Sad to say - I flunked. I guess good intentions like "We believe everyone should live a good life free of fear" sounds alike. Mind you, if "free of fear" means the Guantanamo Concentration Camp, waterboarding, and the "Patriot … [Read more...]
A simple solution to the “debate” in the legislature about pension reform: ask the SJC
So there's this big brouhaha between the House on the one hand, and the Gov and the Senate on the other, about what to do about pension reform. The Governor and the Senate want to apply the pension reforms to everyone in the system. … [Read more...]
Target: Sacred Cows (Even the Successes?)
Authored by bipartisan leaders (including, full disclosure, my former boss, Speaker DiMasi), the bill required all sides to give - with a mandate that people get insurance, that most businesses provide it and that the state and feds pay big … [Read more...]
No Ethics Without Electoral Reform
Lots of talk on the Speakah's reform proposals. Lots of people applauded the Governor's reform proposals. I wasn't one of them, because it was mostly making already-illegal things more illegal. None of those ideas are bad, but if … [Read more...]
Wilmot Strikes Back. Not an epic fail-don’t always believe what you read in the newspaper.
OK, here's the tutorial. The Ethics Laws have three provisions that prohibit public officials from taking gifts, section 3, 23(b)2, and 23(b)3 of chapter 268A. Call it belt and suspenders. We lost the suspenders (section … [Read more...]
You heard it here first! Jim Aloisi explains transportation reform as “the necessary thing to do”
We're not anti-labor. There will be people downsized when we merge the Turnpike and the Highway Department, and we want to offer people workforce retraining and other initiatives, because we care about people. But at the same … [Read more...]
Ethics task force issues 107 page report, see URL
Here is the link: http://www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs... It is 107 pages. I have not read it yet; turns out I am now facing out patient eye surgery [ouch] and reading and writing online are tougher than usual; I am hoping this will … [Read more...]
Sal DiMasi supports increasing the Gas Tax!
Well he at least put it on the table. The Governor earlier today said it was not the time to talk gas tax and the Senate President has not commented yet. In light of the forthcoming transportation reform that inlcudes the the dismantling of … [Read more...]
Wal-Mart Might Owe State $600M
As part of the case, first filed in 2001, an expert statistician witness analyzed Wal-Mart's paper and electronic payroll records from 1995 to 2005 and documented more than 1 million instances when Bay State employees were denied meal … [Read more...]
CORI Reform Hearing – Clamor Continues
The hearing began with testimony from Governor Patrick, who highlighted the real needs for reforms. He noted that there are 20,000 people incarcerated in Massachusetts, and that 97 percent of these people will return to their communities at … [Read more...]