Springfield Republican reporter Dan Ring wrote Tuesday that state Rep. Karyn Polito, R-Shrewsbury, would not stand in the way of a $430 million spending bill anymore:

“The state House of Representatives today rejected Polito’s amendment to strike $11.6 million in the bill to pay for 47 union contracts, including those for county correctional officers, police officers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and about 2,200 faculty and librarians at the Amherst and Boston campuses of the University of Massachusetts,” Ring wrote in his story.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/legislators_may_give_final_app.html

———————–

Before the vote, The State House News reported Polito as saying she’d push Gov. Deval Patrick to veto the pay raises if her amendment was shot down. http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1288344

The money, which Ring reported will be used mostly to pay for Medicaid programs, must be spent before the fiscal year ends on June 30, 2011.

Ring also wrote that “the bill sends $195 million to the state’s rainy day fund.”

In an AP story updated that morning, Administration and Finance Secretary Jay Gonzalez said “roughly half of the federal money will fund programs currently covered with money drawn from the state’s rainy day fund, preventing a planned $195 million withdrawal from that account.”

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/massachusetts_gov_deval_patric_32.html

Reporter Kyle Cheney of the Statehouse News Service clarified Friday that “$195 million in federal funds [will] replace planned spending from the state’s rainy day fund.”

———————–

He also pointed out that $203 million will go toward Medicaid programs for low-income and disabled residents while the State Police will receive a $5 million boost and $25 million will be steered toward the Department of Corrections.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/sherborn/news/x277753622/Senate-passes-spending-bill-house-to-seek-final-vote-after-holiday

———————

On Friday, Cheney chimed in again – writing that the passing of the big stimulus bill represented  “another chance to spread fiscal love across the state in the 18 days remaining until the election.”

http://www.wickedlocal.com/swampscott/news/x1404217564/State-House-Weekly-Roundup-Blurred-Lines

Cheney went on to write that the bill “will shore up the State Police and Department of Correction and funds union pay raises in higher education and sheriff operations that are accompanied by contract concessions.”

What were these contract concessions? We don’t know….yet.

————————–

Transparency, anyone? Pioneer hopes to find out who is in line for a raise.

People know the historic open-air farmer’s market on Blackstone Street is the place to go for cheaper meats and produce inside the hub. But did you know that vendors don’t have to remove their trash?

A Boston Herald story that ran Saturday pointed out that “trash cleanup is left to the Department of Public Works.”

All this time I thought that Haymarket operated under the “you pack it in, you pack it out” outdoorsman’s mantra.

But the meat of Laura Crimaldi’s story is the fact that the city is buying four gigantic trash compactors for $225,000 so vendors can get rid of their trash on-site:

“The new equipment means Haymarket vendors will now be responsible for hauling their waste to the trash compactors, which will be emptied weekly,” Crimaldi reported.  “Currently, trash cleanup is left to DPW employees.”

Crimaldi quoted DPW Superintendent Joanne Massaro as saying that the city pays $50,000 each year to clean up trash left behind by Haymarket vendors.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20101016pile_of_relief_for_waste_at_haymarket/srvc=home&position=also

At urban farmer’s markets in other nearby states, vendors are required to clean up after themselves. It’s a logical rule – you made the mess, so you get to clean it up.

The policy for farmers’ markets in Tacoma, Washington requires that “vendors are responsible for picking up all trash or refuse within 15 feet of their assigned market space.”

http://tacomafarmersmarket.com/admin/Market%20Rules.pdf

—————————

On New York’s Roosevelt Island, it’s also up to the vendors to clean up after themselves: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29792961/Farmers-Market-Vendor-Application

If those seem like isolated examples, consider a report compiled by the University of Arkansas School of Law. The paper, produced by the National Center for Agricultural Law Research and Information, contains a lengthy list of state farmers market rules.

The report states on page 13, “In preparing this study, rules from more than 30 current farmers’ markets of all types and sizes, operating in 15 states, were collected and examined.”

http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com/pdf_files/fmruleregs.pdf

I’ll spare you the time it takes to look over every farmer’s market discussed in this 49-page report. The important statistic cited is that in every market, a clean up rule was set in place.

Except – it appears – in Boston.

Take – for example – the news that shook Democrat Suzanne Bump’s campaign for state auditor: it’s never a good sign when someone up for an auditing gig gets caught claiming primary residence property tax breaks on two different homes.

