Will, There was an article in Saturday’s NYT entitled “In Budget Crisis States Take Aim at Pension Costs“. It quotes a pension expert who finds that states like Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey are less than 10 years from exhausting their pension funds. However, as the article says “…paying public pensions straight out of …
Government Reform
children and families, election laws, ethics rules, insider jobs, pensions & benefits, structure and operations, transparency
Municipal Health Insurance in Conference Committee
What is the status of the health insurance bill? I remain very concerned that this will be done in a way that allows municipalities to make unilateral changes in negotiated labor agreements — I gather that such a power is in fact a provision of the Senate bill, but NOT of the House bill.
Transparency Improvements Passed
In April, the House, with leadership support, passed two big steps in the right direction on financial transparency. The Senate, during budget debate, approved roughly the same measures, making their final passage highly likely.
Politics in Probation
The disappointing news last week was the response of some leaders that political influence is OK in probation. Probationary supervision is an important strategy for cost-effectively controlling crime and it is centrally important that we do probation well.
Eliminate Suffolk-only holidays
I saw today (boston.com) that the Senate voted to eliminate Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day holidays. I’ve lived here for more than 20 years and have been stumped why they still exist. We all know one is just an excuse for St Patrick’s Day partying by Boston people. If you chopped out Patriots Day …
Budget amendments on transparency issues
The House agreed last week to make important improvements in budget and tax credit transparency.