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Payroll belies problems
Boston Herald

Author(s): — Press date: 2208-08-26
Category: Better Government
Description: Back in the bad old days of recession in the early ’90s then-Gov. William F. Weld knew he had a massive budgetary catastrophe on his hands. So months after taking office he announced a furlough of 50,000 state employees. [read more...]

State council got lost in the shuffle
Boston Globe

Author(s): Todd Wallack — Press date: 2008-08-29
Category: Better Government
Description: It just might be the sleepiest offshoot of state government: the Massachusetts Quasi-Public Corporation Planning Council. No one can even remember when the 15-year-old planning council last met, despite a law requiring monthly meetings. [read more...]

T crises, controversies sully Mr. Fix-it image of Grabauskas
Boston Globe

Author(s): Noah Bierman — Press date: 2008-08-26
Category: Better Government
Description: Daniel A. Grabauskas arrived at the MBTA as the guy who could fix the unfixable. He had transformed the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles, a pit that held drivers virtually hostage for two or three hours when they renewed their licenses, into a place with Wal-Mart-style greeters at the door, a modern computer system, and 15-minute waiting times. [read more...]

State payroll swells as economy tanks
Boston Herald

Author(s): Joe Dwinell — Press date: 2008-08-25
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick has added almost 2,000 new workers to the state payroll in the past year even as he warns of dire budget cuts in the face of a $1 billion deficit, a Herald review shows. [read more...]

Number of state workers on the rise
WBZ-TV

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-08-25
Category: Better Government
Description: BOSTON (AP) The state has added about 1,900 new workers in the past year even as Gov. Deval Patrick warns of possible budget cuts to help deal with a $1 billion deficit. [read more...]

Report: State Adds 1,900 Jobs In Budget Crunch
WBZ-TV

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-08-25
Category: Better Government
Description: BOSTON (AP) ― The state has added about 1,900 new workers in the past year even as Gov. Deval Patrick warns of possible budget cuts to help deal with a $1 billion deficit. The Boston Herald reports that since July 2007, the agencies that oversee state prisons and highways have had the most new hires. [read more...]

Arrests are more than just a detail
Boston Herald

Author(s): Jessica Van Sack — Press date: 2008-08-18
Category: Better Government
Description: Here’s what’s been lost in all the controversy over cop details: officers who work those lucrative shifts actually DO make arrests. Boston police officers on detail nabbed at least 66 alleged perps - including 10 gunmen, eight robbers and 10 pervs - while manning detail posts over the past year alone. Going back to Jan. 30, 2007, cops on detail have made at least 105 arrests. [read more...]

LETTER: Pioneer pitted regions against one another
South Coast Today

Author(s): Ellen Murphy Meehan — Press date: 2008-08-16
Category: Better Government
Description: The Pioneer Institute's executive director's recent piece ("Massachusetts health care reform at risk," Aug. 1) advocated for a short-term and much too simple financing plan for health reform that sought to pit hospitals in different regions against one another and ignored the long-term challenges safety-net hospitals and the state face under health reform. [read more...]

Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan raises red flag
Boston Herald

Author(s): Hillary Chabot — Press date: 2008-08-13
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to release a controversial plan today aimed at yanking pricey police details off state-run construction projects - saving $5 million a year. Some critics are holding their applause, however, until Patrick shows them the money. [read more...]

Limits proposed on police details
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-08-13
Category: Better Government
Description: The Patrick Administration released new regulations today that for the first time will allow civilian flagmen on most state road projects, a plan expected to draw the ire of police unions that will lose control of some of their well-paid details. [read more...]

State To Cut Back Police Details
WBZ-TV

Author(s): Joe Shortsleeve — Press date: 2008-08-13
Category: Better Government
Description: BOSTON (WBZ) ― We have all seen them -- police officers directing traffic around road construction. They cost the state millions each year and now there is a first step to end the expensive practice. [read more...]

The Boston Massacre


Author(s): Rich Duprey — Press date: 2008-08-08
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: There are certain things you just shouldn't do as an investor: chase performance, jump out of good mutual funds because they've momentarily cooled, or try out the latest "hot" investing fad. Yet each of those things is exactly what Massachusetts' state pension fund is doing. It could be that the $50.6 billion fund is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, but you might want to check your own assumptions so you don't find yourself in a similar situation. [read more...]

Legg Mason Out as Massachusetts Dumps Stock Pickers (Update1)
Bloomberg.com

Author(s): Christopher Condon — Press date: 2008-08-06
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: The Massachusetts state pension fund pulled $2 billion in assets from Legg Mason Inc.'s Bill Miller and four other firms as part of a plan to shift all U.S. equity assets from managers who actively pick stocks to buy and sell. [read more...]

Patrick signs $3b bill to fix bridges
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-08-05
Category: Better Government
Description: Governor Deval Patrick signed legislation yesterday to fix up to 300 of the most dilapidated bridges in Massachusetts, a plan he hopes will bring the state's infrastructure up to par after years of neglect. [read more...]

Guv signs $3B bridge repair bill
Wicked Local Belmont

Author(s): Jim O’Sullivan — Press date: 2008-08-04
Category: Better Government
Description: The number of faulty bridges in Massachusetts will decline 15 percent over the next eight years under a $3 billion repair plan Gov. Deval Patrick signed Monday, the administration said. [read more...]

Can't get there from here
Boston Globe

Author(s): Kimberly Sanfeliz — Press date: 2008-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: Two key bridges over the Charles aren't exactly falling down, but they're shaky enough to prompt the question: What if Boston lost its links to its brainy northern neighbor? [read more...]

State behind in spending on public colleges
Boston Globe

Author(s): Peter Schworm — Press date: 2008-08-03
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Massachusetts ranks near the bottom nationally in state spending on public colleges and universities, new statistics show, a shortfall blamed in part for tuition increases and deteriorating campuses and for undercutting the system's quest to achieve greater national prominence. [read more...]

Governor supports boosting pensions of county retirees $5 a month per worker translates to thousands for towns
Eagle Tribune

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2008-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: It's an increase of only $5 a month for county retirees, but it would cost communities fighting to make financial ends meet tens of thousands of dollars each year. [read more...]

Pension boost OK'd for state workers
Boston Globe

Author(s): Michael Levenson — Press date: 2008-08-02
Category: Better Government
Description: Massachusetts lawmakers, moving quickly and without debate in the final hours of the legislative session, approved a pension increase for state workers that could cost more than $3 billion over the next 20 years, sparking criticism from fiscal watchdogs who say the state cannot afford such a costly benefit. [read more...]

Consider impact on safety net hospitals
Boston Globe

Author(s): Dennis D. Keefe — Press date: 2008-07-29
Category: Better Government
Description: JIM STERGIOS'S Op-ed ("Doing the math on healthcare," July 22) was a wrongheaded, though perhaps understandable, reaction to the current climate as we wrestle with burgeoning healthcare costs. We're big fans of Massachusetts' healthcare reform but, as we now know, its success has spurred many unintended or unforeseen consequences. [read more...]

Urge employers, insurers to step up
Boston Globe

Author(s): Mike Fadel — Press date: 2008-07-29
Category: Better Government
Description: AS WE enter another critical phase in the ongoing development of Massachusetts' healthcare reform, Jim Stergios of the Pioneer Institute mounted an attack on the state's two key safety net hospitals: Boston Medical Center and Cambridge Health Alliance. [read more...]

County retirement board seeks pension boost
Salem News

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2008-07-29
Category: Better Government
Description: A plan to boost the pensions of Essex County retirees could cost cash-strapped cities and towns tens of thousands of dollars a year. The bill, pushed by the Essex Regional Retirement Board, would raise the annual cost-of-living increase to the pensions of 1,623 retirees. If approved by the governor, it would be the first cost-of-living adjustment for Essex County retirees since 1987, but the proposal would cost 48 cities, towns and municipal authorities a total of $535,000 a year. [read more...]

Comparing Jobless Benefits
WBUR Radio

Author(s): Curt Nickisch — Press date: 2008-07-25
Category: Better Government
Description: The Labor Department says the number of newly laid-off people filing for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005. And the jump has come now at a time when many Americans are finding it tough to pay gas and food bills, even when they do have work! [read more...]