Credit for breaking the story – which prompted Bump to fork over almost $6,000 in taxes to the city of Boston – should go to a Northeastern University investigative reporting team whose story was published Thursday in the Boston Globe.

****************************

And then there’s the case of Timothy Cahill’s sinking campaign for governor and his charge that several former campaign operatives conspired against him with Republican rival Charlie Baker.

Remember the 1990s Michael Douglas movie “Falling Down?”

There’s a point in that movie where our protagonist basically loses it. He leaves his car parked in the middle of a Los Angeles freeway and embarks on an hour-long “I’m mad as Hell and I can’t take it anymore” crusade.

Well last Thursday Cahill parked that proverbial car at the foot of the courthouse when he filed a suit claiming three of his former staffers conspired with the GOP to help his Republican nemesis – Charlie Baker.

Here’s what he had to say:

“If you (Charlie Baker) thought this backroom deal would be the one to push me out of the race and facilitate your coronation, then you are sadly mistaken.”

The former state treasurer is not yet throwing in the towel. But his defected aides are claiming that the lawsuit is merely a ruse to keep them from producing evidence that Cahill used the treasurer’s office for campaigning.

The next step? Cahill will appear in Norfolk Superior Court on Wednesday in what the Boston Herald’s Hillary Chabot wrote is a move “to prevent the potential release of any information obtained by his former consultants while they were working for him. Consultants have alleged that Cahill was improperly using the state lottery to bolster his campaign.”

********************

OTHER GOINGS ON…

State House News reporter Kyle Cheney reported Friday that state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, said he wants to spearhead an initiative aimed at redrawing the state’s political districts:

“Rosenberg, picked by Senate President Therese Murray to chair the Senate’s redistricting committee, said he and his House counterpart, Rep. Michael Moran, will spend the rest of this year sorting out “contracts, hiring legal counsel, picking computer systems, identifying and training staff” in connection with the redistricting effort

It’s still unclear if state Rep. Karyn Polito, R-Shrewsbury, will continue to block approval of a $420 million stimulus bill when the House reconvenes Tuesday for an informal session.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the House will put the bill back on the table for final approval after the Senate voted last week to approve it. Cheney reported Friday that it is not clear whether or not Polito will continue to block the bill’s progress:

According to The Worcester Telegram, traffic was the reason Polito did not vote last week to block it: http://www.telegram.com/article/20101006/NEWS/10060375/1020

Polito has said she’s at odds with the bill’s spending provisions and argues that it should be debated in formal legislative session:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9INJ32O0.htm

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1287451&format=text

In Massachusetts, there’s always a task force for that.

Chabot points out that Gov. Deval Patrick formed a commission to crack down on welfare fraud in 2008.

But what Chabot did not point out was that Gov. Patrick in June authored an amendment to the 2011 budget that clarifies the penalty for welfare fraud:

“Eligible recipients of direct cash assistance shall not use direct cash assistance funds held on electronic benefit transfer cards for the purchase of alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.  An individual or store owner who knowingly accepts electronic benefit transfer cards in violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years or by a fine of not less than $1,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.”

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=afterminal&L=6&L0=Home&L1=Budget%2c+Taxes+%26+Procurement&L2=State+Budget&L3=FY2011+Budget+Information&L4=The+Governor’s+FY2011+Vetoes&L5=Amendments&sid=Eoaf&b=terminalcontent&f=anf_fy11_veto_c&csid=Eoaf

Gov. Patrick noted that an amendment to the original bill approved by both the House and the Senate was necessary because it “incorrectly refers to imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 5 years, rendering this provision unenforceable as sentences over 2 ½ years can only be served in a state prison.”

Good catch, Governor.

But in Chabot’s story, she quoted state welfare department spokeswoman Jennifer Kritz as saying, “this administration supports changing the rules to prohibit individuals and vendors from knowingly accepting EBT cash benefits for the purchase of alcohol or tobacco.”

So if the budget passed this past June already makes it a crime for merchants to knowingly accept EBT cards to pay for booze and smokes, why would Kritz say the administration “supports changing the rules.”

But those rules have already been changed – so why the lack of enforcement?

That and exactly who serves on the governor’s welfare task force are  types of questions the Pioneer Institute plans to explore during the coming weeks.

