Governor Deval Patrick on Friday made an unusual request to the Legislature for greater budget-cutting powers in the closing months of his time in office, saying he needs to be able to act more swiftly to manage costs in the event of an unforeseen emergency.
The request — unveiled as the governor also signed into law a $36.5 billion annual state budget and issued $16.1 million in vetoes — took lawmakers by surprise and sparked alarm.
“This sends up a red flag,” said Representative Patricia Haddad, the third-ranking lawmaker in the House. “Does he know something that he’s not sharing with the rest of us, that there is some economic or financial emergency on the horizon?”
Patrick’s budget chief, Glen Shor, insisted the administration was not anticipating any cuts in the coming months and said the request for broader power reflected the governor’s desire to be able to act more nimbly in the event that state revenues take a sudden tumble.
Why would they? It's a momentum-gaining recovery better than most states?
For example, if the economy went into freefall, a tornado hit, or a costly court ruling were issued, Patrick could cut the budget in one area and ask lawmakers to move the funds to another area.
What does he know?
Related: Patrick Compares Immigration Crisis to Holocaust™
Oh, yeah. He "saw" that one coming.
Current law allows the governor to unilaterally cut the budget for a range of executive agencies, but Patrick’s bill would expand that power to the budgets of constitutional officers such as the treasurer and state auditor, as well as to district attorneys, sheriffs, and the state and community colleges and universities. Under current law, cuts to those agencies require legislative approval.
That DOES RAISE CONCERNS on his WAY OUT! Why would you want to expand authoritarian power at this juncture?
“In the course of a given fiscal year, there are going to be some pressing developments that are going to come up that require us to seek additional appropriations, but we’re not able necessarily to foresee that at the beginning of a budget cycle,” Shor said.
Turns out it was hoard of illegal immigrants.
“We have always thought that, in the circumstances where this comes up, the best and fairest way is to have ample room to distribute any spending reductions fairly, and this would help achieve that,” he said. “Nothing is being targeted right now.”
Patrick ends his eight year run as governor in January. The expanded budget-cutting power would expire that month, when the next governor takes office. That means the new governor, whether it be Republican Charlie Baker, or any of the other candidates, would not inherit that broad authority.
Now that is REALLY ODD!
Is the PLANNING on STAYING?
Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, called the governor’s request odd when the economy is improving and tax revenues have been growing.
Widmer said if the governor is worried that the $36.5 billion annual budget he signed on Friday may need to be trimmed, he should have vetoed more than $16.1 million in spending.
“But the combination of minuscule vetoes and asking for emergency powers is peculiar and, I think, unprecedented,” Widmer said. “There doesn’t seem to be any reasonable explanation for this.”
He said it is highly unlikely that the House and Senate would grant the lame-duck governor greater power to cut spending. “There’s virtually zero chance that the Legislature would go along with it,” he said.
They are not $uicidal.
Senate Ways and Means chairman Stephen Brewer declined to comment until Shor briefs him on the request next week. A spokeswoman for House Ways and Means chairman Brian Dempsey said the chairman would not be available for comment Friday.
I noted that for a reason.
Haddad, the state representative, said she would be reluctant to approve the request since it would allow the governor to cut public-safety-related offices such as sheriffs and district attorneys.
They just got raises.
“Maintaining the status quo would work better for me,” Haddad said.
Secretary of State William F. Galvin, whose office would be targeted under the governor’s legislation, said he was concerned about how across-the-board cuts from the governor would affect agencies such as his.
“I’m not sure a one-size-fits-all approach works,” Galvin said. “You’d want some guidance from the agency.”
There is precedent for the Legislature granting a governor budget-cutting powers, but it has historically been during — not before — an emergency. Lawmakers in 2003 gave Governor Mitt Romney the unilateral power to cut executive agency budgets, when the state was facing a revenue shortfall.
Patrick used those same powers to cut the budget during the recession and again in 2012, when the federal government was nearing a shutdown and tax revenues were falling. The governor’s new bill would expand those powers even further to include state agencies that do not fall under the executive branch. Shor said the recent opioid crisis, for example, shows how unpredictable costs can be.
What does one have to do with the other? Going to pour a pile of money into the double-dealing drug war.
See: State senator optimistic about substance abuse bill compromise
I'll celebrate that!
Patrick made his request as he issued $16.1 million in vetoes that targeted more than two dozen areas, including $2.2 million for the Department of Correction, $1.8 million for state parks and recreation, $750,000 for the Tufts Veterinary School, which receives state funding for tuition subsidies, and $549,000 for a state dam program.
The vetoes also eliminated earmarks for some local projects, such as $325,000 for the restoration of Perry Auditorium at Gardner City Hall, $150,000 to clean up pond algae and invasive vegetation in Plymouth, and $22,000 for a hydraulic analysis of a dam in Medway.
At a press conference at the State House, Patrick pointed out that his vetoes amount to less than 1 percent of the $36.5 billion budget, which he said reflected how few areas of disagreement he had with the budget approved by the House and Senate.
Then why even bother? Who pi$$ed you off personally?
“It’s a short list because I will say the Legislature sent a budget which is very consistent with the proposal I made in January, particularly in the areas of highest impact,” he said.
Patrick also vetoed an attempt by the Legislature to weaken a new state law that requires the MBTA retirement fund to abide by the same disclosure and ethics rules that apply to other pensions for public workers.
I will have something on that below.
The law, approved just last year, was designed to open the normally secretive operation to greater scrutiny. Patrick said he believes that greater transparency in the MBTA pension fund is important.
In Massachusetts?
The governor sent back to the Legislature another part of the budget that would give the state’s 11 district attorneys a $23,000, or 15 percent, pay hike, bumping them from $148,843 to $171,561. Patrick did not veto those pay hikes, and said he supports them and will sign them into law. But he added an amendment to them that would set up a commission to study the low salaries earned by the state’s 700 assistant district attorneys, whose starting pay is $37,500, and by the state’s approximately 480 public defenders, who start at $40,000 a year.
Patrick’s vetoes and changes now go to the House and Senate, which are expected to act swiftly to override them, as the law allows them to do. The items Patrick cut “were in the budget for a reason,” Brewer said. He added, however, that he was pleased that Patrick cut less than 1 percent of the budget. “The governor has been very respectful,” he said.
I thought he declined comment?
--more--"
"State lawmakers poised to vote on new budget; More state funds for DCF, antidrug effort in $36.5b plan" by Joshua Miller | Globe Staff June 30, 2014
State lawmakers are poised to vote Monday on a budget that would boost spending on the troubled Department of Children and Families to lighten caseloads for social workers, put new money toward drug addiction treatment, and increase support to cities and towns that have felt the pinch in previous years.
Related: DCF Delaying Records Release
Maybe the new money will help.
