|
Help save yourself
— join CLT
today! |
CLT introduction and membership application |
What CLT saves you from the auto excise tax alone |
 |
Visit CLT on Facebook
|
CLT UPDATE
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tax hikes and more spending are happening suddenly and quickly
|
A political operative who represents the MBTA’s
secret pension fund also does public relations for a union-backed
group that has pushed Gov. Deval Patrick’s massive tax hike plan to
boost transportation spending.
Steve Crawford, an independent public relations
flack working for the MBTA Retirement Fund, would not say who pays
his salary at Campaign for Our Communities, an organization which
corralled the endorsements of various unions and groups to support
boosting the state income tax rate to funnel more money to MBTA
projects and education.
“I’m not going to tell you that,” Crawford told
the Herald when asked who funds the Campaign for Out Communities.
Crawford said “there is no connection” between
the union-backed group and the MBTA Retirement Fund, which he called
“a longtime client.” He did not respond to questions about who hired
him for the campaign....
Crawford, who worked as a spokesman for Patrick’s
political committee and U.S. Rep. William R. Keating’s (D-Bourne)
campaign, also declined to respond to questions about who founded
Campaign for Our Communities, which is not registered with the state
as a lobbying group despite the organization’s political maneuvering
to convince lawmakers to raise taxes.
“If they’re lobbying, they should register,” said
secretary of state spokesman Brian McNiff.
McNiff said the campaign’s director, Andi Mullin,
is registered as a lobbyist for SEIU Local 509 — not Campaign for
Our Communities.
Mullin told the Herald she still works for the
human service workers union and is “appropriately registered” with
the state.
She said the Campaign for Our Communities
includes funding from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and
SEIU, but she declined to list all sponsors or answer questions
about who pays her salary, Crawford’s salary and the organization’s
expenses.
The campaign’s website was registered by
Boston-based digital media strategy firm Alipes, which was
co-founded by former Patrick new media political operative Charles
SteelFisher. The Alipes worker who registered the site declined to
say who hired the company and SteelFisher did not return a call
seeking comment yesterday.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Pushing tax hike, shielding T fund
Operative works for pension firm, group backing gov
The bargaining has indeed begun — or at least
that’s what Gov. Deval Patrick would have the Legislature’s leftier
Democrats believe.
The House has passed a $500 million tax hike to
support transportation needs in the state — not everything on the
governor’s $1 billion wish list — but enough to bail out the MBTA
and put toward road and bridge repairs. It increases gas, cigarette
and corporate taxes.
The Senate is scheduled to take up the
transportation package today in a rare Saturday session — made
necessary by those doing the governor’s bidding in that chamber.
The Senate version of the bill rapidly ramps up
new transportation spending to $805 million by fiscal 2018,
including the diversion of a tax on underground storage tanks and
some $40 million from leasing rights of way — always a rather
problematic fudge factor....
Yes, the taxpayers will be totally screwed, and
still it won’t be enough, because Patrick will want another $1
billion for his other non-transportation pet projects.
This is no time for the more sensible members of
the Senate to be drinking the Kool-Aid.
Deval Patrick is as good as gone. Lawmakers
shouldn’t allow him to bankrupt us all on his way out.
A Boston Herald editorial
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Tax hikes on the line
The one credible issue on the table for
lawmakers to wrestle with is the budgetary hole the MBTA has
created for itself. That does indeed need to be addressed, but a
new report out from the Pioneer Institute is a sobering look at
how the system got that way.
And unless its wild spending ways are curbed,
no amount of tax hikes or fare increases will fix the system for
very long....
So that’s where all those new taxes will be
going — to support a bloated system desperately in need of
reform.
A Boston Herald editorial
Saturday, April 13, 2013
... To support bloated T
Legislation raising gas, tobacco and business
taxes in Massachusetts by $500 million and eventually dedicating
up to $800 million a year in new revenues for transportation
cleared the Senate 30 to 5 during a rare Saturday session.
With the absence of the contingent of media
and lobbyists that would normally be attracted to a debate on a
tax bill, Senate President Therese Murray led the charge to pass
the tax bill, presiding as the Senate roared through more than
100 amendments to the legislation before approving it with all
but two Democratic votes. Senators said differences over
amendments had been talked through during a long private caucus.
Gov. Deval Patrick, who chastised the House
for a similar tax bill that he vowed to veto, had more
congratulatory words for the Senate following the final vote a
few minutes before 8 p.m....
Critics of the bill said the Patrick
administration was failing to meet cost saving benchmarks under
a 2009 transportation reform law and argued the legislation
would further burden taxpayers by pulling more of their money
into a transportation system that they said is rife with
problems and inefficiencies. Without reforms, they said, the new
revenues will not be enough to keep up with MBTA spending
patterns.
The push to pass the bill, which cleared the
House just before midnight Monday on a 97-55 vote, underscored
the pressure that Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo are
under since the House has already proposed a budget spending
revenues from the still unapproved tax hikes and the Senate
plans to do the same in May. Differences in the House and Senate
tax bill remain to be ironed out by the branches....
[Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth] said
reforms included in a 2009 law were intended to produce $6.5
billion in savings over 20 years, but so far had delivered only
$500 million. Of that, Hedlund said, $320 million was
attributable to ending interest rate swap practices that were
not a focus of the 2009 law.
“Obviously we have discarded the concept of
reform before revenue,” said Hedlund.
State House News Service
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Senate adopts $500 mil tax plan, steers more $$$ to
transportation
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Saturday to
approve a transportation finance bill that would funnel more
than $800 million into the state’s transit agencies by fiscal
2018 in what seemed a compromise between packages proposed by
House legislators and Governor Deval Patrick in recent weeks....
After the 30-5 vote, Patrick expressed mixed
feelings on the bill.
“Today’s Senate bill is a significant step in
that direction and I commend them for their work,” he said in a
statement. But, he continued, “it is concerning that some of the
resources in this bill are diverted from current spending on
other needs.” ...
