THE PIONEER BLOG

Editorial Staff

Pioneer Institute Public Statement to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board

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Earlier this week, Fox 25 News reported that Michael Mulhern, the executive director of the MBTA Retirement Fund, will be triple-dipping from taxpayer-funded pensions. A few days earlier, Mulhern announced his intention to resign from the fund in August. In addition to healthcare coverage, he is already receiving a $65,000 pension from the T as well as $86,000 in deferred compensation. The Fox 25 report revealed a further $167,000 in a retirement account set up during his time at the pension fund. Pioneer’s recent report “The Reckless Cost of Investment Mismanagement at the MBTA Retirement Fund” revealed that the MBTARF’s underperformance relative to the state pension board over 14 years has cost taxpayers and T employees $902 million. In a […]

Mary Connaughton

Public Records Reform: Our Take

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The public records bill that was signed into law by Governor Baker last week and takes effect January 1, 2017 contains significant improvements to existing law and will no doubt improve the Commonwealth’s poor national rankings for government transparency.  The legislators who crafted it have done the state a service. But there is more work to do – Massachusetts should hold the highest ranking.  Transparency, after all, measures the health and vibrancy of our democracy. Pioneer Institute has long supported many elements of the bill, including subjecting the MBTA Retirement Board to public records law and making its operations transparent, establishing a public records officer for every agency, promoting electronic records in response to requests, imposing stronger penalties on delinquent […]

Matt Blackbourn

Inconsistencies in UMass’ Reporting of Deferred Maintenance

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In assembling the data for Pioneer’s UMass at a Crossroads series, which covers the improving academic profile of UMass students, the strategy of recruiting more out-of-state and international students to generate additional revenue, and the fiscal implications of UMass’ ambitious capital expansion, Pioneer identified inconsistencies in UMass’ reporting of deferred maintenance. Below is a brief overview of the disparate deferred maintenance numbers UMass has provided over the last several years, accompanied by discussion of the implications of these inconsistencies. (Note: endnotes/citations can be found in the papers, available here.) Disparities in UMass’ reporting of deferred maintenance Deferred maintenance refers to the postponement of maintenance of capital assets that are in need of replacement or renewal. It includes delayed repairs on […]

Editorial Staff

With UMass Tuition Hikes on Horizon, Key Issues for Legislators to Consider

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Pioneer Institute Public Statement Later this month, the University of Massachusetts’ Board of Trustees will again vote on tuition and fee increases. In the fall of 2015, UMass charged the 13th highest tuition of 172 public universities in the U.S., higher even than UC-Berkeley and UCLA, the two top-ranked public universities according to US News and World Report Rankings of Public Colleges. Longer term, the system’s manner of financing a multi-billion-dollar burst in facility capital expansion has come at the expense of attention to its deferred maintenance backlog, and places UMass in a precarious financial position.  The UMass Board, the governor and the legislature will need to begin asking hard questions in order to effectively discharge their fiduciary responsibilities to […]

Editorial Staff

Honoring the Service and Sacrifice of Our Veterans

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Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the men and women who have courageously defended the ideals and freedoms that Americans hold so dear. We also view it as a poignant reminder that we must ensure our children are learning about the important events and principles that have shaped our nation. For many years, we have been calling on our policy leaders to ensure that our future generations receive more instruction in Civics and U.S. History. In late 2012, a state commission recommended making passage of a U.S. History MCAS test a high school graduation requirement for Massachusetts public school students. The commission’s report cited a Pioneer Institute poll that found that the commonwealth’s parents, teachers, and legislators all support restoring the U.S. History MCAS graduation […]

Scott Haller

Fare Collection on the T is Unfair

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A recent disclosure by the MBTA reveals that the agency forgoes an estimated $35 million annually in ticket revenue due to poor fare collection practices on the commuter rail system alone. When the bus system and green line are included, this number inflates as high as $42 million. Yes, this is the same cash-strapped agency that couldn’t wait to shut the doors on the costly late-night service, a program which cost $14.4 million a year while providing services to 13,000 riders a night. Yes, this is the same transportation system that recently saw fit to raise fares an average of 9 percent to help fill a massive revenue gap. And yes, this is under the “no-excuses” contract in which Keolis, […]

Iliya Atanasov

Tough Decisions Needed to End MBTA Gravy Train

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In the past 15 years, the MBTA has paid Wall Street firms an estimated $236 million in interest after gambling on synthetic swaps. Such financial derivatives are rife with risk and were among the most significant contributors to the global financial crisis of 2008. The T’s reform-minded leadership would do well to trim these exposures, with an eye to eliminating them as soon as  practically possible. Doing the right thing won’t be easy. As Pioneer revealed in its February 2016 paper entitled “The Reckless Cost of MBTA Financial Derivatives,” the T built up and then doubled down on an irresponsible derivatives portfolio in the 2000s. Tempted by small upfront premiums offered by investment banks, MBTA managers made bets that interest […]

