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CLT UPDATE
Friday, December 7, 2012
Abuses of power and scandalous results
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Taxpayers could be walloped for up to $20 million
a year to keep the state gaming board running by the time
Massachusetts’ first casino opens for business, as slowpoke
bureaucrats drag out the selection process and burn through their
publicly funded startup money, a new report shows.
“Red tape and a culture of delay is killing our
state and hurting job creation,” fumed state Rep. Daniel B. Winslow,
a Norfolk Republican. “We’ve got a lot riding on this.” ...
Casino expert Richard McGowan, a Boston College
professor, blasted the commission for delays in the licensing
process, as well as the board’s spending — including an October
junket to Asia by MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby and another
commissioner.
“There’s no reason why they can’t issue a license
by the end of 2013,” McGowan said. “I don’t understand why it’s
taking so long.” ...
The Herald reported this week that New Hampshire
lawmakers are aiming to approve a casino next year at Rockingham
Park in Salem — and have it open before a shovel is even put in the
ground in Massachusetts. Critics said a casino just over the state
line could siphon off up to 40 percent of the Boston market and
could drastically slash how much cash the Bay State gets from
gaming.
“They started after us and they’re going to
finish before us,” Winslow said. “This is a cultural thing in
Massachusetts government. And it’s the same story that any private
sector developer will tell you is the way business has been done in
Massachusetts for decades. The only difference is this is a
high-profile public project.”
The Boston Herald
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Report: Board’s a bad bet
Predicts commission will run up nearly $20M deficit
The state’s public defender agency estimates it
could need up to $332 million to represent thousands of people who
faced criminal penalties or civil sanctions based on evidence
potentially tainted at the now-closed state drug laboratory in
Jamaica Plain.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services
developed the budget projection as it seeks money from the Patrick
administration to deal with the fallout from the drug lab scandal
linked to chemist Annie Dookhan, who allegedly told State Police she
falsified results....
Lisa Hewitt, general counsel for the agency, said
the $332 million is an estimate that assumes each of the 190,000
cases handled at the lab since 2003 would have to be litigated and
that an attorney would have to be assigned to represent each
defendant. Hewitt said many of the cases could be resolved if
prosecutors chose to dismiss the charges.
Hewitt said the estimate includes money to pay
private attorneys to handle cases, hire translators and
investigators, and train lawyers in navigating the complex legal
questions raised by the unprecedented scandal....
Hewitt said the public defender agency, when
required by law, will represent indigent clients in probate and
family court, where they have lost, or may lose, parental rights
because of what may be declared unlawful convictions. Spending on
those cases would be in addition to the $332 million, she said....
Also Tuesday, Cape and Islands District Attorney
Michael O’Keefe, the incoming president of the Massachusetts
District Attorneys Association, said prosecutors have finalized
their budget request and believe they need $12.7 million for more
prosecutors, support staff, and in some cases, office space and
computers, for all Dookhan-related cases....
The Patrick administration has asked lawmakers
for $30 million to pay for Dookhanrelated costs between now and
February that are incurred by county prosecutors, the court system,
local governments, the public defender agency, and social services
agencies.
The administration has said it is open to seeking
more money once more is learned about the damage to the criminal
justice system that can be linked to Dookhan and the state lab.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Cost soars in Mass. drug lab scandal
Defending the thousands affected by suspect evidence
could take $332m, state agency says
Governor Deval Patrick announced an array of
state budget cuts to help cover a $540 million shortfall Tuesday,
including a further reduction in the money local communities use to
pay teachers and firefighters.
Patrick said the midyear budget gap is a direct
result of the economic uncertainty caused by failed fiscal cliff
negotiations, which could trigger federal spending cuts and tax
increases at the start of the new year.
The cuts in the $32.5 billion budget, some of
which need legislative approval, are expected to have a direct
impact on residents. They include cuts of $9 million in local aid,
$11 million in special education, $5 million in reimbursements for
towns to bus homeless students, and across-the-board reductions in
spending on the overburdened court system....
Less than half of the state’s shortfall would be
closed by withdrawing $200 million from the state’s rainy day fund,
which is expected to have about $1.2 billion left at the end of the
budget year on June 30. The Patrick administration said the state
would still have one of the biggest reserve funds in the country.
Municipal leaders vowed to fight the $9 million
local aid cut in the Legislature, noting that it comes on the heels
of five tough budget years that brought $416 million in cuts....
The Massachusetts Municipal Association said it
would ask lawmakers to take the $9 million out of the rainy day fund
instead of risking losses to school budgets, public safety, and
public works projects.
“There’s a major question mark looming over every
single community’s budget,” said Geoffrey Beckwith, the
association’s executive director. “They would have to reopen their
budgets and they would wonder, if the governor’s granted additional
authority, would there be further cuts down the road?”
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Patrick targets local aid to help cover budget gap
Says $540m shortfall makes cuts necessary
Several House Republicans came out forcefully
against Gov. Deval Patrick’s request Monday to trim local aid by $9
million to deal with a half-a-billion dollar budget gap, while some
lawmakers said they needed more time to digest the governor’s new
budget-balancing orders and requests.
Patrick rolled out his plan on Monday to deal
with a projected $540 million revenue shortfall to fund the fiscal
2013 budget, ordering $225 million in spending cuts and requesting
the use of $200 million in reserves and other measures, including
cuts in legislative and judiciary branch spending, to keep the
budget in balance.