The $36.5 billion spending blueprint, a melding of earlier versions, was finalized Sunday night, a mere 30 hours before the new fiscal year begins. The plan introduces no new taxes or fees, but relies on $250 million in one-time revenues, including about $54 million in casino licensing fees that might evaporate if voters repeal the state’s casino gambling law in November.
See: Trump Towers Collapses
Also see: Casinos are Massachusetts’ future — or region’s past?
Getting in when it is a good time to be getting out! That is SOOOOO Ma$$achu$etts!
It also draws $140 million from the state’s main reserve account, the rainy day fund.
They are sitting on money when cutting services?
If both House and Senate lawmakers approve the spending proposal, as expected, it will go to Governor Deval Patrick for his signature....
The budget also ramps up some funding for community colleges and allocates an additional $40 million to the University of Massachusetts. UMass trustees voted earlier this month to freeze tuition and mandatory fees for the upcoming year, but were relying on additional state funds to do so.
Spending on local aid, which cities and towns use to pay for services such as firefighting and law enforcement, would increase by $25.5 million if this budget becomes law. That’s a shift from the plan proposed by Patrick in January, which level funded that spending for cities and towns, prompting an outcry from local officials....
The plan also adds $15 million for early education programs, and it includes about $7 million to boost funding for rental vouchers to help families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Much of this budget, as with previous years’, is consumed by fixed costs such as $13.4 billion in Medicaid-related spending and $2.4 billion in debt service.
Do I need even $ay it!?
While touting the proposals in the bill, legislative leaders defended the $250 million in spending from one-time sources, including reliance on licensing fees for casinos that may never be built. The budget also counts on projected revenue from a planned slot parlor.
Dempsey, the House budget chief, defended the spending plan as fiscally sound, saying it devotes more money to pay off the state’s significantly unfunded pension liability four years earlier than previously planned.
I was told the fund was in great shape. WTF?.
And, he noted, the rainy day fund would still have $1.2 billion at the end of the fiscal year.
WTF? We have hungry and homeless throughout this state! And they are SITTING on $1.2 BILLION?
Some Republican legislators said they had not yet had a chance to review the legislation Sunday night, but one had a positive take on the bill.
“It does raise spending, but what I liked is it doesn’t rely on new taxes or fees to do it,” said Senator Richard J. Ross, Republican of Wrentham, who was on the committee that hammered out the compromise between the two chambers. “I think it’s a responsible budget.”
And we can't/aren't going into debt, so.... they were sitting on money.
Noah Berger, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, a left-leaning research group, called the budget modest.
He said it “makes smart, targeted investments in areas like higher education, strengthening child welfare services and addressing substance abuse prevention and treatment, however....”
--more--"
"Budget boosts pay for sheriffs, district attorneys; Lesser raises for workers on state’s lower rungs" by Michael Levenson and Frank Phillips | Globe Staff July 01, 2014
The state’s politically powerful district attorneys, judges, and sheriffs are set to receive sizable pay increases starting this month, but lower-paid assistant prosecutors and child-care workers will receive much smaller raises under the state budget approved by legislators Monday.
The thin blue line of state oppression must be $ated, c'mon!
The 11 district attorneys will receive a 15 percent annual increase, or nearly $23,000, jumping from $148,843 to $171,561 under the new state budget. They will make $20,000 more than the governor, and $38,000 more than the state’s attorney general.
The state’s 14 sheriffs will get 23 percent pay increases, most of them going from $123,209 to $151,709 under the budget.
Trial court judges will see their salaries rise from $130,000 to $160,000 Tuesday, the beginning of the new fiscal year. The 23 percent increase was approved in a prior budget.
The pay increases made it through the House and Senate without opposition, despite growing concern within the criminal justice community over the low salaries paid to assistant district attorneys. The position’s starting salary is $37,500. The average pay for the prosecutors after several years of experience is generally in the low- to mid-$40,000 range.
Martin W. Healy, chief legal counsel for the Massachusetts Bar Association, said the low pay for assistant district attorneys and public defenders has made it difficult to attract and retain top talent. The bar association recently released a report decrying the low pay in both jobs.
That's the same thing corporate executives say to justifying looting.
“We’re pretty much at rock bottom in terms of pay scale,” Healy said. “We obviously want to see much more attention paid to this.”
Senate President Therese Murray declined to comment on the pay increases. House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo also declined to comment.
Colleen McGonagle, a spokeswoman for House Ways and Means Committee chairman Brian Dempsey, said the “budget provides funding for cost-of-living raises to public safety officials, who have not received them in a number of years, comparable to those for members of the judiciary and clerks in prior years.”
Governor Deval Patrick, who would have to sign the spending plan before it could become law, said he is still reviewing it.
Assistant district attorneys would receive a small bump under a $500,000 item included in the budget. District attorneys would be given discretion to dole out those increases, but if they were spread equally, the state’s 700 assistant district attorneys each would receive about $715 more a year.
That means assistant district attorneys in Massachusetts would still earn significantly less than counterparts in other states. In New Hampshire, entry-level prosecutors earn $52,000; in New York and Connecticut, they make $60,000.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe defended the hefty increase for district attorneys, saying the elected officials last received a pay increase in 2007. Averaged over the past seven years, the increase comes to 2 percent annually, he said.
“We are happy that the Legislature gave us a 2 percent increase since last time,’’ O’Keefe said. “We are grateful.”
He compared the gap in pay between district attorneys and assistant district attorneys to a typical workplace. “There is usually disparity between the leadership and those who start at the bottom,’’ O’Keefe said.
The budget would also raise from $148,843 to $171,561 the salary of Anthony J. Benedetti, chief counsel to the Committee for Public Counsel Services, whose salary is tied to the salaries of district attorneys.
The committee, which spends $167 million to represent indigent defenders, declined to comment. An entry-level salary for the committee’s staff attorney is $40,000.
The average salary for the 500 defense attorneys is in the mid-$50,000 range. The budget does not provide an increase in their pay.
Of the state’s 14 sheriffs, two are paid less than the others. The Nantucket sheriff will see his pay rise from $71,332 to $95,816. The sheriff’s salary in Dukes County will rise from $97,271 to $119,771.
John Birtwell, spokesman for Plymouth Sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr., president of the state sheriffs association, said the increases are based on a requirement that sheriffs’ salaries be 95 percent of the pay for District Court associate justices.
The Legislature gave much smaller, one-time increases to lower-paid human services and early childhood workers.
About 30,000 early childhood educators, who earn $26,000 a year on average, will get a one-time 2 percent bump, equivalent to $520 a year or $10 a week, according to Leo Delaney, president of the Massachusetts Association of Early Education and Care.
“It really does not put a lot of money in their pockets at all, and that’s the sad part,” said Delaney, whose group had asked lawmakers for a 5 percent increase. Still, he said, he was grateful for the bonus.
A spit in the hand is worth two in the.... ???
Lawmakers were able to boost spending in the $36.5 billion budget after they used rosier revenue projections to find an additional $120 million, said Andrew Bagley, director of research and public affairs at the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a private group that tracks state finances.
