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CLT UPDATE
Monday, November 19, 2012
Scandalchusetts is born from Taxachusetts
“Largely due to this utterly incapable
administration, circumstances are only worsening, fast. While
the state budget has continued to increase by over a billion of
our dollars annually, the money extracted from us is alarmingly
squandered still.”
CLT Update
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Promised income tax rollback "snuffed out" again
Commentary by Chip Ford
The latest wave of budget woes serve as a
reminder of the importance of savings and efficiency efforts within
government.
State House News Service
Advances – Week of November 18, 2012
Nearly six years after a bipartisan
commission sounded the alarm about a transportation system in a
crisis so severe that it carried a shortfall of nearly $1
billion a year, Governor Deval Patrick will ask lawmakers to
solve the problem with a plan that includes higher taxes.
By Jan. 7, the administration will deliver a
proposal calling for robust taxes and more precisely detailing
the gap between what is currently spent and what is needed to
bring the state’s roads, bridges, and transit systems into good
condition and keep them there. Lawmakers called for the plan
last June in the emergency legislation that balanced the T’s
budget for the year.
The shortfall could be reduced by raising the
long-frozen gas tax, tolls, or other taxes and fees.
“At this point, everything remains on the
table,” said state Transportation Secretary Richard A. Davey, in
an interview after a recent stop on a statewide tour meant
partly to prepare the public for what is to come....
While the administration refines that plan, a
new poll of 1,500 residents from the Berkshires to the Cape
shows 62 percent are willing to spend $50 or more in additional
taxes to bolster transportation. The poll also found that
residents far beyond Boston value transit as well as road
investment.
But the MassINC poll revealed that 71 percent
believe the transportation red ink is a result of “waste and
mismanagement,” not insufficient funding — a belief at odds with
conclusions of an array of analysts, activists, and policy
makers.
The Boston Globe
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Mass. tax hike on the table for roads and transit
There are those who look at a recent report
on drug overdoses in Massachusetts and feel grief for the
families of the addicted, and an urge to come up with effective
solutions to help drug abusers break the habit.
And there are those who look at that same
report and pine for a new tax on every six-pack of beer sold in
the commonwealth — because, of course, that would have made
everything better.
Oh, they’ll wrap their affection for higher
taxes on the need for additional “resources” to put toward
treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts. The excise tax on
alcohol that was repealed by voters in 2010 would have raised
$100 million to be earmarked for those uses, supporters point
out....
Of course, the tax was repealed within a
matter of months of being enacted, so “more challenging” is
really a relative term....
But the answer to every societal ill isn’t
slapping yet another tax on the law-abiding citizenry.
A Boston Herald editorial
Monday, November 19, 2012
Dose of tax reality
While we’re on the subject of taxes (see
above), news broke last week on Beacon Hill that taxpayers won’t
be getting the expected break on their income taxes next
year, to which we say:
No! Really? ...
Last year was the first time revenues reached
the point of triggering a cut, from 5.3 percent to 5.25 percent.
It wasn’t enough to buy a new car for most of us but hey, every
little bit helps. And it was an act of good faith with the
voters who had demanded that rollback at the ballot box.
As recently as last month it appeared the
taxpayers were in for another .5 percentage point decrease in
the tax rate this year, to 5.2 percent. But as the State House
News Service reported on Thursday, the Department of Revenue
said recent collections have fallen short of the necessary mark.
That isn’t just bad news for the taxpayers,
who won’t get a break.
It’s terrible news for the economy overall
...
Meanwhile rumor has it the Patrick
administration is working behind closed doors to craft what
everyone expects will be a broad-based tax increase, in
part to fund the state’s ongoing transportation needs. No wonder
that tax on beer and wine looks so appealing to them.
A Boston Herald editorial
Monday, November 19, 2012
Tax cut? What tax cut?
FOX Undercover was inside a Massachusetts
courtroom as a frustrated judge lashed out at some court
employees.
Judge Jeffrey Locke is now being hailed a
hero for helping identify what some are calling another example
of government waste.
Interpreters work in courtrooms all over the
state tens of thousands of times a year, translating dozens of
languages into English to "ensure access to justice."
But some interpreters are refusing to work
alone, insisting they need two interpreters on hand....
"Alright, well the best practice means that
14 people are now going to sit up there until both of you are
then available," a frustrated Locke responded. "You're needed in
another courtroom for a very brief matter. I don't know that it
will take two of you, but if your so called best practice
requires you to travel as a couple. Go on. We're in recess."
Retired Superior Court Judge Robert Barton
was on the bench for more than 20 years and says he never once
saw a team of interpreters working in a courtroom.
"Sure he's frustrated. He was a good lawyer.
He's a good judge," said Barton. But times have changed since
Barton retired....
Budget crunch or not, the National
Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators calls team
interpreting "the industry standard" with one interpreter
providing relief for the other every 30 minutes.
FOX Undercover witnessed the interpreters
switching off more frequently than that.
And court insiders tell FOX Undercover only
Spanish speaking interpreters are demanding to use the team
approach.
"You don't have two for any other languages.
What kind of discrimination is this? What about the Croatians?"
asked Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited
Taxation.
Anderson calls Judge Locke a hero for
speaking up in his courtroom.
"I think seeing a judge stand up to this,
even in a moment of frustration sort of renews my faith in the
judicial system. And I'd like to see more judges doing this,"
said Anderson....
That from the same court spokesperson, Erika
Gully-Santiago, who earlier told FOX Undercover's Mike Beaudet
he was irresponsible to move forward with this story.
"Do you think it's irresponsible of us to do
this story?" Beaudet asked Anderson.
"No. I think you stumbled on something that
is probably like with almost all the stories you do, the tip of
the iceberg," replied Anderson.
