Be careful what you do here in the Commonwealth, you might be forced to spend the weekend indoors with your kids!! A longshoreman from Boston plead (pled?, pleaded? pleadarum?) guilty to putting his 4 year old on the Massport payroll and was sentenced to probation, restitution, and….gasp….4 weeks of home confinement on the weekends. Given that he’s got five kids under 10 year of age, that might be a tougher sentence than you would expect.
As noted in yesterday’s post, the Commonwealth signaled its intention to utilize the full $1b in short-term borrowing capability in advance of April’s tax receipts. April is typical the toughest month as personal income tax receipts aren’t due until the 15th and over $1b in local aid has to go out at the beginning of the month. But the Treasurer just announced that the state will be maxing out its credit card in December, not April.
The latest version of the Commonwealth’s Information Statement Supplement , the best source of concrete financial data on our state, is out. A few nuggets: The Surplus: pg. A-1 — The State ended up with a fiscal 2007 surplus of $190.9 million. Of course, there was a supplemental budget passed in October (for FY2007) that spent $212.1m and rolled over $60m in unexpended funds. Thus, without that supp, there would have been a surplus of $462m. Lottery Deficit: pg. A-2 — The lottery was short by $119m and will be short by $124m next year, unless sales pick up significantly. That’s $243m that the state needs to make up somewhere. Taxes: pg. A-3 — FY2007 tax revenues exceeded projections by […]
The Legislature may not have had time to take up gambling or biotech investments this session, but rest assured that the issue of band-instrument spittle is moving apace — just today the Senate approved a House bill establishing a task force to examine hygienic procedures pertaining to band instruments.
I’m confident that no previous New York Times’ article has ever mentioned this level of alcohol consumption. From the NYT’s helpful guide to carving a Thanksgiving turkey: “One year the turkey took a long time to cook and I went to carve it after about 13 beers,” said Maurice Landry, who lives near Lake Charles, La. “The way I remember it, I bore down to take off the leg and the whole thing went shooting off the platter and knocked over the centerpiece.” Happy Thanksgiving!
Buried in the outside sections of Governor’s latest supplemental budget is a provision to move the Mass Turnpike’s accounting system into the main state accounting system (that’s NewMMARS for you budgeting enthusiasts). This change will now make the MTA’s accounts (and spending down to a very detailed level) transparent to state budget officials. I’m not sure whether to be happy about the progress or sad that such a basic thing counts as progress.
From today’s Globe editorial promoting universal wireless in Boston: Boston is trying to invent a more open model, with a network to be built and maintained by a newly created nonprofit using donated money. This nonprofit would pursue the civic mission and welcome commercial partners. So, for example, Verizon might offer low-cost e-mail service. [Emphasis added] Great idea, you could call it Hotmail. Or maybe Gmail. No wait, how about…….
I posted a few weeks ago, regarding the quiet, unchecked potential expansion of legislation that would greatly increase pension costs. So, its only fair that I give credit to the Joint Committee on Public Service for putting a severe limit on this type of behavior. They are requiring that all ‘reclassification requests’ (the practice of changing the classification level of an employee or class of employees, thereby increasing their pensions through statutory action; one of the many gaming techniques detailed here) come with an estimate of the cost and a written opinion from the Retirement Board that actually has to pay out the money. Its apparently angered at least one of their colleagues, but we salute their common sense request […]
Heh, heh, still waiting for the Patrick Administration to call. Did you feel a palpable shift in the oversight of state government last month? Sure you did. October 18th marked the expiration of my term on the Commonwealth’s Finance Advisory Board. Still waiting for that reappointment phone call from my friends in the Administration.
Tuesday’s Globe had a story on the tug of war going on regarding the Renewable Energy Trust with some legislators seeking to move it out of the quasi-autonomous Mass Technology Collaborative (with its… ahem… own loyalties) and into the Environmental Affairs Secretariat. The Trust, like many well-meaning programs, suffers from the Ginsu Knife effect (remember – it slices, it dices, but wait, there’s more….). It offers grants, rebates, technical assistance, equity investments, debt financing, and marriage counseling. (OK, I made that last one up.) The net effect being that its almost impossible to figure out if the program is doing any good. I’m all for clean energy, but taxing our utility bills then shuffling the money off to a quasi-state […]
Ever get that feeling that you were doing just that, without really paying attention to the world around you? Apparently the Legislature sometimes has the same problem: …lawmakers, meeting in an informal House session, recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Halfway through, they realized that the flag they were pledging to, normally propped up above the rostrum in the rear of the chamber, had been taken down… From State House News Service (sub. req.).
