THE PIONEER BLOG

Jim Stergios

Long blog on biotech gift ban

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Good public policy is built on two pillars – and they pretty much boil down to common sense: Be fair and first do no harm. Giving preferential treatment to individual businesses or industries is bad public policy. The Governor and Legislature’s $250 million tax giveaway to the life sciences industry (even as they increased taxes and fees on other sectors by $300 million last year alone) isn’t fair. And it’s particularly unjustifiable as we enter a protracted economic downturn – a downturn that has already caused hundreds of millions of dollars in social service cuts. But it’s hard to comprehend the logic behind it, when we throw money at life sciences companies with one hand, and take it away with […]

Steve Poftak

Another Predictable Ideologue for Charter Schools

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“Provided this greater accountability, I call on states to reform their charter rules, and lift caps on the number of allowable charter schools, wherever such caps are in place.” Can you guess who it is? Yes we can. Oh, and for those who will fixate on the first clause, take a look at this 2003 report on charters by the Fordham Institute.

Liam Day

The Herald's multiple personalities

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The Herald ended an editorial this morning on the Administration’s approach to the growing debate over the proposed gas tax increase as follows: It’s about this administration’s arrogance, its sense of entitlement to a larger share of your earnings in a time of crisis, and its dismissal of any approach that doesn’t mirror its own. They’re right. To dismiss opposition to a gas tax increase out of hand is arrogant. And that is exactly what Jim Aloisi is doing. Yet, yesterday, the Herald had no problem dismissing opposition to an elected Boston School Committee out of hand. Defending an appointed School Committee, which City Councilor and mayoral candidate Sam Yoon has criticized, the Herald noted: Well maybe Yoon questions it, […]

Steve Poftak

Not terribly helpful to the 19, 25, and 29 cent gas tax supporters

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Obama Administration Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood opines on a recent federal commission’s call to raise the federal gas tax by 10 cents: With the economy the way it is right now, trying to propose a 10-cent a gallon increase in the gasoline tax is not going to fly anywhere in America, including Washington, D.C…Ten cents a gallon increase is not modest, it’s impossible…We are in one of the worst economies we’ve been in since 1982. I was a staffer on Capitol Hill in 1982 and I know how bad it was because I was working for a guy who was representing Caterpillar and things were bad. We’ve got to be talking differently than raising taxes.

Steve Poftak

Sidewalk Superintendent Series: Downtown Crossing

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(An irregular series where your loyal correspondent provides urban planning and architectural advice, despite having no actual qualifications to do so.) Mayor Menino’s recent trip through Downtown Crossing brought lots of attention. The Globe correspondent who accompanied him noted that he skipped much of the actual Downtown Crossing. And Globe columnist Adrian Walker chipped in with more critical comments: A burrito shop just opened in the shadow of upscale new condos on Province Street, and the city believes this is a mark of success. The development of the space has been much discussed — whether to let cars back in or not; what will replace Filene’s; and whether the area is safe, just to name a few topics. I’m not […]

Jim Stergios

Our charters are especially good

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Our charters are different. Massachusetts staked out non-ideological ground in creating the charter school approval and accountability processes. We did not just say to all comers — Oh, you want to start a charter, sure. After all, charters are public schools and they use public dollars. With this thinking in mind, Massachusetts developed a thorough vetting and planning process for applicants. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (once upon the Department of Education) works to ensure that any proposal advanced by the Commissioner to the Board of Education is one worthy of consideration. Only a handful get past in any one year. This year only one was approved (ahem, with some unfortunate strings attached). We also close down charters […]

Steve Poftak

Assignment Desk: Pension Obligation Bonds

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Pension Obligation Bonds were one method that a number of municipalities used to ‘fund’ their unfunded pension liabilities. The thinking was that issuing bonds at a fixed rate, then putting that money into the pension fund (where it hypothetically earned a return higher than the fixed rate) made sense. There is some logic here — it turns the somewhat malleable notion of the yearly pay-in to the pension fund into a hard number owed to bond holders. And, over the long run, most pension funds earned in excess of the typical bond interest rate. But, we are in a brutal short-term (we hope) downturn with massive losses across almost all investment classes. Bloomberg has an article on a number of […]

Steve Poftak

A Private Lottery?