FoxNews Boston TV-25
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Frustrated judge exposes government waste
Watch Video Report
Her driving record includes seven accidents,
four speeding violations, two failures to stop for a police
officer, one failure to stay in her lane, one driving without
registration or license in possession, and one driving without
wearing a seat belt.
When she was nabbed for speeding in New
Hampshire in 1999, she failed to show up at her hearing, records
show. Until Nov. 1, her license was on nonrenewal status for
failure to pay local excise taxes. There are 34 entries on her
driving record, dating back to 1982.
Yet Sheila Burgess is director of the
Massachusetts Highway Safety Division. Her mission is to reduce
accidents by promoting good driving practices. She oversees
public campaigns on the dangers of speeding, texting while
driving, driving while impaired, and failing to wear a seat
belt, among other hazards.
Burgess’s most recent crash occurred on Aug.
24, as she was driving a state vehicle during work hours. At
1:16 on a sunny summer afternoon, her car veered off the road in
the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton and slammed into a rock
outcropping, a State Police report says.
Burgess was appointed to her $87,000-a-year
position in July 2007, without any background in public safety,
transportation, or government administration. Her experience was
in Democratic Party politics. For almost two decades as a paid
consultant and congressional aide, she had raised money and
advised candidates for public office, including — according to
her resumé — Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, who had taken
office six months earlier as part of the new Patrick
administration....
A spokesman for Governor Deval Patrick and
Murray said late Friday that Burgess was hired, in part, based
on the recommendation of US Representative James McGovern, for
whom Burgess once worked as a consultant. Brendan Ryan, the
spokesman, said he could not address why Burgess was hired into
the administration as head of traffic safety despite her record
of driving violations....
At the time of the crash, Burgess’s license
was active but had been flagged for nonrenewal because of
failure to pay local excise taxes. After the Globe began making
inquiries, the taxes were paid and her license status was
cleared.
As highway safety director, Burgess is the
Patrick administration’s chief safety officer for drivers....
Last year, another state employee in a
sensitive public safety position was forced to resign after the
Globe reported his long record of driving violations. In that
case, it was Murray who in 2008 recommended the hiring of the
employee, Matthew McLaughlin, as a $60,000-a-year appointee to
the Board of Appeals, which hears appeals from drunken drivers
who have lost their licenses. McLaughlin’s driving record
includes a license suspension for refusing to take a
breathalyzer test and six speeding tickets.
Matthew McLaughlin is the son of Michael
McLaughlin, the former Chelsea Housing Authority executive
director now under federal investigation for apparently using
government money intended for fixing-up public housing
apartments to jack up his own salary to $360,000 a year.
Investigators are also scrutinizing Michael McLaughlin’s
involvement in fund-raisers for Murray.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Safety chief has long list of driving violations
Democratic operative given state job in 2007
Governor Deval Patrick will direct state
colleges and universities Monday to allow young illegal
immigrants to pay the lower resident rate for tuition and fees
as soon as they obtain work permits through a new federal
program, a senior administration official said Sunday.
Patrick’s declaration ends five months of
anxiety for immigrants who cheered President Obama’s decision in
June to temporarily halt the deportations of immigrants age 30
and under, only to plunge them into limbo in Massachusetts as
officials said they were reviewing whether the immigrants were
eligible for the lower rates. But the governor’s announcement
also raised criticism that he is neglecting American citizens
struggling to afford college.
The Patrick administration official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity because the governor is sending
a letter to the Board of Higher Education Monday, said the
change takes effect immediately. State officials said students
paying nonresident tuition now at one of the 29 state colleges
or universities may apply for a refund for this semester, but
not for prior semesters....
Patrick’s announcement dramatically slashes
the cost of a college education for immigrants who until now had
to pay out-of-state rates....
Patrick’s decision comes less than two weeks
after a contentious election season, and it is likely to rankle
critics in a state where immigration has been a hot political
issue. In 2004, the state Legislature passed a bill allowing
illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition, but then-Governor
Mitt Romney, this year’s Republican presidential nominee who
just lost to Obama, vetoed the measure, and subsequent efforts
failed.
After Romney’s 2004 veto, the Senate passed a
measure allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition
rates in 2005, but it failed in the House in early 2006.
The economy soured soon after that, and
support for the measure evaporated. Since then, the measure has
largely seemed dead....
Steve Kropper, cochairman of Massachusetts
Citizens for Immigration Reform, which favors tougher limits on
immigration, said on Sunday that the governor and the president
should focus on US citizens and legal residents who also cannot
afford college. He said the governor’s action sidestepped the
state Legislature.
“I think it’s a bad decision. It’s bad for
the country,” Kropper said. “The Democratic Party’s position is
not thoughtful about our own poor.” ...
More than 80 percent of the deferred-action
applicants were from Latin America. Latino voters, both US-born
and naturalized citizens, helped catapult Obama to a second
term.
The Boston Globe
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mass. to widen tuition breaks at state colleges
Illegal immigrants can pay resident rates
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and others on Monday
put the issue of offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented
immigrants into economic terms, while the House’s Republican
leadership called for implementation of the new policy on
tuition to “be stopped immediately.” ...
House Minority Brad Jones said that while
making higher education affordable to Massachusetts residents is
important, the state must be “judicious and fair in how we award
such benefits.”
“Governor Patrick’s most recent attempt to
usurp the power of the Legislature is cause for concern. Instead
of engaging elected officials from both political parties in
constructive conversation and debate, he has put his interests,
both politically and personally, above those of Massachusetts’
residents,” Jones said in a statement....
Jones did not identify any means by which he
might seek to stop the administration from implementing the
tuition policy, and Patrick said he continues to support
comprehensive immigration reform efforts at the national level
and legislation locally to grant in-state tuition to all
undocumented immigrants who attended high school in
Massachusetts....