The transportation finance package is far
from settled. The bill will move on to a joint conference
committee before it makes its way to the governor’s desk. But
it’s a coup for Patrick, who was angered when the House proposed
a package he deemed too small, threatening a veto and urging
legislators to tack other sources of revenue onto the bill.
Patrick suggested earlier this week that he
would not veto a transportation finance package close to the
halfway point between his and the House’s proposals.
The Boston Globe
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Mass. Senate OKs $800 million transportation bill
Four days after the House named three
representatives to a transportation tax bill conference
committee, the Senate appointed its negotiators on Monday
morning.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer
(D-Barre), Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on
Transportation Thomas McGee (D-Lynn) and Sen. Robert Hedlund of
Weymouth, the ranking Republican member of the Transportation
Committee, were appointed before the Senate recessed on Monday.
The Senate is waiting to determine whether a
Thursday formal session will take place, according to an agenda
distributed to members. The six-member committee will attempt to
reconcile two versions (H 3415/ S 1770) of a $500 million tax
bill that would fund transportation.
On Thursday, the House appointed House Ways
and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill), House Chairman
of the Joint Committee on Transportation William Straus
(D-Mattapoisett) and Rep. Steven Howitt (R-Seekonk), a member of
the Transportation Committee, to the conference committee.
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
State Capitol Briefs - Lunch Edition
Tax bill negotiating committee fully named
The House on Monday commenced debate on a
$33.8 billion annual state budget proposal with consideration of
a plan to reduce the sales and income tax rates to 5 percent
over five years, an initiative voted down by the Democratic
majority.
“I would call it the death by a thousand cuts
proposal,” said Rep. Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat and
co-chairman of the Revenue Committee.
House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North
Reading) said that under the Republican-sponsored amendment, the
5 percent income tax rate would be achieved 19 years after
voters approved reducing the income tax rate to 5 percent
through a ballot initiative.
Invoking last week’s Boston Marathon
bombings, Kaufman argued that the amendment would deprive the
state government of $2 billion in revenue critical to providing
funding for public safety and other programs. The amendment
failed on largely party-line, with 35 representatives supporting
it and 118 voting against the proposal.
“I’m a little disappointed that it only took
until the third speaker of the day to bring up the events of
last week as to why we should or shouldn’t do things this week
and frankly I think it’s disappointing,” Jones said.
Rep. Timothy Toomey, a Cambridge Democrat,
called it “fundamentally irresponsible” to lower taxes, worried
that it would impact job training used to support technology
start-ups in Cambridge.
The fiscal 2014 budget debate, expected to
continue through much of the week, started with debate over
revenue and tax amendments plucked from the 888 amendments filed
to the budget bill....
The Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick raised
the sales tax rate to 6.25 percent from 5 percent in 2009. A
ballot question calling for a 5 percent income tax rate passed
in 2000, but was not fully implemented — the income tax rate is
currently 5.25 percent.
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
House turns down plan to phase in income, sales tax cuts
House lawmakers tacked on close to $27
million in additional spending for education and local aid on
the first night of debate on a $33.8 billion fiscal 2014 budget
Monday, engaging in sporadic debate, including a fiery
back-and-forth over in-state tuition for undocumented
immigrants....
In a testy exchange over in-state tuition for
undocumented immigrants, the House voted 107-46 to study the
issues around tuition rates for immigrants and returning
veterans, avoiding a direct vote on a budget amendment offered
by Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) that would have reversed
Gov. Deval Patrick's directive extending the tuition break to
immigrants who qualify for legal status under a new federal
program.
Lombardo, Rep. James Lyons and Rep. Shaunna
O'Connell argued taxpayers are being asked to subsidize tuition
for immigrants who broke the law by coming to the United States.
Lombardo said the policy forced taxpayers to subsidize tuition
for immigrants who “break the rules,” while Lyons accused
Patrick of circumventing the Legislature. “This is about
fairness,” said Lyons, noting a 2006 roll call vote the House
took to limit in-state tuition.
The Patrick administration last November
determined under existing state policy that immigrants granted
deferred status by the federal government are eligible for
in-state tuition rates, which are lower than rates paid by
out-of-state students. The ruling was not a new policy, but an
application of the new federal rules established by executive
order by President Barack Obama, the administration said....
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
House adds $27 mil to budget, sends immigrant tuition issue to
study
|
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
We should have known —
at least have suspected — that Steve
Crawford had his fingers in Deval's massive tax hike, and the
so-called "Campaign for Our Communities" organization of state hacks
and takers. Steve has always been there for the tax-borrow-and-spend
cabal. His reaction to being exposed it so typical of Democrat
political operatives that it didn't surprise even me.
CLT — "39-Years as
The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers —
and It's Institutional Memory"!
Ah memories. The last time I debated
Crawford was in defense of Carla Howell's outright repeal of the
state income tax. This wasn't a CLT initiative, and CLT didn't
think it was the best means of limited taxation in the short term,
but the question made it onto the 2008 ballot — Question 1. We needed to defend it. The debate
sponsor, The Salem News, didn't want to hear Carla's regurgitated 'mantras' any
more. I was invited to fill in, to oppose Crawford, if I was
willing to accept. Of course I did, rather than risk leaving
taxpayers with no voice against the special-interests' opposition to
it, and the principal of limited
taxation.
Back then
I wrote:
Barbara was off-camera as an observer and
Salem News columnist, gathering information for a forthcoming
column on the ballot questions. She wrote to [Howell's]
Committee for Small Government, "Crawford was taken aback by
this; he had come to debate Carla [Howell] and thought he'd be
dealing with her talking points, was totally unprepared for [my]
'union attack'."
WATCH THE 2008 DEBATE HERE
As with most the political operatives, Steve
Crawford has probably made more just recently in his latest role than CLT
has been able to afford paying me, or Barbara, or Chip Faulkner,
over our entire lifetimes.
As long as we're around —
we're such a fantastic deal for you lunch-bucket taxpayers!