"These are challenging times, but these are the
same people who told us last month that the economy had turned
around,” said Rep. Daniel Winslow, a Norfolk Republican. "I'm sorry
they couldn't share the true condition of our state economy until
after the election. Political rhetoric is no substitute for prudent
fiscal management." ...
Rep. George Peterson (R-Grafton) said he would
vote against giving the governor the authority to make local aid
cuts, which Patrick called “modest.” Under Patrick’s plan, the local
aid cuts would be reversed if Lottery revenues continue to exceed
expectations.
“I’ve been to several meetings of my finance
committees and school boards, and have told them that this is coming
and to start planning for midyear cuts, but I will not be supportive
of giving the governor that authority,” Peterson said. Asked why
not, Peterson said, “We in the House and the Senate actually created
this budget. It’s up to us to find the money to make up the
shortfall, not the governor.” ...
House Minority Brad Jones accused Patrick of
trying to mislead on local aid cuts by calling it a modest 1 percent
reduction in local aid, not accounting for the other cuts to special
education funding, regional school transportation, and homeless
student transportation.
“Stagnant economic growth is not limited to
national and state governments. Local cities and towns continue to
feel the trickle-down effect of a worsening economy. Further
paralyzing them through these cuts will only further aggravate the
situation,” Jones said in a statement.
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lawmakers resist local aid cuts, digest Patrick's budget reductions
Massachusetts has a big budget problem on its
hands and Gov. Deval Patrick is pointing the finger of blame toward
Washington. But the alternative is to point the finger at himself
and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature who control the state
budget, and that simply won’t do!
Announcing a $540 million shortfall in the fiscal
2013 state budget, Patrick yesterday said state tax collections have
slowed down because the private sector is reluctant to spend amid
uncertainty over the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington. And
that happens to be true.
But is it the “direct cause” of the Bay State’s
current budget woes, in which tax collections are actually ahead of
last year, but trailing what Beacon Hill estimated for fiscal 2013,
as Patrick suggested yesterday?
Well, he can’t say they just blew the revenue
projections, now, can he? ...
A Boston Herald editorial
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Spreading budget blame
Critics rolled their eyes at Gov. Deval Patrick’s
“convenient” excuse yesterday — that his administration can’t crack
the mystery of how repeat roadway offender Sheila Burgess became the
state’s highway safety director because her hiring records were
destroyed in the normal course of business....
Patrick again called her hiring a “screw-up” and
said, as governor, he takes responsibility. The administration is
still trying to find out how she was hired, but a paper trail
doesn’t seem to exist, he said.
Patrick’s admission that “we look ridiculous” for
placing Burgess at the head of highway safety drew mockery from the
GOP.
“This administration,” said MassGOP Executive
Director Nate Little in a statement, “ ... not only looks ridiculous
but dangerously out of control.”
The Boston Herald
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Gov: Sheila Burgess’ records ‘gone’
Burgess was hired in 2007, hardly the dark ages
before computers and electronic files. She got the job as highway
safety director after a referral by U.S. Rep. James McGovern,
despite her checkered driving history, which was either overlooked
or ignored by the folks doing the hiring.
Asked yesterday during a radio show on WTKK
whether anyone on his team will be held accountable for hiring a
highway menace for a highway safety job, Patrick said they had
looked into it.
“I think that (hiring) was in the early days of
the administration. We can’t even find the documents because in the
normal course those documents are gone, are destroyed,” Patrick
said. “I can tell you she wouldn’t get through the screens today for
a job like that. That’s been tied off ... and I accept
responsibility for it.”
Terrific, he takes “responsibility” for the
“screw-up.”
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Unplug the shredder!
Veering away from the traditional lighthearted
and nostalgic farewell speech, outgoing Andover Rep. Paul Adams (R)
took a shot at his Democratic colleagues on his way out of the
House, saying they spend taxpayers’ money too easily and do not
focus on places where government has a role, beliefs he said made
him a “target” for state Democrats to unseat him.
Shortly after Gov. Deval Patrick announced plans
to close a $540 million midyear budget gap, Adams said there is
plenty of money in state coffers and argued the state spends it
“incorrectly.” ...
Adams’ district was merged with one represented
by another House Republican, Rep. Jim Lyons, during the
redistricting process.... He opted to challenge Sen. Barry Finegold
(D-Andover) instead of facing off against Lyons....
Adams said his race “was made as difficult as
possible” and he hinted he would run again. “My political opponents
might have a victory for the time being, but this won’t be the last
time they deal with me.”
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Adams to opponents: "This won't be the last time they deal with me"
With Bob Maginn announcing his plan to leave the
chairmanship of the state Republican Party and former Gov. William
Weld continuing to make waves in Massachusetts on the heels of his
recent return here, veteran political observer Barbara Anderson
put forward a few ideas for the direction of the struggling GOP.
Revising some of the thoughts she offered in the
Salem News last month, Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation, laid out in an email her vision
for the 2014 election cycle, saying the party needs the type of
“strong chairman” that Ray Shamie was when Weld won the governor’s
office in 1990.
State House News Service
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Anderson sees role for Weld in GOP's next act
A NEW WORD
CLICK GRAPHIC TO ENLARGE
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Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
Another week of "Through the Looking Glass" Alice
in Wonderland for Massachusetts taxpayers. The daily craziness that
now passes for public policy has become almost too incredible to
take seriously — if we weren't watching
it with our own eyes in real time, at our mounting expense.
Take just this sudden "fiscal crisis" that
dropped like a tactical nuclear bomb delivered in the dark of night from high
overhead by a Stealth aircraft. Omigod, there's not enough "revenue"
coming in to cover all of Bacon Hill's "entitlements" and new
"investments." Who among us could ever have expected such a thing in
the midst of our long-running Great Recession?