Ever heard of the “Heart Law“? It says that certain public safety officers who develop hypertension or heart disease shall be assumed to have developed said condition in the line of duty and puts the burden of proof on the employer to demonstrate otherwise. There is currently legislation wending its way through the Legislature, in informal session, with no debate or roll call votes, that will extend this law to county corrections officers. I don’t know if its a good law or a bad law. But our 2006 report on pension costs prompts me to ask the following questions: 1) How much will this bill add to the pension liability? and 2) Who will pay for it? Wait, I think […]
A recent op-ed in the LA Times calls for certain medications to be prescribed by pharmacists. This suggestion is on a continuum with a few other ideas that move select portions of medical practice from its traditional delivery mode to more convenient and cost-effective (but still clinically rigorous) modes. Increasing the practice rights of nurse practitioners and allowing Minute Clinics are ideas along these lines. The gist of the idea is that for certain medications, it is a appropriate for a pharmacist to prescribe directly to customers who come in and complain of specific symptoms. This should be familiar to anyone whose ever gotten mildly ill in Europe — where the practice is widespread. Although this seems like common sense, […]
The prospect for dynamic reform on Beacon Hill seemed slight a week ago. New initiatives seemed to be breaking down in a familiar pattern — Governor proposes ‘bold, new’ (expensive) initiative, Legislature promises ‘careful, in-depth’ review (and plenty of revisions. Then, Senate President Murray gave her speech at Wednesday’s Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce meeting. She proposed the following: 1) Public hearings to document the causes of premium increases above 7 percent 2) Realigning of payment methodologies to encourage quality and efficiency, not just the volume of services provided. 3) Increased recruitment of primary care providers 4) Allowing nurse practitioners to serve as PCPs for some patients 5) Permit “limited service clinics” proposed by the Department of Public Health. 6) […]
1) I never thought I would be pining for Jack Buck and Tim McCarver, but can we ban TBS from ever having anything to do with the major league playoffs again? And take your 9 foot lead line with you. 2) I am fully prepared to spend the rest of my life never seeing or hearing about Cal Ripken again. This means you, Chevrolet and TBS. Oh, and let me throw in Brett Favre as well. This means you, Chris Berman, Wrangler, and Peter King. 3) Is it wrong to be reveling in the joint NY agony of Mets and Yankees fans? 4) Plus the apocalyptic nature of the Yankees meltdown in the nasty, bug-infested Cleveland night, with wonderchild Joba […]
I think I’m the only person that the Patrick Administration has not picked to be on an education advisory committee. I was fine when I was overlooked for the pre-K – 12 and Higher Education transition teams, consisting of 11 and 12 members respectively. Then, they went ahead without me for the K – 12 and Higher Education Task Forces, consisting of 47 total members. Next, I was snubbed for the Readiness Project Leadership Council, made up of 21 members. And now the final straw, no room for me among the 150+ members of the Readiness Project subcommittees. I’m kidding here obviously, but my broader point is this — how many committee meetings and members do you need to determine […]
Remember the pledge to put 1000 new police officers on the street? That is not happening, but the administration has just put forward a plan to put 50 more officers on the street. However, Chief Anthony Scott of Holyoke is balking at the state aid, saying “After the three or four years, the city and taxpayers need to find the money to keep those individuals employed…[i]t’s not fiscally responsible.” The Chief points out the problem with state initiatives for local programs. Can you rely on continued funding? Its akin to someone ‘buying you a house’ by making the downpayment, then handing you a mortgage. State government pays for the initial cost of hiring the officers (and takes the credit), then […]
From today’s Senate Session, via State House News (sub. required): MOORE STATEMENT ON MISSED ROLL CALLS: The Senate agreed to print in its journal a statement from Sen. Moore explaining how he would have voted on roll calls he missed Sept. 20 while attending a National Conference of State Legislatures event. The statement indicated Moore would have voted to override all of Gov. Patrick’s budget vetoes taken up that day. Given that all the overrides passed by overwhelming margins, was this really necessary?
The necktie debate has roiled through our office several times. The following was brought to our attention by the Liam Day Joint Harvard-Oxford-Middlebury Institute for the Elimination of Class Distinctions: The National Health Service of Britain has called for the elimination of neckties for health workers, based on sanitary reasons, claiming that: Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily. They perform no beneficial function in patient care and have been shown to be colonised by pathogens.
We did a paper last year detailing the cost of pension gaming to the Commonwealth. The Herald has just put up a database of all the pension recipients and their yearly payouts. Many old friends show up….