OMG, this BUDGET is ALL BASED on FRAUD!
Bagley said he had no reason to doubt the honesty of the revision.
Oh, of course not!! Now I $EE a PROBLEM!!!
But he pointed out that the state is facing potentially costly fixes to its troubled Health Connector website and is paying about $10 million a month to keep people in temporary health plans while officials scramble to put them into permanent plans that comply with the federal health care law.
Given these costs, “it would have been better to hold the money in reserve,” Bagley said.
And while mentioning it the websites, along with the state drug lab, the compounding crisis, the opoid crisis, the lost tax loot, etc, etc, etc, this governor is looking like a MASSIVE FAILURE! And now you can add the immigration illegalities to the list!
Senate budget chief Stephen M. Brewer defended the revision, saying it was based on the improving economy and a desire to fund favored programs.
Asked if it was responsible, Brewer said, “Without a doubt.”
But the budget also relies on $75 million in casino and slot parlor revenue that could evaporate this fall, if voters approve a ballot question to repeal the state’s gambling law. “That’s yet another exposure that we may face,” Bagley said.
If the money does not materialize, lawmakers might have to make cuts or dip deeper into the state’s reserve account, DeLeo said Monday. The budget already uses $140 million from the rainy day fund.
It's got over a BILLION, so....
“Obviously, it’s a concern,” DeLeo said.
To save money, the budget closes a costly Medicaid loophole, preventing detox centers from sending drug samples to testing clinics run by the same owner.
Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, which pushed the change, said it would save the state’s Medicaid program $6.6 million.
The budget also includes a cost-saving measure that would change the rules so that prisoners’ Medicaid coverage would be suspended instead of terminated after arraignment.
This would allow the state to bill Medicaid if an inmate is hospitalized, and the federal government would reimburse at least half the cost.
And inmates would have their coverage immediately restored upon release, so they would have easier access to health care, especially substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian said in a statement that the change “will provide greater continuity of care, promote public safety and, at the same time, save valuable taxpayer dollars.”
The budget also seeks to reduce over-medicating of the elderly, by requiring nursing homes to receive written consent from residents before giving them certain psychotropic drugs.
Yes, pre$cription pharmaceutical profits come first in Ma$$achu$etts.
Backers said some nursing homes use the drugs to calm residents, not because they are medically necessary.
“This is a simple yet necessary step in informing some of our most vulnerable citizens, elderly and Alzheimer’s patients,” said state Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives, a Newburyport Democrat.
No doubt the all the tax subsidies to Hollywood and other well-connected corporations were saved.
--more--"
Gee, that first article made me feel like it was all going to services. That last one, well... typical Ma$$achu$etts.
State Senate OK’s password protection bill
And yet everything they do is secret and behind closed doors.
State Senate passes abortion clinic buffer zone bill
"The new legislation would replace it with a 25-foot radius that would apply only to those dispersed by police after impeding access to a clinic entrance or driveway. Protesters would have to remain behind the arc for the next eight hours or until the clinic closes for the day, whichever comes first. A protester who fails to comply with a dispersal order would be punishable by a fine of up to $500 and up to three months in jail. A subsequent offense would mean a fine of up to $5,000 and as much as five years in jail. The legislation, if approved, would also levy fines and jail time on anyone who “by force, physical act, or threat of force” tries to injure or intimidate anyone arriving at or leaving a clinic."
I guess that is why Holder wants to let out the crackheads.
A guide to the new buffer bill
Boston Globe Abortion Clinic
Buffer zone rhetoric belies facts about pro-life demonstrators
Can't argue with Mr. Cotter.
Beacon Hill getting ramps for disabled
No money set aside for shift in Medicaid
Arts funding gets a boost
I really don't know what else to say, readers.
You $ee who your $tate government is $erving?
What else working on?
"Mass. bill targets welfare fraud; Plan also gives incentives to hire recipients" by David Scharfenberg | Globe Staff June 23, 2014
Store owners who knowingly allow welfare recipients to buy lottery tickets, tobacco, and other prohibited items with benefit cards would face stiffer penalties under a bill expected to clear the Legislature in the coming days.
The legislation, which also includes incentives for businesses to hire welfare recipients, would amount to the most significant welfare revision since Governor William Weld signed a landmark bill in 1995.
Legislators backing the bill say it strikes a careful balance between cracking down on fraud and helping recipients get on their feet.
When are you going after the bankers?
“This bill outlines thoughtful changes to our welfare system,” Senate President Therese Murray said in a statement.
But advocates on the left and right say — for different reasons — that the legislation is flawed — while making a complex system even harder to navigate.
Jim Stergios, executive director of the conservative Pioneer Institute in Boston, said the state should make more robust use of technology to track spending by welfare recipients and root out fraud....
Maybe you better put a BRA on first.
--more--"
Related: Senate welfare-reform bill helps recipients find jobs
Where? Market Basket?
"The bottle bill is dead, again. The two-decade effort by environmental advocates to persuade state lawmakers to expand the nickel deposit that encourages recycling of soda, beer, and malt beverage containers to include bottled water, sports drinks, and other noncarbonated beverages will now probably be decided by voters in November."
They like booze though:
"Under the bill, wineries are required to label their packages as containing alcohol and indicate that they must be delivered to someone of legal drinking age. Massachusetts taxes must be applied to the purchase, and wineries that break the rules are subject to fines or suspensions of their permit. Getting it here, though, might still be a trick. Some freight companies such as UPS refuse to ship wine to Massachusetts. “This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”
See: Progress, but problem not solved
Time for a pill:
"State unveils plan to regulate pharmacies" by Kay Lazar | Globe Staff June 30, 2014
State inspectors who monitor compounding pharmacies that custom mix drugs will be required to have special training, under compromise legislation unveiled Sunday by Massachusetts lawmakers. Adding one pharmacist with expertise in the most risky type of compounding to the board that regulates the industry, would also be mandated under the legislation.
In addition, the bill would require hospital pharmacies, which currently are not subject to routine monitoring by the state’s pharmacy board, to be inspected by state regulators and follow Massachusetts rules by June 2015.
The legislation comes after tainted drugs produced in 2012 at a Massachusetts commercial compounding pharmacy, New England Compounding Center, sickened 751 people, killing 64.
Honestly, it's a downplayed scandal. That's a lot of people.
The Massachusetts House and Senate last fall each issued different proposals aimed at closing loopholes that investigators said led to the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak from the tainted drugs, and the compromise package issued Sunday includes many key proposals from both....
After the meningitis outbreak, some state inspectors testified at a public hearing that they didn’t have the expertise they needed to effectively monitor pharmacies, such as New England Compounding, that do the most risky type of compounding — mixing drugs that are injected into the body.
The fungal meningitis outbreak was traced to an injectable steroid manufactured at New England Compounding....