Among Governor Patrick's solutions to this
shocking shortfall is — provide
taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition for children of illegal aliens!
Now there's a Beacon Hill turn-around strategy for sure.
Okay, let's help solve this latest $540 million
unexpected shortfall, our latest "fiscal crisis." Here are a few
simple, obvious solutions.
First, stop digging the fiscal hole deeper with
ever more taxpayer support for those who do not exist here legally.
My next recommendation also addresses magnanimous taxpayer giveaways
to illegal aliens.
CLT Update, Jun. 15, 2012 ("$118
million more for illegals acknowledged by Patrick administration
— No wonder they say we need more taxes!")
State Rep. James Lyons (R-Andover) was a
guest on Howie Carr's WRKO radio program yesterday to discuss
how the state has spent $118 million providing health care for
illegal immigrants, out-of-staters and others who couldn't
provide proof of Massachusetts residency. During their
discussion, Rep. Lyons further clarified the latest spending
numbers he's finally pried loose from the Patrick
Administration:
"This $118 million is in addition to
the $93 million ... last year's '$93 million' number that they
gave us is out of a different program...." Rep. Lyons
said, then added, "Include another $60 million under 'status not available.'"
That's a total: $271 million. Remove just this
one unjustified burden and we've cut the "shortfall" in half, down
to $269 million.
A good start; next:
State House News Service, Apr. 4, 2012 ("Bipartisan
group of lawmakers back EBT card reforms")
O’Connell, Holmes and Hedlund served on the
commission, but said its recommendations did not go far enough
to ensure that the $415 million spent annually on welfare
benefits was being used appropriately by recipients.
Uncover how much "revenue" is being given out
that is not "used appropriately by recipients" then eliminate
it from that $415 million. The Legislature tinkered around the edges
of EBT card reform during last session (so they could campaign on
"doing something") but still has a very long way to go
— such as preventing those cards from
being used for cash withdrawals then spent on anything.
I could go on, but while we're providing
solutions that'll be ignored, they're running up our costs even
faster. Nobody can keep up.
The governor's oversight malfeasance of his
Department of Public Health is astounding, in both the fungal
meningitis outbreak (caused by injections from the New England
Compounding Center, which has sickened more than 540 people and
killed 36), and the state drug lab scandals. The cost for the latter
is mounting astronomically — faster
than anyone can keep up with.
Due to this one screw-up, the Committee for
Public Counsel Services (the state’s public defender agency)
estimates it could need up to $332 million (that's a third of a
billion of our dollars) to re-defend the convicted, while the
District Attorneys Association wants an additional $12.7 million to
re-prosecute them. That's a total of $344.7 million; Governor
Patrick has already asked the Legislature for a $30 million
down-payment.
Has anyone yet thought about, never mind
estimated, the potential cost of settlements from inevitable
lawsuits brought by the 540 people sickened and 36 killed by the
state's malfeasance leading to the national fungal meningitis
outbreak? The U.S. Congress is now investigating.
Misfeasance, malfeasance, and unmitigated
corruption run rampant in this dysfunctional state, unrestrained whatsoever.
Even when caught red-handed ("The Boston Globe.
Nov. 18, 2012 — "Safety
chief has long list of driving violations; Democratic operative
given state job in 2007"), the governor just smiles and
graciously extends the Beacon Hill Middle-Finger Salute.
When questioned about the obvious patronage
hiring of his director of the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division,
Sheila Burgess, he replied: "We can’t even find the documents
because in the normal course those documents are gone, are
destroyed.” My goodness, how inconvenient; the dog ate his homework.
Passing casino gaming has only cost us
taxpayers — "up to $20 million a year
to keep the state gaming board running" —
with no return in sight. Meanwhile New Hampshire is readying to open
its first casino just over the border, starting after us and
finishing first.
“This is a cultural thing in Massachusetts
government," frustrated state Rep. Dan Winslow (R-Norfolk) observed.
Our state motto should again be changed:
"Only in Massachusetts"
So little space, so little time
— so many scandals and abuses we can't
keep up with them.
Elections certainly do have consequences.
Congratulations to outgoing freshman state Rep.
Paul Adams (R-Andover) on his farewell speech, leaving Beacon Hill
with a roar not a whimper. He may have lost the race after being
redistricted, but he certainly wasn't defeated.
Saddle up. It won't be long before we taxpayers
will be expected to pay even more for the costs of Bacon
Hill's misfeasance, malfeasance, and unmitigated corruption.
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Chip Ford |
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The Boston Herald
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Report: Board’s a bad bet
Predicts commission will run up nearly $20M deficit
By Dave Wedge
Taxpayers could be walloped for up to $20 million a year to keep the
state gaming board running by the time Massachusetts’ first casino
opens for business, as slowpoke bureaucrats drag out the selection
process and burn through their publicly funded startup money, a new
report shows.
“Red tape and a culture of delay is killing our state and hurting
job creation,” fumed state Rep. Daniel B. Winslow, a Norfolk
Republican. “We’ve got a lot riding on this.”
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission could be running at a $1.1
million deficit by next fiscal year, $12 million by 2015, and an
eye-popping $19.8 million by 2016, as the board is not expected to
even issue a casino license until 2014, according to a report by
Spectrum Gaming, a state-hired consultant. Spectrum officials
recommend in the report that the gaming panel go back to the
Legislature for more funding to cover costs until casinos are
“operating” — which may not be until 2016.