Regardless, the so-called "Campaign for Our
Communities" which we've been exposing for years for the sham it is,
has become — or is becoming
— recognized at last: the latest incarnation
of the public employees' union bully front. It's about time. If CLT
is ever able to attach salaries, dragoon union dues into its
coffers, mandate the state to administer collections into our
treasury like them, we could probably become more competitive, an
equally fearsome threat — not that we'd ever even consider
such extortion. Nonetheless, underfunded as CLT is, we've so far
managed to hold our own for us and you taxpayers against the Gimme
hordes.
Believe it or not — there
are some among our "lapsed members" who assume we are somehow
state-funded or state-subsidized, like the unions! They honestly
believe we can survive without voluntary contributions! To
them I say, we taxpayers defend ourselves and stand on our own.
That's why we're not too
disappointed if we lose their drag.
Even with the State House News Service, news from
Bacon Hill has been sparse since the despicable Boston Marathon
bombings. I've done my usual diligent news searches seven days a
week, but there's been nothing to pass on for a week, since the state
Senate vote on April 11th on the transportation tax hike, while
Barbara and I were on Boston Common at the
Greater Boston Tea Party rally.
It's been like waiting for white smoke over the
Vatican, but finally yesterday some news emerged.
We're back in full swing. School vacation
week coincided with the bombings; legislators were apparently more
or less on vacation for the week too. (Is there some
significant metaphor there?) They're back to work again and
seemingly moving fast — which is their
usual method.
We're on top of things, and will be moving just
as fast to stay on top over the next few days, and the weeks
ahead.
Stay tuned. We'll have more for you
— and them —
soon . . .
Again the "temporary" income tax rollback was
killed by the majority Democrats. Below is the House roll call vote on rolling back
the income and sales tax to their historic 5%.
This year, the Republicans offered a reduction of
the income tax to 5%, the sales tax to 5%, over five years.
(We'll never give Bacon Hill any wiggle-room again like we allowed
on our 2000 ballot question; "now or never" can't work any worse!)
Remember when you
vote in the coming year how these alleged "representatives" voted on
respecting the voters' mandate —
YOUR vote — thirteen years ago
— after a promise "our" Legislature made
twenty-four years ago when it hiked the tax
"temporarily." Remember this typical MIDDLE-FINGER
BEACON HILL SALUTE!
Mark down how your "representative" voted
— then remember and badger your friends
and neighbors from now till then! Then keep badgering them.
For a printable, downloadable PDF file
CLICK HERE
The House voted 107-46 to "study" the issues
around in-state tuition rates for illegal immigrants
— killing it. The budget amendment
offered by Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) would have reversed Gov.
Deval Patrick's unilateral directive extending the tuition break to
immigrants. It was backed voraciously by Rep. James Lyons and Rep.
Shaunna O'Connell. It would have reversed taxpayers' responsibility
for subsidizing tuition for immigrants who broke the law by coming
to the United States illegally. Sending it to "study" is the
bureaucratic death knell of any legislation —
a dodge for any legislator who dares not vote or be caught on record,
who intends to stand for re-election and must ultimately answer to
the voters in their district.
|
 |
 |
|
Chip Ford |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Pushing tax hike, shielding T fund
Operative works for pension firm, group backing gov
By Erin Smith
A political operative who represents the MBTA’s secret pension fund
also does public relations for a union-backed group that has pushed
Gov. Deval Patrick’s massive tax hike plan to boost transportation
spending.
Steve Crawford, an independent public relations flack working for
the MBTA Retirement Fund, would not say who pays his salary at
Campaign for Our Communities, an organization which corralled the
endorsements of various unions and groups to support boosting the
state income tax rate to funnel more money to MBTA projects and
education.
“I’m not going to tell you that,” Crawford told the Herald when
asked who funds the Campaign for Our Communities.
Crawford said “there is no connection” between the union-backed
group and the MBTA Retirement Fund, which he called “a longtime
client.” He did not respond to questions about who hired him for the
campaign.
Critics have called for transparency in MBTA pensions, but Patrick,
who has been seeking nearly $2 billion in new taxes for
transportation and education, said he accepts that pensions for the
publicly funded authority should remain secret — even as the MBTA’s
share of pension contributions skyrocketed 42 percent from $30
million in 2007 to $52.3 million in 2011.
Three of the pension fund’s seven-member board are also appointed by
the MBTA.
Crawford has declined the Herald’s request to release MBTA pensions
and state courts have sided in the past with the agency, which
argues its pension information isn’t public because the fund was set
up as a private trust by the agency’s predecessor, the Metropolitan
Transit Authority, in 1948.
Crawford, who worked as a spokesman for Patrick’s political
committee and U.S. Rep. William R. Keating’s (D-Bourne) campaign,
also declined to respond to questions about who founded Campaign for
Our Communities, which is not registered with the state as a
lobbying group despite the organization’s political maneuvering to
convince lawmakers to raise taxes.
“If they’re lobbying, they should register,” said secretary of state
spokesman Brian McNiff.
McNiff said the campaign’s director, Andi Mullin, is registered as a
lobbyist for SEIU Local 509 — not Campaign for Our Communities.
Mullin told the Herald she still works for the human service workers
union and is “appropriately registered” with the state.
She said the Campaign for Our Communities includes funding from the
Massachusetts Teachers Association and SEIU, but she declined to
list all sponsors or answer questions about who pays her salary,
Crawford’s salary and the organization’s expenses.
The campaign’s website was registered by Boston-based digital media
strategy firm Alipes, which was co-founded by former Patrick new
media political operative Charles SteelFisher. The Alipes worker who
registered the site declined to say who hired the company and
SteelFisher did not return a call seeking comment yesterday.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 13, 2013
A Boston Herald editorial
Tax hikes on the line
Ah, we should have known ...
The bargaining has indeed begun — or at least that’s what Gov. Deval
Patrick would have the Legislature’s leftier Democrats believe.
The House has passed a $500 million tax hike to support
transportation needs in the state — not everything on the governor’s
$1 billion wish list — but enough to bail out the MBTA and put
toward road and bridge repairs. It increases gas, cigarette and
corporate taxes.
