The Weekly Political Report is prepared by a political consulting group, Rasky/Baerlein, and shared with me by John Nunnari.
Governor Patrick files $32.2 Billion Budget
On Wednesday, Governor Deval Patrick proposed a $32.2 billion annual state budget plan for FY 2013. Under Governor Patrick’s budget, major areas that will receive new spending include health care, K-12 education, safety net programs for low-income individuals, and collective bargaining agreements. Budget cuts were made to more than 90 line items totaling more than $200 million in cuts while 243 line items would remain level. The 297 line items that Governor Patrick recommended increased funding for were mainly state safety net programs or part of onetime collective bargaining deals. The budget is aiming at generating $260 million in new revenues through a number of tax increases and reforms. Most notably are the changes to increase the cigarette tax and taxing candy and soda sales. State spending would increase by nearly 3% from the current estimated spending levels and $400 million would be used from the state’s rainy day fund in Patrick’s proposed budget.
MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, consumes the largest share of the state budget by increasing to more than $11 billion to maintain state-funded benefits and eligibility. Health care spending consumes 41% of the budget with spending on subsidized health insurance and state employee insurance coverage. The proposed budget calls for $730 million in new savings from government-funded health care programs with continued procurement and contracting strategies.
Administration officials announced they are proposing eliminating 1,100 state jobs which include 400 in the executive branch that is estimated to save $30 million. New public counsel jobs as well as hundreds of other job positions that are being created will make the net job loss of 300 positions.
Governor Patrick Seeking to Centralize Management of Community Colleges
Under a proposal introduced on Monday to address unemployment and job creation across Massachusetts, Governor Patrick is aiming to unify the state’s fifteen community colleges. The goal of the proposal is for community colleges to offer programs to fill the education gap that is currently leaving approximately 120,000 open positions due to perspective employees being able to find qualified applicants. The Governor included $10 million in his FY 13 budget proposal to unify these schools into a system that would allow the schools to better coordinate with employers, vocational-tech schools and Workforce Investment Boards to meet the workforce needs in Massachusetts. In addition, Governor Patrick proposed the Board of Higher Education to establish a new process for the selection and annual reviews of community college presidents. The board will also be exploring new limits for student fee levels and how those revenues are spent.
Governor Patrick Calls on Legislature to Pass Second Stage of Health Care Reform
On Monday night, Governor Deval Patrick called on the Legislature to pass a health care cost containment bill to reduce costs statewide. Last February, Governor Patrick filed legislation that proposed an overhaul of the health care payment and delivery system that would end the current model in which doctors are compensated based on fee for service rather than the outcome for their patients. Representative Steven Walsh (D-Lynn) and Senator Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, responded to the Governor’s statement by saying that the Legislature’s payment reform plan was not finished yet and may differ considerably from the Governor’s bill. With health care spending growing at a rate of 6.7% to 8% a year, legislative leaders have indicated that the bill being drafted will tackle medical malpractice, transition the current system to electronic medical records with an aggressive consumer protection structure, and prevent patients from being wrongly denied access to certain treatments.
Wind Siting Bill Sent to Study
A bill envisioned to streamline the permitting process of land-based wind turbines was sent to study on Tuesday by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, less than two years after it nearly passed the House and Senate. Representative Keenan (D-Salem) and Senator Downing (D-Pittsfield), co-chairs of the committee, said the intentions of their decision is to give the committee more time to focus on advancing particular legislation on the siting standards used for land-based wind projects. Sending a bill to study frequently predicts that the bill will be defeated and was done so without objection. The Patrick Administration has made wind siting reform a top priority and plans to work with the committee to develop siting standards that could be included in a comprehensive siting reform next year.
John Nunnari, Assoc AIA
Executive Director, AIA MA
jnunnari@architects.org
617-951-1433 x263
617-951-0845 (fax)
MA Chapter of American Institute of Architects
290 Congress Street, Suite 200, Boston MA 02110
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