Casino expert Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor, blasted
the commission for delays in the licensing process, as well as the
board’s spending — including an October junket to Asia by MGC
Chairman Stephen Crosby and another commissioner.
“There’s no reason why they can’t issue a license by the end of
2013,” McGowan said. “I don’t understand why it’s taking so long.”
MGC spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll downplayed the consultant’s report,
saying the board expects to begin hauling in casino licensing fees
of $85 million-plus by early 2014.
“The (report) simply presents a number of variables for the
commission to consider,” Driscoll said. “The commission fully
anticipates to be generating fees from gaming applicants, which will
provide the funding for commission operations. We remain on track to
issue licenses by February 2014 with an effort toward condensing the
process where possible.”
The Herald reported this week that New Hampshire lawmakers are
aiming to approve a casino next year at Rockingham Park in Salem —
and have it open before a shovel is even put in the ground in
Massachusetts. Critics said a casino just over the state line could
siphon off up to 40 percent of the Boston market and could
drastically slash how much cash the Bay State gets from gaming.
“They started after us and they’re going to finish before us,”
Winslow said. “This is a cultural thing in Massachusetts government.
And it’s the same story that any private sector developer will tell
you is the way business has been done in Massachusetts for decades.
The only difference is this is a high-profile public project.”
News of the potential taxpayer hit comes as out-of-state casino
bigwigs shake up the local landscape. In Springfield, Ameristar
pulled out of plans for a nearly $1 billion casino, citing a murky
local approval process.
In Holyoke, Paper City Development has paid a $25,000 initial fee to
the city as it launches plans for a casino at a golf course. And in
Everett, Las Vegas tycoon Steve Wynn has asked to meet with the
state gaming board to discuss the licensing process. Wynn is bidding
to build a casino off Route 99 that would challenge Suffolk Downs in
East Boston.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Cost soars in Mass. drug lab scandal
Defending the thousands affected by suspect evidence could take
$332m, state agency says
By John R. Ellement
The state’s public defender agency estimates it could need up to
$332 million to represent thousands of people who faced criminal
penalties or civil sanctions based on evidence potentially tainted
at the now-closed state drug laboratory in Jamaica Plain.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services developed the budget
projection as it seeks money from the Patrick administration to deal
with the fallout from the drug lab scandal linked to chemist Annie
Dookhan, who allegedly told State Police she falsified results.
The scale of the scandal came into sharper focus Tuesday when the
attorney leading a state investigation into the drug lab, ordered by
Governor Deval Patrick, provided the latest figures on how many
people might be affected.
Boston attorney David Meier said his team has identified at least
10,000 people so far who were prosecuted based on drug testing
conducted by Dookhan during the nine years she worked at the
Department of Public Health lab.
Meier stressed that even more people could be affected because his
team has not completed its inquiry into prosecutions in the district
court and the Boston Municipal Court system, where most drug cases
are prosecuted in the state’s criminal justice system.
A two-page budget proposal from the public defender agency, obtained
by the Globe, sketches out an even direr scenario. The Committee for
Public Counsel Services concludes that it needs $12.5 million right
now to deal with Dookhan-related litigation and that it will need
$62.5 million to deal with the estimated 35,000 criminal cases in
which Dookhan played a role in testing seized substances that were
suspected of being contraband.
But the public defender agency projects it could need as much as
$332 million because the allegations against Dookhan could call into
question every drug test performed at the Department of Public
Health lab, regardless of whether Dookhan was directly involved.
Lisa Hewitt, general counsel for the agency, said the $332 million
is an estimate that assumes each of the 190,000 cases handled at the
lab since 2003 would have to be litigated and that an attorney would
have to be assigned to represent each defendant. Hewitt said many of
the cases could be resolved if prosecutors chose to dismiss the
charges.
Hewitt said the estimate includes money to pay private attorneys to
handle cases, hire translators and investigators, and train lawyers
in navigating the complex legal questions raised by the
unprecedented scandal.
“This is the worst-case scenario,’’ Hewitt said. “. . . We do not
want this to come to pass. But we do believe it is in our scope of
responsibility to find these clients.’’
Hewitt said the public defender agency, when required by law, will
represent indigent clients in probate and family court, where they
have lost, or may lose, parental rights because of what may be
declared unlawful convictions. Spending on those cases would be in
addition to the $332 million, she said.
“There are a lot of really, really massive problems with this
situation,’’ Hewitt said.
Also Tuesday, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe,
the incoming president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys
Association, said prosecutors have finalized their budget request
and believe they need $12.7 million for more prosecutors, support
staff, and in some cases, office space and computers, for all
Dookhan-related cases.
O’Keefe declined to comment on the request from the public defender
agency.
He said prosecutors may need more money, depending on what ongoing
investigations unearth.
Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said Tuesday
that 110 imprisoned defendants convicted in drug cases involving
Dookhan have had their sentences put on hold in Suffolk Superior
Court. About 40 defendants being prosecuted in the Boston Municipal
Court system have also had sentences put on hold.
Meier, the attorney leading the Patrick-initiated investigation of
the scandal, said the governor expanded Meier’s duties Tuesday to
include a hand search of the case files prepared by Dookhan when she
worked at the lab.
Meier’s team has been reviewing databases provided by the State
Police, Department of Public Health, state’s courts, state
prosecutors, and public defender agency. But that data has errors in
it, and now the governor wants Meier’s team to study the actual
paperwork that underlies the databases.