Hospital payments central to federal health care negotiations
State House News

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2008-07-23
Category: Better Government
Description: Annual state government payments to two Boston-area teaching hospitals are increasingly at the epicenter of a local and national firestorm over the affordability of Massachusetts's health insurance access laws. [read more...]

Hospital payments central to federal health care negotiations
Belmont Citizen-Herald

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2008-07-23
Category: Better Government
Description: Annual state government payments to two Boston-area teaching hospitals are increasingly at the epicenter of a local and national firestorm over the affordability of Massachusetts’s health insurance access laws. [read more...]

Alarmed Over Boston Firehouse Costs
Fire Fighting News

Author(s): Con Chapman — Press date: 2008-07-22
Category: Better Government
Description: When it comes to firefighting, Boston is a city of many firsts - the first fire engine, the first electric alarms and the first use of radio dispatchers. Unfortunately, the city also ranks first in one other important category - cost. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over the past four decades Boston has spent more per capita on municipal fire service than any other American city. [read more...]

Pension rip-offs
Worcester Business Journal

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-07-21
Category: Better Government
Description: The case of a Boston firefighter who took part in a national bodybuilding competition while collecting a tax-free disability pension sparked an outcry for public-pension reform, with good reason. The rip-off was stunningly bold. The episode resonates because it is symptomatic of the Bulgerization of the system — the attitude, on Beacon Hill and beyond, the system is fair game to be milked to the maximum. While erstwhile Senate president William M. Bulger didn’t invent pension-law manipulation, his successful bid to boost his six-figure pension as UMass president by counting his housing allowance as income certainly inspired a trend, with former public college presidents among the first trying to board the gravy train. [read more...]

Is there a soft side to conservatives?
Wicked Local Westborough

Author(s): Len Mead — Press date: 2008-07-18
Category: Better Government
Description: Your Westborough News editors recently suggested, “You know, Len, its summer. Why not give readers a vacation from those ‘hard,’ liberal-pounding topics you write about for a change? How about a ‘soft’ article?” Soft, eh? Knowing these poor editors have their ears scorched off when readers call to object to something I write about, I decided, OK: let’s search for the “soft side” to conservatives. [read more...]

Bill to spur affordable housing on hold
Boston Herald

Author(s): Scott Van Voorhis — Press date: 2008-07-18
Category: Better Government
Description: A proposal to spur construction of thousands of modestly priced starter homes has quietly fizzled on Beacon Hill. Backers are blaming the plunge in housing prices, which has made the issue a harder sell, both to the general public and to lawmakers. But the business groups backing the measure say it’s needed now more than ever, because the decline in prices isn’t enough to make homes affordable for many middle-class buyers. [read more...]

House, Senate approve budget
State House News

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-07-03
Category: Better Government
Description: The House and Senate yesterday approved a $28.2 billion state budget that significantly taps into the state's rainy day fund and boosts scores of budget accounts that lawmakers describe as critical priorities. [read more...]

State's $28b budget delayed
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-07-01
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: It's July 1. Do you know where your state budget is? In what has become an annual ritual, Massachusetts lawmakers are blowing the deadline on the start of the new fiscal year, engaging in extra-inning negotiations, and passing a stopgap budget to keep state government running while they try to work out their differences. [read more...]

School agenda lauded
Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Jacqueline Reis — Press date: 2008-06-29
Category: Education
Description: Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s education agenda, the product of his Readiness Project, is getting a remarkably good reception for something that will take at least 12 years to implement and likely cost more than a billion dollars. [read more...]

Ed Reform Plan Reaction Mixed
WBUR Radio

Author(s): Monica Brady-Myerov — Press date: 2008-06-26
Category: Education
Description: HOST INTRO: Now that Governor Deval Patrick's sweeping education reform plan is on the table, reaction is mixed. The Readiness Project is meant to build on education reform of the 1990s and educate citizens in a fast-paced, technologically driven world economy. But the reforms touch some political minefields. WBUR?s Monica Brady-Myerov reports. [read more...]

Rewarding innovation in education
Lowell Sun

Author(s): Jim Campanini — Press date: 2008-06-25
Category: Better Government
Description: What are some of the best educational reform ideas in America and where are they being implemented? Sadly, the answer is not in Massachusetts, which was once the recognized leader of bold ideas. Today's innovation hot spots are Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Tonight, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston, the programs that are improving educational opportunities for students and instruction methods for teachers and administrators will be unveiled at the Pioneer Institute's 2008 Better Government Competition awards dinner. [read more...]

Watered down watchdog
Boston Herald

Author(s): Boston Herald editorial staff — Press date: 2008-06-18
Category: Education
Description: In return for their generosity, taxpayers deserve assurances that their money is being well spent. That has been the job of the office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA), which by all accounts has performed well. In fact, it may have performed too well, incurring the wrath of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, among others. [read more...]

Bill would curb power of school audit agency
Belmont Citizen-Herald

Author(s): Gintautas Dumcius — Press date: 2008-06-18
Category: Education
Description: A controversial state agency that routinely audits school districts would have its independence curtailed as it gets shifted into the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education under a bill advanced by a Beacon Hill committee last week. [read more...]

Retiring in one state and then working in another boosts income for superintendents
Daily News Tribune

Author(s): Jessica Scarpati — Press date: 2008-06-17
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: When high-salaried officials retire in Massachusetts and collect a comfortable pension, they can take another public sector job across state lines to boost their incomes. [read more...]

Report: State must be careful with proposed bridge-repair plan
Lowell Sun

Author(s): Matt Murphy — Press date: 2008-06-17
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: A new report gives kudos to Gov. Deval Patrick's "aggressive" plan to fix state-owned bridges before they fall into further disrepair, but it also offers state leaders cautionary advice. [read more...]

No bridge boondoggles
Berkshire Eagle

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-06-17
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Governor Patrick's $3 billion bridge repair program, which is proceeding through the Legislature, is long overdue and should not be put off any further. That said, once it is up and running, the state must be vigilant so it doesn't turn into a boondoggle, like so many public works projects have had a tendency to do. [read more...]

Mass. Governor Expected to Sign $1B Life-Sci Bill Into Law This Week


Author(s): Alex Philippidis — Press date: 2008-06-16
Category: Better Government
Description: Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick early this week is expected to sign into law the act that will shower the state’s life-science industry with $1 billion in funding over 10 years, according to a Massachusetts lawmaker. Lawmakers last week quickly passed the final version of the bill, An Act Providing for the Investment in and Expansion of the Life Sciences Industry in the Commonwealth, which will set aside $500 million in capital investments for construction and improvement projects; $250 million in tax credits for life-science companies in return for new jobs in the state; and $250 million for direct grants for researchers, including seed money to address federal funding shortfalls. [read more...]

State education oversight office could be cut, weakened
Eagle Tribune

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2008-06-12
Category: Education
Description: The Legislature is considering eliminating an independent state office which in the past has been critical of the Haverhill and North Andover school systems, but whose oversight function is lauded by some education advocates. [read more...]

Charter school officials wary of governor's reform
Berkshire Eagle

Author(s): Matt Murphy — Press date: 2008-06-12
Category: Education
Description: The first glimpse of Gov. Deval L. Patrick's education reform agenda came in the form of a new model for alternative public schools, but leaves many questions as to what the governor has in mind for traditional charter schools. [read more...]

Stotsky Contributes to Report on National Identity


Author(s): — Press date: 2008-06-09
Category: Education
Description: Sandra Stotsky, holder of an endowed chair in teacher quality at the University of Arkansas, contributed to a report about America’s national identity released June 3 by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee. [read more...]

Restructuring can transform a school
South Coast Today

Author(s): Jim Stergios — Press date: 2008-06-04
Category: Education
Description: New school superintendents are taking over in urban districts across Massachusetts, including right here in New Bedford. But how much change will they really bring? History tells us the likely answer is "not much." We'll probably get a lot of hand wringing about teacher quality and how rigid union work rules obstruct progress. These are valid concerns, but it is too easy to blame teachers for failing schools. Only leadership will bring change — and real opportunity for inner-city students. [read more...]

Get the facts
Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-06-01
Category: Better Government
Description: Before acting on a plan to boost the pensions of state retirees, the Legislature needs to get a detailed cost analysis of the impact the boost will have on pension reserves. The state has made laudable progress toward fully funding the system — passing the 85 percent mark in January last year — and should not begin backsliding on that commitment now. [read more...]