Related: Board With My Boston Sunday Globe
The compromise legislation also will require out-of-state pharmacies that ship products to Massachusetts to be licensed by the state and subject to its rules.
Other portions of the package would require inspectors to conduct both planned and unplanned inspections of all licensed compounding pharmacies, and to assess penalties up to $25,000 for each violation by a pharmacy, and up to $1,000 a day for each violation that continues beyond the date prescribed for correction.
Nice touch.
--more--"
"New law increases oversight of compounding pharmacies" by Martin Finucane | Globe staff July 03, 2014
The Massachusetts Legislature has passed a bill intended to crack down on compounding pharmacies, which came under scrutiny after a now- defunct Framingham pharmacy made tainted drugs that were blamed for killing 64 people and sickening hundreds more in 2012.
The new law would increase oversight and create comprehensive and uniform standards governing the pharmacies’ operation, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“This legislation ensures that we are doing all we can to guarantee the highest standards of safety, oversight, and transparency for compounding pharmacies,” DeLeo said in the statement.
The New England Compounding Center in Framingham made the tainted pain medications that sickened people in 20 states.
The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk.
The Globe reported in May that bankruptcy lawyers had reached a settlement that is worth more than $100 million with insurers and the family that owned the pharmacy, in a deal that paved the way for eventually providing compensation to the victims.
Chump change.
Federal investigators are continuing to consider bringing criminal charges against anyone responsible for selling the tainted drugs, the Globe reported.
But?
--more--"
Still waiting for your drugs?
"Express Scripts cuts payments for customized drugs" by Matthew Perrone | Associated Press July 04, 2014
WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, is dramatically scaling back its coverage of compounded medications, saying most of the custom-mixed medicines are ineffective or overpriced.
The company, which manages prescriptions for 90 million Americans, plans to drop coverage for 1,000 drug ingredients commonly found in compounded medications. Express Scripts executives said the move is a cost-saver for employers that will reduce their spending on compounded prescriptions by 95 percent.
‘‘What we are eliminating is, pure and simple, wasteful spending,’’ Glen Stettin, senior vice president, said in an interview. ‘‘These drugs are being used when there are other things available that are already approved by the FDA and are less expensive.’’
But the coverage change has prompted a swift pushback from compounding pharmacists, who argue that such cuts deprive patients of crucial medications not available as manufactured drugs. A compounding pharmacy industry spokesman said similar efforts to curb coverage are in the works from several insurers and pharmacy benefit providers, including UnitedHealthcare and some Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.
‘‘This is the first time we’ve seen a systematic approach to substantially, effectively cut compounding coverage, which ultimately is very detrimental to patients,’’ said Jay McEniry, executive director of Patients and Physicians for Rx Access, a group recently launched by compounding pharmacies.
The cuts by Express Scripts take effect Sept. 15, unless customers specifically ask to continue paying for the compounded drugs. Companies who want to opt out of the cuts must notify Express Scripts by Thursday.
Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and other pharmacy benefit managers are paid by employers to manage pharmacy costs. They do this by negotiating discounts and rebates from drugmakers and wholesalers, and by setting up tiered drug lists that steer patients toward lower-cost drugs, which are often generics.
In recent years pharmacy benefit companies have focused their cost-saving efforts on new specialty drugs like Sovaldi, a hepatitis C treatment from Gilead Sciences that costs about $1,000 per pill. Express Scripts reported earlier this year that specialty drugs accounted for more than a quarter of all US drug spending, even though they total less than 1 percent of prescriptions. Compounded drugs occupy a different niche in the pharmaceutical landscape.
See: Returning to the $hire
Compounded medicines are custom-mixed by pharmacists to meet the prescribing instructions provided by a doctor. For instance, if a patient is unable to swallow a pill their doctor may order a liquid formulation of the same drug from a compounding pharmacy.
Express Scripts says patients will still be able to get necessary compounded medicines under its plan. Instead, the company’s cuts focus on untested topical creams and ointments used to treat pain and other conditions. For example, Express Scripts said some compounding pharmacies will mix five or more drugs into a pain cream even though there is no evidence that the combination is better than a single-ingredient drug. And in many cases that single ingredient is already available as an over-the-counter drug or a conventional prescription.
‘‘Your health benefit is intended to pay for things that have demonstrated efficacy. These are things that wouldn’t pass muster,’’ said Express Scripts’ Stettin, who heads the company’s clinical research division.
--more--"
Time to fire off a few more articles:
"Mass. House acts to beef up gun rules; Both sides in issue back legislation" by Michael Levenson | Globe staff July 10, 2014
After making last-minute changes to mollify angry gun owners, the Massachusetts House on Wednesday approved wide-ranging legislation aimed at tightening state gun laws, already among the strictest in the nation.
Remarkably, the bill drew praise from gun-control advocates as well as from the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, which remained officially neutral, but called the legislation “a great victory for the Second Amendment.”
Under the main provisions of the bill, the state would join a national database for criminal and mental-health background checks, require schools to develop plans to address students’ mental health needs, and give police discretion to deny a permit for a rifle or shotgun if an applicant is deemed unsuitable.
They are the worst offenders of all!
Related: Angry About Arlington Artistry
They kept his gun though.
The legislation seeks to further tighten Massachusetts’ sweeping 1998 gun law, which has been called among the toughest in the nation. That law banned semiautomatic assault weapons, imposed strict licensing rules, and banned anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from carrying or owning a gun.
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo pushed the bill on a day when he was also vigorously denying allegations by federal prosecutors that he was involved in a scheme to trade legislative favors for jobs in the state Probation Department.
The speaker said he was proud that the legislation had sparked praise from gun-rights groups and from gun-control advocates, and he contrasted that highly unusual scenario with the divisiveness that has stymied gun-control legislation in Congress. The House passed the bill on a 112-to-38 vote.
“It makes our already strong gun laws even stronger here in Massachusetts,” DeLeo said. “But I think it also sends a message throughout every state and most importantly to the folks in Washington” that gun-control measures can earn bipartisan support.
Related: Patrick on Probation
You should be joining Sal, Bob.
The legislation was motivated by the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in December 2012 and was designed in part by a panel of outside legal specialists who met with gun owners, gun dealers, police officers, mental health specialists, school superintendents, legislators, and parents of mentally ill children.
Oh, by that completely fictions, staged and scripted psyop.
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where lawmakers will have to scramble to pass the bill before formal legislative sessions end July 31. A spokeswoman for Senate President Therese Murray said Wednesday that she looks forward to reviewing the bill “with the goal of taking up similar legislation before the end of the session.”
Governor Deval Patrick has in the past spoken favorably of the bill while lamenting that it does not include a provision he supports that would limit gun purchases to one a month. Asked about the legislation on Wednesday, he declined comment, saying he needed to review the details.