“I like to refer to it as a file-by-file review of every file at the
Jamaica Plain laboratory, with the object being we should leave no
file unturned to determine which files, which cases, and most
important, which defendants Miss Dookhan may have touched,’’ Meier
said.
Meier’s inquiry will be conducted in parallel with an investigation
into the drug lab led by Inspector General Glenn Cunha and alongside
Attorney General Martha Coakley, whose office is conducting a
criminal investigation that has led to obstruction of justice
charges against Dookhan.
Dookhan, who lives in Franklin, has pleaded not guilty in Boston
Municipal Court to two counts of obstruction of justice and to an
accusation she falsified her academic credentials. She remains free
pending trial.
In court papers, Coakley’s office said it expects a grand jury
investigating the drug lab to return indictments against Dookhan
before her next scheduled court date, Dec. 20, in Boston Municipal
Court.
The Patrick administration has asked lawmakers for $30 million to
pay for Dookhanrelated costs between now and February that are
incurred by county prosecutors, the court system, local governments,
the public defender agency, and social services agencies.
The administration has said it is open to seeking more money once
more is learned about the damage to the criminal justice system that
can be linked to Dookhan and the state lab.
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Patrick targets local aid to help cover budget gap
Says $540m shortfall makes cuts necessary
By Noah Bierman
Governor Deval Patrick announced an array of state budget cuts to
help cover a $540 million shortfall Tuesday, including a further
reduction in the money local communities use to pay teachers and
firefighters.
Patrick said the midyear budget gap is a direct result of the
economic uncertainty caused by failed fiscal cliff negotiations,
which could trigger federal spending cuts and tax increases at the
start of the new year.
The cuts in the $32.5 billion budget, some of which need legislative
approval, are expected to have a direct impact on residents. They
include cuts of $9 million in local aid, $11 million in special
education, $5 million in reimbursements for towns to bus homeless
students, and across-the-board reductions in spending on the
overburdened court system.
Patrick also said restrictions on state hiring that began in October
would result in 700 fewer state workers than the budget projected.
Less than half of the state’s shortfall would be closed by
withdrawing $200 million from the state’s rainy day fund, which is
expected to have about $1.2 billion left at the end of the budget
year on June 30. The Patrick administration said the state would
still have one of the biggest reserve funds in the country.
Municipal leaders vowed to fight the $9 million local aid cut in the
Legislature, noting that it comes on the heels of five tough budget
years that brought $416 million in cuts. They said that the overall
impact of Tuesday’s cuts on cities and towns will amount to $37.75
million. In addition, localities face a $20 million cut to the
school building fund that was automatically triggered by
weaker-than-expected sales tax collections.
Patrick cast the budget situation as serious, but not catastrophic.
He said the state faced a gap that was six times larger during the
height of the fiscal crunch in 2009. And he said the state would not
need to raise taxes to fill the current void. But he continued to
warn of a potential tax increase to cover longer-term problems in
transportation, which lawmakers are expected to take up in the new
year. “We’ve been here,” Patrick said at a news conference in the
State House. “We know how to do this.”
“I don’t think this is draconian,” he added. “We are spreading the
pain as broadly as possible.” Though many programs will be taking
small hits, Patrick’s budget chief, Jay Gonzalez, said Tuesday that
his office would release $20 million to pay for an approximately 2
percent salary increase for 29,000 low-wage human services workers.
The workers had been without a raise for five years and have been
protesting outside the governor’s office. The money for the raise,
though previously budgeted, had been frozen while Patrick devised a
plan to fix the budget gap.
The state still expects to collect more in tax revenues this budget
year than it did in the previous budget year. But a year ago, budget
writers, in consultation with economists, pinned their revenue
estimates on a more robust economy. They expected an economic growth
rate of 3 percent, resulting in nearly $900 million more in tax
collections than last year, for a total of $22 billion in tax
collections. They are instead seeing a 1.9 percent economic growth
rate, and now expect about $381 million more in tax collections than
last year.
Patrick on Tuesday renewed his call for a resolution to the budget
negotiations in Washington, before automatic cuts and tax increases
at the federal level take effect on Jan. 1.
“By all accounts, that uncertainty and resulting slowdown in
economic growth is the direct cause of our budget challenges,” he
said. “The private sector will be unwilling to make the kinds of
investments that create jobs, grow state and federal tax revenue
collections, and contribute to a lasting economic recovery until
Congress and the president come to terms on a solution.”
Patrick, a Democrat and an active supporter of President Obama,
cited statements from economists and business leaders in asserting
that the fiscal cliff negotiations are hampering economic growth. He
conceded that the state’s November tax collections — tabulated
during a time of heightened anxiety over the fiscal cliff — were
actually above projections. But he said state economists still
believe the year will end with lower collections than originally
forecast. And he said that the situation would only worsen — with a
loss this year alone of $300 million more in state revenue — if
Obama and Congress fail to reach a compromise.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation, said the fiscal cliff is only partly to blame.
“If you look at the recovery, since the bottom of the recession
about three years ago, nationally and in Massachusetts, it’s been an
anemic recovery,” said Widmer, whose group is backed by businesses.
“But that’s not the fiscal cliff. It’s been a variety of factors.”
He said he did not expect the Legislature to agree to the $9 million
local aid cut, given the political wrath they would face from mayors
and local officials.
The Massachusetts Municipal Association said it would ask lawmakers
to take the $9 million out of the rainy day fund instead of risking
losses to school budgets, public safety, and public works projects.