Bigger pensions drawing protests
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-05-28
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Massachusetts lawmakers are proposing bigger pensions for state and municipal employees that could cost $6 billion or more, according to some estimates, triggering a chorus of complaints from fiscal watchdogs and local leaders who say the money is not there to pay for it. more stories like this Retirement changes head to negotiations Retirement changes would affect N.H. retirees' benefits Natick's pension fund may be out $2.6m in shaky Asian hedge fund investment As override vote looms, all agree cuts are coming [read more...]

State helping pay for TV ads
Boston Globe

Author(s): Todd Wallack — Press date: 2008-05-27
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Boston Beer Co. has long made television commercials in Boston to promote its Samuel Adams ales and lagers. But when a production company finishes a new round of Sam Adams advertisements this year, Massachusetts taxpayers could wind up paying as much as 25 percent of the tab. [read more...]

Calls for change as more Bay State kids drop out of school
Lowell Sun

Author(s): Candy Chan — Press date: 2008-05-25
Category: Education
Description: The numbers are startling. Nine percent of Fitchburg students dropped out during the last academic year. In Fall River, 274 students -- about 10 percent of the city's ninth- through 12th-graders -- failed to complete high school. With similar increases around the state, administrators are pointing to a lack of funds and the high-stakes MCAS examination as the reason. [read more...]

Police, union leaders sharply counter calls to curb details
State House News

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2008-05-20
Category: Better Government
Description: Although fiscal analysts continued to argue that curbing police details in favor of cheaper civilian flagmen could save taxpayer dollars, police unions, officers and labor leaders offered a sharp rebuttal on Tuesday, arguing that the enhanced public safety provided by police officers has saved lives and prevented costly, violent crime. [read more...]

Bill to fix seven key bridges
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Carroll — Press date: 2008-05-18
Category: Better Government
Description: Seven area bridges classifed "structurally deficient" would be repaired or replaced if a bill filed last week by Governor Deval Patrick, and backed by leaders in both the House and Senate, is passed. more stories like this Swarming to public transit, cheaper gas Senate unveils budget; GOP to try to revive casinos Mass. unveils plan to speed repairs for up to 300 bridges Patrick: Casinos plan could still fly Patrick to press for clean energy [read more...]

Cahill warns pension increase could hurt bond rating
State House News

Author(s): Jim O'Sullivan — Press date: 2008-05-17
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: A retirement allowance increase for former public employees, added to next year’s state budget through an unusual floor vote in the House and then adopted by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, could lead to a downgraded bond rating for the state, said Treasurer Timothy Cahill. [read more...]

Grip loosening on local aid lifeline
The Sun Chronicle

Author(s): Travis Andersen and Matt Kaley — Press date: 2008-05-06
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Different analysts have different theories about the factors behind the state's municipal budget crisis: Weak growth in state tax revenues. Rising health care and energy costs. Cash-strapped voters reluctant to pass Proposition 2 1/2 overrides. [read more...]

W.P. Carey hopes $50M gift benefits Hopkins and Baltimore
Maryland Daily Record

Author(s): Robbie Whelan — Press date: 2008-05-01
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: If you ask William Polk Carey, the 77-year-old real estate investor with a Baltimore pedigree that stretches back nearly 300 years, why he gave Johns Hopkins University $50 million to start a stand-alone business school, he’ll talk about restoring Baltimore to its Revolutionary War-era economic glories. [read more...]

Ed. commissioner says state needs to better prepare students
Boston Globe

Author(s): Rodrique Ngowi — Press date: 2008-04-28
Category: Education
Description: Massachusetts educators need to set higher standards for curriculum, assessment and accountability to ensure that students who graduate from high schools are better prepared for college or careers, the state's incoming education commissioner said Monday. more stories like this [read more...]

Report Finds Serious Flaws In Longfellow Bridge
WCVBTV

Author(s): Jim Morelli — Press date: 2008-04-26
Category: Better Government
Description: An independent inspection found the Longfellow Bridge is in worse condition than first thought, but a top state official said the findings overstate the problems. NewsCenter 5’s Jim Morelli reported the study does not say the bridge is in danger of collapse but that it is in serious condition and needs immediate repairs. [read more...]

Downtowns are reborn
Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Martin Luttrell — Press date: 2008-04-26
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Newly-elected Fitchburg Mayor Lisa A. Wong wants to restructure her city’s government in an effort to improve business recruitment and redevelop former mills for commercial and residential use. Worcester is analyzing foot traffic downtown, planning for commercial growth that will keep people downtown beyond the work day. [read more...]

Reviving The 'Middle Cities'
Worcester Business Journal

Author(s): Livia Gershow — Press date: 2008-04-25
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong and Worcester Economic Development Director Timothy McGourthy outlined their efforts to revitalize their cities' downtowns at a conference this morning. The event, organized by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute public policy research center, focused on the ways that the older, industrial cities the institute calls "middle cities" can plan for economic development. [read more...]

Testing the teachers
Boston Globe

Author(s): Kathleen A. Madigan — Press date: 2008-04-23
Category: Education
Description: MASSACHUSETTS Senate minority leader Richard Tisei recently observed, "We always seem to be chipping away at the Education Reform Act." more stories like this Bush moves ahead on No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind faces changes NH chosen for pilot student assessment program The school experiment that's paying off The education gap Sadly, he's right. [read more...]

A road less traveled: Under the hood of transportation reform
Patriot Ledger

Author(s): Steve Poftak — Press date: 2008-04-12
Category: Better Government
Description: The recent announcement of the transportation reform bill featured a who’s who of Beacon Hill leadership, including Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Sal DiMasi. Their press conference attracted a great deal of attention, but for the wrong reasons. Substance was quickly overwhelmed by the focus on the strained Patrick-DiMasi relationship and paid police details. [read more...]

Analyzing the Bridges Proposal
WBUR-FM

Author(s): Bob Oakes — Press date: 2008-04-10
Category: Better Government
Description: When David "Doc" Westerling co-wrote Pioneer Institute's report on the Longfellow Bridge last year, he called it "Our Legacy of Neglect." He said the historic structure was emblematic of the state's infrastructure problems.... [read more...]

Budgeting through a recession
Boston Globe

Author(s): Greg Torres — Press date: 2008-04-09
Category: Better Government
Description: THE CASINO gambling debate has dominated discussion on Beacon Hill, while the state's real house of cards - its budget - stands vulnerable to the winds of recession....In the 1980s, the Pioneer Institute published a landmark study of government expenditures that posed an important question: Had the evolution in public spending in the previous decade been "by choice or by chance?" The answer then was both.... [read more...]

Governor seeks $3.8b to fix bridges
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-04-09
Category: Better Government
Description: Governor Deval Patrick plans today to unveil a $3.8 billion bond proposal to repair 411 deteriorating bridges throughout the state over the next eight years, a project he will argue not only improves road safety but also pumps cash into the economy to buffer Massachusetts from a recession....The Pioneer Institute last year released a report titled "Our Legacy of Neglect," documenting a lack of funding for transportation infrastructure in Massachusetts.... [read more...]

Experts say health care, retirement will put pressure on local budgets
The Sun Chronicle

Author(s): Ted Nesi — Press date: 2008-04-01
Category: Better Government
Description: "I'm always wary (that) big predictions that there's going to be some sort of demise or a 'big bang' are oversold," said the Pioneer Institute's research director, Steve Poftak...."I think you're going to see the state give municipalities more tools to control cost, and you're going to see more pressure put on municipalities to use those tools," he said, pointing as an example to the state opening up its GIC health coverage plan to municipalities.... [read more...]

A tale of two towns
The Sun Chronicle

Author(s): Ted Nesi — Press date: 2008-03-31
Category: Better Government
Description: Not all local budgets are created equal. Take Mansfield and Rehoboth, for example. In 2007, Mansfield spent $2,915 per resident on its town government, while Rehoboth spent $1,595 - about half as much....But Steve Poftak, of the Pioneer Institute, said it's understandable that citizens have concerns. "I think people have a desire for more accountability in government," he said, especially when taxes go up every year, mostly to keep up with rising salary and benefit costs. "They're taking in more money every year, and it's essentially going to fuel the status quo, which I think people find frustrating."... [read more...]