Boston Herald reporter Laurel J. Sweet wrote Thursday that Democratic U.S. Rep. John Tierney refused to speak to the media Wednesday outside U.S. District Court about his wife’s admitted involvement with an illegal multimillion-dollar gambling operation allegedly run by her brothers:

“Tierney, 59, of Salem, yesterday refused to field questions outside U.S. District Court in Boston after his wife of 13 years, custom jewelry designer Patrice Tierney, also 59, pleaded guilty to helping her brother Robert Eremian conceal his $7 million ownership stake in a Caribbean phone and online betting service by falsifying his federal tax returns for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008,” wrote Sweet.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20101007tierney_tax_flap_shakes_up_race/srvc=home&position=4

Meanwhile, Suzanne Bump – a former state representative from Braintree – could be facing a serious bump in the road in her candidacy for state auditor.

Boston Globe correspondents Stefanie Geisler and Walter V. Robinson reported Thursday that Bump and husband Paul F. McDevitt are claiming to have two primary residences inside Massachusetts – a strategy that exempts them from having to pay a special property tax levied on residents who are not full-time residents:

“Bump and her husband, Paul F. McDevitt, have saved more than $6,000 in Boston property taxes since 2006 by reporting that a condominium they own in South Boston is their principal residence, according to tax and property records examined by the Globe,” the story states – and even though Bump argued that her actions are “within the letter of the law” – the state’s Department of Revenue has a different take on the situation.

“A taxpayer can only have one principal or primary residence for property tax purposes,’’ spokesman Robert Bliss said after conferring with Revenue Department tax specialists. “You cannot take a property tax break in two different communities.’’

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2010/10/07/auditor_candidate_claimed_two_property_tax_exemptions?mode=PF

Thursday morning the Quincy Patriot-Ledger’s Lane Lambert reported that Bump sat down with the Ledger’s editorial board to defend her decision:

“Both tax authorities say we’re in full compliance,” the former Braintree state representative said.

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/state_news/x1164157867/Bump-swings-back-at-Globe-report-on-property-taxes

Bump is seeking election for the position of state auditor next month – a post Geisler and Robinson point out is responsible for or ensuring that taxpayer money is used appropriately.

————————————-

In Springfield, Peter Goonan reported for The Republican Thursday that the city is looking for volunteers to serve on a committee tasked with evaluating the $95,000 annual salary paid to the mayor and seeing if any future raises would be justifiable:

“Council President Jose F. Tosado said Wednesday that although he is personally opposed to granting an increase in the mayor’s salary, he does support creation of the study committee and is soliciting volunteers,” Goonan reported.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/study_to_target_springfield_ma.html

———————

The Lowell Sun’s Jennifer Myers reported Thursday that School Superintendent Chris Scott is looking for a hefty raise after her contract is up next June.

“Under her proposal, Scott would take the $170,000 salary again in fiscal 2012, bringing the cumulative savings of her refusing her raises since fiscal 2010 to $62,707. However, on July 1, 2012, her salary would jump to $198,876, which is reflective of what it would have been had she taken the 4 percent increases throughout the life of her current contract. Her salary would then increase to $206,831 on July 1, 2013, for the final year of the contract.”

Scott’s attorney Michael Gallagher was not pleased that contract discussions were conducted during an open meeting:

“I think that is unfortunate,” said Scott’s attorney. “Those kinds of communications should be maintained in confidence during the negotiation process.”

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_16276803

———————————-

In Framingham, MetroWest Daily News correspondent Brittany Danielson probed the state’s 40B November ballot question Thursday.

The debate boils down to whether Bay State voters think 40B represents a loophole for greedy developers or an honest way to provide affordable housing to residents looking to live in towns they might otherwise be priced out of:

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/top_stories/x1299325667/Is-Chapter-40B-worth-it-A-look-at-ballot-Question-2

—————————–

In New Bedford, the Standard-Times’ Steve Urbon reported Thursday that Gov. Deval Patrick is pleading with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke for increased and immediate help for the fishing industry and fishing community.

Specifically, Patrick wants to increase catch limits and wrote in his letter that he wants the federal government to “identify $2.1 million in additional funding to allow us to conduct a cooperative groundfish assessment program in partnership with federal, state and industry stakeholders.”

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101007/NEWS/10070323

————————