’Connell, a Taunton Republican who has been one of the
sharpest critics of the program, blasted the Senate changes as “very
weak.’’
Brewer said the Senate wanted to tackle fraud but did not want to go
too far in banning specific uses for the cards, which he likened to
a slippery slope that could lead to dictating “which hair color’’
recipients could use.
State House News Service
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
With focus on local aid, Senate budget knocked for bottom line,
exclusions
By Matt Murphy
Local aid has become a focal point of the Legislature’s budget
process, with the Senate on Wednesday going a step further with a
proposal to increase spending on cities and towns beyond what the
governor or even the House envisioned.
“I’ve always been a local aid guy. I was once a selectman,” Senate
Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer, a Barre Democrat, told the
News Service.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee unveiled its fiscal 2013
spending plan, a $32. 3 billion bill that includes no new taxes or
fees, a $275.4 million increase in unrestricted local aid and $4.17
billion in local education support.
But after years of deep budget cuts, the bottom lines of programs
that provide critical services to needy populations did not escape
unscathed, and lawmakers are proposing a decrease in funding for
nursing homes and a reduction in hours from six to five for an adult
day home care program.
The budget also relies on $590 million in one-time revenues,
including a $290 million draw on the state’s “rainy day” account to
balance the bottom line. The Senate’s withdrawal from the rainy day
fund is $110 million less than the House and would leave $1.2
billion in reserves - more than all but the states of Alaska and
Texas.
But while the budget proposes a number of increases in spending, it
also cuts funding below levels proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick for
veterans, the Department of Environmental Protection, housing and
sheriffs and some human services programs. “Some of these
efficiencies aren’t pleasant,” Brewer said.
The Ways and Means Committee unanimously endorsed the bill on
Wednesday, with both Republicans supporting it, and only Sen. Marc
Pacheco (D-Taunton) reserving his rights. Amendments to the bill are
due by Friday at 3 p.m., and debate is scheduled to start next
Wednesday.
While Sen. Michael Knapik, the ranking Republican on the Ways and
Means Committee, voted in favor of recommending the bill and
commended the efforts of his Democratic colleagues, Senate Minority
Leader Bruce Tarr said he was concerned about the overall level of
spending.
“The fact that there are no new taxes, no dramatic increases in what
people have to pay is an important thing to underscore. It would
have been too easy to go back to that,” Knapik said.
Tarr said he appreciated the committee’s approach to local aid, but
said lawmakers must “remain vigilant and leave no stone unturned” as
they look for efficiencies and savings in the budget.
“Nevertheless, the budget increases overall spending significantly
compared to this year, and contributes to a concerning trend of
spending increases that are unlikely to be sustainable,” Tarr said
in a statement.
Though senators said the budget was full of difficult decisions and
touted their fiscal discipline, Brewer said the economic rebound
allowed the Ways and Means committee to propose “a few key”
investments in areas such as education and public safety.
Holding up a news article about the $16 billion budget deficit faced
by California lawmakers, Brewer said: “Not in Massachusetts.”
The budget proposes to keep Taunton Hospital open, preserving a
reduced number of 45 beds at the southeastern Massachusetts
facility, and includes reforms that would crack down on EBT card
abuse and promote better coordination and job training at community
colleges.
“We have learned that each and every budget decision we make must be
made with the future in mind and there is no time to wait to make
sure we are prepared for the next difficult hour,” Brewer said.
Like the House, the Senate guaranteed an additional $65 million for
municipalities that Gov. Patrick had proposed making contingent on a
surplus at the end of this fiscal year and increased Chapter 70 by
$180 million to make sure all districts met their foundation
budgets, which would mean at least an additional $40 per student.
In addition to those two major accounts, the Ways and Means
Committee included $242 million for the special education circuit
breaker and included an additional $16.8 million to be target toward
dozens of communities hurt by what Brewer described as “inequity” in
the Chapter 70 funding formula.
Geoffrey Beckwith, the executive director of the Massachusetts
Municipal Association, praised the Senate’s budget writers for
guaranteeing $900 million in local aid, and not counting on a
surplus.
“The Legislature itself, the House and the Senate together, are
standing and saying that unrestricted general government aid cannot
be contingent on having a surplus this year and that allows cities
and towns to budget the full $65 million increase now so they can
provide police officers all year, teachers all year, they can
provide funds for municipals service that build the economy all
year,” Beckwith told reporters.
The one area the Senate did not fund that the House did is for the
transportation of homeless students required under the federal
McKinney-Vento Act. Brewer said the budget proposes a study to
assess the impact of the mandate, and anticipates funding it later
in the year.
“It’s one of those items we’ll be working to build on during the
Senate process,” Beckwith said.
Brewer said the budget proposal closes a $1.35 billion gap between
current spending and revenue, and though revenues are projected to
grow by 4.7 percent next year, the budget only assumes 3.7 percent
spending growth. The chairman said the budget “takes to heart” three
lessons learned during the recession: fiscal discipline, the
importance of preserving core programs in education and municipal
services; and protecting the integrity and efficiency of government.