Boom busting budgets
The Sun Chronicle

Author(s): Ted Nesi — Press date: 2008-03-31
Category: Better Government
Description: ...In addition, over the years state and federal governments have placed a dizzying array of mandates on municipalities: affordable housing regulations, environmental rules, emergency preparedness orders, anti-discrimination policies and many more....The Pioneer Institute, a market-oriented think tank in Boston, is studying the cost of mandates placed on communities by the state government to find out whether the benefit is worth the money and whether towns or the state should pay.... [read more...]

Lawmakers target police details for cutbacks
Bourne Courier

Author(s): Jim O'Sullivan — Press date: 2008-03-28
Category: Better Government
Description: Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, led a chorus against the politically prized construction site police details, promising that civilian flagmen could be on duty for many projects within months due to new transportation and public safety regulations....Pioneer Institute think tank called the measures “a valuable first step in the process of improving the effectiveness and accountability of our transportation spending.”... [read more...]

Showing its age
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-03-15
Category: Better Government
Description: It has nothing to do with the Big Dig, but the crumbling concrete tiles that line the ceiling of the Prudential Tunnel under the Hynes Convention Center, over the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston, have caused a flurry of activity and concern recently — and with good reason....Both that report, from the Transportation Finance Commission, and one from the Pioneer Institute clearly indicate that lack of maintenance has taken its toll on bridges and highways across the state.... [read more...]

Boston crews reinforce Longfellow Bridge’s deteriorating beams
Daily Commercial News and Construction R

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-03-11
Category: Better Government
Description: ...When the restoration begins, the state wants to keep the Red Line running. The ambitious Longfellow restoration is now expected to cost US$200 million. Comparably, the Longfellow cost US$249 million — in today’s dollars — to build a century ago, according to a report issued by the Pioneer Institute last summer.... [read more...]

Mass. must be leery of more public debt
Providence Journal

Author(s): Charles D. Chieppo and Steve Poftak — Press date: 2008-03-04
Category: Better Government
Description: ...By virtually any measure — such as per-capita debt and debt as a percentage of personal income — the commonwealth is deeper in hock than almost any other state. Debt service is one of the largest line items in our annual budget and one of the drivers of a structural deficit that has topped $1 billion in each of the last two years.... [read more...]

Bridging the gap
Boston Globe

Author(s): Stephanie Ebbert — Press date: 2008-03-03
Category: Better Government
Description: The Red Line thunders overhead as construction workers perched on a platform repair the gritty underbelly of the Longfellow Bridge, using bolts and clamps, cutting torches, and steel to patch the worn bridge piece by piece....When the restoration begins, the state wants to keep the Red Line running. The ambitious Longfellow restoration is now expected to cost $200 million. Comparably, the Longfellow cost $249 million - in today's dollars - to build a century ago, according to a report issued by the Pioneer Institute last summer.... [read more...]

Columnist lambastes Massachusetts on incentives
FierceBiotech.com

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-02-27
Category: Better Government
Description: In a column in the Boston Globe, Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, criticizes Massachusetts' plan to provide Shire with $48 million in incentives for an expansion project in Lexington. State government, he insists, should not be a venture capital group; the payoff is years away and why should life sciences be favored over industries like the financial services industry, which creates more jobs.... [read more...]

The Great Biotech Giveaway
High Beam Research

Author(s): Jim Stergios — Press date: 2008-02-27
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: THE CONVENTIONAL wisdom is that we are heading into a recession. So on the surface, the deal negotiated by state leaders to secure a $394 million expansion in Lexington of Shire PLC, with 680 new jobs, is good news. The problem is that landing the British drug maker's expansion cost taxpayers $40.5 million in state and $7.5 million in local incentives, or nearly $70,000 per job. At that rate, reaching the goal Governor Patrick set out in his State of the State address for the administration's $1 billion life sciences proposal - to "add another 250,000 jobs over the next decade" - will cost upward of $15 billion. That's Big Dig territory.... [read more...]

Economic drag
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-02-24
Category: Better Government
Description: A policy brief from the Pioneer Institute spotlights chronic obstacle to job creation and retention in Massachusetts: The state’s overly generous unemployment insurance system. The report makes clear that the system is broken in two ways. First, companies that provide steady employment subsidize employers in construction and other industries that have seasonal layoffs. Second, the benefits are far more generous than those enjoyed by workers in nearly every other state.... [read more...]

High costs, high taxes
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve Bailey — Press date: 2008-02-15
Category: Better Government
Description: The late, great car salesman, Ernie Boch, used to say that his prices were lowest because his costs were lowest. In Massachusetts, when it comes to unemployment insurance, it is just the opposite: Our taxes are highest because our costs are highest....In a report last month, the Pioneer Institute spelled out in detail those problems and the fixes. The state has some of the most generous benefits in the nation and the easiest eligibility criteria.... [read more...]

Drug maker shire promises 680 jobs
Boston Globe

Author(s): Todd Wallack — Press date: 2008-02-14
Category: Better Government
Description: After months of playing coy, the British drug maker Shire PLC says it plans to go forward with a $394 million expansion in Lexington that is expected to create 680 jobs over the next eight years, one of the largest economic development projects in the state....Jim Stergios, executive director for the Pioneer Institute, a Boston think tank, said it would be better for the state to focus on finding ways to reduce the cost of doing business in Massachusetts, such as lowering the cost of unemployment insurance, instead of offering tax breaks to specific firms.... [read more...]

Living in the sticks
Boston Herald

Author(s): Jim Stergios — Press date: 2008-02-14
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: The New England Public Policy Center’s study, “Can young professionals afford to buy a home in Massachusetts?”‘ (“Housing costs not so bad,” Feb. 11) restates what we know: It is expensive to buy a home in Massachusetts....Curious then that the study downplays the impact that higher prices have on the choices of skilled, young professionals, who can move and are highly sought after in other parts of the country.... [read more...]

Governor’s reorganization plan will roll back education reform
Stoneham Sun

Author(s): Sen. Richard Tisei — Press date: 2008-02-11
Category: Education
Description: When the Massachusetts Legislature passed the 1993 Education Reform Act, it signaled a renewed commitment by the state to improve the quality of education offered in our public schools....The Pioneer Institute, a public policy think tank, recently noted that “few reforms have done more to make the Commonwealth a great place for children to grow up” than the MCAS and charter schools. “In 1993,” the Pioneer Institute said, “Massachusetts barely made the top 10 in national assessments. Today, the Commonwealth not only leads the nation in student performance, but our rate of improvement is unparalleled among high-performing states.”... [read more...]

Bid to override Patrick veto of special pension bill put off
Lawrence Eagle-Tribune

Author(s): Rachel Kolokoff — Press date: 2008-02-07
Category: Better Government
Description: An attempt to override Gov. Deval Patrick's veto of a bill to restore a $36,000-a-year pension for a former western Massachusetts official, convicted of an environmental crime, was put off in the House yesterday when the measure was suddenly withdrawn....Special exemptions to public pension rules cost money. A Pioneer Institute study last year found that legislative-approved exceptions to public pension rules cost the state $125 million.... [read more...]

Rate increase to hit employers hard
Stoneham Sun

Author(s): Sen. Richard Tisei — Press date: 2008-02-07
Category: Better Government
Description: When the state sends out its quarterly unemployment insurance bills next month, Massachusetts businesses will be hit with a substantial rate increase, one that will end up costing employers $153 million in new taxes this year....A new report released last month by the Pioneer Institute indicates the commonwealth provides unemployment benefits that are 76 percent above the national average.... [read more...]

Editorial: Real Stimulation
Worcester Business Journal

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-02-04
Category: Better Government
Description: ...The Bay State can afford its own "stimulus package" that would ease the burden on businesses created by the often abused, decreasingly useful and ridiculously expensive unemployment insurance system....Massachusetts business owners paid an average of $629 per employee into the state's unemployment insurance system in 2006, according to a new policy brief authored in part by John O'Leary of the Boston-based Pioneer Institute. That was more than twice the national average of $298 per employee and second only to Alaska where the cost is about $750.... [read more...]