The Senate is scheduled to take up the transportation package today
in a rare Saturday session — made necessary by those doing the
governor’s bidding in that chamber.
The Senate version of the bill rapidly ramps up new transportation
spending to $805 million by fiscal 2018, including the diversion of
a tax on underground storage tanks and some $40 million from leasing
rights of way — always a rather problematic fudge factor.
Now the governor, who had been taking the my-way-or-the-highway
approach on Beacon Hill — which so impresses legislative leaders,
calling the House tax hike a “pretend fix” — got down to the serious
business of dealing by mid-week. Oh, yes, he’s such a sly devil.
“If the Senate can get to the seven-fifty, eight hundred number, net
of fees, fares and tolls — not including fee, fares and tolls,” he
told State House News Service, “we can take care of that, and
reforms. We can take care of that. If they can get in that range,
then we will have done something important for transportation. We
still need to deal with education.”
Another 24 hours after that and he was still trying to assess
whether the Senate plan would accommodate his must-have boondoggles
like rail service from Pittsfield to New York City.
“We’re trying to see whether the [Senate] dollars are real,” he
said.
Yes, the taxpayers will be totally screwed, and still it won’t be
enough, because Patrick will want another $1 billion for his other
non-transportation pet projects.
This is no time for the more sensible members of the Senate to be
drinking the Kool-Aid.
Deval Patrick is as good as gone. Lawmakers shouldn’t allow him to
bankrupt us all on his way out.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, April 13, 2013
A Boston Herald editorial
... To support bloated T
The one credible issue on the table for lawmakers to wrestle with is
the budgetary hole the MBTA has created for itself. That does indeed
need to be addressed, but a new report out from the Pioneer
Institute is a sobering look at how the system got that way.
And unless its wild spending ways are curbed, no amount of tax hikes
or fare increases will fix the system for very long.
Pioneer focuses on two aspects of T spending that cry out for
reform. First, its workers are paid substantially more than other
state workers for the same job. An assistant attorney general makes
about $65,000 a year, but an assistant general counsel at the T
makes $85,000. A painter for the state makes $46,742; a painter for
the T $79,279. Customer service workers at the Registry top out at
$45,117, but at the T they get $61,110.
The other huge chunk of change goes for commuter rail service — the
next five-year contract is expected to cost about $1 billion. The
real problem is that at the beginning of that procurement process 25
commuter rail operators expressed an interest in bidding. However,
when the time came for actual bidding, there were only two — the
current operator, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail (MBCR) and Keolis,
which is still struggling to get accurate information from their
only competitor.
The Pioneer report also notes that over the past few years MBCR has
been negotiating higher and higher labor costs (a 13.7 percent boost
through June 2013) and eased work rules that will mean more
overtime. Those contract elements will make it difficult for any
other bidder to roll back costs, making it less attractive to bid
and further burdening taxpayers.
So that’s where all those new taxes will be going — to support a
bloated system desperately in need of reform.
State House News Service
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Senate adopts $500 mil tax plan, steers more $$$ to transportation
By Michael Norton and Andy Metzger
Legislation raising gas, tobacco and business taxes in Massachusetts
by $500 million and eventually dedicating up to $800 million a year
in new revenues for transportation cleared the Senate 30 to 5 during
a rare Saturday session.
With the absence of the contingent of media and lobbyists that would
normally be attracted to a debate on a tax bill, Senate President
Therese Murray led the charge to pass the tax bill, presiding as the
Senate roared through more than 100 amendments to the legislation
before approving it with all but two Democratic votes. Senators said
differences over amendments had been talked through during a long
private caucus.
Gov. Deval Patrick, who chastised the House for a similar tax bill
that he vowed to veto, had more congratulatory words for the Senate
following the final vote a few minutes before 8 p.m.
“Experts agree that we need approximately $1 billion more a year --
in addition to further operating efficiencies -- to give our
citizens a safe, functional, modern transportation system to keep
pace with a growing economy,” Patrick said in a statement. “Today's
Senate bill is a significant step in that direction and I commend
them for their work.”
Supporters of the bill said it would prevent a second major MBTA
fare hike in as many years, deliver funds to address regional
transportation needs and expedite construction projects, and over
three years end the longstanding practice of paying about 1,900
state transportation employees with borrowed funds.
Critics of the bill said the Patrick administration was failing to
meet cost saving benchmarks under a 2009 transportation reform law
and argued the legislation would further burden taxpayers by pulling
more of their money into a transportation system that they said is
rife with problems and inefficiencies. Without reforms, they said,
the new revenues will not be enough to keep up with MBTA spending
patterns.
The push to pass the bill, which cleared the House just before
midnight Monday on a 97-55 vote, underscored the pressure that
Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo are under since the House has
already proposed a budget spending revenues from the still
unapproved tax hikes and the Senate plans to do the same in May.
Differences in the House and Senate tax bill remain to be ironed out
by the branches.
The House bill fell just short of the vote required to override a
potential veto. The resounding vote in the Senate well cleared the
two-thirds threshold required.
After Patrick threatened to veto the original bill offered by DeLeo
and Murray, saying it didn’t provide enough new revenues to meet
transportation system needs, the Senate pulled money from other
areas of state government into the bill to bolster planned new
revenues closer to the $1 billion sought by Patrick, who spoke
favorably about the Senate plan late this week.
On the tax front, the House and Senate bills raise new revenue from
a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax and increases on cigar
and smokeless tobacco products, new sales taxes on computer design
services and software modifications, the removal of a tax exemption
for utilities, and a three-cent increase in the gas tax, which would
also be indexed to inflation under the legislation (S 1766).
A contingent of liberal senators attempted to include a trigger that
would raise the gas tax an additional three cents if projected
revenue falls short in 2015, but that vote garnered the support of
only 10 members.