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Treasurer Cahill floated the notion of privatizing the lottery yesterday and today. Several legislators were quick to dismiss it out of hand, which I believe is a mistake. The skeptics seemed locked into the notion that a long-term lease of the lottery requires a large, upfront payment. While the lottery provides a vital flow of funds to cities and towns, it clearly reaching the limits of its market, given the erratic nature of revenues over the past few years and the potential competition that slots/casinos/whatever might provide. Would it be possible to have a serious conversation about what a long-term lease might look like and what the state would prioritize in an RFP? Would a potential bidder guarantee a predictable […]

Steve Poftak

Businesses propose taxing consumers!!

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My friends in the business community came out yesterday for a 25 cent increase in the gas tax to pay for needed infrastructure. Of course, given that consumers (by and large) will end up paying the tab, this was not a particularly risky announcement. And not a particularly popular one outside of 128 — see here and here.

Steve Poftak

Ok, this is awkward

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Massport raised its parking fees by $1 last month after its Board of Directors gave their Executive Director, by unanimous vote and without discussion, the power to adjust rates. New Transportation Secretary Aloisi is criticizing the increase, in part because their was no public input to the process. I suspect that it also makes the $2 fee that the state wanted to place on Logan parkers more difficult to sell politically. And now the awkward part — the same Transportation Secretary Aloisi (who is criticizing the increase) was a member of the Massport board that voted unanimously and without discussion to give the Executive Director the power to increase that fee.

Steve Poftak

Zoned Out

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Ouch. The BPS has already pulled its first proposal for altering the school zone system off the table. Not because of a backlash or political pressure, but because the proposed Zone 4 lacks a needed 616 seats for grades 6 – 8. That’s a pretty material number in a system with less than 60,000 kids and equivalent to an entire school. Its an embarrassing screw-up for the school system. The attempt to increase the number of zones (of which I am generally supportive) has flushed out a number of interesting items: 1) Integration, the initial impetus behind busing all those years ago, is largely irrelevant. Click on the various zone configurations (current and proposed) that the Globe has helpfully put […]

Steve Poftak

Without comment

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…School Superintendent Carol Johnson presented a preliminary budget that would eliminate 900 jobs, including 400 teaching positions. Faced with a $107 million shortfall for the fiscal year beginning in July, Johnson raised the specter of closing or consolidating schools in addition to the six she targeted last fall. After 18 months of planning, a nonprofit group called Boston World Partnerships will deploy 125 business leaders and academics to take the city’s promotion beyond traditional trade missions and conventions. One tool going live today is an interactive website, www.bostonworldpartnerships.com, that provides an array of two-way channels for those interested in doing business in Greater Boston…. The Boston Redevelopment Authority contributed $1 million…to set up the organization…

Jim Stergios

Gulp

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Jim Cramer is obviously a smart guy with a schtick. It’s kind of fun for 2 minutes. Then you have to lower the volume. I am troubled to say that he is sounding much wiser than our leaders in Washington. I don’t know about you, but I think that means we are now officially in deep do-do. In this clip, Cramer rails against the stimulus because it does not invest in infrastructure at anything even close to the level originally discussed. Yup. Then he calls for interest rate and principal adjustments for all mortgage payers, not select ones. Yup. Finally, he gets hot under the collar on Geithner’s lack of a plan. That’s a feeling many of us are getting. […]

Jim Stergios

Erroll Tyler and the IJ lawsuit

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Kudos to the Globe editorial page and to the Boston Herald for picking up on an important lawsuit regarding Erroll Tyler’s attempt for seven years now (isn’t that long enough, folks?!) to open up a small business in the Boston area. You would think that we are rolling in dough and trying to push away the business tax revenue… Erroll Tyler’s dream is to launch Nautical Tours, a cutting-edge amphibious vehicle tour service based in Cambridge. But, like countless cities across the country, Boston appears to be using its licensing power to protect existing businesses from honest competition by denying others their basic right to earn a living. Last week, the Institute for Justice filed a major federal lawsuit against […]

Liam Day

Just Asking

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Apparently University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun got into it yesterday, after his team’s win over the University of South Florida, with free lance journalist and self-described political activist Ken Krayeske. Krayeske used the post-game press conference as an opportunity to question Calhoun’s $1.6 million state salary when Connecticut is facing a $944 million deficit this year and a two-year deficit as large as $8 billion. Calhoun shot back (correctly, I might add) that the revenue his team generates for the college and, thus, the state far exceeds what he earns. (Though, I don’t know whether the $12 million figure he threw out is 100% accurate.) Yet, one must ask what it says about our society and its […]