Fix for schools?
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-01-29
Category: Education
Description: Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s plan to create a Cabinet-level education secretariat appears eminently sensible in concept. Yet, lawmakers considering the plan at today’s Statehouse hearing should consider why Massachusetts should move to fix a system that, by most measures, is not broken....One reasonable concern, raised by the Pioneer Institute, is the potentially unhealthy authority the cabinet secretary could exert over the currently independent policymaking boards.... [read more...]

Sciortino: Comeptition challenges you to help public education
Somerville Journal

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-01-29
Category: Better Government
Description: Representative Carl Sciortino has announced an exciting opportunity for Somerville residents to get involved in improving public education in Massachusetts. Pioneer Institute, a non-profit research group is sponsoring the 17th Better Government Competition, which seeks ideas from individuals about ways to improve the quality and performance of K-12 education. Implementation of previous winning ideas have saved Massachusetts taxpayers more than $450 million.... [read more...]

State leaders debate using rainy day fund
Berkshire Eagle

Author(s): Matt Murphy — Press date: 2008-01-28
Category: Better Government
Description: As the state and national economy slides toward recession, Massachusetts political leaders face the difficult decision of deciding if and when to dip into the state's hefty store of reserves...."It's one-time money, a one-time thing when we're projecting state revenues to continue to grow. Obviously, if we hit an economic downturn, if indeed it is raining, then we can talk about the rainy day fund," said Steve Poftak, research director at the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank.... [read more...]

Hope and skepticism collide
Boston Globe

Author(s): Matt Viser — Press date: 2008-01-25
Category: Better Government
Description: Governor Deval Patrick may soon learn what happens when the politics of hope and change collide with the fiscal realities of shrinking revenues, a looming economic recession, and a skeptical Legislature...."There were some big thoughts last year, and we haven't seen any of that this year," said Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute... [read more...]

Competition Seeks Ideas for Education
Berkshire Eagle

Author(s): — Press date: 2008-01-20
Category: Better Government
Description: PITTSFIELD - State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, announces an opportunity for those with ideas on how to improve the state's education system....The Pioneer Institute, a nonprofit research group, is sponsoring its 17th Better Government Competition, which this year is seeking ideas to improve the quality and performance of K-12 education in Massachusetts.... [read more...]

Baehr's quest shines light on Lowell schools
Lowell Sun

Author(s): Matt Murphy — Press date: 2008-01-16
Category: Education
Description: Lowell Superintendent Karla Brooks Baehr's front-running candidacy to become the state's next education commissioner has put the city's schools under a microscope as the Board of Education and the public weigh her successes and failures of the past seven years....“If you look at the student-assessment data and the amount of funding the district has received, I don't think anyone could regard her tenure as much of a success,” said Jamie Gass, director of education research at the Pioneer Institute.... [read more...]

New education czar must be from outside
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Robert Z. Nemeth — Press date: 2008-01-13
Category: Education
Description: The state Board of Education is facing an enormously important task. It is about to select the next commissioner of education, who is expected to ensure that nearly 1 million students in Massachusetts public schools achieve the academic progress they need to succeed in today’s competitive world....Jamie Gass, director of the Pioneer Institute’s Center for School Reform, told me: “As Tom Birmingham has noted, education reform has stalled in Massachusetts. Consequently, competitiveness and student achievement will depend on the next commissioner redoubling our commitment to charter schools, teacher testing, MCAS, district accountability and school-based management.”... [read more...]

UMD estuaries program a model of collaboration
New Bedford-Standard-Times

Author(s): John Hoey — Press date: 2007-12-17
Category: Better Government
Description: The Standard-Times' recent criticism of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project following a state audit was unfair and disregarded numerous pertinent facts....It is important to note that the auditor has not raised a single concern about the quality of the project. The MEP, in fact, was cited in 2007 by the Pioneer Institute for being a successful and innovative model of collaboration. A policy brief released by the Pioneer Institute stated... [read more...]

Point-counterpoint or union spin?
Boston Globe

Author(s): Ronald N. Cogliano — Press date: 2007-12-15
Category: Better Government
Description: LOVETT PETERS of the Pioneer Institute is correct when he states that only 20 percent of the construction workforce is unionized in Massachusetts ("Paying the bills," Op-ed, Nov. 24). That figure comes from US Department of Labor and US Census Bureau data for 2006.... [read more...]

State audit questions actions in UMD estuaries project
New Bedford Standard-Times

Author(s): David Kibbe — Press date: 2007-12-11
Category: Better Government
Description: The Massachusetts Estuaries Project, created by the state in 2001, studies estuaries from Duxbury to Cape Cod to help municipalities deal with development and pollution issues....The program was lauded by the Pioneer Institute this year, which estimated it would save municipalities $25 million to $35 million over six years....“In no way are we questioning the quality and effectiveness of the program,” said Mr. DeNucci’s spokesman, Glenn Briere. “It’s public money, and you need accountability.”... [read more...]

Charters still grade A
Boston Herald

Author(s): Charles Chieppo — Press date: 2007-12-05
Category: Education
Description: Two recent reports document the success of important education reforms....In addition to improving student achievement, longer school days and pilot schools share another important characteristic: We have the commonwealth’s charter schools to thank for them. Boston’s pilot schools were a direct response to the creation of charters in 1995 and longer school days have been a staple at a number of charter schools.... [read more...]

Road rage
Boston Magazine

Author(s): John Wolfson — Press date: 2007-11-27
Category: Better Government
Description: ...“If you asked the governor which agency is doing the best job on maintenance,” says the Pioneer Institute’s Poftak, “I’d say he’d be hard-pressed to know. And that’s no knock on him. We just don’t have it set up for anyone to have that kind of information.”...At the Pioneer Institute conference, Secretary Cohen said it surprised him to discover that MassHighway and the Turnpike Authority order road salt separately.... [read more...]

Closed meetings draw criticism
Boston NOW

Author(s): State House News Service — Press date: 2007-11-13
Category: Education
Description: ...Referred to as the "Readiness Project," the blue ribbon panel and its subgroups were formed by an executive order Patrick signed in August, aimed at offering recommendations to the governor for both future legislative proposals and next year's state budget.... [read more...]

Roadway investment suggested
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Priyanka Dayal — Press date: 2007-11-09
Category: Better Government
Description: The commissioner of the Massachusetts Highway Department yesterday said the state should invest more in the day-to-day maintenance of roads and bridges before they start to deteriorate or become unsafe....The Pioneer Institute, a public policy think-tank, released a report earlier this year that drew attention to the state’s $17 billion backlog of bridge and other public-structure maintenance. The report said the state should spend more money on maintenance to prevent problems and the high cost of repairs in the future.... [read more...]

Bay State enters post-Big Dig era
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Robert Z. Nemeth — Press date: 2007-11-04
Category: Better Government
Description: “Looking back 50 or 60 years on the history of transportation in Massachusetts, there has been a different emphasis in just about every decade,” state Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen explained during a recent interview.... Next is the post-Big Dig era that comes with a whole new set of priorities, policies and expectations. The Transportation Finance Commission and the Pioneer Institute estimated that, at the current rate of investment, the transportation funding shortfall over the next 20 years would be between $15 billion and $19 billion.... [read more...]

New guide to help lure businesses
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Mary Jo Hill — Press date: 2007-10-25
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: ...During his news conference yesterday, Mayor Dan H. Mylott announced the release of a guide, titled “Navigating Through Regulations,” that walks aspiring businesspeople through the steps needed to open 20 different kinds of businesses in Fitchburg. The Pioneer Institute, a statewide think tank, worked with Fitchburg officials to put together the booklet. The same information also can be found on the group’s Web site at www.pioneerinstitute.org.... [read more...]

Legislature Pares Back Patrick Spending Wishes
iBerkshires.com

Author(s): Gintautus Dumcius — Press date: 2007-10-24
Category: Education
Description: ...Others said it indicated the moves could represent how much traction the governor's education reform efforts are having. "In some respects, it is a gauge of the level of support for the governor's education policies in the Legislature," said Jamie Gass, director of education research and programs at the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research... [read more...]

Help for Fitchburg entrepreneurs
Worcester Business Journal

Author(s): Livia Gershon — Press date: 2007-10-24
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: If you’re thinking of starting a small business in Fitchburg, your life just got a little bit easier. The Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based public policy group, is releasing a guide to government regulations affecting small businesses in the city.... [read more...]