Republicans weren’t the only ones in the
Legislature concerned that Patrick might be circumventing their
authority with his interpretation of the new federal programs.
Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge) wasn’t
excited with Patrick’s decision. “I think it’s something the
Legislature should discuss, not be done by executive order. But
the president has done the same thing pretty much,” Moore said
Monday outside the annual MIRA Thanksgiving lunch in Great Hall.
Moore wouldn’t say whether the policy could
or should be reversed by the Legislature, only that “it should
have been discussed more fully” with the branches. “Given the
limitations on access by taxpayers, it’s a concern whether it’s
the right policy at this point in time,” Moore said....
Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Dorchester) said
she plans to file legislation reinforcing Patrick’s order when
formal sessions resume next year. “I’m planning on filing
in-state tuition come January just to really make sure we can
institutionalize it here in the state of Massachusetts but this
is really a first step - this is quite exciting,” Forry said.
State House News Service
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mixed reaction on Hill to Patrick's directive on immigration
tuition
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Trying to keep up with the tsunami of ridiculous
government waste, corruption, and giveaways is becoming a full-time
job of itself and then some.
There's barely enough time in a day to simply
collect and collate it, never mind making any sense of it. (I've
been working on this since midday yesterday, but more keeps pouring
in.)
Trying to gather it into one place like this, for
others like you to begin to comprehend —
without it becoming overwhelming is —
well, it's becoming almost impossible.
I thought on Saturday evening with publishing the
last CLT Update ("Promised
income tax rollback 'snuffed out' again") that we were pretty
well caught up with the latest Beacon Hill abuses. But the denizens
atop the hill never weary of ways to impose their tyranny and
uncaring gross incompetence. While we taxpayers sleep they
relentlessly dream ever more and more what they can next inflict.
Sunday morning we awoke to the next incredible
exposé, from The Boston Globe's excellent investigative reporter,
Sean P. Murphy. By noon I was gasping at the Patrick
administration's shocking incompetence. Next came last night's
FoxNews exposé of dual-interpreters including Barbara's interview;
then this morning we awoke to the governor's illegal alien in-state
tuition power-grab. The hits just keep on coming. I
keep running faster and falling behind.
All this misfeasance, malfeasance, and
unmitigated corruption — added to the
numerous exposés and ensuing scandals over the past months
— but still the usual cohort of
tax-borrow-and-spenders demand more, more, always more from us. The
solution to anything and everything wrong, according to them, is
just more of our money. Give them more and we're promised Nirvana
— for sure this time. "Trust
us just once more, we promise this time."
"The 2009 legislative mantra in rejecting the
gas tax was 'reform before revenue,' though lawmakers approved a
sales tax increase, part of which went to transportation. But
new revenue cannot be avoided forever, [state Transportation
Secretary Richard A. Davey] said."
"[MassINC president Greg Torres] said the percentage blaming
'waste' means 'we still have a little work to do, and that
should be part of the conversation we have over the next year.'”
Revenues are down, unemployment is climbing; no
money for the promised miniscule and long-overdue income tax cut;
more oppressive tax hikes advocated, in a bad economy; imperious
giveaways to illegal aliens unilaterally decreed by the governor;
rampant patronage, corruption, mismanagement or none whatsoever;
total abdication or denial of any and all responsibility. Just give
them more of our money and we'll enter the Paradise of Perfection.
Massachusetts, aka "Taxachusetts"
— has become Scandalchusetts.
Obviously this and this only is
what taking ever more of our money has delivered and ever will.
I'll end this and let you digest what was done to
you — merely since Saturday night, just
over this past weekend.
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State House News Service
Advances – Week of November 18, 2012
While the schedules of most public officials are filling up with
charitable endeavors in the days before Thanksgiving, Gov. Deval
Patrick and legislative leaders are seeing red ink wash over this
year’s $32.5 billion state budget and the Executive Branch may soon
need to take steps that could upset services for those dependent on
state government.
Tax collections have missed budget benchmarks by more than $250
million over the first four months of the fiscal year and a decrease
in over-the-year collections in October this week tripped up a
slight reduction in the income tax.
Federal tax hikes and spending cuts are looming unless Congress and
President Barack Obama can cut a blockbuster deal or agree again to
a stopgap measure. With the state’s unemployment rate on the rise in
recent months, there’s growing concern about the strength of the
economic recovery. Much of the anxiety is centered around how
federal policymakers will address the taxation and spending issues
and how their choices will affect individual states, industries and
taxpayers.
The latest wave of budget woes serve as a reminder of the importance
of savings and efficiency efforts within government.
The Boston Globe
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Mass. tax hike on the table for roads and transit
By Eric Moskowitz
Nearly six years after a bipartisan commission sounded the alarm
about a transportation system in a crisis so severe that it carried
a shortfall of nearly $1 billion a year, Governor Deval Patrick will
ask lawmakers to solve the problem with a plan that includes higher
taxes.
By Jan. 7, the administration will deliver a proposal calling for
robust taxes and more precisely detailing the gap between what is
currently spent and what is needed to bring the state’s roads,
bridges, and transit systems into good condition and keep them
there. Lawmakers called for the plan last June in the emergency
legislation that balanced the T’s budget for the year.
The shortfall could be reduced by raising the long-frozen gas tax,
tolls, or other taxes and fees.
“At this point, everything remains on the table,” said state
Transportation Secretary Richard A. Davey, in an interview after a
recent stop on a statewide tour meant partly to prepare the public
for what is to come.
He avoided citing specific taxes or putting a dollar value on the
gap, except to call the 2007 report of the independent
Transportation Finance Commission , which estimated it at $15
billion to $19 billion over 20 years, an accurate starting point.
An unsustainable reliance on borrowing helped mask highway problems
and allowed the T to go five years between fare increases, but
bridges, rails, signals, stations, and other infrastructure continue
to age faster than the state can repair or replace them.
