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

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.