State House Transportation Plan Increases Gas, Cigarette Taxes
State House and Senate lawmakers have announced a joint transportation plan which would close an estimated five-year, $ 2.3 billion transportation budget gap through tax increases to cigarettes, gas and new taxes on business technologies. The plan, which would create $ 500 million in new revenue, focuses on long-term financing for the state’s regional transit authorities and the state department of transportation, asks the MBTA and MassDOT to continue to hit revenue and savings targets, moves employees off of the capital budget for three years and fully funds the state ice and snow budget. The plan was unveiled at a State House news conference Tuesday led by Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray. To provide new revenue to close the estimated five-year out gap there would be a 3-cent gas tax increase (which would be indexed to inflation), a $ 1 per-pack increase on cigarettes along with excise tax increases on cigars and smokeless tobacco, a new sales tax for businesses for software purchases, an elimination of the “utility” tax classification and a changing of the sourcing of the state’s sales factor system, which would require out of state companies that sell products in state to pay more in taxes. The proposal eliminates the need for MBTA fare increases and would overshoot the deficit by $ 300 million for the next five years, according to Sen. Stephen Brewer, chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. This plan differs from Gov. Deval Patrick’s 10-year, $ 13 billion transportation investment proposal released in January. Patrick’s plan involves tax increases to gas and income, fees for vehicle registrations along with fare, fee and toll increases and a new tolling mechanism. A reporter asked if the House and Senate joint plan is a “vote of no confidence” for Patrick’s plan. Murray said the group of legislators “considers the governor a partner on this.” “He put out a 10-year vision,” she said. “We’re just saying maybe 10 years is too ambitious right away.” DeLeo and Murrey made no mention of improvements to infrastructure, which Patrick has sought to address through his Accelerated Bridge Program and through his transportation plan. Murray, when asked, insisted the state’s infrastructural needs will be addressed through the joint plan. “I think it’s good that there is attention on the fact that there are infrastructure needs,” she said. “Nobody wants to go over a bridge that’s going to fall down. We want to invest on our infrastructure we just have a different plan on how to do that.” Brewer was a bit harsher when it came to the governor’s plan. […]
House Looking to Crack Down on Sex Offender Crimes with Online Database
The recent state auditor report revealing that a large number of sex offenders live at addresses registered as childcare facilities has added fuel to the effort on Beacon Hill to publicize the names of all those who’ve committed sex crimes. “The auditor’s recent findings should serve as a catalyst to pass targeted legislation which protects the Commonwealth’s citizens from dangerous sex offenders,” House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading) said in a statement Wednesday. “The report published today is an unfortunate example of why comprehensive sex offender legislation I filed will, in part, open the lines of communication between the Department of Early Education and Care and the Sex Offender Registry Board.” Jones’ bill is one of three now in the House that propose changing state law to make the names of lower-level offenders available either online or at a police department. Currently, only the names of Level 3 offenders, who are deemed by the registry board to be the most likely to reoffend, are public information. Jones’ bill, “An Act relative to protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth from sex offenders,” would make information about both Level 2 and 3 sex offenders available online and a list of Level 1 sex offenders available at police departments. It also restricts who can be classified as a Level 1 sex offender. Those who commit crimes against children or “other particularly violent sexually based crimes” would not be able to receive a Level 1 designation. Some exceptions exist for people who committed their crime when they were younger than 14. Currently, the power to classify each offender lies with the registry board, which considers a number of factors related to the crime. These may include the offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of the crime, the degree of harm caused and other considerations. For more, see the board’s guidelines. The two other bills, “An Act relative to public access to sex offender registration information” by Rep. Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) and Rep. James Dwyer (D-Woburn), and “An Act relative to the Sex Offender Registry Board” by Rep. James Arciero (D-Westford) both aim to make information regarding all sex offenders available online. Such information includes the nature of the offense and the offender’s name, address, age, employer, race, height, hair and eye colors and photo. All three bills are scheduled for a Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearing on May 7. The three bills were filed in January, a month after a Level 1 sex offender, John Burbine of Wakefield, was charged with 100 counts of child sex abuse involving 13 infants and toddlers at the illegal daycare service he ran. State Auditor Suzanne Bump released findings […]
