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They call it Pioneer Valley for a reason, 2
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonSo what has all the reform in the City of Springfield led to? Hundreds of jobs in the pipeline and tens of millions of dollars in private investment. You want to see the cold, hard facts on the progress? Good. Click here. Hard to imagine just a couple of years ago that we can now say without any possibility that someone would laugh – the City of Homes is the best managed large city in the Commonwealth. And with Ed Flynn at the helm of the Springfield Police, there is confidence that the public safety issues are going to be given the right kind of attention. If you are tired of the traffic, want access to great open space, and […]
They call it Pioneer Valley for a reason, 1
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Economic Opportunity, Healthcare, News /by Scott W. Graves and Micaela DawsonOne of the standout winners at the 2007 Better Government Competition was the Municipal Leadership Award given to the City of Springfield (Mayor Charles Ryan) and the Finance Control Board. And, guys, the award was a no-brainer. Springfield went from a deficit of $41 million in FY05 to a surplus in FY06 (and 07) a free cash position of minus $41 million in FY04 to plus $10 million in FY06. Oops, but I am understating their progress, aren’t I? In the Springfield Republican of today, there is an article noting that the FC position is actually plus $17 million. And how was all this accomplished? Hmm. Perhaps it was the usual bellyaching about the need for a huge new cash […]
Governor Patrick is a Capitalist after all
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog /by Liam DayWe were worried. During his first 6 months in office the Governor had unveiled a number of new initiatives that appear on the shelf, anyway, as if they will have expensive price tags: $1 billion in BioTech funding, the $1.4 billion rail line to New Bedford, and K through post-12 education reforms which some critics claim will cost as much as $2 billion annually. These on top of outstanding liabilities that add up to almost double the Commonwealth’s annual budget: $14.488 billion for public employee pensions, $13 billion for public employee healthcare obligations, and roughly $17 billion for maintaining public assets that have too long been ignored. Of course, the question is: how do we pay for all of this? […]
Gratuitous Yankee Bashing
/0 Comments/in Blog, Blog: Better Government, News /byNot our traditional topic, but who can resist kicking the Yankees when they are down. This post is dedicated to Pioneer’s own embedded Yankee fan, Mr. Chieppo. If you’ve followed Roger Clemens’ return, you’ve undoubted heard the live call of his reintroduction to Yankee Stadium, where WCBS Broadcaster Suzyn Waldman makes a home town call that would have made Johnny Most blush. He’s now 1-3 with an ERA of over 5. A less charitable colleague might be tempted to echo Edward G. Murrow in The Ten Commandments and ask “where’s your messiah, now?”. But not this correspondent, no sirree.
Movement on Pension Fund Consolidation
/0 Comments/in Better Government, Blog, Blog: Better Government, Economic Opportunity, News /byPioneer brought up the idea of consolidation underperforming local pension funds in our May 2006 paper, Leaving Money on the Table. We noted that underperformance (relative to the major state fund, PRIM) had left $1.6 billion on the table in the ten year period ending in 2004. We recommended folding all the underperforming funds into PRIT. The Governor recommended folding all the funds that underperformed by 2.25% over 5 years and were below 80% funded into PRIT. Now, the Joint Committee on Public Service has recommended folding all funds that underperformed by 2% over 10 years and were below 65% funded into PRIT. The bill would have an immediate effect on 25 public pension funds that have left an estimated […]