The legislation initially provoked strong protests from gun rights advocates, who argued their concerns had been ignored and who flooded House offices with calls arguing that the proposal would further burden lawful gun owners.
Even in liberal Massachusetts, lawmakers said some of the changes the gun owners sought were reasonable and minor, prompting them to make several 11th-hour revisions. Gun-control advocates said the changes did not harm the bill.
One change would require police chiefs who deny a permit to justify the decision in writing. That came in response to gun-rights advocates who complained that chiefs had denied permits for arbitrary reasons.
Lawmakers removed a requirement that gun-training courses include not only classroom time, but also practice firing weapons, after some gun owners argued that would be a burden. They dropped a provision that would have banned gun sales to people convicted of misdemeanors punishable by one year in prison. Critics said that could have denied guns to those convicted of nonviolent offenses, such as swimming in a public water supply.
Lawmakers also tweaked a requirement that all private firearms sales be conducted in the presence of a licensed dealer, instead allowing those transactions to be conducted online, on a state website. Another change would require the state to collect and analyze data on all suicides in Massachusetts, not just those by firearms, as the bill initially proposed.
The Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts, the state NRA affiliate, said the voices of its 17,000 members had improved the bill.
“I’m not jumping up and down and saying, ‘Yahoo,’ but we’re OK with it,” said Jim Wallace, the league’s executive director. “We’re pleased with the last-minute changes.”
Representative George N. Peterson, a Grafton Republican and gun-rights supporter, was also encouraged. “We’ve got a pretty good balance,” said Peterson, who helped negotiate the changes with DeLeo.
John Rosenthal, founder and president of Stop Handgun Violence, said he strongly supported the measure.
“The changes are reasonable, and the final bill will make it harder for criminals to get guns and save lives and continue to make urban industrial Massachusetts a national leader with effective gun violence prevention laws,” he said.
The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Handgun Violence said it would seek to toughen the legislation in the Senate by pushing for the one-gun-a-month limit. Still, the group applauded the bill saying it “will close dangerous loopholes in our existing gun laws and make Massachusetts a safer place.”
“Today’s vote sends a strong message that Massachusetts is committed to addressing gun violence, and it continues our national leadership on this crucial issue,” the group said.
--more--"
Related:
Senators pass an altered gun bill
On gun laws, Mass. emerges as a model
"All Massachusetts schools should have a crisis response team and a single public entrance. They should practice what would happen if a shooter appeared and ensure every classroom has a “go-kit” to be used in emergencies, according to a new report scheduled to be released by the state Thursday. “The emphasis here is on building relationships with your town manager, your chief of police, your fire chief, really involving the community in how do we keep our schools safe,” said Mary Czajkowski, superintendent of Barnstable public schools, who was part of the 22-member task force, made up of school administrators, students, law enforcement, and elected officials. “You don’t want to get to know your police chief or town manager when there’s an incident. You want to have established a relationship.” Keeping schools safe, she said, is the job of the community at large."
I'm glad I'm a decaying old fossil sometime.
Time to retire:
"Scrutiny eases on MBTA pensions; Legislature ends sweeping requirements on fund disclosures" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff July 04, 2014
The Legislature has abandoned its effort to make the MBTA retirement fund follow disclosure and ethics rules that apply to other pensions for public workers, repealing a law passed just a year ago to open the normally secretive operation to greater scrutiny.
Lawmakers accepted two narrower measures instead. They will require the MBTA to disclose the names of its retirees and their pension benefits online, as other state agencies already do.
Separately, the $1.6 billion fund has pledged to produce more complete annual reports.
But the lawmakers, in the fiscal 2015 budget passed Monday, repealed a far more sweeping measure that was supposed to change the pension fund’s longstanding tradition of privacy.
That law, enacted last year, was meant to require the board of the T’s pension system to hold open public meetings, submit to public records requests, and follow standard conflict-of-interest rules.
The pension fund for transportation workers was set up decades ago as a private trust, even though the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority itself is a public agency. Pension officials have cited the fund’s private status, upheld by the state’s highest court in 1993, when they resisted the measure enacted a year ago.
Critics of the law said it was too vague and fell short of challenging the pension fund’s privacy claims.
Still, Iliya Atanasov, a senior fellow on finance at the Pioneer Institute, a Boston think tank that has been critical of the MBTA pension board, said that rolling back the law was tantamount to defeat for those who wanted to bring more scrutiny to the board.
“I thought they would come up with a much more meaningful package,’’ Atanasov said. “The real issue is that the fund’s governance is broken. Until that is fixed, it’s going to be the same cycle of conflicts and losses and scandals every few years.’’
The pension fund has received heightened scrutiny since December, when the Globe reported that the fund had lost $25 million on a hedge fund investment recommended by its former executive director.
The relationship was not disclosed in the fund’s 2008 annual report. Nor was the total loss disclosed when the hedge fund, run by Fletcher Asset Management in New York, went bankrupt in 2012.
Related: Taking Breakfast at T Stop
It's after lunch!
State Senator William N. Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, had championed the law last year but is helping to reverse it now.
Talk about political power being exercised by the T!
He said he believes the two new requirements will improve the pension fund’s transparency.
“The information that the public most wants to know – namely, who’s getting public pensions and how much — will be on the state’s website as a result of this new legislation,’’ Brownsberger said.
Then what was so hard about all this?
In addition, he said, those who want to know more about the financial workings of the fund “will have a much better window into it with a new, high-quality annual report.’’
But many things will probably be missing from that report. For instance, officials could not say whether executive pay at the retirement fund would be disclosed, or whether the reports will give more detail about the fund’s investments.
By contrast, the $60 billion pension fund for state workers holds regular public meetings, discloses the pay of its top employees, and updates its investment returns monthly.
***************
Lawyers for the MBTA have maintained that the law does not apply to their pension fund. Even if it had included the authority by name, lawyers and half the pension fund board believed the law did not supersede the fund’s private trust status. The state’s supervisor of public records agreed with that position when the Globe and other news outlets requested public records.
The Globe recently filed a suit, citing the law, in an effort to obtain records about the pension fund.
Governor Deval Patrick, who is reviewing the budget bill that includes the repeal, was in favor of last year’s law requiring more disclosure. His three appointees to the authority, who in turn serve on the retirement board, voted to follow the new law. But the other three board members disagreed, voting instead to wait for a legal review.
James M. O’Brien, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union and a member of the pension board, said the directors are charged with guarding the privacy of their members. But it was the union that approached the T to work on ways to improve disclosure, he said, which resulted in plans for the new annual report.
The only privacy that is not important is YOURS, citizen!
“Through collective bargaining, the union made a proposal for more transparency,’’ he said.
Brownsberger said the Legislature will have to stay “in touch with the process” to be sure it results in a clearer picture of the pension fund’s finances. “I think we’re going to have a very good view into the integrity and operations of the MBTA retirement fund,’’ he said.
--more--"
You smell something?
