Will Brownsberger -- State Representative, Democrat, 24th Middlesex District

The legislature today will enact a strong pension reform that will eliminate rules that give some employees, mostly elected officials, special advantages.

Former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi was indicted last week on federal corruption charges. House Democrats, including me, voted overwhelmingly to re-elect DiMasi as speaker in January and he served briefly before resigning later that month. What were we thinking?

Perhaps the main things to underline at this stage are: (a) nothing at all is settled yet about the budget, reform or revenue; (b) all the major players endorse the principle of reform before revenue and are trying to do the right thing.

Pension reform is probably the most fundamental and controversial among the reforms on the agenda this year.  Now seated on the Public Service Committee, I expect to give this area quite a bit of my own attention.

Our mantra in the legislature this spring is “Reform before Revenue.”

Last night, the House passed a very strong ethics reform bill.   Speaker Deleo, understanding the deep public anger about the scandals of the recent past, made this bill his top early priority.   Transportation and pension reform bills will follow over the next few weeks.

I have decided to co-sponsor a controversial health care cost control bill authored by the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

Education funding is a top personal priority for me. But there are deep questions about how we should deliver education and what the goals of education should be.

I committed well over a year ago to vote for Bob Deleo for speaker and his solid final victory yesterday was very good news.

A proposal to raise the personal income tax exemption and simultaneously raise the rate — so as to make the income tax more progressive — has merit, but it is not politically viable at this time.

An outline of the financial issues that will be front and center throughout the coming legislative session.

Informal notes on Pioneer Institute White Paper: The Elephant in the Room:  Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45. 

Most state and local government full-time workers are entitled to health benefits in Massachusetts with employee contributions often under 20%.  

While the basic structure of the pension system is economically sound, and the fact that the federal social security system has been underfunded is no reason to punish current Masschusetts employees, there are many pension anomalies that annoy taxpayers and merit fixing.

I’m working with state representatives in my neighboring communities to start a legislative conversation about regionalization.

Patricia Haddad, the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Education spoke to a crowd of over 75 at the Wellington School last Thursday night. She offered a broad and informed perspective on the challenges of educating children today.

General and GIC comments.