The Globe’s Stan Grossfeld plants exactly that in today’s Globe with a puff piece on Pennsylvania’s experience with racinos. Unsurprisingly, a declining industry that receives a massive subsidy experiences a bit of resurgence, but the unasked question is why should we be subsidizing horse owners above any number of other worthy recipients. Also conveniently absent is any reference to the massive profits that the former track owners made when they sold their facilities after purchasing below-market fixed price licenses. One of the details in the Patrick Administration’s casino plan that we were glad to see is the presence of a competitive bid process (as opposed to granting fixed-price licenses to racetracks, which was floated last year). Check out our op-ed […]
Yesterday’s Globe reports on charges filed against a Vermont man, who may need to ponder the consistency of his actions: “A Vermont man charged with helping convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown evade authorities left a trail of evidence showing his allegiance, authorities said yesterday. Robert Wolffe showed his devotion to the Browns and his wish for an armed showdown with authorities via blogs and e-mail, even e-mailing a manual on how to kill government officials to his wife at work, an employee in the Vermont division of the Federal Highway Administration, a prosecutor alleged.” [Emphasis added]
“Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance” was provided in September 2007.
What, you expected this blog to do a straight football piece? C’mon. We are picking Mystic Valley Regional Charter School to score an upset victory this week in their home opener against Hyde Park. Mystic Valley is the only charter school in the state to have a football team and they face long odds given the youth of the program. Today’s Globe reports the team has a new coach, new offense and defense, and some returning starters looking to improve on last year’s 1 – 10 season. As a side note, we are happy to hear that someone is still running the Wing-T. The September 29th match-up with fellow Wing-T holdouts, St. Mary’s of Lynn, should be a classic for […]
We looked at the cost that pension loopholes and gaming impose on the Commonwealth. Our report concludes that at least $3b of the $13b unfunded pension liability comes from these practices. The creation of these loopholes happens on a regular basis and here’s a small example that came up in today’s legislative session — House Bill 4024, which allows six individuals to receive credit in the Cambridge Retirement System ($108m unfunded liability as of 2006) for time they spent as mid-wives at Cambridge Health Alliance. To be clear, I’m a big fan of mid-wives and I’m not sure what the Cambridge Health Alliance is (non-profit? municipal entity? other?). But the point is — the rules of the game should not […]
The Globe’s Thursday editorial on the start of the new school year in Boston has an interesting comment from the new superintendent: Her attitude toward independent charter schools is instructive. Unions and school boards resent the competition. She doesn’t. “The monopoly is over,” says Johnson. “We have to earn the right to serve the kids next door.”
In rough terms, the Copernican Principle states that we should assume we are not special (i.e. the universe does not revolve around us). So why does Massachusetts think it’s so exceptional? Three examples: Auto Insurance — 49 other states have some form of managed competition. Why can’t we? I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the recently proposed reforms (start here and follow the links on the third page for the details). But how about this for a test — What do we have to do to get Geico, Progressive, and Allstate to offer car insurance in this state? Police Details — This is an old story worth repeating — 49 other states use paid flaggers on […]
Burying the lede: State House News has a brief piece on the latest filings for School Building Assistance program. Towards the end, it notes that several of the schools built under the program (when it was administered by the Dep’t of Ed) in western Mass were being used for non-school purposes since the students never materialized to fill the building. So what exactly did we subsidize? We didn’t say it: I enjoyed this quote from a local restaurant bulletin board: “Ugh. So, I’m attending the American Chemical Society meeting with 1223947928 of my closest friends. Historically, this meeting (along with all the others) was at Hynes, which left you any number of options for lunch/dinner/drinks. But the new convention center […]
Today’s Globe has a brutal piece on the MBTA’s pension plan and the unbelievable payouts it generates. One of the highlights is former MBTA General Manager Michael Mulhern’s payout. He retired as GM several years ago and got the proverbial soft landing as head of the T’s pension plan. At age 48, he collects a pension of $130,000 and a salary of $225,000. The T’s plan does this because it has many of the crazy features of the other public pension systems (read more about those here) plus it has no minimum age feature, so folks can retire as soon as they get their 20 years in, even if they are in the prime of their careers. To add insult […]
Back in October, we released a paper on business costs in Massachusetts. One of the surprising conclusions was that our healthcare costs were not terribly out of line with our competitor states. This was a real surprise and ran counter to a lot of the anecdotal data floating around. A fascinating entry in WBUR’s Commonhealth series sheds some light on the discrepancy. If you measure by average premium (which we did), we are not that far out of whack. If you measure by some variation of healthcare’s share of the Massachusetts’ economy, then we are massively out of line. David Torchiana, of the Mass. General Physician’s Organization argues that the second measure includes NIH expenditures and the costs associated with […]