The gas tax has remained 21 cents a gallon since 1991, except for a
2.5 cent increase imposed to clean up underground contaminants. That
means it has lost buying power against inflation and as cars have
become more efficient, even as costs such as fuel, asphalt, and
employee health insurance have soared. The state sales tax, the T’s
largest funding source, has fallen short of projections through
multiple recessions and as consumers sidestepped taxes online.
The Patrick administration, which tried unsuccessfully to raise the
gas tax in 2009, signaled earlier this year that it may revisit that
tax. Other options include taxing miles driven, tapping future
casino revenue, and transferring MBTA debt to the state’s books.
While the administration refines that plan, a new poll of 1,500
residents from the Berkshires to the Cape shows 62 percent are
willing to spend $50 or more in additional taxes to bolster
transportation. The poll also found that residents far beyond Boston
value transit as well as road investment.
But the MassINC poll revealed that 71 percent believe the
transportation red ink is a result of “waste and mismanagement,” not
insufficient funding — a belief at odds with conclusions of an array
of analysts, activists, and policy makers.
“There’s clearly a major misperception out there,” said Stephanie
Pollack, associate director of Northeastern University’s Dukakis
Center for Urban and Regional Policy.
“There’s no question that we could take the money we have and spend
it better . . . [but] no amount of better performance could come
close to filling the gap between what we should be spending and what
we are spending.”
Lawmakers partially addressed the issue three years ago, adopting
some recommendations of the Transportation Finance Commission in
merging several agencies into a streamlined Department of
Transportation, asking employees to shoulder more health insurance
costs, and tightening MBTA pension rules.
The T now wrings more money out of advertising and real estate and
provides more service with fewer employees than a decade ago.
The 2009 legislative mantra in rejecting the gas tax was “reform
before revenue,” though lawmakers approved a sales tax increase,
part of which went to transportation. But new revenue cannot be
avoided forever, Davey said.
“We will do anything . . . legal and reasonable to save money and
improve our cost structure and the customer experience, and I don’t
think that has always been the case,” he said.
Before a crowd of 70 in Mattapan Thursday, Davey spent two hours
listening to residents describe the importance of transportation in
their lives and how it falls short locally: a rail link to downtown,
the Fairmount Line, with a byzantine fare structure and no weekend
service; an absence of bike paths; sluggish bus service.
Davey sought support for the looming proposal to benefit the economy
and quality of life.
“We’re at a crossroads in transportation for either a renaissance or
a rollback,” he said. “Once we give a plan to our partners in the
Legislature about how we finance what we heard tonight, that’s when
we really need you to rise up.”
The MassINC poll grew from the same impulse that led the think tank
to organize a 2010 conference for leaders of the nation’s largest
transit agencies, which illustrated that the T’s shortfalls were not
unique.
“We as a country have struggled with how to strike the right balance
between financing roads and financing transit. We’ve struggled with
tax revenue generally in a 30-year period of tax revolts, and we
need to get people to work every day, and we need to keep our roads
maintained,” said Greg Torres, MassINC president.
He said the percentage blaming “waste” means “we still have a little
work to do, and that should be part of the conversation we have over
the next year.” Lawmakers have promised to hold that conversation,
starting with Patrick’s plan.
“If we want to keep Massachusetts as a competitive state
economically, so that it’s a state that people want to move to and
businesses want to locate in, we have an obligation to deal with
this, and we don’t have a lot of time,” said Representative William
M. Straus , House chairman of the Joint Transportation Committee.
The Boston Herald
Monday, November 19, 2012
A Boston Herald editorial
Dose of tax reality
There are those who look at a recent report on drug overdoses in
Massachusetts and feel grief for the families of the addicted, and
an urge to come up with effective solutions to help drug abusers
break the habit.
And there are those who look at that same report and pine for a new
tax on every six-pack of beer sold in the commonwealth — because, of
course, that would have made everything better.
Oh, they’ll wrap their affection for higher taxes on the need for
additional “resources” to put toward treatment and rehabilitation
for drug addicts. The excise tax on alcohol that was repealed by
voters in 2010 would have raised $100 million to be earmarked for
those uses, supporters point out.
But they’ll also come dangerously close to blaming the repeal of
that additional 6.25 percent tax on alcohol — which is already taxed
at the wholesale level, a cost that is baked into the shelf price —
for the troubling statistics found in last week’s report. And that
is truly misleading.
“Losing some of that funding on alcohol has challenged our ability
to do as much as we would like to and tailor programs,” Lt. Gov. Tim
Murray told the State House News Service last week. “Resources do
make a difference in terms of getting people sober, dried out, and
then on a path to recovery. It has been more challenging.”
Of course, the tax was repealed within a matter of months of being
enacted, so “more challenging” is really a relative term.
And even without the revenue from the alcohol tax the state managed
to increase funding for substance abuse programs in the current
budget by $2.4 million, the News Service reported, and restored
funding for some drug treatment programs that had gone unfunded the
previous year. All told the taxpayers will put up $77.2 million this
year to prevent and treat drug abuse.
The report found that overdose rates and deaths attributed to
substance abuse are higher in eastern Massachusetts than in any
other major metropolitan area, and that more drug users seeking
treatment cite heroin as their drug of choice. These are indeed
troubling findings.
But the answer to every societal ill isn’t slapping yet another tax
on the law-abiding citizenry.
The Boston Herald
Monday, November 19, 2012
A Boston Herald editorial
Tax cut? What tax cut?
While we’re on the subject of taxes (see above), news broke last
week on Beacon Hill that taxpayers won’t be getting the expected
break on their income taxes next year, to which we say:
No! Really?