"New Mass. law aims to speed repairs to gas leaks; Plan sets timetable to repair lines; customers to see savings in long run" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff July 07, 2014
A blueprint to speed repairs to thousands of leaks in natural gas pipelines across the state — reducing the threat of explosions and eventually saving consumers millions of dollars — will be unveiled Monday in Springfield.
Related:
The Seeping Streets of Boston
Mass. Gas Leaks
That was over three years ago. Frack this!
The effort, authorized by recently passed legislation, creates a uniform system that classifies the severity of leaks and sets a timeline for their repair based on the risks. It also allows utilities to more quickly recover the costs of repairs from customers in the form of higher rates.
Those repairs could add an estimated $1 to $2 a month to the average gas bill, industry officials say. But over the longer term, Massachusetts customers could save tens of millions of dollars a year once all gas leaks are repaired. That’s because they will no longer have to pay for gas lost to those leaks.
Then again, might not.
Local utilities respond to tens of thousands of calls about potential gas leaks each year and reported more than 25,000 leaks to regulators at the end of September.
“As this flammable gas travels under our feet in often archaic pipes, I’m thrilled we are compelling gas companies to track their known leaks in a more transparent and uniform way,” said state Representative Lori Ehrlich, a Democrat from Marblehead who has long pushed to repair gas leaks. “The stakes are too high.”
Neglected for profits for so long.
Natural gas explosions, including one in April that injured 11 people in Dorchester, have called attention to the problem, but the issue has gathered momentum as researchers have quantified the amount of gas lost from thousands of small leaks in aging pipelines, and the costs — to customers and the environment....
Natural gas used to heat homes is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change....
Way worse than the carbon they blame on you.
Utilities said the law not only allows them to repair leaks faster and recover costs in a timely manner but also has provisions that will allow them to bring natural gas service to more Massachusetts residents. Natural gas in recent years has been significantly cheaper than heating oil.
Except the price has been rising fast.
“This will allow us to accelerate the replacement of aging infrastructure,” said Thomas M. Kiley, chief executive of the Northeast Gas Association, a Needham-based industry group that represents gas utilities. “The bottom line is that there are going to be less leaks going forward.”
On Monday, Patrick will join state officials for an event publicizing the law in Springfield, where a natural gas explosion leveled a club in 2012 and injured more than a dozen....
See: Explosion in Springfield
--more--"
That's enough fart mist for now.
Related: Senate welfare-reform bill helps recipients find jobs
Where? Market Basket?
"The bottle bill is dead, again. The two-decade effort by environmental advocates to persuade state lawmakers to expand the nickel deposit that encourages recycling of soda, beer, and malt beverage containers to include bottled water, sports drinks, and other noncarbonated beverages will now probably be decided by voters in November."
They like booze though:
"Under the bill, wineries are required to label their packages as containing alcohol and indicate that they must be delivered to someone of legal drinking age. Massachusetts taxes must be applied to the purchase, and wineries that break the rules are subject to fines or suspensions of their permit. Getting it here, though, might still be a trick. Some freight companies such as UPS refuse to ship wine to Massachusetts. “This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”
See: Progress, but problem not solved
Time for a pill:
"State unveils plan to regulate pharmacies" by Kay Lazar | Globe Staff June 30, 2014
State inspectors who monitor compounding pharmacies that custom mix drugs will be required to have special training, under compromise legislation unveiled Sunday by Massachusetts lawmakers. Adding one pharmacist with expertise in the most risky type of compounding to the board that regulates the industry, would also be mandated under the legislation.
In addition, the bill would require hospital pharmacies, which currently are not subject to routine monitoring by the state’s pharmacy board, to be inspected by state regulators and follow Massachusetts rules by June 2015.
The legislation comes after tainted drugs produced in 2012 at a Massachusetts commercial compounding pharmacy, New England Compounding Center, sickened 751 people, killing 64.
Honestly, it's a downplayed scandal. That's a lot of people.
The Massachusetts House and Senate last fall each issued different proposals aimed at closing loopholes that investigators said led to the deadly fungal meningitis outbreak from the tainted drugs, and the compromise package issued Sunday includes many key proposals from both....
After the meningitis outbreak, some state inspectors testified at a public hearing that they didn’t have the expertise they needed to effectively monitor pharmacies, such as New England Compounding, that do the most risky type of compounding — mixing drugs that are injected into the body.
The fungal meningitis outbreak was traced to an injectable steroid manufactured at New England Compounding....
Related: Board With My Boston Sunday Globe
The compromise legislation also will require out-of-state pharmacies that ship products to Massachusetts to be licensed by the state and subject to its rules.
Other portions of the package would require inspectors to conduct both planned and unplanned inspections of all licensed compounding pharmacies, and to assess penalties up to $25,000 for each violation by a pharmacy, and up to $1,000 a day for each violation that continues beyond the date prescribed for correction.
Nice touch.
--more--"
"New law increases oversight of compounding pharmacies" by Martin Finucane | Globe staff July 03, 2014
The Massachusetts Legislature has passed a bill intended to crack down on compounding pharmacies, which came under scrutiny after a now- defunct Framingham pharmacy made tainted drugs that were blamed for killing 64 people and sickening hundreds more in 2012.
The new law would increase oversight and create comprehensive and uniform standards governing the pharmacies’ operation, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“This legislation ensures that we are doing all we can to guarantee the highest standards of safety, oversight, and transparency for compounding pharmacies,” DeLeo said in the statement.
The New England Compounding Center in Framingham made the tainted pain medications that sickened people in 20 states.
The bill is now headed to the governor’s desk.
The Globe reported in May that bankruptcy lawyers had reached a settlement that is worth more than $100 million with insurers and the family that owned the pharmacy, in a deal that paved the way for eventually providing compensation to the victims.
Chump change.
Federal investigators are continuing to consider bringing criminal charges against anyone responsible for selling the tainted drugs, the Globe reported.
But?
--more--"
Still waiting for your drugs?
"Express Scripts cuts payments for customized drugs" by Matthew Perrone | Associated Press July 04, 2014
WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, is dramatically scaling back its coverage of compounded medications, saying most of the custom-mixed medicines are ineffective or overpriced.
The company, which manages prescriptions for 90 million Americans, plans to drop coverage for 1,000 drug ingredients commonly found in compounded medications. Express Scripts executives said the move is a cost-saver for employers that will reduce their spending on compounded prescriptions by 95 percent.
‘‘What we are eliminating is, pure and simple, wasteful spending,’’ Glen Stettin, senior vice president, said in an interview. ‘‘These drugs are being used when there are other things available that are already approved by the FDA and are less expensive.’’
But the coverage change has prompted a swift pushback from compounding pharmacists, who argue that such cuts deprive patients of crucial medications not available as manufactured drugs. A compounding pharmacy industry spokesman said similar efforts to curb coverage are in the works from several insurers and pharmacy benefit providers, including UnitedHealthcare and some Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.