“There’s a major question mark looming over every single community’s
budget,” said Geoffrey Beckwith, the association’s executive
director. “They would have to reopen their budgets and they would
wonder, if the governor’s granted additional authority, would there
be further cuts down the road?”
Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said the cuts
announced by Patrick would add up to between $3 million and $5
million for Boston residents. “We certainly understand the
Commonwealth’s need to cut spending and will work closely with both
the Legislature and state partners in the hopes that local aid and
special education cuts would be a last resort and not the first
option,” she said.
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate were noncommittal,
releasing a joint statement Tuesday indicating that they plan “to
better analyze the effect these cuts would have on the programs and
services we provide to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Republicans were more critical, calling local aid cuts a last resort
and blaming Patrick for the sluggish recovery.
Senator Bruce E. Tarr, a Gloucester Republican who serves as
minority leader, said in a statement that Patrick “is confronting
the harsh reality of a faltering economic recovery.”
“Yet it’s also a harsh reality that this situation could and should
have been addressed by more aggressive action to create a better
climate for economic growth,” he said, criticizing Patrick for
resisting legislative calls for more business tax breaks.
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lawmakers resist local aid cuts, digest Patrick's budget reductions
By Matt Murphy and Andy Metzger
Several House Republicans came out forcefully against Gov. Deval
Patrick’s request Monday to trim local aid by $9 million to deal
with a half-a-billion dollar budget gap, while some lawmakers said
they needed more time to digest the governor’s new budget-balancing
orders and requests.
Patrick rolled out his plan on Monday to deal with a projected $540
million revenue shortfall to fund the fiscal 2013 budget, ordering
$225 million in spending cuts and requesting the use of $200 million
in reserves and other measures, including cuts in legislative and
judiciary branch spending, to keep the budget in balance.
"These are challenging times, but these are the same people who told
us last month that the economy had turned around,” said Rep. Daniel
Winslow, a Norfolk Republican. "I'm sorry they couldn't share the
true condition of our state economy until after the election.
Political rhetoric is no substitute for prudent fiscal management."
Both House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey and Senate Ways and
Means Chairman Stephen Brewer said Monday that local aid should be a
last resort for cuts. In a joint statement, the two budget chiefs
said Patrick’s recommendations requiring legislative action were
under review.
“These are difficult choices, but responsible governing from time to
time requires such actions. We are reaching out to various
stakeholders across the state, including the Massachusetts Municipal
Association, to better analyze the effect these cuts would have on
the programs and services we provide to the citizens of the
Commonwealth,” Dempsey and Brewer said.
Winslow said he was not yet convinced that Patrick had “cut the
fluff,” going on to say, “Do we have any spokespeople in the
agencies? Do we have any lobbyists in the agencies? There’s been
2,000 new employees added in this administration. Do we need them,
and are they all keeping their jobs?”
Asked to identify “the fluff,” Winslow said, “With all due respect
to the media, I think press relations people. Why don’t we let the
commissioners speak for themselves for a change?”
Patrick said the spending cuts would result in 700 new state
government positions planned and funded in the fiscal 2013 budget
being eliminated, leaving a total state workforce with 6,000 fewer
positions than before the recession.
Winslow also told the News Service he disapproved of cuts to
mitigation funding for communities like Norfolk and Walpole that
host correctional facilities and prisons.
“The prison mitigation monies in the host communities was zeroed
out, which is a concern to me because that creates a
disproportionate impact on some towns that is not borne equally by
all towns,” said Winslow, who said he has five correctional
facilities in his district. He said, “If in fact there are
sacrifices to be made, they should be sacrifices that are going
evenly across the commonwealth, sparing the most vulnerable and the
most needy from cuts that would disproportionately impact their
lives.”
Rep. George Peterson (R-Grafton) said he would vote against giving
the governor the authority to make local aid cuts, which Patrick
called “modest.” Under Patrick’s plan, the local aid cuts would be
reversed if Lottery revenues continue to exceed expectations.
“I’ve been to several meetings of my finance committees and school
boards, and have told them that this is coming and to start planning
for midyear cuts, but I will not be supportive of giving the
governor that authority,” Peterson said. Asked why not, Peterson
said, “We in the House and the Senate actually created this budget.
It’s up to us to find the money to make up the shortfall, not the
governor.”
Peterson said he would look at Medicaid, saying, “We already know
that Medicaid has got a very large line item that is dealing with in
some cases – and they admit at this point – that there a lot of
people that are on that aid that should not be there.”
In October, Auditor Suzanne Bump said that thousands of out-of-staters
could be receiving benefits from MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid
program. Administration budget officials said anticipated savings
from Medicaid of $500 million this year are currently on target.
House Minority Brad Jones accused Patrick of trying to mislead on
local aid cuts by calling it a modest 1 percent reduction in local
aid, not accounting for the other cuts to special education funding,
regional school transportation, and homeless student transportation.
“Stagnant economic growth is not limited to national and state
governments. Local cities and towns continue to feel the
trickle-down effect of a worsening economy. Further paralyzing them
through these cuts will only further aggravate the situation,” Jones
said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said Patrick also bears some of
the responsibility for not better preparing the state’s economy to
recover from the recession, rejecting measurers such as a tax credit
for start-ups and a quarterly business tax payment schedule that
would have fostered growth.
“Governor Patrick is confronting the harsh reality of a faltering
economic recovery and budgetary paralysis in Washington to meet the
requirements of a balanced budget. Yet it’s also a harsh reality
that this situation could and should have been addressed by more
aggressive action to create a better climate for economic growth,”
Tarr said.