When the Legislature decided back in 2002 to stomp on a
voter-approved rollback in the state income tax to 5 percent, they
agreed to a series of revenue triggers that would lead to an
incremental reduction in the tax rate.
Last year was the first time revenues reached the point of
triggering a cut, from 5.3 percent to 5.25 percent. It wasn’t enough
to buy a new car for most of us but hey, every little bit helps. And
it was an act of good faith with the voters who had demanded that
rollback at the ballot box.
As recently as last month it appeared the taxpayers were in for
another .5 percentage point decrease in the tax rate this year, to
5.2 percent. But as the State House News Service reported on
Thursday, the Department of Revenue said recent collections have
fallen short of the necessary mark.
That isn’t just bad news for the taxpayers, who won’t get a break.
It’s terrible news for the economy overall, reflecting the
infinitesimal economic growth that is both starving the state
treasury and thwarting new job creation. The unemployment rate is
now on the rise — it was at 6.6 percent last month. And if the
fiscal cliff problem isn’t solved, taxpayers could be in for a huge
tax increase at the federal level.
Meanwhile rumor has it the Patrick administration is working behind
closed doors to craft what everyone expects will be a broad-based
tax increase, in part to fund the state’s ongoing transportation
needs. No wonder that tax on beer and wine looks so appealing to
them.
FoxNews Boston TV-25
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Frustrated judge exposes government waste
By Mike Beaudet, Reporter, and Kevin Rothstein, Producer
FOX UNDERCOVER – FOX Undercover was inside a Massachusetts courtroom
as a frustrated judge lashed out at some court employees.
Judge Jeffrey Locke is now being hailed a hero for helping identify
what some are calling another example of government waste.
Interpreters work in courtrooms all over the state tens of thousands
of times a year, translating dozens of languages into English to
"ensure access to justice."
But some interpreters are refusing to work alone, insisting they
need two interpreters on hand.
FOX Undercover saw the team interpreting approach in action during
the trial of reputed mobster Mark Rossetti in June.
It became an issue during that trial, when an
interpreter was needed in another courtroom.
Both interpreters wanted to leave together for the other matter.
And so the trial grinded to a halt, much to the annoyance of Judge
Locke.
"You are both certified are you not?" asked Judge Locke.
"Yes," replied one of the interpreters.
"One is not the intern of the other?" asked Locke.
"No," said the interpreter.
"One is not being trained by the other?" asked Locke.
"No your honor," replied the interpreter. "These are the best
practices and we are waiting for..."
"Alright, well the best practice means that 14 people are now going
to sit up there until both of you are then available," a frustrated
Locke responded. "You're needed in another courtroom for a very
brief matter. I don't know that it will take two of you, but if your
so called best practice requires you to travel as a couple. Go on.
We're in recess."
Retired Superior Court Judge Robert Barton was on the bench for more
than 20 years and says he never once saw a team of interpreters
working in a courtroom.
"Sure he's frustrated. He was a good lawyer. He's a good judge,"
said Barton. But times have changed since Barton retired.
According to the 2009 standards and procedures of the Office of
Court Interpreter Services, "court interpreters should recommend and
encourage the use of team interpreting whenever necessary, and when
resources allow."
"There's no need for a backup. That's a waste of time, effort,
money. That's ridiculous," said Barton.
Money is certainly tight at the trial court.
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland recently
talked to the legal community about "the multi-year hiring freeze"
and "critical staffing needs."
Budget crunch or not, the National Association of Judiciary
Interpreters and Translators calls team interpreting "the industry
standard" with one interpreter providing relief for the other every
30 minutes.
FOX Undercover witnessed the interpreters switching off more
frequently than that.
And court insiders tell FOX Undercover only Spanish speaking
interpreters are demanding to use the team approach.
"You don't have two for any other languages. What kind of
discrimination is this? What about the Croatians?" asked Barbara
Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
Anderson calls Judge Locke a hero for speaking up in his courtroom.
"I think seeing a judge stand up to this, even in a moment of
frustration sort of renews my faith in the judicial system. And I'd
like to see more judges doing this," said Anderson.
The trial court would not let us talk to anyone from the Office of
Court Interpreter Services.
In a statement the court spokesperson tells us, "For cases that are
complex and lengthy in duration or that involve more than one party
with limited or no English proficiency, a team interpreter approach
may be used when resources allow -- currently, less than 1% of all
cases that require interpreter services."
That from the same court spokesperson, Erika Gully-Santiago, who
earlier told FOX Undercover's Mike Beaudet he was irresponsible to
move forward with this story.
"Do you think it's irresponsible of us to do this story?" Beaudet
asked Anderson.
"No. I think you stumbled on something that is probably like with
almost all the stories you do, the tip of the iceberg," replied
Anderson.
The trial court sent over a statement from Judge Locke. He did not
comment on his scolding of the interpreters, but says court
interpreters are among the hardest working of court staff and that
they play an essential, invaluable role in the court system.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Safety chief has long list of driving violations
Democratic operative given state job in 2007
By Sean P. Murphy
Her driving record includes seven accidents, four speeding
violations, two failures to stop for a police officer, one failure
to stay in her lane, one driving without registration or license in
possession, and one driving without wearing a seat belt.
When she was nabbed for speeding in New Hampshire in 1999, she
failed to show up at her hearing, records show. Until Nov. 1, her
license was on nonrenewal status for failure to pay local excise
taxes. There are 34 entries on her driving record, dating back to
1982.
Yet Sheila Burgess is director of the Massachusetts Highway Safety
Division. Her mission is to reduce accidents by promoting good
driving practices. She oversees public campaigns on the dangers of
speeding, texting while driving, driving while impaired, and failing
to wear a seat belt, among other hazards.
Burgess’s most recent crash occurred on Aug. 24, as she was driving
a state vehicle during work hours. At 1:16 on a sunny summer
afternoon, her car veered off the road in the Blue Hills Reservation
in Milton and slammed into a rock outcropping, a State Police report
says.
