"The House and Senate have ended the 2009 session and meet in informal sessions only to take up noncontroversial items."
Which means it is all the crap you would never approve of, dear citizen.
Related: State Still in Session
"Frustrated lawmakers block action in House; Demand audit on DiMasi case" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | December 15, 2009
Four Democratic lawmakers, angry over House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo’s refusal to provide an accounting of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax-funded legal bills linked to indictment of Salvatore F. DiMasi, embarked on a highly unusual insurrection yesterday by blocking all floor action in the House.
Looks like controversy to me.
See FLASHBACK below.
The group of four foiled passage of a $41 million spending bill yesterday and vowed to stop any further action in the chamber until DeLeo relents and authorizes an audit of at least $378,000 in bills paid to a private law firm that represented the House over the past year. The firm was hired by DiMasi before his resignation as House speaker and his federal indictment, and it is unclear how the unusually large figure was arrived at.
“We’re just asking for accountability and transparency,’’ said state Representative Lida Harkins, Democrat of Needham. “I get a lot of calls on the misuse of funds from constituents who want to know why their tax dollars are being diverted for legal purposes. And we don’t have any accounting for it.’’
In LIBERAL Massachusetts?
Also see: The Perils of One-Party Politics: Speaker's Shoes
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
Harkins said the bills from the firm Gargiulo/Rudnick, which amount to about 1,430 hours of legal work or the equivalent of a full-time lawyer for nine months, seem “out of whack’’ for what may have been required. She cited investigations last year into two state senators in which legal bills amounted to a fraction of what Gargiulo/Rudnick charged.
The unusual insurrection comes at a combustible time in Beacon Hill politics. The chamber has seen layoffs of House staff, its leadership has been sharply criticized by Governor Deval Patrick for what he has called inaction, and a group of 30 or so representatives gathered Friday in a sign of increasing dissension among the rank and file....
The flare-up over the legal bills reflects what House insiders say is a small but growing force of dissidents among the Democrats who are willing to challenge DeLeo’s leadership....
The House and Senate have ended the 2009 session and meet in informal sessions only to take up noncontroversial items.
--more--"FLASHBACK:
"Taxpayers’ bill nearing $378,000 in DiMasi case" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | December 9, 2009
The state House of Representatives has paid private attorneys nearly $378,000 in taxpayer money to represent the speaker’s office in a federal corruption investigation of former House speaker Salvatore DiMasi, newly disclosed records show.
DiMasi handpicked the law firm a few weeks before he resigned on Jan. 27, as the US attorney’s office was stepping up its probe of allegations that the speaker took money from a software company,
But that is a FINE LINE!
The House’s contract with the law firm, Gargiulo/Rudnick, was signed by the House business manager on DiMasi’s last day in office, but all payments to the firm, a total of $377,801, were made after Speaker Robert A. DeLeo took over. The contract is open-ended, and the lawyers could continue to get paid until DiMasi’s case concludes, a House spokesman said....
Bay State residents, WHY do YOU have to PICK UP this SLIME'S LEGAL TAB?!!!
But who cares?
It's not like your services are being slashed and your taxes raised, Bay Stater?
Some lawmakers, both publicly and privately, have questioned whether so much should be spent on legal fees as budgets throughout state government are being slashed and staffers laid off.
“I’m amazed - disgusted is a better word,’’ said Representative Bradley H. Jones Jr. of North Reading, the leading Republican in the overwhelmingly Democratic chamber. “If these are bills incurred by former Speaker DiMasi, why are we paying them? If we had to defend legislation we passed and there’s a court challenge, it would be entirely different.’’
Jones added: “I find it particularly offensive because I’m asking my staff to take a furlough. That everyone has to contribute five days to the Sal DiMasi defense fund is outrageous.’’
It is not only Republicans who have raised objections to the spending. Representative John Quinn, Democrat of Dartmouth, said he was especially angry, because just last week one of his aides was laid off and another had his salary cut.
“It’s unfortunate that many men and women at the State House had to be laid off three weeks before Christmas as a result of former speaker Sal DiMasi’s inappropriate behavior,’’ Quinn said. “This contract should be reviewed by an outside entity to determine whether the taxpayers of the Commonwealth should continue to pay legal fees for the defense of Sal DiMasi.’’
Related: DiMasi's Leftovers
Under the terms of the contract, the bill for Griffith is $300 per hour, an associate costs $225 per hour, and a paralegal $75 per hour. The expenditure turned up this week, tucked away in a spreadsheet analyzing House expenses that Representative William Brownsberger, Democrat of Belmont, posted on his website....
The Senate hired outside counsel to respond to subpoenas in the criminal cases against former senators Dianne Wilkerson and James Marzilli, but the amounts were far smaller....
Why are you PAYING for there defense at all, citizens?
What a piss-poor embarrassment this state is!
Updates:
"DeLeo moves to end furor over legal fees; Rallies support for outside audit" by Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | December 17, 2009
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo seemed on the verge of a victory yesterday in his battle with lawmakers over $378,000 in House legal bills stemming from the investigation of former speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, rallying colleagues behind his proposal for an outside audit of the fees and providing the first accounting of what they paid for.
The handful of lawmakers who have been blocking the House from taking up agenda items, including a critical $41 million in funds to shelter the homeless, were reassessing their strategy last night and contemplating whether to accept DeLeo’s plan to hire a lawyer or auditor to inspect the bills....
--more--"
Wow, that is odd; I'm looking at my printed paper and this is what I am seeing:
"DeLeo agrees to hire lawyer, will review bills from DiMasi case; No independent auditor OK'd" by Frank Phillips, Boston Globe | December 16, 2009
Backing down under pressure from dissident Democrats, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo agreed yesterday to hire a private lawyer to review more than $350,000 in taxpayer-funded legal bills stemming from the federal investigation of his predecessor, Salvatore F. DiMasi.
The about-face came after DeLeo had watched business in his chamber come to a halt for two days....
DeLeo's about-face came at the end of a second day of inaction in the House, orchestrated by the four lawmakers. Under House rules, a single lawmaker can block a vote on a bill during informal sessions, which are used to handle noncontroversial issues....
If they are NON CONTROVERSIAL why must they be DONE IN SECRET, and WHY are we NOT TOLD what they DID, Glob?!!!
The fact is, THAT is ANOTHER BG COVER-STORY and LIE!!!
Then they can say he DID IT HIS WAY with a PUFF PIECE!!!!!!
As he rose to power last January, House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo did not look like a leader to inspire sharp divisions. Other legislators described him as approachable and quiet; he promoted himself as a consensus builder.
Nearly a year later, the picture has shifted. DeLeo is fast becoming as polarizing a figure as his brasher and more controversial predecessors, a figure seen by some as low-key and accessible but who is attracting a growing number of critics....
Who cares about the PERSONAL POLITICS!!
How are they SCREWING US behind closed doors?
