Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

The Patrick administration, in collaboration with the legislature, has been doing a good job focusing on long-term financial issues. Click here for the state’s long-term financial model. In a nutshell, the model says that if we can get health costs under control and the economy continues to recover, we will be able to sustain our [...]

Hi Will … The bill passed recently preventing unions from collective bargaining on health plan design was sold by you and others on the basis that municipal managers needed the flexibility it offered in the face of rising health care costs, that benefits were unusually generous in some towns (e.g. $5 co-pays, very low premium [...]

While I voted against the gambling bill, I think that we got a number of other good things done in this session. The biggest may be the redistricting plan which has been widely praised for the increase it creates in the number of districts from which minority candidates may potentially be elected.

The day before the final day of the 2011 session the House completed work on a number of good bills:

The state budget approved today includes a new approach to health care negotiation for municipal employees. It streamlines today’s very cumbersome process while setting reasonable boundaries on the choices that municipal managers can make and assuring some sharing of savings with employees.

One of the most important subjects in the conversation about municipal health care has been the risk of high out-of-pocket costs. The GIC has just released a study which sheds light on this issue.

A panel of judges for the Pioneer Institute’s Better Government Competition has awarded me their 2011 First Prize for my pension reform proposal.

Will, Interesting article here, partly on recents trends in union-busting, but also on public employee pensions.  Proposes, in the final paragraphs, that perhaps pensions should be put to a vote, just like bonds. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/mayjune_2011/features/the_fallacy_of_union_busting029139.php I’m not certain this would work well, because the public tends to have anti-Keynesian impulses (“I’m cutting back, so should the [...]

We send our elected representatives to the State House to make hard decisions.  They are usually not popular with everyone.  Representative Brownsberger has listened to all sides of this issue and made the best choice possible.  Saying no is the hardest thing any of us has to do.  Will, your experience in town government shows [...]

Rep. Brownsberger, You said in the posting the Unions played by the rules but you have chosen to change them and that is not good faith bargaining.  I read your posting that because you are a legislator, you can change the rules.  As a union member who has negotiated contracts for my local, I played [...]

From today’s Boston Globe – ““It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns.”  Congratulations to you, Will, and the others who voted FOR the people of MA who get handed [...]

I believe it is incredibly insensitive and reprehensible to remove collective bargaining rights from the union when planning health care options for their employees.   As a lifetime Democrat, I believe it is time for me and others to reconsider our political affiliation.     Why are you so afraid of our right to bargain [...]

Last night the House of Representatives voted 113 to 42 to remove health care plan design from collective bargaining for municipal employees. I view the reform as a very modest and responsible labor law adjustment that reflects important practical realities.

I’ll be reporting on budget issues to the Belmont town meeting on May 9.

The pay scales of public employees might be decided by an impartial referee committee that has no vested interest but the public interest (as much as is humanly possible). Politicians should not be directly involved in negotiating with unions. I believe in the very high value of unions.  However,  it is true that most people [...]

Will -I support your stand with the speaker on removing bargaining rights for municipalities on health care. Budgets are being cut to the bone and everything should be on the table in setting town budgets. Health care is also the prime area of expense growth and we all have to share the pain of controlling [...]

Will, I support your stand on allowing local authorities to modify contracts. All budgets are under pressure and there has to be shared sacrifice. I would like to see some more sacrifice by taxpayers. The tax rate could easily go up. The quid pro quo would be that towns and the State Government would have [...]

The House Ways and Means budget includes a relatively strong form of the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s plan design proposal.

The inter-generational fairness of the public pension system depends on the investment return assumption used in planning. This post collects resources on this subject.

Disclaimer:  I am a state employee who works in Higher Education. Will, I understand that state employees get a lot of  bad press.  I understand that a lot of people are angry when they hear about all of the people who get jobs through connections, and get raises beyond what private employees get, etc.  But, [...]