Burgess was appointed to her $87,000-a-year position in July 2007,
without any background in public safety, transportation, or
government administration. Her experience was in Democratic Party
politics. For almost two decades as a paid consultant and
congressional aide, she had raised money and advised candidates for
public office, including — according to her resumé — Lieutenant
Governor Timothy Murray, who had taken office six months earlier as
part of the new Patrick administration.
Burgess, 48, of Randolph, suffered a head injury in the crash and
has not returned to work, and while officials say she is on
“approved leave,” they have declined to say whether she is getting
paid. She told police after the crash that she swerved into the
woods to avoid an oncoming vehicle, the State Police report says.
She was not cited for any driving violations.
In a short interview on Wednesday, Burgess said, “I was in an
accident and have a head injury.” She referred detailed questions
about the crash and her job to the state public safety agency, which
oversees traffic safety.
A spokesman for Governor Deval Patrick and Murray said late Friday
that Burgess was hired, in part, based on the recommendation of US
Representative James McGovern, for whom Burgess once worked as a
consultant. Brendan Ryan, the spokesman, said he could not address
why Burgess was hired into the administration as head of traffic
safety despite her record of driving violations.
McGovern did recommend Burgess, said a spokesman for the
representative, but not for a specific position.
“He just said, ‘Here’s a good person for the Patrick administration
to hire,’” said Michael Mershon, the spokesman. Mershon said he had
no information on whether her driving record was known to McGovern
at the time of his recommendation, or who specifically in the
Patrick administration he made the recommendation to.
After arriving at the scene of Burgess’s crash, State Police
apparently took no investigative steps. Burgess by then was out of
the car and being treated by an ambulance crew and State Police did
not ask questions about whether she had been using her
state-provided cellphone while driving or was distracted in any
other way, a State Police spokesman said.
State Police did not ask whether she was wearing a seat belt. The
spokesman said the accident was handled the same way “as any other
crash with similar circumstances.”
“The operator observed an unknown vehicle traveling towards her in
her travel lane,” the report says. “Operator swerved to the right to
avoid a collision, causing her vehicle [to] run off the roadway on
the right side, striking a boulder on the side of the road.”
Officials at the state Office of Public Safety and Security, where
Burgess has worked since 2007, said the Ford Taurus she was driving
is being repaired. In addition to the highway safety division, state
public safety secretary Mary Elizabeth Heffernan also oversees the
State Police.
When asked whether Heffernan was comfortable with Burgess’s long
driving record, spokesman Terrel Harris said that she “was
comfortable knowing Burgess has had no driving issues between the
date of her hiring and the time of her [Aug. 24] accident.”
Burgess was not talking on her state-provided phone at the time of
the crash, but she used it numerous times that day for phone calls,
phone records show. State officials declined to release a record
showing the number of times, if any, she sent text messages during
the monthly billing period that included the Aug. 24 crash date.
Cellphone records do not include a list of when text messages were
sent, but simply report how many were sent in the course of a month.
At the time of the crash, Burgess’s license was active but had been
flagged for nonrenewal because of failure to pay local excise taxes.
After the Globe began making inquiries, the taxes were paid and her
license status was cleared.
As highway safety director, Burgess is the Patrick administration’s
chief safety officer for drivers. In a recent newsletter mailed to
hundreds of police departments statewide, she articulated a clear
message on safe driving. “Remember: drive safely, soberly, and
distraction-free. And always buckle — every trip, every time,” she
wrote last spring.
Burgess manages a staff of about six, and helps parcel out more than
$2 million a year in grants to state and local police departments
for public awareness programs on safe driving, including money to
underwrite overtime for police.
Her resumé, which she distributed to staff members, lists her as a
former executive director and aide for five years to former
Representative J. Joseph Moakley. It says she was Moakley’s campaign
manager in 2000.
Her resumé cites, among other duties, that she “facilitated all
fund-raising and events for the congressman as well as other
candidates as required.” Moakley died in May 2001.
As a paid fund-raising consultant, Burgess worked for, in addition
to Murray and McGovern, Senator John Kerry, gubernatorial candidate
Chris Gabrieli, former Quincy mayor James Sheets, former state
treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Shannon O’Brien, and state
Senator Thomas McGee of Lynn, according to her resume.
She lists among her affiliations the “Kerry for President Finance
Committee” and the “Shannon O’Brien Finance Committee.”
McGovern was a close confidante and aide to Moakley before being
elected to Congress in 1996. McGovern and Murray, both Worcester
residents, are close political allies, as are McGovern and Patrick.
All are Democrats.
Burgess lists herself as principal of SHB Consulting/Mass Strategy
Group. Campaign finance records show Mass Strategy Group was paid
$11,414 for fund-raising consulting during Murray’s 2003 campaign
for Worcester mayor. (He was first elected mayor in 2001.) The firm
was paid $6,000 by Murray’s mayoral campaign committee in 2004.
Murray was reelected as mayor in 2005 and ran successfully for
lieutenant governor in 2006.
A spokesman for Murray’s campaign said that while Murray has no
recollection of Sheila Burgess working as a consultant, he does
remember her sister, Coleen, as doing so. Mass Strategy Group lists
Coleen Burgess as president of the firm and Sheila Burgess as
registered agent, state corporation records show.
Last year, another state employee in a sensitive public safety
position was forced to resign after the Globe reported his long
record of driving violations. In that case, it was Murray who in
2008 recommended the hiring of the employee, Matthew McLaughlin, as
a $60,000-a-year appointee to the Board of Appeals, which hears
appeals from drunken drivers who have lost their licenses.
McLaughlin’s driving record includes a license suspension for
refusing to take a breathalyzer test and six speeding tickets.