‘‘This is the first time we’ve seen a systematic approach to substantially, effectively cut compounding coverage, which ultimately is very detrimental to patients,’’ said Jay McEniry, executive director of Patients and Physicians for Rx Access, a group recently launched by compounding pharmacies.
The cuts by Express Scripts take effect Sept. 15, unless customers specifically ask to continue paying for the compounded drugs. Companies who want to opt out of the cuts must notify Express Scripts by Thursday.
Express Scripts, CVS Caremark, and other pharmacy benefit managers are paid by employers to manage pharmacy costs. They do this by negotiating discounts and rebates from drugmakers and wholesalers, and by setting up tiered drug lists that steer patients toward lower-cost drugs, which are often generics.
In recent years pharmacy benefit companies have focused their cost-saving efforts on new specialty drugs like Sovaldi, a hepatitis C treatment from Gilead Sciences that costs about $1,000 per pill. Express Scripts reported earlier this year that specialty drugs accounted for more than a quarter of all US drug spending, even though they total less than 1 percent of prescriptions. Compounded drugs occupy a different niche in the pharmaceutical landscape.
See: Returning to the $hire
Compounded medicines are custom-mixed by pharmacists to meet the prescribing instructions provided by a doctor. For instance, if a patient is unable to swallow a pill their doctor may order a liquid formulation of the same drug from a compounding pharmacy.
Express Scripts says patients will still be able to get necessary compounded medicines under its plan. Instead, the company’s cuts focus on untested topical creams and ointments used to treat pain and other conditions. For example, Express Scripts said some compounding pharmacies will mix five or more drugs into a pain cream even though there is no evidence that the combination is better than a single-ingredient drug. And in many cases that single ingredient is already available as an over-the-counter drug or a conventional prescription.
‘‘Your health benefit is intended to pay for things that have demonstrated efficacy. These are things that wouldn’t pass muster,’’ said Express Scripts’ Stettin, who heads the company’s clinical research division.
--more--"
Time to fire off a few more articles:
"Mass. House acts to beef up gun rules; Both sides in issue back legislation" by Michael Levenson | Globe staff July 10, 2014
After making last-minute changes to mollify angry gun owners, the Massachusetts House on Wednesday approved wide-ranging legislation aimed at tightening state gun laws, already among the strictest in the nation.
Remarkably, the bill drew praise from gun-control advocates as well as from the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association, which remained officially neutral, but called the legislation “a great victory for the Second Amendment.”
Under the main provisions of the bill, the state would join a national database for criminal and mental-health background checks, require schools to develop plans to address students’ mental health needs, and give police discretion to deny a permit for a rifle or shotgun if an applicant is deemed unsuitable.
They are the worst offenders of all!
Related: Angry About Arlington Artistry
They kept his gun though.
The legislation seeks to further tighten Massachusetts’ sweeping 1998 gun law, which has been called among the toughest in the nation. That law banned semiautomatic assault weapons, imposed strict licensing rules, and banned anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from carrying or owning a gun.
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo pushed the bill on a day when he was also vigorously denying allegations by federal prosecutors that he was involved in a scheme to trade legislative favors for jobs in the state Probation Department.
The speaker said he was proud that the legislation had sparked praise from gun-rights groups and from gun-control advocates, and he contrasted that highly unusual scenario with the divisiveness that has stymied gun-control legislation in Congress. The House passed the bill on a 112-to-38 vote.
“It makes our already strong gun laws even stronger here in Massachusetts,” DeLeo said. “But I think it also sends a message throughout every state and most importantly to the folks in Washington” that gun-control measures can earn bipartisan support.
Related: Patrick on Probation
You should be joining Sal, Bob.
The legislation was motivated by the Newtown, Conn., school massacre in December 2012 and was designed in part by a panel of outside legal specialists who met with gun owners, gun dealers, police officers, mental health specialists, school superintendents, legislators, and parents of mentally ill children.
Oh, by that completely fictions, staged and scripted psyop.
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where lawmakers will have to scramble to pass the bill before formal legislative sessions end July 31. A spokeswoman for Senate President Therese Murray said Wednesday that she looks forward to reviewing the bill “with the goal of taking up similar legislation before the end of the session.”
Governor Deval Patrick has in the past spoken favorably of the bill while lamenting that it does not include a provision he supports that would limit gun purchases to one a month. Asked about the legislation on Wednesday, he declined comment, saying he needed to review the details.
The legislation initially provoked strong protests from gun rights advocates, who argued their concerns had been ignored and who flooded House offices with calls arguing that the proposal would further burden lawful gun owners.
Even in liberal Massachusetts, lawmakers said some of the changes the gun owners sought were reasonable and minor, prompting them to make several 11th-hour revisions. Gun-control advocates said the changes did not harm the bill.
One change would require police chiefs who deny a permit to justify the decision in writing. That came in response to gun-rights advocates who complained that chiefs had denied permits for arbitrary reasons.
Lawmakers removed a requirement that gun-training courses include not only classroom time, but also practice firing weapons, after some gun owners argued that would be a burden. They dropped a provision that would have banned gun sales to people convicted of misdemeanors punishable by one year in prison. Critics said that could have denied guns to those convicted of nonviolent offenses, such as swimming in a public water supply.
Lawmakers also tweaked a requirement that all private firearms sales be conducted in the presence of a licensed dealer, instead allowing those transactions to be conducted online, on a state website. Another change would require the state to collect and analyze data on all suicides in Massachusetts, not just those by firearms, as the bill initially proposed.
The Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts, the state NRA affiliate, said the voices of its 17,000 members had improved the bill.
“I’m not jumping up and down and saying, ‘Yahoo,’ but we’re OK with it,” said Jim Wallace, the league’s executive director. “We’re pleased with the last-minute changes.”
Representative George N. Peterson, a Grafton Republican and gun-rights supporter, was also encouraged. “We’ve got a pretty good balance,” said Peterson, who helped negotiate the changes with DeLeo.
John Rosenthal, founder and president of Stop Handgun Violence, said he strongly supported the measure.
“The changes are reasonable, and the final bill will make it harder for criminals to get guns and save lives and continue to make urban industrial Massachusetts a national leader with effective gun violence prevention laws,” he said.
The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Handgun Violence said it would seek to toughen the legislation in the Senate by pushing for the one-gun-a-month limit. Still, the group applauded the bill saying it “will close dangerous loopholes in our existing gun laws and make Massachusetts a safer place.”
“Today’s vote sends a strong message that Massachusetts is committed to addressing gun violence, and it continues our national leadership on this crucial issue,” the group said.