Fitchburg offering guide to opening a business in the city
Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise

Author(s): Brandon Butler — Press date: 2007-10-24
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: City officials will be releasing a guide for entrepreneurs on how to open a business in Fitchburg. The city worked with the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based policy group, to create the guide, which will give business owners a step-by-step process of how to invest in the city. "This is a document we've worked on for years," Mayor Dan H. Mylott said.... [read more...]

Permit process gets easier
Taunton Daily Gazette

Author(s): Charles Winokoor — Press date: 2007-10-23
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: ...The guide was compiled and published by Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based, non-profit think tank that does research on issues related to enhancing the business and educational environment in the Bay State. On Monday, Mayor Charles Crowley personally thanked Pioneer Institute executive director Jim Stergios for having selected Taunton as one of 10 cities so far — including New Bedford, Brockton and Lowell — to have been selected as a recipient.... [read more...]

Fitchburg Pride

Author(s): — Press date: 2007-10-19
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: A new guide to doing business in Fitchburg was officially released this afternoon at Mayor Dan Mylott's weekly press conference. Mylott, along with the Dan Curley, Executive Director of the Fitchburg Industrial Development Commission, and Jim Stergios, Executive Director of The Pioneer Institute, released the 126-page guide "Navigating through Regulations & Licensing Requirements" in hopes of helping those interested in starting a business in the city.... [read more...]

NATIONAL VIEW: Mass. testing
New Bedford Standard-Times

Author(s): Guy Darst — Press date: 2007-10-05
Category: Education
Description: ...But his biggest surprise is the scope of a planned overhaul of what is probably the nation's best public school system — a reform effort he calls his "Readiness Project." He has asked for reports on 66 proposals ranging from making school days longer to dropping tuition in community colleges. The fear is that he's about to emasculate testing requirements put in place more than a decade ago....according to an analysis of 76 EQA reports by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, 44 of those 76 districts had curricula that did not meet state standards — their students could have been facing MCAS without having been taught some of the material on the tests.... [read more...]

"Impatient" Patrick creating "Big Idea" backlog on Beacon Hill
Associated Press

Author(s): Steve Leblanc — Press date: 2007-10-05
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick's "Big Idea" list keeps getting longer....But critics say that by trying to juggle too many balls at one, Patrick may end up dropping them all....The casino bill also could create a traffic jam effect for the rest of Patrick's agenda, according to Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute. "If the casino bill bogs down discussions on all the other things, you run the risk of creating a lame duck governor for at least six months," Stergios said. "How do you deal with education if maybe some of the casino revenue is intended to go toward education?" [read more...]

Between the Lines: Patrick Rolls the Dice
The Valley Advocate

Author(s): Tom Vannah — Press date: 2007-09-27
Category: Better Government
Description: ...Patrick now says he'll spend casino-related revenue, optimistically estimated at $400 million per year, on roads and bridges. Apparently he's responding to a convenient mid-summer Pioneer Institute report placing the cost of bringing and keeping state infrastructure up to snuff at $19 billion—money the state doesn't have.... [read more...]

Mass. Testing
Wall Street Journal

Author(s): Guy Darst — Press date: 2007-09-22
Category: Education
Description: ...But his biggest surprise is the scope of a planned overhaul of what is probably the nation's best public school system -- a reform effort he calls his "Readiness Project."...The EQA examines the performance of dozens of school districts across the state each year. And according to an analysis of 76 EQA reports by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, 44 of those 76 districts had curricula that did not meet state standards -- their students could have been facing MCAS without having been taught some of the material on the tests. The governor this year recommended defunding the agency and the legislature agreed, giving it just enough funding to wind up its work. Ms. Schaefer, calls the move "a mistake." Instead, she says, the agency "should have been strengthened." [read more...]

Cities face challenges
Springfield Republican

Author(s): Marcia Blomberg — Press date: 2007-09-19
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Older industrial cities such as Holyoke, Springfield and Chicopee should band together with others across the state to press for coordinated grant programs and additional state assistance, a public policy expert urged at a session yesterday. James Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, said 14 so-called "middle cities" across the state are facing increased fiscal pressures that must be addressed.... [read more...]

Sounding Reville for schools
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Clive McFarlane — Press date: 2007-09-19
Category: Education
Description: In his first stint as a board member, he was appointed by former Republican Gov. William F. Weld. This time, he was appointed by Democratic Gov. Deval L. Patrick. This tells you that Mr. Reville’s educational expertise on the local, state and national front is well-respected and transcends ideological barriers....Mr. Silber’s mercurial leadership ushered in a period of acrimony and polarization that eventually led James A. Peyser, former executive director of the Pioneer Institute and a man who believes that the only good public school is a charter school, to grab leadership of the board.... [read more...]

State of cities set for forum
Springfield Republican

Author(s): Marcia Blomberg — Press date: 2007-09-14
Category: Better Government
Description: HOLYOKE - The latest economic research on the state's cities will be presented on Tuesday at the first in a series of economic forecasting forums.... Business and community leaders attending the breakfast meeting will hear from Barry Bluestone, the executive director of Northeastern University's Center for Urban and Regional Policy, and James Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, an independent public policy research group in Boston.... [read more...]

Bridge Repairs Face Roadblocks
WCVB-TV Channel 5

Author(s): — Press date: 2007-09-11
Category: Better Government
Description: ..."We certainly don't rule out the possible need for new revenues, but we think just to pour money into a system that doesn't work, doesn't make sense," said Steve Poftak, of the Pioneer Institute. Poftak said there are too many agencies, such as Massport, Mass Highway and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, doing the same thing. There is a lot of duplication in some areas, yet too many other needs are ignored.... [read more...]

MCAS foes, grade thyselves
Boston Globe

Author(s): Jamie Gass — Press date: 2007-09-08
Category: Education
Description: IN HER Aug. 30 letter "State ed policy and the 'whole child,' " Deborah Meier recycles myths perpetuated by opponents of school reform, claiming that the dark phantom of the Pioneer Institute had an "extraordinarily narrow hold" on "the state Board of Education for years." Sadly, Meier and too large a segment of the education establishment oppose greater school accountability and high standards. Why? [read more...]

Nellhaus eyes steady hand amid education changes
Boston Globe

Author(s): Ken Maguire — Press date: 2007-08-31
Category: Education
Description: ...Amid what could be groundbreaking changes, though, somebody's got to turn on the lights in the morning and keep the engines running. That's Jeffrey Nellhaus, the state's new acting commissioner of education.....Jamie Gass, director of education research at the Boston think tank Pioneer Institute, said he's confident in Nellhaus' abilities."Considering the topsy-turvy state of the commissioner's search ... and Beacon Hill getting wobbly on MCAS, I think everyone's relieved that Jeff's steady leadership is at the helm," Gass said.... [read more...]

Longfellow Needs Smithy
Boston Herald

Author(s): Casey Ross — Press date: 2007-08-24
Category: Better Government
Description: ... The Pioneer Institute found the Longfellow to be in deplorable condition, with heavy rust and cracks threatening to undermine its strength. A recent report on the Longfellow revealed that the bridge has gradually slipped into a state of disrepair because of years of neglect that have crippled hundreds of other bridges statewide... [read more...]

Crews removing loose strips on Longfellow Bridge
Boston Globe

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2007-08-24
Category: Better Government
Description: ...A July 30 report from the Pioneer Institute detailed the destitute condition of the Longfellow Bridge, a steel-and-granite structure completed in 1908. The bridge supports the MBTA's Red Line operations and, according to MassHighway, carries 28,000 vehicles and 90,000 transit users a day.... [read more...]

Workers remove 'loose' 200-pound strips along stretch of Longfellow Bridge
State House News

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2007-08-23
Category: Better Government
Description: Construction crews on Thursday night began removing scores of loose 200-pound decorative strips from the Longfellow Bridge, which connects Boston and Cambridge... [read more...]