Matthew McLaughlin is the son of Michael McLaughlin, the former
Chelsea Housing Authority executive director now under federal
investigation for apparently using government money intended for
fixing-up public housing apartments to jack up his own salary to
$360,000 a year. Investigators are also scrutinizing Michael
McLaughlin’s involvement in fund-raisers for Murray.
The Boston Globe
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mass. to widen tuition breaks at state colleges
Illegal immigrants can pay resident rates
By Maria Sacchetti
Governor Deval Patrick will direct state colleges and universities
Monday to allow young illegal immigrants to pay the lower resident
rate for tuition and fees as soon as they obtain work permits
through a new federal program, a senior administration official said
Sunday.
Patrick’s declaration ends five months of anxiety for immigrants who
cheered President Obama’s decision in June to temporarily halt the
deportations of immigrants age 30 and under, only to plunge them
into limbo in Massachusetts as officials said they were reviewing
whether the immigrants were eligible for the lower rates. But the
governor’s announcement also raised criticism that he is neglecting
American citizens struggling to afford college.
The Patrick administration official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the governor is sending a letter to the Board of
Higher Education Monday, said the change takes effect immediately.
State officials said students paying nonresident tuition now at one
of the 29 state colleges or universities may apply for a refund for
this semester, but not for prior semesters.
“That’s amazing,” said an elated Cairo Mendes of Marlborough, a
19-year-old native of Brazil here since he was 9 who could afford
only two classes at Massachusetts Bay Community College this
semester because the cost is double the resident rate. “My life is
about to get a lot better, just the fact that I can go to college in
peace.”
Patrick’s announcement dramatically slashes the cost of a college
education for immigrants who until now had to pay out-of-state
rates.
For example, the flagship University of Massachusetts Amherst costs
$26,645 this year for nonresidents, compared with $13,230 for
residents, while Bunker Hill Community College costs $5,640 this
year for residents, compared with $13,880 for nonresidents. And
Framingham State costs $8,080 for residents this year, compared with
$14,160 for nonresidents.
Patrick’s decision comes less than two weeks after a contentious
election season, and it is likely to rankle critics in a state where
immigration has been a hot political issue. In 2004, the state
Legislature passed a bill allowing illegal immigrants to pay
in-state tuition, but then-Governor Mitt Romney, this year’s
Republican presidential nominee who just lost to Obama, vetoed the
measure, and subsequent efforts failed.
After Romney’s 2004 veto, the Senate passed a measure allowing
illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates in 2005, but it
failed in the House in early 2006.
The economy soured soon after that, and support for the measure
evaporated. Since then, the measure has largely seemed dead.
In an attempt to revive it last year, Patrick showed up unannounced
at a State House hearing
to urge lawmakers to approve the measure, but it was not passed
into law.
On Sunday, the senior administration official said Patrick’s letter
to the Board of Higher Education reflects his administration’s
interpretation of the effect of Obama’s program on immigrants who
had been here illegally.
Education Secretary Paul Reville said Sunday that Obama’s program
changed illegal immigrants’ circumstances enough to clear the way
for them to pay resident tuition. Though they are not eligible for
green cards, they will be allowed to stay for at least two years
and, most importantly, obtain work permits.
He said immigrants with federal work permits have been allowed to
pay resident tuition since 2008.
Steve Kropper, cochairman of Massachusetts Citizens for Immigration
Reform, which favors tougher limits on immigration, said on Sunday
that the governor and the president should focus on US citizens and
legal residents who also cannot afford college. He said the
governor’s action sidestepped the state Legislature.
“I think it’s a bad decision. It’s bad for the country,” Kropper
said. “The Democratic Party’s position is not thoughtful about our
own poor.”
Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray is expected to speak about
immigration on Monday at the annual Thanksgiving luncheon hosted by
the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition at the
State House, officials said.
President Obama thrilled unauthorized immigrants in June by
launching the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, granting immigrants aged 30 and younger two-year reprieves
from deportation if they arrived before age 16, had a clean record,
and met other requirements. They also must pay a $465 fee.
But Obama left it up to individual states to decide whether
immigrants should get benefits such as resident tuition.
Most states did not allow immigrants to pay resident tuition before
the president’s decision. However, US education officials have said
that students with deferred deportations are not eligible for
federal financial aid.
To pay resident tuition in Massachusetts, state officials said,
immigrants must meet the same standards as any other student,
including fulfilling academic requirements and the minimum length of
state residency for that school.
It is unclear how many Massachusetts students will be affected by
Patrick’s announcement. From 10,000 to 20,000 immigrants in
Massachusetts could apply for Obama’s deferred action program,
according to estimates from the Washington-based Migration Policy
Institute, but those numbers have not materialized.
Federal statistics for Massachusetts were unavailable, but as of
last week the state had not cracked the top 10 states in the number
of applicants, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services,
the Homeland Security agency administering the program. Fewer
students from Massachusetts had applied than in Virginia, which
ranked 10th with less than 6,000 applications.
Nationwide, more than 300,000 immigrants have applied for the
program, much lower than initial government estimates of 800,000 or
more. Of these, the government has approved more than 53,000
applications and rejected more than 10,000. Officials said the rest
are under review.
More than 80 percent of the deferred-action applicants were from
Latin America. Latino voters, both US-born and naturalized citizens,
helped catapult Obama to a second term.
Other significant groups applying for deferred action include South
Koreans and natives of the Philippines.
State House News Service
Monday, November 19, 2012
Mixed reaction on Hill to Patrick's directive on immigration tuition
By Matt Murphy
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and others on Monday put the issue of
offering in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants into
economic terms, while the House’s Republican leadership called for
implementation of the new policy on tuition to “be stopped
immediately.”