--more--"
Related:
Senators pass an altered gun bill
On gun laws, Mass. emerges as a model
"All Massachusetts schools should have a crisis response team and a single public entrance. They should practice what would happen if a shooter appeared and ensure every classroom has a “go-kit” to be used in emergencies, according to a new report scheduled to be released by the state Thursday. “The emphasis here is on building relationships with your town manager, your chief of police, your fire chief, really involving the community in how do we keep our schools safe,” said Mary Czajkowski, superintendent of Barnstable public schools, who was part of the 22-member task force, made up of school administrators, students, law enforcement, and elected officials. “You don’t want to get to know your police chief or town manager when there’s an incident. You want to have established a relationship.” Keeping schools safe, she said, is the job of the community at large."
I'm glad I'm a decaying old fossil sometime.
Time to retire:
"Scrutiny eases on MBTA pensions; Legislature ends sweeping requirements on fund disclosures" by Beth Healy | Globe Staff July 04, 2014
The Legislature has abandoned its effort to make the MBTA retirement fund follow disclosure and ethics rules that apply to other pensions for public workers, repealing a law passed just a year ago to open the normally secretive operation to greater scrutiny.
Lawmakers accepted two narrower measures instead. They will require the MBTA to disclose the names of its retirees and their pension benefits online, as other state agencies already do.
Separately, the $1.6 billion fund has pledged to produce more complete annual reports.
But the lawmakers, in the fiscal 2015 budget passed Monday, repealed a far more sweeping measure that was supposed to change the pension fund’s longstanding tradition of privacy.
That law, enacted last year, was meant to require the board of the T’s pension system to hold open public meetings, submit to public records requests, and follow standard conflict-of-interest rules.
The pension fund for transportation workers was set up decades ago as a private trust, even though the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority itself is a public agency. Pension officials have cited the fund’s private status, upheld by the state’s highest court in 1993, when they resisted the measure enacted a year ago.
Critics of the law said it was too vague and fell short of challenging the pension fund’s privacy claims.
Still, Iliya Atanasov, a senior fellow on finance at the Pioneer Institute, a Boston think tank that has been critical of the MBTA pension board, said that rolling back the law was tantamount to defeat for those who wanted to bring more scrutiny to the board.
“I thought they would come up with a much more meaningful package,’’ Atanasov said. “The real issue is that the fund’s governance is broken. Until that is fixed, it’s going to be the same cycle of conflicts and losses and scandals every few years.’’
The pension fund has received heightened scrutiny since December, when the Globe reported that the fund had lost $25 million on a hedge fund investment recommended by its former executive director.
The relationship was not disclosed in the fund’s 2008 annual report. Nor was the total loss disclosed when the hedge fund, run by Fletcher Asset Management in New York, went bankrupt in 2012.
Related: Taking Breakfast at T Stop
It's after lunch!
State Senator William N. Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, had championed the law last year but is helping to reverse it now.
Talk about political power being exercised by the T!
He said he believes the two new requirements will improve the pension fund’s transparency.
“The information that the public most wants to know – namely, who’s getting public pensions and how much — will be on the state’s website as a result of this new legislation,’’ Brownsberger said.
Then what was so hard about all this?
In addition, he said, those who want to know more about the financial workings of the fund “will have a much better window into it with a new, high-quality annual report.’’
But many things will probably be missing from that report. For instance, officials could not say whether executive pay at the retirement fund would be disclosed, or whether the reports will give more detail about the fund’s investments.
By contrast, the $60 billion pension fund for state workers holds regular public meetings, discloses the pay of its top employees, and updates its investment returns monthly.
***************
Lawyers for the MBTA have maintained that the law does not apply to their pension fund. Even if it had included the authority by name, lawyers and half the pension fund board believed the law did not supersede the fund’s private trust status. The state’s supervisor of public records agreed with that position when the Globe and other news outlets requested public records.
The Globe recently filed a suit, citing the law, in an effort to obtain records about the pension fund.
Governor Deval Patrick, who is reviewing the budget bill that includes the repeal, was in favor of last year’s law requiring more disclosure. His three appointees to the authority, who in turn serve on the retirement board, voted to follow the new law. But the other three board members disagreed, voting instead to wait for a legal review.
James M. O’Brien, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union and a member of the pension board, said the directors are charged with guarding the privacy of their members. But it was the union that approached the T to work on ways to improve disclosure, he said, which resulted in plans for the new annual report.
The only privacy that is not important is YOURS, citizen!
“Through collective bargaining, the union made a proposal for more transparency,’’ he said.
Brownsberger said the Legislature will have to stay “in touch with the process” to be sure it results in a clearer picture of the pension fund’s finances. “I think we’re going to have a very good view into the integrity and operations of the MBTA retirement fund,’’ he said.
--more--"
You smell something?
"New Mass. law aims to speed repairs to gas leaks; Plan sets timetable to repair lines; customers to see savings in long run" by Erin Ailworth | Globe Staff July 07, 2014
A blueprint to speed repairs to thousands of leaks in natural gas pipelines across the state — reducing the threat of explosions and eventually saving consumers millions of dollars — will be unveiled Monday in Springfield.
Related:
The Seeping Streets of Boston
Mass. Gas Leaks
That was over three years ago. Frack this!
The effort, authorized by recently passed legislation, creates a uniform system that classifies the severity of leaks and sets a timeline for their repair based on the risks. It also allows utilities to more quickly recover the costs of repairs from customers in the form of higher rates.
Those repairs could add an estimated $1 to $2 a month to the average gas bill, industry officials say. But over the longer term, Massachusetts customers could save tens of millions of dollars a year once all gas leaks are repaired. That’s because they will no longer have to pay for gas lost to those leaks.
Then again, might not.
Local utilities respond to tens of thousands of calls about potential gas leaks each year and reported more than 25,000 leaks to regulators at the end of September.
“As this flammable gas travels under our feet in often archaic pipes, I’m thrilled we are compelling gas companies to track their known leaks in a more transparent and uniform way,” said state Representative Lori Ehrlich, a Democrat from Marblehead who has long pushed to repair gas leaks. “The stakes are too high.”
Neglected for profits for so long.
Natural gas explosions, including one in April that injured 11 people in Dorchester, have called attention to the problem, but the issue has gathered momentum as researchers have quantified the amount of gas lost from thousands of small leaks in aging pipelines, and the costs — to customers and the environment....
Natural gas used to heat homes is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change....
Way worse than the carbon they blame on you.
Utilities said the law not only allows them to repair leaks faster and recover costs in a timely manner but also has provisions that will allow them to bring natural gas service to more Massachusetts residents. Natural gas in recent years has been significantly cheaper than heating oil.
Except the price has been rising fast.
“This will allow us to accelerate the replacement of aging infrastructure,” said Thomas M. Kiley, chief executive of the Northeast Gas Association, a Needham-based industry group that represents gas utilities. “The bottom line is that there are going to be less leaks going forward.”
On Monday, Patrick will join state officials for an event publicizing the law in Springfield, where a natural gas explosion leveled a club in 2012 and injured more than a dozen....
See: Explosion in Springfield
--more--"
That's enough fart mist for now.