“The rest of the body was very careful in how much they wanted to
raise, and how much they wanted to tax,” Murray told reporters after
the final vote. Asked how it would match up with the House version,
Murray said, “It’s the same framework as the House, for taxes, and
we just did other revenues that we moved over from other accounts,
so I’m hoping that the House will look on this favorably. Hey, the
House did the heavy lifting first, and they are our partners, and
hopefully the governor will be our partner in this also.”
During a speech in opposition to the gas tax trigger, applause
erupted from the gallery, and Murray directed court officers to
clear the crowd, during which time “Don’t tread on me” flags were
displayed and criticism rained down on the senators as some chanted
“No new taxes.”
On her way out, a woman wagged her finger at the chamber below and
said, “Think about your children and your grandchildren when you
take these votes, you idiots.”
“You might not have seen what was going on, but we were getting Nazi
salutes from the people in the corner and some really vulgar
language before they disrupted,” Murray told reporters afterwards.
Another amendment, sponsored by Sen. Karen Spilka (D-Ashland)
enabling state officials to start discussing with the federal
government the idea of establishing tolls on the state’s borders,
won approval by a 19 to 15 margin, with some senators who represent
border areas saying tolls would hurt their constituents.
Spilka had said that removing increases in current tolls from the
formula the Legislature is using to move the transportation
department toward more fiscal self-sufficiency was an essential
condition to win her vote on the bill. That amendment passed on a
voice vote after the Senate voted down on a voice vote a Sen. Sonia
Chang-Diaz (D-Jamaica Plain) further amendment that would have also
exempted fares for MBTA riders.
“So we can have perpetual gas tax increases, but we can’t look at
tolls,” said Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth).
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sen. Stephen Brewer (D-Barre)
said the bill also makes $160 million in new tax revenues available
to spend in the fiscal 2014 budget he plans to roll out next month.
The House budget plan unveiled on Wednesday steers some of those new
revenues to education and local aid.
Hedlund said reforms included in a 2009 law were intended to produce
$6.5 billion in savings over 20 years, but so far had delivered only
$500 million. Of that, Hedlund said, $320 million was attributable
to ending interest rate swap practices that were not a focus of the
2009 law.
“Obviously we have discarded the concept of reform before revenue,”
said Hedlund.
Rafael Mares, staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation,
said that the final Senate version devoted more money to
transportation than what Senate Ways and Means had proposed by
indexing a 2.5-cent-per-gallon underground storage tank gas tax to
inflation, and devoting those revenues to transportation.
On Friday night, before some changes were made to the bill in
session, Mares calculated that the average amount of money over five
years designated for transportation in the Senate bill was $602
million, compared to $504 million in the House plan and $858 million
in the governor’s plan.
Kristina Egan, executive director of Transportation for
Massachusetts, said the roughly $800 million in transportation
revenues the Senate projected to raise by 2018 is “optimistic,” and
hoped the bill would be modified to include more gas-tax hikes
before reaching the governor.
Six of the more liberal members of the Senate, who all supported the
final bill, praised the process and signaled that if substantially
changed it would lose their support.
“Through both the work of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and
the amendment process, the transportation finance bill passed by the
Senate today reaches a level of revenue that allows for meaningful
investments in a fiscally-sound, 21st century transportation system.
It is for this reason that we vote yes on this bill today,” the six
senators wrote in a joint-statement. “We look forward to the bill
continuing to the joint House-Senate conference committee. Should
the bill be reported out of the conference committee having lost the
revenue gains we made, it will also lose our support.”
“There’s definitely more money in this bill,” Somerville Mayor Joe
Curtatone told the News Service. “I appreciate the work the House
did. A week before the House bill, we were at zero. We went from
zero to a half a billion. While I appreciate that work it wasn’t
enough… This is a huge step forward in that direction.”
Curtatone said he was hopeful that the revenue would be enough to
enable matching federal funds for the Green Line Extension to his
city, and said it would provide a needed investment for
transportation through the whole state.
Among amendments adopted by the Senate were proposals to enable
transportation agencies to collect more property taxes from private
parties using public land, to require better reporting by the MBTA
on its capital projects, and requiring the MBTA to gather
information from 23 companies that opted against bidding on the
commuter rail operations contract after submitting statements of
interest.
Among the amendments rejected by the Senate were calls for a larger
gas tax hike, for universities to play a greater role in funding
transportation through student pass programs, and to eliminate the
indexing of the gas tax to inflation. While Hedlund argued against
locking the state into incremental gas tax hikes, Senate
Transportation Committee Chairman Thomas McGee said the gas tax
would be 9 cents higher per gallon if an indexing measure had been
adopted in 1991, with each penny of tax worth $32 million.
Sen. Michael Rush (D-West Roxbury), in a floor speech highly
critical of the MBTA and calling for a long menu of reforms, came up
short in his bid to prevent the gas tax hike from taking effect
until a task force recommended reforms and the Legislature adopted
them. His amendment failed 7-24.
During debate, Murray said a proposal calling on the MBTA to
contract with taxi companies to deliver RIDE services at lower costs
would be dealt with by the Senate in separate legislation. An
amendment pushing that reform was offered by Sen. Patricia Jehlen
(D-Somerville) but was withdrawn.
A Republican alternative, which Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr
said would include potential new revenues from an overhaul of how
taxi medallions are administered, fell along party lines with
Hedlund, Tarr and the only other Republican in the chamber, Sen.
Richard Ross (R-Wrentham) supporting it.
The six senators who said they would not support a final bill with
less revenue were Chang-Diaz, Jehlen, Katherine Clark (D-Melrose),
Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington), Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), Mark Montigny
(D-New Bedford) and Dan Wolf (D-Barnstable).
The Boston Globe
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Mass. Senate OKs $800 million transportation bill
By Martine Powers
The Senate voted overwhelmingly Saturday to approve a transportation
finance bill that would funnel more than $800 million into the
state’s transit agencies by fiscal 2018 in what seemed a compromise
between packages proposed by House legislators and Governor Deval
Patrick in recent weeks.
Democrat legislators who voted for the bill sought to offer a more
amped-up version of the $500 million House bill, passed Monday, by
finding revenue sources that would not require further tax
increases.
