State House Column

We’re in the midst of my 17th state budget, which has always been a really rewarding part of this job. Numbers are my forte and knowing where $30 billion of state dollars went was always heady stuff.

Not so much this time.

When I first came to Beacon Hill, budget week was a blast. The Flaherty-Finneran process was (barely) controlled chaos with groups of representatives huddling everywhere in the Chamber. We took up about 600 amendments individually and decisions were made before your eyes. Legislators actually had to cast up or down votes.

About a decade ago, that changed. The budget moved to Room #348 and amendments were “consolidated.” At first, the Finneran-Rogers approach seemed to make some sense: the volume of amendments was skyrocketing and the process was unwieldy. The intent was to streamline the process; the result was to centralize the process. 600 amendments shrank to 60.

Then came DiMasi-DeLeo, DeLeo-Murphy and now DeLeo-Dempsey. This year, we’re doing about 15 super-consolidated amendments, all written behind closed doors.

Right now, I’m in my State House office on the third of four days of budget debate. Eight hours of House session on Monday and thirteen on Tuesday (not to mention the eight hours we’ve been in session today) has only yielded two hours of debate.

A major change in how public unions bargain over health care with municipalities was decided behind closed doors, then brought to the floor, debated, and passed in 30 minutes.

Today, controlled chaos looks pretty good. Yes, it was hard to get budgets done and the final document contained dozens of typos and misprints. But we were all part of the process. We all left the State House exhausted and exhilarated.

Now we leave exhausted and debilitated.

State House Column

Budget Update.  Last Thursday, the House approved the consensus Conference Committee budget—the Senate did likewise—and the FY11 budget now sits before the Governor.  As final remarks were being made in the House Chamber, word came in that the U.S. Senate had not made the FMAP money available.  Any of it.

Although one of our Senators (Kerry) thought the $687 million in FMAP funds were certain, the other (Brown) disagreed.  Right now, Brown’s right—the money isn’t coming.

What does this mean?  For local communities, there will be no additional effect on local aid and Chapter 70 funds (which already took a 4% hit), though Groveland Finance Director Greg Labrecque did mention to me that reimbursements to municipalities for state owned land got nicked again.  Haverhill, however, will lose about $1.9 million that was ear-marked for the Hale debt.

I voted against the first House budget and against the Conference Committee report.  Why?  Both of them spent money that we didn’t have and both passed up cost-savings proposals that could have saved $100+ million annually.

You can’t spend what you don’t have. And we didn’t have that federal money.

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.

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.