Like the House, the Senate Ways and Means budget proposes to create
a new criminal statute for the trafficking of food stamp cards and
bans the spending of welfare benefits on things like tattoos, salon
treatments and pornography, but the list is shorter than the one
adopted by the House. The budget also sets up a new investigative
unit within the State Police dedicated to welfare fraud.
Auditor Suzanne Bump applauded the inclusion of the new criminal
statute, saying it would give law enforcement and her bureau of
special investigations involved in the most recent crackdown on food
stamp abuse in Chinatown the lacking tools that has “hindered our
effective tracking and prosecution of this activity.”
Rep. Shaunna O’Connell called the EBT reforms “weak at best,” noting
that the Senate did not ban the spending of benefits outside New
England or take steps to reduce cash withdrawals. She said Sen.
Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) would push in the Senate for stronger
restrictions.
The Senate’s budget proposal also does not include a House-backed
repeal of the ban on gifts from pharmaceutical and medical device
companies to doctors, or a House budget proposal that requires a
number of state agencies verify immigration status using the SAVE
program and increases penalties for hiring illegal immigrants.
Gary Blumenthal, the president of the Association of Developmental
Disabilities Providers, ripped the budget’s impact on workers in the
disability community, accusing Senate President Therese Murray of
going back on her pledge to “do what she could” to provide those
professionals with an annual raise.
“This budget is as shocking as it is devastating,” Blumenthal said.
“We are going to do everything within our power to ensure these
crucial cuts are restored, and important programs are spared.”
Blumenthal pointed out a $10 million cut to the Department of
Disability Services respite programs, a $3 million cut from
transportation, $2 million from residential programs and a $7.5
million cut to adult day habilitation.
The Senate did include reforms to the Community Preservation Act
adopted during the House debate on its recommendations expanding the
use of funds to rehabilitate and restore existing outdoor parks and
support affordable housing. The Senate, however, did not include the
$25 million for state matching funds for the CPA program that would
be tapped in the case of a surplus at the end of the year.
Like the House, the Senate rebuffed Gov. Patrick’s proposal to
double the number of public defenders providing legal counsel to
indigent defendants, including in the bill a proposal to study the
effectiveness of last year’s reforms that increased the caseload for
public defenders to 25 percent from 10 percent.
The Senate budget proposal also includes reforms to the community
college system. Though slightly different than the House and
governor’s proposals, the Senate plan would allow the governor to
appoint the chairman of the board of trustees at each community
college and pledges $750,000 for a new Office of Coordination within
the Department of Higher Education to coordinate job training
opportunities.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Senator tries to fortify EBT reform
By John Zaremba
A South Shore lawmaker wants to pump up welfare-reform measures in
the Senate’s version of the state budget, after the proposal
unveiled yesterday by his Senate colleagues omitted several
House-backed proposals aimed at cracking down on EBT card abuse.
Sen. Robert L. Hedlund (R-Weymouth) plans to file an amendment today
that would end cash access for EBT recipients, ban EBT spending in
border states, impose fines on businesses that take welfare as
payment for forbidden goods, and require the state to study the cost
of putting users’ photos on their cards.
“I was hopeful that the Senate budget would include real reforms to
tackle fraud and abuse in the EBT system,” Hedlund said.
“Unfortunately, since the budget is clearly devoid of any real
changes to the EBT system, I will pursue these necessary reforms
through the amendment process.”
The Senate budget released yesterday includes a ban on using the
welfare card for gambling, guns, body piercing, strip clubs, bail
and fines. It also creates criminal penalties for cashing out food
stamps — activity that was the target of recent high-profile raids
and fraud arrests.
The Senate budget measures would not, however, restrict cash access,
a key component pushed unsuccessfully by Rep. Shaunna O’Connell
(R-Taunton), who led the reform effort in the House.
The House voted instead to spend up to $100,000 on a consultant to
determine how Massachusetts could transition to a cashless system.
“If we don’t address the fact that there’s absolutely no oversight
over cash access, and that people can just go to an ATM and get cash
out, none of these reforms does anything,” said O’Connell, a rogue
member of an EBT reform committee who was strongly critical of its
narrow recommendations. “This does not address the concerns of the
taxpayers at all ... this Senate budget does nothing to stop the
abuse.”
Senate President Therese Murray, who built the version of the budget
along with Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer, said in a
statement she wishes O’Connell, a first-term rep, “had been as
passionate in her defense of Taunton Hospital as she apparently is
over EBT cards.
“The fact is the Senate led EBT reforms last year, making it illegal
to purchase alcohol and tobacco and setting up new penalties for
individuals and store owners who violate the law,” Murray said.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A Boston Herald editorial
Sense in the Senate
It’s clear that Senate budget-writers got the “no new taxes” memo,
which will come as a relief to taxpayers. Like the House budget
proposal released last month (but unlike Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget
plan) the Senate budget released yesterday doesn’t try to reach
fiscal balance by taxing Coca-Cola and Reese’s cups.