In addition to redirecting money from a little-known gas tax fund
for underground storage tanks and requiring contracts between the
state Transportation Department and utility companies, the Senate
also voted Saturday to require that transportation and MBTA
officials issue a request for proposals on licensing the naming
rights to subway, bus, and commuter rail stations.
After the 30-5 vote, Patrick expressed mixed feelings on the bill.
“Today’s Senate bill is a significant step in that direction and I
commend them for their work,” he said in a statement. But, he
continued, “it is concerning that some of the resources in this bill
are diverted from current spending on other needs.”
But Senator Thomas M. McGee, cochairman of the Joint Transportation
Committee, said he considered the bill a success.
“I feel good about what we’ve done today,” McGee said, “but it’s an
ongoing issue that we need to focus on every year.”
The transportation finance package is far from settled. The bill
will move on to a joint conference committee before it makes its way
to the governor’s desk. But it’s a coup for Patrick, who was angered
when the House proposed a package he deemed too small, threatening a
veto and urging legislators to tack other sources of revenue onto
the bill.
Patrick suggested earlier this week that he would not veto a
transportation finance package close to the halfway point between
his and the House’s proposals.
The Senate bill, which was debated in a rare Saturday session
because many legislators will be on vacation next week, called for
the same revenue sources in the House version: a 3-cent gas tax, a
$1 tax on cigarettes, and $244 million in utility and
business-related computer fees.
But the Senate version also rerouted a little-known 2.5-cent gas tax
originally dedicated to underground storage tank cleanups. And the
bill established a consistent process for the Transportation
Department and the MBTA to enter into leases with telecommunications
and utility companies that use their property.
Those additional funds could be used for capital projects such as
the South Coast Rail, a South Station expansion, the extension of
the Green Line, and new cars to replace the MBTA’s aging fleet —
though the extra cash would not be nearly enough to fund all of
them.
According to a study by Northeastern University’s Dukakis Center for
Urban and Regional Policy, the Senate version provides about $265
million in fiscal 2014 — just $5 million less than Patrick’s
proposal prescribed — but ramps up less steeply than the governor’s
plan, reaching $805 million per year in 2018, rather than the
governor’s $1.1 billion.
Over the next five years, the Senate’s plan would allocate $600
million per year on average in new revenue to transportation, short
of the average $800 million Patrick’s plan would have provided,
according to the Dukakis Center.
Some transportation advocates worry that legislators’ estimates on
the measures included in the Senate plan could prove to be less
lucrative than suggested on the Senate floor.
“The difference between the Senate and the House bill is really not
that huge,” said Rafael Mares, staff attorney at the Conservation
Law Foundation, a transportation and environmental advocacy
organization. “It’s a little bit like a blanket that’s too small,
and you’re not sure what part of the body is going to be covered.”
Senator Stephen M. Brewer, a Democrat of Barre and chairman of the
Senate Ways and Means Committee, praised members of the Senate for
their work on trying to find a compromise in a politically tense
environment.
“There’s been a lot of emotion and a serious case of hard-ball
politics during the last couple of weeks,” Brewer said.
That combustible environment became evident when dozens of antitax
protesters, fired up from a rally on Boston Common, filed into the
State House and burst into applause and hoots when Senate minority
leader Bruce E. Tarr lambasted his fellow legislators for supporting
tax increases.
“But the question is, Madam President, what is enough, and when will
it ever be enough?” Tarr yelled.
The protesters erupted into chants of “No more taxes!” and were
escorted out of the gallery by State House police.
The Senate’s bill closes operating budget gaps for the MBTA next
year, and requires that the Department of Transportation transfer
personnel costs from its capital budget to its operating budget in
the next three years.
The bill would allow the state’s 15 regional transit authorities —
bus systems that serve communities outside of the MBTA’s reach — to
pay their yearly budgets in advance, rather than borrowing their
operating costs each year. The regional transit authorities would
also receive an additional $12 million per year in funding — an 18
percent increase over what they currently receive.
Senators also voted to pass an amendment that would reinstate tolls
on the western portion of the Massachusetts Turnpike, which had been
eliminated in the 1990s. The revenue would be directed exclusively
to transportation projects in that part of the state.
Many of the amendments focused on pushing for accountability within
the state’s transportation agencies.
The legislation mandates that the MBTA conduct a review of fare
collection policies; the Transportation Department publish job
titles and salaries of employees moved onto the operating budget;
regional transit authorities publish annual ridership data; and
officials interview the 23 companies that expressed interest in
bidding on the state’s gargantuan commuter rail contract, but did
not ultimately submit.
The Senate rejected a proposal to establish a special legislative
task force to hunt for cost-saving measures within the MBTA.
One of the most heated debates came on a further increase to the gas
tax, as well as MBTA naming rights, with legislators arguing that
they were fearful the amendment would result in “Dunkin’ Donuts
Copley Station.”
“What is the price tag that we can appropriately put on our history,
on our identity as a state, and on our identity as a public sector?”
asked Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Democrat of Boston.
Others, such as Senator Michael F. Rush, a West Roxbury Democrat,
maintained that considering the dire financial situation of the
state Transportation Department and the T, every possible revenue
source that did not tax residents had to be pursued — even the
painful options.
Rush said naming rights contracts would be pursued at the
less-historic stations and stops within the T and commuter rail
system.
“We do not have the luxury of turning our back on easy money,” Rush
said.
The Senate voted down two amendments, one to increase and one to
decrease the growth rate of the 3-cent gas tax, and rebuffed a
proposal that would legalize fireworks in Massachusetts.
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
State Capitol Briefs - Lunch Edition
Tax bill negotiating committee fully named
By Andy Metzger and Michael Norton
Four days after the House named three representatives to a
transportation tax bill conference committee, the Senate appointed
its negotiators on Monday morning.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer (D-Barre), Senate
Chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation Thomas McGee
(D-Lynn) and Sen. Robert Hedlund of Weymouth, the ranking Republican
member of the Transportation Committee, were appointed before the
Senate recessed on Monday.