Richard Phelps

The Education Writers Association casts its narrowing gaze on Boston, May 1-3

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Many billions have been spent, and continue to be spent, promoting the Common Core Standards and their associated consortium tests, PARCC and SBAC. Nonetheless, the “Initiative” has been stopped in its tracks largely by a loose coalition of unpaid grassroots activists. That barely-organized amateurs could match the many well-organized, well-paid professional organizations, tells us something about Common Core’s natural appeal, or lack thereof. Absent the injection of huge amounts of money and political mandates, there would be no Common Core. The Common Core Initiative (CCI) does not progress, but neither does it go away. Its alleged primary benefit—alignment both within and across states (allegedly producing valid cross-state comparisons)—continues to degrade as participating states make changes that suit them. The degree […]

Editorial Staff

Join Us May 4th: “Best Practices from Urban Charter Public Schools”

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As the charter public school debate heats up, it’s important to remember that urban charter schools are Massachusetts’ best option for closing achievement gaps. On May 4th, we’ll hear from a national charter school leader, a noted researcher, as well as charter opponents and advocates about the controversy and its lessons for urban schools.

Editorial Staff

2016 Hewitt Healthcare Lecture: “Facing Down the Opioid Crisis”

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On April 20, 2016, Pioneer welcomed medical professionals, researchers, policy experts, and many others to our annual Hewitt Healthcare Lecture. This year’s topic, “Facing Down the Opioid Crisis” addressed a timely issue here in Massachusetts. Watch the video below: Our Keynote speaker was Marylou Sudders, Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, a leader in the Baker administration’s efforts to reduce the rate of opioid addiction in the Commonwealth. Her address was followed by a panel discussion featuring experts in behavioral health, medicine, and criminal justice, moderated by WBUR‘s Deb Becker: Cheryl Bartlett, CEO, Alosa Health Vicker V. DiGravio III, President/CEO, Association of Behavioral Healthcare Dr. Dennis Dimitri, President, Massachusetts Medical Society Joseph D. McDonald, Jr., Sheriff, Plymouth County

Editorial Staff

Remembering Barbara Anderson

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Barbara Anderson’s passing marks the loss of a good friend of the taxpayers of Massachusetts.  Like revolutionary patriot Sam Adams, she had the ability to organize ordinary citizens in revolt against powerful interests, and to win enduring victory on their behalf. It has been noted in the days following her death from leukemia that Barbara was a mainstay of the radio program “The Governors.”  Barbara’s accomplishments earned her that title—and more.  Her work with Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT) to cap the annual growth of municipal property taxes in 1980 may have had the greatest impact on the economic well-being of Massachusetts residents of any statutory change made during the past 50 years.  By this single accomplishment, she left a […]

Matt Blackbourn

Key considerations for regulating ridesharing in Massachusetts

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Earlier this month, the most recent piece of legislation to come out of the Massachusetts House of Representatives concerning the regulation of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), H.4064[1], was referred to the Senate committee on Ways and Means for review. The legislature’s final decision will determine what service limits companies like Uber, Lyft and Fasten will face in the Commonwealth going forward. The bill delineates a number of significant proposals. One of its core provisions, if passed, would establish within the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) a new ‘Ride for Hire Division’ —this entity would be charged with governing ridesharing firms, overseeing the issuance of removable decals and ensuring TNCs’ compliance with regulatory requirements.  The division would be funded through fees […]

MuckRock

Judicial Branch Holds Transparency in Contempt

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In yet another Massachusetts public records milestone, the Center for Public Integrity gave the Commonwealth an “F” for judicial accountability, citing the large number of exemptions that stonewall public access to court records. But what does that really mean? Now, of all of Massachusetts’ egregious public records exemptions (and there are plenty), some exemptions that pertain to judicial records would, at least in theory, actually make sense. Sensitive legal proceedings are textbook examples of the kinds of records that shouldn’t be made freely available to the public. Doing so would undermine the integrity of the legal process. That said, there’s a big difference between a judicial record and a record in possession of the judicial branch. Back in 2014, after […]

Scott Haller

MBTA Transparency Is Now ‘Back on Track’

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Today, the MBTA released its long-anticipated performance dashboard, bringing with it a sleek and interactive new website full of data metrics and detailed explanations of the data. Highlights and new features of the appropriately named mbtabackontrack.com include but are not limited to access to performance data from the prior day, ability to put data into historical context, info on the Green Line and every bus route, and ridership and financial statistics. The website promises to be a valuable tool, and it will regularly expose parts of the T’s performance for the first time in over a year. For example, the T this fiscal year has spent $259.86 million on debt service, just under a quarter of its total outlays. Also, […]

Michael Weiner

Addressing Inequality through K-12 Education in Boston

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According to a new Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) study cited by The Boston Globe, nearly half of Boston residents make under $35,000 per year. These findings, coupled with a January Brookings Institution report ranking Boston number one nationally in income inequality, paint a worrisome picture of the city.  Sadly, many of those left behind in the midst of Boston’s economic boom are low-income minorities. The underlying issue is that Boston’s schools have not successfully promoted educational opportunity and economic mobility for many of its students. And Boston Public Schools have a particularly high bar to meet because, as the Globe notes, 40 percent of jobs in Massachusetts require a bachelor’s degree compared to 27 percent nationally. Inequality in K-12 education […]