State House News Service Weekly Roundup: Hizzoner’s Decision
He’s been omnipresent for 20 years from Roslindale to East Boston. His endorsement is coveted by city council hopefuls and U.S. senators alike. He occasionally mutilates the English language, mangles the names of sports stars, and commands loyalty unlike any public figure in Boston. He was mayor-for-life. Now he’ll be mayor for only another nine months. This week, as House Speaker Robert DeLeo continued to wait for the rescue helicopter to take him away from Gov. Deval Patrick’s “fantasy land” of higher taxes and trains, the Governor’s Council was up to its old tricks and the race for U.S. Senate kicked into a higher gear. But little could compete with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and “The Decision” that held foes and allies alike breathless for months. Menino decided not to seek a sixth-term and will at the end of 2013 end on his own terms — his 20-year tenure as the city’s longest-serving and first Italian-American mayor. At the first of what is sure to be many tributes to Menino over the coming months, a who’s-who of past and present power players from City Hall, the State House, and the business community crowded into Faneuil Hall on Thursday to hear Menino make it official. “I could run. I could win,” he said to the delight of the audience. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England But slowed by illness, Menino can no longer do it his way, and so he said he won’t do it at all. Menino’s way required a tirelessness that few younger than his 70 years can muster. There were ribbon cuttings, school plays and block parties to attend, new business owners to meet and development plans to review. Before Menino retires to Hyde Park to download the latest edition of SimCity, he has his lame duck period to look forward to. “Just think what I can do in nine months. I don’t have to worry about a thing. No voters or anything else. We’re going to have some real fun,” he said. Trying to keep track of who gave thought to running for U.S. Senate in the days after John Kerry left to become secretary of state was hard enough. The mayoral sweepstakes promises to be on another level. In addition to forcing an entire generation of Bostonians to contemplate what life will be like P.M., Menino’s exit creates an opportunity for dozens of public figures bubbling over with pent-up ambition. They’ll have little time to pull the trigger and fire up their campaigns. There are probably no fewer […]
State House News Service Weekly Roundup: March Madness
The calendar says it’s spring, but Mother Nature remains unconvinced. House Speaker Robert DeLeo can sympathize. Nearly three full months into the year, and the Speaker seems no closer to making up his mind on taxes than he was in 2012 when he announced the transportation fix would be the first order of the business for the new Legislature. It still might be. House and Senate committees are still dormant, for the most part, and leaders are fixated on responding to Gov. Deval Patrick’s package of tax reforms. It’s usually at this point that Senate President Therese Murray tends to get antsy, and orders her Ways and Means chairman to advance something, anything, that senators can vote up or down – okay, up. That’s not the case, yet. “The committees still need time to have their hearings,” Murray said this week. So what about Sen. Stephen Brewer down on the second floor? He must be cooking up something right? Sex offender registry reform? “He’s cooking up the budget,” Murray said. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England By most accounts, DeLeo has become a tortured leader. Monday morning meetings with his leadership team have turned into two-and-a-half hour long fence dancing sessions. Even simple questions like what committee is working on the transportation financing bill can’t be answered directly. DeLeo, by those around him, is said to be deeply conflicted, not just on how much revenue he can ask taxpayers to shoulder and from where it should come, but also what those votes will mean for his membership come election time next year. It’s impossible to separate the politics, a fact not missed by Charlie Baker slowly reinserting himself into the public sphere, or Bill Weld. DeLeo is equally unsure whether he wants to tackle the issue with a separate bill before the budget, in the budget, or in multiple steps, and is said to be increasingly peeved by Gov. Patrick’s rhetoric encouraging supporters to “get in the grill” of lawmakers who lack the “political courage” to vote for new revenue. Witness his radio interview Wednesday night when friend and host Dan Rea asked DeLeo from where he might pull new revenue considering he’s not enamored with the governor’s one-point hike in the income tax. DeLeo said he was entertaining Patrick’s proposed sales tax on candy and soda, but then kind of quickly shot it down, saying he was worried about government becoming Big Brother. Smart money in the building has been on the gas tax as the House vehicle of choice to […]
WATCH: Drew Bledsoe Complains about Wine Law at Mass. State House