The Senate is waiting to determine whether a Thursday formal session
will take place, according to an agenda distributed to members. The
six-member committee will attempt to reconcile two versions (H 3415/
S 1770) of a $500 million tax bill that would fund transportation.
On Thursday, the House appointed House Ways and Means Chairman Brian
Dempsey (D-Haverhill), House Chairman of the Joint Committee on
Transportation William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) and Rep. Steven
Howitt (R-Seekonk), a member of the Transportation Committee, to the
conference committee.
The House will be busy Monday and later this week debating the
annual budget, which spends some of the revenues lawmakers
anticipate raising by boosting taxes on tobacco, gas and businesses,
as is proposed by the bill that is in conference. Conference
committees usually, but not always, vote to conduct their
deliberations in private.
Gov. Deval Patrick denounced the original bill put together by House
and Senate leaders and approved 97-55 by the House, threatening to
veto it. The Senate padded the proposed investments in
transportation in its version of the bill, drawing some praise from
the governor who said he remained concerned that the Senate plan
pulls revenues from other areas of government.
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
House turns down plan to phase in income, sales tax cuts
By Matt Murphy
The House on Monday commenced debate on a $33.8 billion annual state
budget proposal with consideration of a plan to reduce the sales and
income tax rates to 5 percent over five years, an initiative voted
down by the Democratic majority.
“I would call it the death by a thousand cuts proposal,” said Rep.
Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat and co-chairman of the Revenue
Committee.
House Minority Leader Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) said that
under the Republican-sponsored amendment, the 5 percent income tax
rate would be achieved 19 years after voters approved reducing the
income tax rate to 5 percent through a ballot initiative.
Invoking last week’s Boston Marathon bombings, Kaufman argued that
the amendment would deprive the state government of $2 billion in
revenue critical to providing funding for public safety and other
programs. The amendment failed on largely party-line, with 35
representatives supporting it and 118 voting against the proposal.
“I’m a little disappointed that it only took until the third speaker
of the day to bring up the events of last week as to why we should
or shouldn’t do things this week and frankly I think it’s
disappointing,” Jones said.
Rep. Timothy Toomey, a Cambridge Democrat, called it “fundamentally
irresponsible” to lower taxes, worried that it would impact job
training used to support technology start-ups in Cambridge.
The fiscal 2014 budget debate, expected to continue through much of
the week, started with debate over revenue and tax amendments
plucked from the 888 amendments filed to the budget bill.
The House earlier this month approved a package of $500 million in
new taxes for transportation, a proposal now being worked out in
conference committee with an alternative proposal okayed in the
Senate.
The Legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick raised the sales tax rate to
6.25 percent from 5 percent in 2009. A ballot question calling for a
5 percent income tax rate passed in 2000, but was not fully
implemented — the income tax rate is currently 5.25 percent.
House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey, of Haverhill, started
Monday’s deliberations with an introduction of the bill that he said
increased spending by 3.9 percent over last year’s budget, and comes
in about $1 billion lower than Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget filed in
January.
Dempsey called the budget a “fiscally prudent” spending plan that
recognizes the “economic difficulties facing our Commonwealth and
our nation.”
While relying on $350 million in reserves to balance the bottom
line, Dempsey the budget proposed by the Ways and Means would
increase unrestricted local aid to cities and towns for the first
time since 2010 and make significant investments in higher education
to avoid fee and tuition hikes at UMass and public universities and
community colleges.
“These investments reflect our belief that higher ed is important to
the future of the Commonwealth and important to our workforce,”
Dempsey said.
Dempsey said the House leadership’s budget also increases spending
on child and adolescent mental health services, community-based
adult day and work programs and family assistance.
In addition to spending, the Ways and Means budget also proposes
some reforms, including photo IDs for electronic benefit transfer
card recipients to crack down on card trafficking and a task force
established to standardize the benefit eligibility determination
process across state agencies.
“One of the themes of the Ways and Means proposal this year is one
that focuses on accountability and oversight,” Dempsey said, adding
that before the state considers greater investment in early
education as pressed by Gov. Patrick the state must “get back to
basics” to ensure the proper oversight of the early education
waiting list.
House Democrats also prevented votes on Republican-sponsored
amendments to exempt municipalities from the gas tax offered by Rep.
Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) and to extend a five-day meals tax
holiday to benefit restaurant worker this summer by Rep. Shaunna
O’Connell (D-Taunton).
The House voted to study both issues, adopting amendments that
prevented votes on the underlying proposals.
In his maiden speech in House Monday afternoon, Rep. Steven Howitt
made his colleagues laugh when he said he wanted to give them the
“poop” on Title 5 septic system tax credits.
Howitt, a Republican from Seekonk, proposed an amendment that would
have increased a tax credit for homeowners who repair or and replace
septic systems, allowing them to deduct 40 percent of the costs, up
to $25,000 over five years. Currently homeowners can deduct 40
percent of the costs up to $15,000.
Howitt said the tax credit, instituted in 1991, has not kept pace
with the rising costs of repairing septic systems. Increasing the
credit would spur economic activity by encouraging homeowners to
repair or replace old systems, and provide jobs for the workers
involved, Howitt said.
“This bill is a royal flush for everyone involved,” he said.
Rep. Jay Kaufman, (D-Lexington) co-chair of the Revenue Committee,
argued against it. Making a case he has often used to help turn back
tax-related amendments, Kaufman said the committee was looking at
the idea, and needed to study the tax implications further. The
amendment failed 33 to 114.
House Democrats plan to start debate on amendments dealing with
education and local aid, constitutional officers and housing by
holding private meetings on the many amendments.
Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, co-chair of the Committee on Higher
Education, tweeted that he was discussing education amendments with
colleagues in advance of the released of a consolidated amendment.
