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Monday, April 26, 2010

Around the District: Rowley COA Yard Sale

ROWLEY COA YARD SALE AND BAKED GOODS SALE. As advertised in The Town Common's April 14 - April 20th edition, the Friends of the Rowley Council On Aging (COA) will be sponsoring a "Yard Sale & Baked Goods Sale," on Saturday, May 15, 2010 to benefit the Rowley COA. Space rental is $15.00 per table. If you would like to rent space, please contact the Rowley COA at 978-948-2679 or 978-948-7637 for more information. Rep. Stanley will be donating a table for the event.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

State House Column


The House Always Wins. It’s Day #2 of the Great Massachusetts Gambling Debate and the old adage that the House always wins has never been truer.

Formal session (the voting kind) started yesterday morning at 10 a.m. and finished up last night just before 9 p.m. Representatives are back at it today and, by sunset, the Commonwealth will have a bill that’s sort of similar to what was rejected just two years ago.

What a difference a Speaker – and a little TV time – can make. Legislators who twisted arms against the sins of a casino culture in 2008 went on television to praise it in 2010. Legislators who once locked-arms against gambling with Speaker DiMasi were delighting Speaker DeLeo yesterday by declaring that his legislation was really a jobs bill.

Wow.

The Tea Party on Boston Common. This was not a party for the faint of heart – or for those who enjoy watercress sandwiches without the crust. This was Sarah Palin’s day in Boston and she was greeted by a couple of thousand – supporters and detractors – and some interesting signs. One proclaimed that the holder could see November from his house!

Meanwhile, Under the Golden Dome… In the midst of the gambling debate, House Ways and Means released its proposed operating budget for FY-11. Things were pretty confusing, because the Committee had overall state spending up by 3.2% and local aid down by 4%. Since this seems to be the only time this has happened in 16 state budgets, a little midnight oil will be in order tonight.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Support the Georgetown 2010 Senior Class Trip

As reported in the Georgetown Record on Saturday, April 10, "Crosby's marketplace, in partnership with the GMHS Class of 2010 Senior Celebration Committee, presents 'Shop for our Schools.' Shop at Crosby's of Georgetown from April 11 to April 17 and Crosby's will donate 5% of the supporters' purchases to help defray the cost for the graduates for their overnight, chaperoned, substance & alcohol-free trip before graduation day."
For more details, go the article itself.
Rep. Stanley will be shopping at Crosby's this week!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

This is Direct Democracy

Last week, the State House was crowded with pro-gambling union workers and anti-gambling social workers.  (Speaker Bob DeLeo’s legislation hadn’t even been printed, but everyone had an opinion about it.)  Right now, the official vote is scheduled for April 14th.

Today, members of MIRA (the Mass Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy) group were walking the halls, asking legislators to fund a $75 million health insurance program for all immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Taking the Insurance Commissioner to Court.  About 6 weeks ago, Governor Patrick filed a wide-ranging package of small business legislation, which got a lot of reaction—both positive and negative.  As part of it, the state’s Insurance Commissioner got emergency authority to review and approve (or disapprove) health insurance premiums for small business.

Not surprisingly, the Commissioner used his new authority.  Also not surprisingly, he disapproved most of the rate increases.  Yesterday, the health plans sued, saying that the state doesn’t have the authority to do that.

It’s an interesting legal question and my State House staff is divided about the answer.

But, it’s going to be a heck of a fight, worthy of Hollywood cameras.  Why?  Because insurance companies aren’t the only bad guys in this movie.

Good, Bad and So-So News About the Economy.  Despite the March monsoons, the Massachusetts real estate market saw signs of life in March.  A lot of wet weather didn’t deter the bargain hunters and those looking for the federal tax break.  Sales were up from March 2009 – by 27% for single family and 38% for condos.

The bad news was that the Tax Foundation, a national non-partisan research group, pointed out that our corporate tax load, was 39% higher than the national average.

The so-so stuff: business confidence is slowly returning, but hasn’t hit the 50% mark yet. Which means that new jobs aren’t there.

Wall Street vs. Main Street.  Wall Street firms got their bailouts, paid much of the money back and handed out bonuses.  Now top U.S. Treasury officials have seen improved macro-economic data and announced that the recession is over.

Not so fast. Main Street isn’t yet sharing in the benefits.

February foreclosures were up in Essex County.

Health insurance premiums are skyrocketing.

More than 75% of Bay State business owners say that we’re still stuck in neutral.

I’ve worked on Wall Street, collected those bonuses, and lived on Main Street.  When Main Street says it’s over, it’s over.

Friday, April 2, 2010

State House Column


All in a Day's Work. Last week, I got a call from a constituent who wanted to voice his opinion about how all of us on Beacon Hill were working for everyone but the taxpayer.

After 30 minutes on the phone, we agreed to disagree.  But then several things happened that really made the point.  So, here's some of what I wrote back:

It's so easy to sound off about the waste and corruption in state government.  It's easy to be focused in 2010 on two stupid decisions that the Governor made (drapes and Cadillacs) in 2007.  It's much harder to keep focused on the things that need to be done now and damned hard to stand your ground on little decisions that actually protect the taxpayer.  Especially when so few are watching.

Part of the problem is that no one knows about the little stuff.  It won't be the subject of a Boston Globe story tomorrow morning.

Take last Wednesday for example:

Arrving in Boston for an 8:30 a.m. breakfast, I got into a discussion with small business representatives.  After a couple of hours at my conference table, we started drafting new health care legislation.

Then I took a call from a hosptial CEO and we discussed payment reform efforts, including the lack of legislative progress.  District staff told me that I had 14 telephone calls and about 60 emails already.

Health Care research staff came in with an analysis of the Governor's small business legislation.  We went over it together and decided to fold it into what had been discussed earlier.

I talked briefly with kids from both Beverly and Malden who came to my office as part of the "Stand for Children" group.  This group advocates what they call "sensible reforms" in health care so that communities can spend scarce dollars on education.  I agree with them, and had previously made supporting comments publicly.  The Haverhill Education Association retaliated by bombarding my office with critical e-mails.  That probably means that I'm not totally behold to the teachers unions.

A follow-up call came in from another union on their budget requests.  (I didn't support their agenda, either.)  Meanwhile, two different legislators approached me for a favorable committee report on a massive mental health and substance abuse bill.

I placed a call to a Merrimac School Committee member about Pentucket's budget situation and researched an issue for a School Superintendent.  (He wasn't wild about what I found.)  All the while, I was casting multiple roll call votes on a Supplemental Budget for FY-10 and missed a Quorum Call because I was on the phone.

When the session ended at 6:50 p.m., I still had another hour's worth of phone calls to return.  Hopefully, a few District families were better off from my day at the office.

The Wrap Tour.  A couple week ago, I announced that the 2010 campaign would be my last.  I would like to get at least one project done in each of my towns.  What project would you like to see done in your community?

Bully for Us.  The much ballyhooed bullying bill that the legislature just passed is okay, but not great.  Neither teachers nor parents should need legislation prescribing what to do about bullying.

Casinos, Slots or Both?  Yesterday, House Speaker Bob DeLeo rolled out his long-anticipated gambling bill, which would bring both casinos and slots to the Bay State.  The bill is 172 pages long.  Printers were humming at the State House as aides printed copies for their bosses (and killed trees). Receptionists were also busy taking messages from pro-gambling groups.

The bill's sweetener is that—for a while—all profits from slots will go toward local aid.  My guess is that gambling is on its way here.  But since neither the Governor nor the Senate President like slot machines, the backroom will be busy. Really busy.