The Gloucester Republican called for a fiscal control board to be
put in charge of the MBTA and for planned expansions to the Green
Line and South Coast rail to be halted. Tarr also said Medicaid
patients should be moved to managed care plans, and said it was time
for the Gaming Commission to “accelerate efforts” to bring casinos
and gambling revenue to the state.
Rep. Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge) warned that if local aid and school
funding is preserved from budget cuts it will be to the detriment of
health care and human services.
“If local aid and schools are held harmless it’s going to take a big
bite out of human services,” Wolf told the News Service, saying she
preferred spending out of the state’s reserves, or rainy day fund.
She said, “Look out the window, it is a rainy day. I mean the rainy
day fund is much too low. I’ll be very clear. For the next downturn,
it’s much too low. It should be $4 billion, actually. But if you ask
me between denying homeless children a roof over their heads or
taking it out of the rainy day fund, it’s an easy decision for me. I
hope it will be an easy decision for everyone else.”
The state closed fiscal 2012 with the third largest “rainy day”
account in the country with $1.65 billion. Patrick has proposed
using $200 million to close some of the budget gap, and could also
turn to those funds if necessary to deal with costs associated with
the Hinton drug lab and the review of thousands of compromised
criminal convictions.
Rep. Benjamin Swan (D-Springfield) told the News Service he hoped
that health and human services would be spared from the cuts.
“We’ve been cutting over the years in those areas, and they’re
operating by the skin of their teeth,” Swan said.
Several lawmakers, including Swan and Rep. Ellen Story, of Amherst,
singled out the importance of preserving a $20 million reserve that
would fund a salary increase for workers who provide personal
services for people with developmental disabilities.
The administration did not cut the reserve and has lifted the freeze
on those funds, freeing them up to be dispensed to workers.
“Wow. That’s tough,” Story said, after having the list of cuts
described to her. She said she would need more time to review the
governor’s cuts and proposals before commenting.
Rep. John Keenan (D-Salem) said the House would review Patrick’s
proposal, and was deferential to the deliberations he said the
governor must have put into his plan, but said local aid cuts would
be hard for cities like Salem to absorb.
“That’s a tough place to go right now,” Keenan said.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
A Boston Herald editorial
Spreading budget blame
Massachusetts has a big budget problem on its hands and Gov. Deval
Patrick is pointing the finger of blame toward Washington. But the
alternative is to point the finger at himself and his fellow
Democrats in the Legislature who control the state budget, and that
simply won’t do!
Announcing a $540 million shortfall in the fiscal 2013 state budget,
Patrick yesterday said state tax collections have slowed down
because the private sector is reluctant to spend amid uncertainty
over the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington. And that happens
to be true.
But is it the “direct cause” of the Bay State’s current budget woes,
in which tax collections are actually ahead of last year, but
trailing what Beacon Hill estimated for fiscal 2013, as Patrick
suggested yesterday?
Well, he can’t say they just blew the revenue projections, now, can
he?
To make up for the state budget shortfall Patrick plans to cut $225
million from executive agencies and draw $200 million from the
state’s rainy-day fund — that’s on top of the $350 million that he
and the Legislature already drained from reserves to prop up the FY
’13 budget. He is also asking lawmakers for authority to trim
spending in other branches of government as well as aid to cities
and towns.
As Patrick notes, these mid-year budget “adjustments” aren’t on a
par with those of previous years, when Beacon Hill was forced to
make up a shortfall in multiples of billions.
But they do give him an opportunity to make another pitch for the
White House’s particular answer to the fiscal cliff uncertainty — a
“balanced” solution, as Patrick said yesterday, “with a combination
of tax increases on the most fortunate and cuts to federal
spending.”
Somebody’s been studying the talking points.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Gov: Sheila Burgess’ records ‘gone’
By Chris Cassidy
Critics rolled their eyes at Gov. Deval Patrick’s “convenient”
excuse yesterday — that his administration can’t crack the mystery
of how repeat roadway offender Sheila Burgess became the state’s
highway safety director because her hiring records were destroyed in
the normal course of business.
“It’s all too convenient that basically we have no records of how
she came to be hired ... particularly for an administration that
came in saying, ‘We have to do things differently,’” said House
Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). “I’d like to find out
who made the final decision to sign off on hiring this person. Was
it the governor’s chief of staff? The lieutenant governor? Then I’d
like to find out what made you decide that person? Was a background
check done?”
“We’ve tried to get to the bottom of it,” Patrick insisted on WTKK’s
“Jim & Margery Show” yesterday. “I think that was in the early days
of the administration. We can’t even find the documents because in
the normal course those documents are gone, are destroyed.”
Patrick again called her hiring a “screw-up” and said, as governor,
he takes responsibility. The administration is still trying to find
out how she was hired, but a paper trail doesn’t seem to exist, he
said.
Patrick’s admission that “we look ridiculous” for placing Burgess at
the head of highway safety drew mockery from the GOP.
“This administration,” said MassGOP Executive Director Nate Little
in a statement, “ ... not only looks ridiculous but dangerously out
of control.”
Record rules issued by the secretary of state’s office require
hiring documents, including letters of recommendation, be kept for
three years from the time of hiring. But personnel records,
including job offer and acceptance letters, must be kept for six
years after the employee leaves. Burgess, a Democratic political
operative hired in 2007, resigned this month.
Patrick officials could not produce documents from Burgess’
personnel file yesterday.
“Obviously it does raise concerns,” said Pam Wilmot of Common Cause.
“It’s important to find out who made the decision and to discipline
that person and potentially move forward with reforms.”
