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Consolidating Off-Road Vehicle Registration

Roe Paper No. 8 2007 Author(s): — Publication date: 2007-07-01 Category: Better Government Abstract: Massachusetts suffers from a wastefully duplicative system for registering motor vehicles. There are separate registration sites and bureaucracies for on-road and off-road vehicles. The Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) registers cars, busses, trucks, motorcycles and all other on-road vehicles. The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’ (EOEA) Registration and Titling Bureau registers off-road vehicles—boats, snowmobiles and all terrain vehicles (ATVs). [wpdm_package id=95]

The Bid-to-Goal Program: San Diego Metropolitan Wastewater Department

Roe Paper No. 7 2007 Author(s): — Publication date: 2007-07-01 Category: Better Government Abstract: Bid-to-Goal is a program originally developed by the City of San Diego’s Metropolitan Wastewater Department (MWWD), in conjunction with consulting firm Henningson, Durham and Richardson (HDR), in 1997 as an “optimization strategy” to more cost-effectively implement large public works initiatives. By means of a binding pact between the city and public sector employees, the MWWD had hoped to create a hybrid dynamic that incorporates the most desirable features of both public and private sector contracting. [wpdm_package id=94]

A Reform of Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Roe Paper No. 6 2007 Author(s): — Publication date: 2007-07-01 Category: Better Government Abstract: The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has implemented numerous reforms that have improved the safety of workplaces throughout the state since Governor Mitt Romney’s election in 2002. In the process, the DIA has reduced the number companies that do not adhere to the state’s worker compensation laws.

A Reform of Wetlands Regulations

Roe Paper No. 5 2007 Author(s): Kurt Gaertner — Publication date: 2007-07-01 Category: Better Government Abstract: The cost of housing in Massachusetts absorbs too much of the average resident’s income and drives people and businesses out of the state. According to recent research studies, the problem is not a lack of land but an excess of regulation. I propose a concrete and politically palatable policy reform to ensure that septic and wetland regulations are used to protect the environment and public health. This reform would remove the temptation for towns to misuse these rules to discourage development. [wpdm_package id=92]

The Wetlands Bankting Program

Roe Paper No. 4 2007 Author(s): John DeVillars — Publication date: 2007-07-01 Category: Better Government Abstract: In spite of stringent federal, state and local wetlands regulations in Massachusetts, too many fragile ecosystems are still threatened by development. A primary reason for this is that the Commonwealth’s wetlands mitigation regulations are poorly designed, difficult to implement and costly to regulate. In many permitting situations a new, privatized approach to mitigation—wetlands banking—could help ensure that our wetlands are more fully and cost-effectively protected and restored. [wpdm_package id=91]