Colleen Quinn contributed reporting
State House News Service
Monday, April 22, 2013
House adds $27 mil to budget, sends immigrant tuition issue to study
By Matt Murphy
House lawmakers tacked on close to $27 million in additional
spending for education and local aid on the first night of debate on
a $33.8 billion fiscal 2014 budget Monday, engaging in sporadic
debate, including a fiery back-and-forth over in-state tuition for
undocumented immigrants.
Rep. Alice Peisch, the co-chair of the Committee on Education, said
the boost in education and local aid spending added money to the
Metco, Head Start, libraries, YouthBuild and universal
pre-kindergarten programs, as well as $5.3 million in additional
Chapter 70 spending for some districts well below their so-called
foundation levels.
The House also adopted a bundle of amendments relating to the
state’s six constitutional officers and state administration issues
that added $851,000 to the budget’s bottom line, boosting funding
for the Secretary of State to administer elections and for the
Office of Campaign and Police Finance.
When the House returns on Tuesday at 10 a.m., amendments relating to
housing and social services are expected to be on tap first,
including those dealing with welfare programs and the administration
of electronic benefits transfer cards. House Democrats who wrote the
budget bill have proposed requiring photo IDs on EBT cards to
prevent trafficking of public assistance benefits, but some members
would like to see further reforms.
Members also met behind closed doors throughout the evening Monday
discussing bundled amendments on the energy and environmental
matters and transportation. A meeting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday in the Members Lounge, a room off the House floor, on
amendments related to veterans’ services and soldiers’ homes.
During the first day of budget deliberations, the House gaveled in
at 11 a.m. and met until just after midnight, adopting two
consolidated amendments hashed out privately and dispensing with
nearly 200 of the 888 amendments filed in two unanimous roll call
votes.
Through the day, representatives engaged in debates over amendments
sponsored by lawmakers who sought floor debate and votes on their
specific proposals.
In a testy exchange over in-state tuition for undocumented
immigrants, the House voted 107-46 to study the issues around
tuition rates for immigrants and returning veterans, avoiding a
direct vote on a budget amendment offered by Rep. Marc Lombardo
(R-Billerica) that would have reversed Gov. Deval Patrick's
directive extending the tuition break to immigrants who qualify for
legal status under a new federal program.
Lombardo, Rep. James Lyons and Rep. Shaunna O'Connell argued
taxpayers are being asked to subsidize tuition for immigrants who
broke the law by coming to the United States. Lombardo said the
policy forced taxpayers to subsidize tuition for immigrants who
“break the rules,” while Lyons accused Patrick of circumventing the
Legislature. “This is about fairness,” said Lyons, noting a 2006
roll call vote the House took to limit in-state tuition.
The Patrick administration last November determined under existing
state policy that immigrants granted deferred status by the federal
government are eligible for in-state tuition rates, which are lower
than rates paid by out-of-state students. The ruling was not a new
policy, but an application of the new federal rules established by
executive order by President Barack Obama, the administration said.
Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) accused Republicans of trying to
restrict access to higher education for immigrant children brought
to the United States through no fault of their own, and Rep. Denise
Provost called the GOP amendment “preposterous and offensive.”
Rep. Steven Walsh, of Lynn, delivered a thunderous defense from the
podium of the Patrick policy. He called it "ludicrous" that
Republicans would bring up a 2006 vote to restrict in-state tuition
given the turnover in the House the past three elections.
Walsh said the tuition break would apply to just 400 students who
otherwise would not go to college, thereby costing the state
nothing. He also noted that the executive order extended only to
those immigrants who spent at least three years at a Massachusetts
high school, passed the MCAS and were applying for citizenship under
the new Obama administration policy.
Democrat Reps. James Arciero, Bruce Ayers, Tom Calter, Linda Dean
Campbell, Josh Cutler, Stephen DiNatale, Jim Dwyer, John Fresolo,
Colleen Garry, Thomas Golden, James Miceli, Kevin Murphy, David
Nangle, Dennis Rosa, Thomas Stanley and Walter Timilty voted with
the Republican caucus against the study amendment.
While boosting school aid for local public school districts,
Democrats rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Paul Frost
(R-Auburn) to create a $20 million grant program to pay for school
supplies like textbooks and computers.
Rep. Brad Hill (R-Ipswich) also tried to add even more money to
Chapter 70 to bring underfunded districts that receive less than
17.5 percent of their budget from the state to the foundation
threshold within two years. The proposal was rejected, with
Democratic leadership arguing that the state didn’t have the
resources to ramp up spending that quickly.
Earlier Monday, Democrats beat back the annual attempt by
Republicans to roll the income and sales tax down to five percent.
Republicans pointed out that voters in 2000 passing a binding ballot
law calling for a 5 percent income tax rate. The income tax rests
currently at 5.25 percent.
The House also rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Angelo Scaccia
that would have capped the film tax credit program at $40 million, a
step proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick and shot down on a voice vote.
Scaccia said tax credits “drive me nuts,” and the film tax credit in
particular has taken taxpayer money and given it to film producers.
Majority Leader Ronald Mariano said the film tax credit doesn’t just
benefits movie producers, but creates jobs in the local economy at
production houses and in the trades that work on film and television
sets. Rep. Sheila Harrington, a Groton Republican, noted the jobs
that will come from the construction of a sound studio at Devens.
Scaccia also proposed to levy a 2.5 percent excise tax on college
endowments over $5 billion, effectively taxing Harvard University
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The amendment was
voted down 11-144.
Rep. Denise Andrews, an Orange Democrat, backed the amendment. “It’s
time we redistribute wealth and take care of raising revenue,” she
said.
Rep. Thomas Sannicandro, the co-chairman of the Higher Education
Committee, questioned the constitutionality of the amendment, and
Republican Rep. Elizabeth Poirier called it a “slippery slope,”
concerned the idea could spread to charitable organizations.
Republican Rep. Geoff Diehl’s proposal to create a tax amnesty plan
to collect overdue taxes by waiving the penalties for delinquent
taxpayers was also defeated 39-110.
|
| |
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Citizens for Limited Taxation ▪
PO Box 1147 ▪ Marblehead, MA 01945
▪ 508-915-3665
|