Background checks expire after two years to prevent promotions based
on expired checks and to safeguard personal information, said
Patrick spokeswoman Kim Haberlin.
But Jones said he sees no reason to toss other hiring documents so
quickly.
“Keeping letters of recommendation in a personnel file doesn’t seem
unreasonable to me,” Jones said.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A Boston Herald editorial
Unplug the shredder!
Sheila Burgess’ quiet, pre-Thanksgiving resignation from state
service could have been the end of an embarrassing episode for Gov.
Deval Patrick and his team, but for Patrick’s admission yesterday
that any paperwork related to the disastrous highway safety hire had
been “destroyed.”
Do people never learn?
Burgess was hired in 2007, hardly the dark ages before computers and
electronic files. She got the job as highway safety director after a
referral by U.S. Rep. James McGovern, despite her checkered driving
history, which was either overlooked or ignored by the folks doing
the hiring.
Asked yesterday during a radio show on WTKK whether anyone on his
team will be held accountable for hiring a highway menace for a
highway safety job, Patrick said they had looked into it.
“I think that (hiring) was in the early days of the administration.
We can’t even find the documents because in the normal course those
documents are gone, are destroyed,” Patrick said. “I can tell you
she wouldn’t get through the screens today for a job like that.
That’s been tied off ... and I accept responsibility for it.”
Terrific, he takes “responsibility” for the “screw-up.”
But who screwed up? Is that individual (or group of individuals)
still on the administration staff, with responsibility for hiring
decisions? Without that information how can the taxpaying public be
confident that the “screens” have been adequately “tied off?”
Documents aside (and what are the chances anyone wrote anything down
on this horrible hire, anyway) Patrick’s leadership skills are
lacking here. If the governor himself demands answers from his staff
about who signed off on a patronage hire, he should be able to get
them. Blaming the lack of a “paper trail” is plain political
cowardice.
State House News Service
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
State Capitol Briefs
Adams to opponents: "This won't be the last time they deal with me"
By Colleen Quinn and Matt Murphy
Veering away from the traditional lighthearted and nostalgic
farewell speech, outgoing Andover Rep. Paul Adams took a shot at his
Democratic colleagues on his way out of the House, saying they spend
taxpayers’ money too easily and do not focus on places where
government has a role, beliefs he said made him a “target” for state
Democrats to unseat him.
Shortly after Gov. Deval Patrick announced plans to close a $540
million midyear budget gap, Adams said there is plenty of money in
state coffers and argued the state spends it “incorrectly.”
“I ran for state representative and then state senator to limit this
body’s role, and by limiting government intrusion in our lives, in
our families and our businesses these are the values that made me
also a top target by the majority party for elimination,” Adams said
during floor remarks to his colleagues. “That process had many
different faces. I think those people know exactly who they are.”
Adams’ district was merged with one represented by another House
Republican, Rep. Jim Lyons, during the redistricting process. He
opted to challenge Sen. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) instead of facing
off against Lyons or moving down the street, which he considered, to
run in a new majority-minority district centered in Lawrence.
Adams said his race “was made as difficult as possible” and he
hinted he would run again. “My political opponents might have a
victory for the time being, but this won’t be the last time they
deal with me.”
In response to Adams, Rep. Michael Moran, who led the House
redistricting effort, told the News Service, “I think when people
don’t get reelected often times they’re looking for an easy answer.”
Asked whether he intentionally targeted Adams, Moran said, "I
intentionally tried to draw a map that maximized minority
participation and in a few instances members were impacted in their
districts."
State House News Service
Thursday, December 6, 2012
State Capitol Briefs
Anderson sees role for Weld in GOP's next act
By Michael P. Norton
With Bob Maginn announcing his plan to leave the chairmanship of the
state Republican Party and former Gov. William Weld continuing to
make waves in Massachusetts on the heels of his recent return here,
veteran political observer Barbara Anderson put forward a few
ideas for the direction of the struggling GOP.
Revising some of the thoughts she offered in the
Salem News last month, Anderson, executive director of
Citizens for Limited Taxation, laid out in an email her vision
for the 2014 election cycle, saying the party needs the type of
“strong chairman” that Ray Shamie was when Weld won the governor’s
office in 1990.
“I would ask Bill Weld to become chairman, giving the GOP the face
of a fiscal conservative/social liberal like Scott Brown and Richard
Tisei, both of whom would run again,” Anderson wrote.
Saying Weld likes to delegate details, set campaign themes and work
with the media, she further suggested that former Congressman Peter
Torkildsen and Peter Blute, Maginn’s current deputy party chairman,
take on the party building tasks handled by Sandy Tennant during
some of the Weld years. Torkildsen also already served as party
chairman himself from 2007 to 2009.
Anderson said she would slot “Weld-Republicans” for the next round
of Congressional races and Charlie Baker for a second run for
governor, with former Rep. Karyn Polito or former Mass. Turnpike
Authority board member Mary Connaughton as his running mate.
And to wrap it up, Anderson offered, “The best of this year’s
Republican legislative candidates give it another try, now part of a
coordinated Weld-Republican effort. Social conservatives should be
encouraged to stop beating the dead election issues of abortion/gay
marriage and get serious about the national debt and the fiscal
problems of Massachusetts, more serious than presently admitted.”
The Boston Globe reported Thursday that Brown is pushing Kirsten
Hughes, a leader of his campaign finance team and a Quincy city
councilor, as the next party chairman. The Globe also reported that
Mass. Fiscal Alliance Chairman Richard Green is expected to run for
party chair.
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