Both Democrats and Republicans on Monday also used the step taken by
Patrick to look ahead to the legislative session that begins in
January when in-state tuition for a broader class of undocumented
immigrants could resurface in a more significant way than in recent
years.
Gov. Deval Patrick wrote a letter on Monday to Higher Education
Commissioner Richard Freeland informing him that young immigrants
granted “deferred status” under President Barack Obama new
deportation policy should be offered in-state tuition at public
colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
The administration said it based the decision on the availability of
federal work permits to the new class of immigrants, which is one of
the 16 ways a student can prove lawful immigrant status in
Massachusetts to qualify for the tuition break.
House Minority Brad Jones said that while making higher education
affordable to Massachusetts residents is important, the state must
be “judicious and fair in how we award such benefits.”
“Governor Patrick’s most recent attempt to usurp the power of the
Legislature is cause for concern. Instead of engaging elected
officials from both political parties in constructive conversation
and debate, he has put his interests, both politically and
personally, above those of Massachusetts’ residents,” Jones said in
a statement.
Patrick based his decision on the new federal policy started by
Obama over the summer with an executive order giving immigrants
under 31 who came to the United States before their 16th birthday
the opportunity to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
status. Those approved would be protected from deportation for two
years, and allowed to apply for work permits.
“While this change in federal enforcement policy applies only to a
small segment of our immigrant population and is no substitute for
comprehensive immigration reform, it is certainly a step in the
right direction,” Patrick wrote to Freeland.
Jones did not identify any means by which he might seek to stop the
administration from implementing the tuition policy, and Patrick
said he continues to support comprehensive immigration reform
efforts at the national level and legislation locally to grant
in-state tuition to all undocumented immigrants who attended high
school in Massachusetts.
“We are exploring all possibilities,” said Peter Lorenz, a spokesman
for the minority leader. “Should we decide to file a bill, it would
most likely be at the beginning of the next legislative session, and
would be in conjunction with legislation aimed at providing tuition
and fee waivers for active duty servicepersons who are permanent and
legal residents of Massachusetts. The bill will also include
veterans of the Commonwealth who attend any state college, community
college, or state university.”
Patrick has long supported in-state tuition for undocumented
students who have grown up in Massachusetts, attended schools here,
and are pursuing a path to citizenship.
Asked whether he might file or push for a Massachusetts-based
in-state tuition bill during the coming session, Patrick said, “I
hope so, but I hope also that we’re going to get comprehensive
immigration reform from the Congress and that will answer a lot of
the questions that we in this state have and other states have.”
Murray, before speaking at a State House luncheon hosted by the
Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugees Advocacy Coalition, said he
supported the application of the new federal program in
Massachusetts to include tuition breaks.
“I think these are young people who have played by the rules,
demonstrated academic capacity and have the right to be able to
apply and if they’re admitted we should try to make sure these young
people are reaching their full potential,” Murray said.
Noting that taxpayers in Worcester already pay $10,500 per student
annually for public education for these same immigrants, Murray
said, “The people of the Commonwealth are already investing in these
young people.”
Republicans weren’t the only ones in the Legislature concerned that
Patrick might be circumventing their authority with his
interpretation of the new federal programs.
Sen. Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge) wasn’t excited with Patrick’s
decision. “I think it’s something the Legislature should discuss,
not be done by executive order. But the president has done the same
thing pretty much,” Moore said Monday outside the annual MIRA
Thanksgiving lunch in Great Hall.
Moore wouldn’t say whether the policy could or should be reversed by
the Legislature, only that “it should have been discussed more
fully” with the branches. “Given the limitations on access by
taxpayers, it’s a concern whether it’s the right policy at this
point in time,” Moore said.
Treasurer Steven Grossman said it was “not true” that undocumented
immigrants would be taking admission slots away from legal
residents. “No place at one of our public colleges or universities
will be denied to any other child or student by virtue of these
children being offered in-state tuition,” Grossman said.
Grossman also suggested that training these immigrant students would
be beneficial to the future of the state’s economy. “We have over
119,000 jobs that are posted that we can’t fill. I mean we need
everyone one of those young people getting a great education, going
to a public college or university, whether it’s a community college
or four-year university or the UMass system and then taking their
place in this workforce. Eighty percent of the people who come out
of public colleges or universities stay right here,” Grossman said.
Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Dorchester) said she plans to file
legislation reinforcing Patrick’s order when formal sessions resume
next year. “I’m planning on filing in-state tuition come January
just to really make sure we can institutionalize it here in the
state of Massachusetts but this is really a first step - this is
quite exciting,” Forry said.
In recent years, in-state tuition bills for undocumented immigrants
have failed to gain much traction. The Legislature last approved
such a law in 2004, only to have then-Gov. Mitt Romney veto the
legislation. The last vote on the topic came in January 2006 when
the House rejected a bill 57-97 that would have allowed undocumented
immigrant students who spent at least three years and graduated from
a state high school to pay the reduced rate.
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, addressing the MIRA audience, said for
the first time he’s been in Congress he sees a “real opportunity to
do comprehensive immigration reform.”
“You can do for the next group of people what you wish had been done
for your ancestors,” Capuano said, discussing his own Irish and
Italian heritage.
Murray called Thanksgiving the “ultimate acknowledgement of an
immigrant experience” and said Massachusetts is “stronger when we
embrace the talent, ideas and work ethic of our immigrants.”
The lieutenant governor also took umbrage at the tone of discourse
that sometimes follows immigration policy issues, specifically
recalling how he felt when he heard a WTKK radio personality, who he
did not name, “talking in a very disparaging, racist and prejudiced
way about female Mexicans.”
“He could have been talking about my daughters and their future and
their background. Words matter. So as this debate continues in
Washington hold those people accountable who don’t want to make this
debate civil,” Murray said. Murray and his wife have two adopted
daughters from Guatemala.
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