The toll of neglect
Boston Globe

Author(s): Charles D. Chieppo — Press date: 2007-08-21
Category: Better Government
Description: A TOLL INCREASE is scheduled to take effect next year on the Massachusetts Turnpike, but it won't raise nearly enough money, according to news reports last week, to cover the agency's expenses. This development once again highlights years of underinvestment in and mismanagement of the Commonwealth's infrastructure. If we are to invest more in these critical assets, we must generate new revenue in a way that's fair -- and use the revenue to buy reform by reordering our spending priorities... [read more...]

And You Wonder Why Fares Keep Going Up
Boston Magazine

Author(s): John Keohane — Press date: 2007-08-21
Category: Better Government
Description: Like the weather, Bostonians live to hate the T. The trains are dirty and occasionally violent. The bus drivers are foul-mouthed sociopaths who appear to get their kicks from inexplicably blowing past a half dozen people standing at a bus stop in the rain. Fares keep rising, without a commensurate improvement in customer service. Minority neighborhoods routinely get the shaft... [read more...]

Move to get new bridge on fast track
Weymouth News

Author(s): Ed Baker — Press date: 2007-08-21
Category: Better Government
Description: “Weld made some inroads on getting caught up with repairs on the state’s bridges,” Hedlund said. “He spent a couple of hundred million dollars on bridge repairs which is really not a lot when you consider how much the Longfellow Bridge will cost to repair.” A recent report released by the Pioneer Institute, a public policy research group, estimates the Longfellow will cost $180 million to repair with the potential for cost overruns reaching into the hundreds of millions. Hedlund said Weld should have directed more funding under the state’s capital improvement plan to fixing bridges and roads instead of spending millions on new MBTA commuter rail projects. [read more...]

More is less
Quincy Patriot Ledger

Author(s): Julie Jette — Press date: 2007-08-18
Category: Better Government
Description: ...A pair of economists from Harvard and Yale say the most cost-effective way to encourage people to use less water might be simply to raise its price. In a recent paper, Sheila M. Olmstead of Yale University and Robert N. Stavins of Harvard University say municipal rebates on low-flow toilets, rain barrels and shower heads can actually do more harm than good for local utilities. The economists prepared their study for The Pioneer Institute... [read more...]

Massachusetts can balance housing and open space
New Bedford Standard-Times

Author(s): Jack Clarke — Press date: 2007-08-16
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: The Pioneer Institute said Massachusetts businesses are at a competitive disadvantage with other parts of the country because of high property costs. In addition, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors says that the cost of housing is dependent on the cost of land.... [read more...]

Public pensions ripe for abuse
new Bedford Standard-Times

Author(s): Peter Friedman — Press date: 2007-08-16
Category: Better Government
Description: The "defined benefit" pension system in Massachusetts brings out a lot of passion among the public, although much of the controversy results from misunderstanding and even misinformation. In most cases, under reasonable economic assumptions, the system is fair to the employee and the taxpayer....Unfortunately, the system breaks down in cases where there is a large disparity in earning over a career. The Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research has issued a peer-reviewed white paper that concludes, "While the (state) pension system is not overly generous for typical employees, it is riddled with exceptions, ambiguities, and loopholes that allow some of them to abuse the system and collect unwarranted benefits, resulting in tremendous cost to the state and ultimately the taxpayers."... [read more...]

Federalism & infrastructure
Boston Phoenix

Author(s): Harvey Silverglate — Press date: 2007-08-15
Category: Better Government
Description: ... In a case of perfect accidental timing, the Pioneer Institute finished a review of our Commonwealth’s public bridges the same week as the collapse in Minneapolis and designated 558 of them “deficient."... [read more...]

The industry that time forgot
Boston Globe

Author(s): Barry B. LePatner — Press date: 2007-08-12
Category: Better Government
Description: ...The deadly and dramatic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis -- and the growing tally of troubled roads and bridges -- has brought home just how much building must be done to make our infrastructure safe. In Massachusetts alone, the repair tab could be more than $17 billion, according to a recent Pioneer Institute study.... [read more...]

State of neglect
Worcester Telegram

Author(s): Worcester Telegram — Press date: 2007-08-06
Category: Better Government
Description: While a new report on the stunningly bad job the state has done on maintaining and repairing many of the state’s public facilities, including roads and bridges, carries an equally stunning price tag of $17 billion, it is a promising example of the work the Patrick administration is doing to consolidate and streamline transportation issues across the state... [read more...]

Patrick: State can spend $12 billion without new taxes, gambling
Boston Herald

Author(s): Associated Press — Press date: 2007-08-06
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick said the state can afford to spend an additional $12 billion over the next five years on a host of expensive projects without relying on new taxes or gambling revenues.... [read more...]

Patrick to unveil $12 billion, five-year spending plan
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press — Press date: 2007-08-05
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick is scheduled to unveil a key initiative on Monday that will pump $12 billion of borrowed money into education, transportation and housing over the next five years... [read more...]

Terror by neglect
Daily News Tribune

Author(s): Deborah E. Gauthier — Press date: 2007-08-05
Category: Better Government
Description: We're spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars every year preparing for terrorists who might be planning attacks against our tunnels, bridges and buildings... [read more...]

Longfellow, other spans scrutinized
Boston Globe

Author(s): Stephanie Ebbert and Ryan Haggerty — Press date: 2007-08-04
Category: Better Government
Description: State officials revealed yesterday that the time-ravaged Longfellow Bridge is a steel arch truss bridge similar in design to the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis Wednesday and are examining inspection reports for two dozen bridges, including the Longfellow. [read more...]

OUR VIEW: It can happen here, too
The Patriot Ledger

Author(s): The Patriot Ledger — Press date: 2007-08-04
Category: Better Government
Description: An eight-lane interstate bridge linking Minneapolis and St. Paul buckles at evening rush hour. As many as 50 vehicles plummet more than 60 feet into the Mississippi River, some falling on top one of another. A school bus hangs in the balance; at least five people die, about 100 are injured, and many are missing... [read more...]

‘Structurally deficient’ rating eyed in Bay State: Looking for trouble
Boston Herald

Author(s): Marie Szaniszlo and Joe Dwinell — Press date: 2007-08-04
Category: Better Government
Description: Defect-hunting state engineers are working overtime this weekend to inspect nine steel-truss bridges in Massachusetts - including Boston’s frail Longfellow Bridge - that have the same “structurally deficient” rating as the Interstate 35W span that collapsed Wednesday in Minneapolis, killing at least five people....The collapse in Minneapolis has focused attention away from new projects and onto old ones. David Westerling of the Pioneer Institute said the timing is “uncanny.” “You need to step back and appreciate what you have and take care of it,” said Westerling, co-author of a report detailing the state’s neglect of its infrastructure, especially the Longfellow Bridge, which connects Boston and Cambridge. [read more...]

Maintenance plan can prevent bridge, road calamities
WHDH-TV 7

Author(s): Associated Press — Press date: 2007-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: "Maintenance is not sexy. There are no ribbon cuttings for replacing a gasket for a boiler." So said Steve Poftak of the Pioneer Institute, after his public policy think tank engaged in perhaps the most perfectly timed report release in the history of Beacon Hill. This past Monday, the institute released a 39-page report not only highlighting the poor condition of the Longfellow Bridge in Boston, but making a much larger point about transportation infrastructure. "No matter which entity is responsible, every state asset suffers from the same treatment," said the report, titled, "Our Legacy of Neglect." "We fail to adequately budget for maintenance; even worse, we actively create perverse incentives that discourage state managers from maintaining state assets." [read more...]

The road not taken on bridge repairs
Springfield Republican

Author(s): Editorial — Press date: 2007-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: Here's a question for anyone who drives to work each day on a Massachusetts highway: How many bridges do you travel over on your way to work?...The Pioneer Institute, a non-partisan think tank, issued a report just days before the Minneapolis tragedy concluding that the state's roads, bridges and other public assets suffer from decades of neglect....Yet, according to the Pioneer Institute's report, the price tag for the years of neglect totals at least $17 billion....The governor and the Legislature should establish a separate and permanent fund for maintenance and repairs so the state's infrastructure is not doomed to decay. [read more...]

