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Lynch Foundation’s Katie Everett on School Finance Model for Catholic Schools & School ChoiceOctober 9, 2024 - 11:30 am
Pioneer Institute Study Finds Wide Range of Approaches to Compliance with MBTA Communities LawOctober 6, 2024 - 9:12 pm
Pioneer Goes Local! “MuniShare” Municipal Report Contest
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Healthcare, News /byAs part of Pioneer Institute’s annual Better Government Competition, Pioneer is offering two $3,000 awards for the best municipal reports. No daunting application and little effort! Entering is as simple as submitting a report by e-mail, with a brief (150-word) summary. What Kind of Reports? We are interested in public opinion surveys, departmental studies, environmental audits, and really, any type of report. The only requirement is that the report tackle an issue that fellow municipal governments might face as well. The reports can focus on department-specific or municipality-wide issues, and can be up to ten years old. There is no minimum or maximum length and no limit to the number of entries from a municipality. The more, the better! Selection Process: A panel of judges with vast experience […]
Lessons from Massachusetts Health Care Reform (Romneycare)
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Healthcare, News /byLast month marked the first anniversary of the federal healthcare law; this week the fifth anniversary of Massachusetts’ own health reform. President Obama likes to tout the federal effort as paralleling the Massachusetts’ reform, but the fact is that Obamacare has created a lot of uncertainty for states across the country, including Massachusetts. For example, will Massachusetts now have two individual mandate penalties? Will we shift close to 100,000 individuals from the new healthcare exchange to Medicaid? What are the implications of the federal law for the cost picture in already expensive Massachusetts? Obamacare is of little benefit to Massachusetts beyond pouring billions more dollars into the Massachusetts healthcare industry, which is likely to push the cost of care even […]
Permitted to Succeed? Part One
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byMayor Menino’s new budget proposal included the intriguing commitment to create a “one-stop shop” for small business permitting. The state has long strived to create these kind of permitting shops, prompting one state official to muse that it might be worth putting together a guide to all the “one stop shops” in state government. To some extent, the city has consolidated some of those functions at 1010 Mass Ave., but a quick review of the city’s permitting literature reveals that there is significant consolidation to be done. With different agencies located at 1010 Mass Ave., City Hall, 26 Court St., and other locations, a true one-stop shop will require a lot of consolidation. Physical co-location is a great first step, […]
Municipal Healthcare Endgame?
/0 Comments/in Blog, News /byI would never underestimate the negotiating guile of the major labor unions, but it does appear we are reaching the endgame stage of the municipal healthcare debate. After a negotiated consensus reform several years ago to put municipal workers into the GIC failed to get a strong level of acceptance, it was clear that something more had to be done. A number of Mayors (including Menino) advocated for control over plan design, even threatening a ballot referendum (hope Denise Provost can stop them!) The Governor’s budget (see Section 6, here) put in place a somewhat vague process to (eventually) force workers into the GIC. The House Ways and Means Budget was much more explicit (see section 46, here), providing clear […]
It’s not what you say, it’s how you cloak it
/2 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, News /byIt has been said before, but it bears repeating: Control the language of the debate and you control the debate. Witness President Obama’s studious effort to take control of the debate Wednesday in his speech on how he would slow the runaway federal budget deficit. Like most politicians who want to raise taxes, the president will do almost any rhetorical tap dance to avoid saying the word unless it takes the general form of, “tax breaks for the wealthy” or “unaffordable tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” We have as many euphemisms for raising taxes as Eskimos have for snow. Unions insist that “revenues” must be on the table in any debate on deficits. Gov. Deval Patrick talks about preserving […]