Nor does the nearly $32.3 billion Senate plan dip as deeply into the
rainy-day fund as the earlier budget proposals did to make the
numbers add up — and to enable the many “investments” that
budget-writers say are critical. While Patrick and the House favor a
$400 million raid on reserves, the Senate takes only $290 million,
and proposes a reform that could lead to even higher annual deposits
from tax settlements.
(Yes, we know, only in government is a nearly $300 million transfer
of funds considered modest.)
More than half the spending accounts in the Senate budget are
reduced, though the politically sensitive accounts — education and
local aid — would go up.
And to its credit the Senate joins the effort to tame the EBT beast,
both criminalizing food stamp trafficking and agreeing to add to the
list of items that can’t be purchased with taxpayer-funded benefits
cards (leaving off a few items the House had listed, like
cosmetics). The Senate would also create a new anti-fraud unit
within the state police.
But neither budget addresses the problem of EBT cards being used to
access cash that can be spent on, well, anything.
Any concerns we have with the Senate budget blueprint lurk in
familiar places.
Spending grows by more than $1 billion, mostly, we are told, because
of “non-discretionary” cost increases. Somehow those
“non-discretionary” costs always seem to include pay raises for
certain public employees.
There are some major policy changes written into the budget, which
is still an irksome habit. And the Senate also uses the budget to
block Patrick’s plan to close Taunton State Hospital, which is an
expensive bit of legislative protectionism.
As Senate budget-writers note, the gap between anticipated revenues
and projected costs is narrowing, and that’s good news. But it’s
still in the billion-dollar range, and that calls for the most
fiscally prudent policies possible. For the most part the Senate
appears to have gotten that memo, too.
State House News Service
Friday, May 18, 2010
Advances – Week of May 20, 2012
Under Senate President Therese Murray’s schedule, state senators
this week were given 52 hours to draft amendments to a $32.3 billion
fiscal 2013 budget proposal (S 4), which will hit the floor for
consideration on Wednesday at 10 a.m....
In eight of the past 10 years, the Senate has finished work on its
annual budget bill in two days.
Senate clerks shortly after Friday afternoon’s deadline posted
online 694 amendments to the spending bill. This year’s budget
amendment-drafting period was complicated by the fact that senators
spent the only full day they had to craft amendments engaged in a
10-hour session over amendments to one of the most complex bills the
Legislature will consider this year, the health care cost
containment bill that passed the Senate 35-2 on Thursday night.
Such is life in the final weeks of the formal meetings during the
2011-2012 session. Legislative leaders have again opted to compress
activity into the final weeks of formals, after entertaining a
relatively light schedule over the session’s first 16 months.
While technically a full-time Legislature, Massachusetts lawmakers
spend most of the two-year session meeting in once-a-week formal
sessions, if that, opting instead for informal sessions that most
members do not attend.
Priority bills are identified by legislative leaders, with many
lawmakers in the dark about their session schedules until informed
by higher-ups of which bills will be considered and when. The new
House jobs bill is a good example. While it’s before the House Ways
and Means Committee, there’s no suspense over whether it will
advance – Speaker DeLeo’s office informed members Friday afternoon
to plan to discuss the bill in a closed caucus Tuesday afternoon,
with the bill scheduled to hit the House floor Wednesday afternoon.
The House Bonding Committee rubber-stamped the bill after a brief
review earlier this week.
Sen. Murray has opted to start the Senate budget debate on
Wednesday, which means senators will likely feel added pressure to
rush through amendments in order to wrap up budget deliberations
before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The Senate in recent years has been more willing than the House to
take up-or-down votes on amendments to major bills, although many
amendments are not debated in the Senate and the votes are
pre-ordained following private talks among senators and staff who
often head into sessions with cheat sheets stipulating which
amendments have been cleared for approval and which will be
rejected.
The way this session is shaping up, it appears lawmakers could head
into campaign season on Aug. 1 with a slew of major legislative
proposals to run on. In addition to local aid increases included in
the budget, legislative leaders have placed on the move bills
promoting economic development and job creation, addressing
renewable energy and energy cost considerations, overhauling the
health care system in a bid to achieve long-term cost reductions,
instilling loan modification options to prevent foreclosures, and
improving veterans benefits with a bill that could be wrapped up in
time for Memorial Day....
TUESDAY, MAY 22, 2012 — SENATE
BUDGET CAUCUS: Before the public deliberations begin on Wednesday,
Senate Democrats plan a private caucus to go over the 694 fiscal
2013 budget amendments they filed before Friday’s 3 p.m. deadline.
The caucus starts at noon in Senate President Murray’s office.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 — SENATE
BUDGET DEBATE: The Senate plans to launch into its budget
deliberations on Wednesday at 10 a.m. A high volume of amendments is
expected, but senators in recent years have shown a willingness to
plow through their amendments quickly. A final budget vote could
occur Thursday, or perhaps on Friday.
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2012 — SENATE
BUDGET SESSION: The Senate plans on Thursday at 10 a.m. to resume
its fiscal 2013 budget deliberations. In recent years, finishing
work on the budget has required two long sessions. A budget vote may
occur Thursday night. The House and Senate will use a conference
committee to come up with a consensus budget. The fiscal year begins
on July 1.
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Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
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