588 Mass. bridges 'deficient'
Boston Globe

Author(s): By Stephanie Ebbert and Michael Levenson — Press date: 2007-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: Approximately 10 percent of the 5,500 bridges in Massachusetts are classified under federal standards as "structurally deficient," including 65 well-traveled bridges with such serious defects that they may need to be replaced and at least 10 with a design similar to the span that collapsed in Minneapolis on Wednesday....This week, the Pioneer Institute, a think tank, released a report titled "Our Legacy of Neglect," documenting a lack of funding for transportation infrastructure in Massachusetts.... [read more...]

How safe are we?
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Author(s): Priyanka Dayal — Press date: 2007-08-03
Category: Better Government
Description: After a bridge on a busy highway in Minneapolis collapsed during rush-hour traffic Wednesday evening, killing at least four people and injuring at least 79, Massachusetts officials said they are revisiting inspection reports for similar bridges in the state....Massachusetts’ long backlog of maintenance for aging bridges came under fire in a report released Tuesday by the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based public policy think tank. The report found that the state faces at least $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs for bridges and other public structures....Steve Poftak, director of research at the Pioneer Institute and co-author of the report, said the percentage of structurally deficient bridges in Massachusetts is consistent with the national figure.... [read more...]

Still high and dry
The Sun Chronicle

Author(s): Jim Hand — Press date: 2007-08-02
Category: Better Government
Description: State officials announced with great fanfare last year that the closed Spatcher Pool would reopen this summer after a $1.2 million renovation.... [read more...]

Inspectors to review all bridges similar to one in Minn. collapse
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press — Press date: 2007-08-02
Category: Better Government
Description: State inspectors have launched a review of all bridges in Massachusetts similar in design to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis, sending dozens of cars plummeting into the Mississippi River. Article Tools Printer friendly Single page E-mail to a friend Mass. RSS feed Available RSS feeds Most e-mailed Share on Digg Share on Facebook Save this article powered by Del.icio.us More: Globe City/Region stories | Latest local news | Globe front page | Boston.com Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts While the state has 32 of the so-called steel truss bridges, none are considered in danger of collapse, Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday.... [read more...]

State officials hope to fix local bridges before it's too late
Daily News Transcript

Author(s): David Riley — Press date: 2007-08-02
Category: Better Government
Description: ...The Pioneer Institute also released a recent report focusing on the aging Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, saying the span is symptomatic of broader infrastructure problems.... [read more...]

Sweet deals for some: Back door bargains add to state pension's debt
Gloucester Daily Times

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2007-08-02
Category: Better Government
Description: ...The contrast, critics say, is emblematic of the Massachusetts public pension system open to abuse by lawmakers who exploit loopholes to benefit well-connected friends and special interest groups and often themselves....The special deals come at a cost to taxpayers. A Pioneer Institute study estimated the price tag for loopholes in the law at $125 million last year on top of the more than $1 billion taxpayers paid into the system to make up for shortfalls.... [read more...]

A tale of two pension funds
The Eagle Tribune

Author(s): Shawn Regan — Press date: 2007-08-01
Category: Better Government
Description: Geographically, Haverhill and Lawrence are Massachusetts neighbors, but they are worlds apart when it comes to the performance of their retirement funds... [read more...]

Far-flung resorts draw retirement board
The Eagle Tribune

Author(s): Chris Cassidy — Press date: 2007-08-01
Category: Better Government
Description: ...But a report last year by the Pioneer Institute questioned the value of travel by board members, given that they hire professional advisers to manage their pension investments. The Boston think tank said board members across the state exploit weak controls on travel expenses for questionable trips to popular tourist destinations... [read more...]

Sweet deals for some
The Eagle Tribune

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2007-08-01
Category: Better Government
Description: David San Antonio died in 2004 of a rare genetic disorder that left him blind and wracked with tumors. Those who knew him say that before he died, the 38-year-old Methuen, Mass., police officer accidentally checked the wrong box when filing for his city pension, leaving his widow and two children without benefits... [read more...]

Retiree health care expenses a 'ticking time bomb'; Bill rivals cost of the Big Dig
Daily News of Newburyport

Author(s): Edward Mason — Press date: 2007-08-01
Category: Better Government
Description: ...Like other states, Massachusetts pays for retirees' health care costs from its annual budget, a "pay-as-you-go" system. The tab for fiscal 2007 was $319 million, up from $240 million just five years earlier....Compounding the problem, state workers can retire at a relatively young age. The median age for the approximately 1,300 state employees who retired in 2005 was 58, according to a study by the nonprofit Pioneer Institute. [read more...]

Patrick raises state's bond cap
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve LeBlanc — Press date: 2007-08-01
Category: Better Government
Description: ...Two recent reports found that the state is facing huge deficits to maintain its existing infrastructure.One, by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, found the state is facing at least $17 billion in immediate deferred maintenance costs, from roads and bridges to jails and universities.... [read more...]

Neglect plagues Longfellow Bridge
BostonNOW

Author(s): Galen Moore — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: Years of neglect could force the Longfellow Bridge to be closed if repair work is not quickly undertaken, according to a study released yesterday. In a report titled "A Legacy of Neglect," Boston-based Pioneer Institute said the ailing span is typical of bridges, roads and state-owned property throughout Massachusetts. The state has made repairs only twice in the bridge's 100-year history, the report found. Now, the bridge's steel deck is rusted through in places, and its signature "salt-and-pepper" stone towers are leaning and cracked.... [read more...]

Longfellow Bridge Repairs
WBZ News Radio 1030

Author(s): Lana Jones — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: The Pioneer Institute reports that deferred maintenance will cost Massachusetts $17 billion in the coming years. Case in point: the Longellow Bridge. WBZ's Lana Jones talked with civil engineer David Westerling and Research Director Steve Poftak. [read more...]

Report: Mass. Doing Bad Job Caring For Roads, Bridges
WCVB-TV Channel 5

Author(s): Associated Press — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: Massachusetts is doing a poor job keeping critical public assets in good repair -- from roads and bridges to jails and universities -- and is facing at least $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs, according to a report to be released Tuesday....Among the recommendations in the study by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute is the creation of a special facilities maintenance fund. The report says the state should consider the maintenance costs for a project even before it is built, and factor those costs into the initial estimate. [read more...]

Report: Mass. doing poor job keeping infrastructure in good repair
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve LeBlanc — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: Massachusetts is doing a poor job keeping critical public assets in good repair -- from roads and bridges to jails and universities -- and is facing at least $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs, according to a report to be released Tuesday.Among the recommendations in the study by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute is the creation of a special facilities maintenance fund. The report says the state should consider the maintenance costs for a project even before it is built, and factor those costs into the initial estimate.... [read more...]

Report: Longfellow Bridge a symbol of state's negligence
Cambridge Chronicle

Author(s): Kyle Cheney — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: With images of crumbling rust and cracked granite, a report released today tells the story of the state's infrastructure failures via the history of a single bridge, and castigates Beacon Hill for what the authors term "our legacy of neglect."... [read more...]

Patrick raises state's borrowing limit
Boston Globe

Author(s): Steve LeBlanc — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: Gov. Deval Patrick is raising Massachusetts' borrowing limit, saying the state needs more money for transportation projects, public safety improvements and repairs to the university system, beaches and parks... [read more...]

Report: Mass doing a poor job keeping infrastructure in good repair
WPRI/Fox News Providence

Author(s): Associated Press — Press date: 2007-07-31
Category: Better Government
Description: ...A new report says Massachusetts is doing a poor job keeping critical public assets in good repair....From roads and bridges to jails and universities the study by the Boston-based Pioneer Institute says the state is facing at least $17 billion in deferred maintenance costs. [read more...]

DEC wins 2007 Better Government Competition
Shirley Oracle

Author(s): — Press date: 2007-07-27
Category: Better Government
Description: DEVENS -- Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) was honored by the Pioneer Institute as the winner of the 16th Annual Better Government Competition for its unified permitting system for the redevelopment of Fort Devens....Gov. Deval Patrick keynoted the event and acknowledged the importance of the DEC's unified permitting system in attracting firms such as Bristol-Myers Squibb to the Commonwealth. [read more...]

Study: Raising water prices best way to cut usage
Boston Globe

Author(s): Thomas C. Palmer, Jr. — Press date: 2007-07-21
Category: Economic Opportunity
Description: Raising the price of water is more effective than using regulations like water bans in promoting conservation, according to a study by Sheila M. Olmstead of Yale University and Robert N. Stavins of Harvard Universit