Massachusetts is one of 11 states that doesn’t allow out-of-state vineyards to directly ship wine to their customers, and former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe is urging Beacon Hill legislators to pass a bill that would change that law. “Very simply put, this bill is fair, and it’s right. It’s fair to the consumers to be able to purchase wine directly from the wineries, it’s fair to the small businesses like ours who want to sell directly to the customers, it’s right for the state – it actually increases revenue to the state – and in the states that this has happened, it’s also benefitted the package stores and the distributors,” Bledsoe said during a press conference on the State House steps Thursday afternoon. The bill, called an Act Regulating the Direct Shipment of Wine, was put forth by Rep. Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers) on Jan. 22. Right now it’s in the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee and no vote is scheduled, according to Jeremy Benson of Free the Grapes. Massachusetts is the seventh-largest wine-consuming state in the union, Bledsoe said. If Massachusetts changes its law, he said he believes the remaining 10 will follow suit. Only 1 percent of wine that’s sold in the U.S. is sold direct, and Bledsoe said it is more profitable to do so. “That’s a motivation for this, and we don’t make any bones about it. It also benefits not only our business, but a lot of mom and pop wineries across the country.” Bledsoe’s wine, called Doubleback and based in Walla Walla, Wash., is sold in Massachusetts, through distributors, and in 14 other states. His friend and protege, Tom Brady, tried to buy it but Bledsoe had to tell him he couldn’t ship a case to him. Instead, Bledsoe sent it to Brady’s dad in California. “I think his dad drank it all,” he said. Although Bledsoe made an appearance on Beacon Hill Thursday, don’t expect many public appearances from him anytime soon. When asked if he was thinking about a run for public office, Bledsoe said, “Never say never, but I’m not looking to jump back into public life again. I enjoy working in my winery, and raising my family and living a pretty quiet life out there in Oregon.” SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
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State House News Service Weekly Roundup: Black Smoke
White smoke was rising from the Sistine Chapel as Speaker Bob DeLeo stood outside his office prepared to take questions about the formation of his new gun control task force. DeLeo had spent much of his morning meeting with deputies Rep. William Straus and Rep. Brian Dempsey to discuss the still elusive “magic number” for new tax and/or fee revenue that could satisfy the needs of the state’s seemingly insatiable transportation system without breaking the banks of the residents who use it. But for a moment, the Speaker’s interest was piqued by what was going on in Rome where 115 cardinals of the Catholic Church had just selected a new pope. The Boston press corps had spent weeks salivating at the possibility that the city’s own Cardinal Sean O’Malley might be the next pontiff. DeLeo’s money was riding elsewhere. “I picked the gentleman, the cardinal from Spain,” he said. Office pool? “Not in my office, let me put it that way,” DeLeo quickly explained. In this case, the speaker was out of luck. New Pope Francis calls Argentina home. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England. As DeLeo tried to handicap the papal conclave, members of his House were busy trying to guess the over-under on new tax revenues. The Winthrop Democrat may soon ask his flock to support a sizeable tax increase, how large and from what source still to be determined. Business groups like the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation testified before Straus’s Transportation Committee that $ 800 million would be a good number, well shy of the governor’s $ 1.9 billion request, but if dedicated to transportation, a reachable goal that comes close to the $ 1 billion Gov. Deval Patrick earmarked for transportation. Asked whether that would be acceptable, Patrick said he was not ready to begin negotiating, at least not through the media: “You keep asking me to bargain against myself. I’ve put the number down that I think is the right number and I’ve expected all along that there’s going to be a negotiation in that.” Until then, the Speaker’s fireplace is still burning black. While Patrick headlined a rally Tuesday in Gardner Auditorium of hundreds of union members, seniors and community organizers in support of his tax plan for transportation and education investments, a group of about 20 members of the House Progressive Caucus, led by Medford Rep. Carl Sciortino, met with DeLeo on the third floor. The caucus asked DeLeo to support $ 2 billion in new revenue beginning this year. The source, they told him, should […]
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State House News Service Weekly Roundup: Backing Into Half a Cat
Four years ago Gov. Deval Patrick went to the Legislature and asked for a 19-cent gas tax increase to fund transportation. They scoffed at his idea, then raised the sales tax and swore off further revenue increases, until now. With that history in mind, a sense of irony settled over Beacon Hill this week, where there’s a possibility that the governor’s proposal to hike the income tax, lower the sales tax and eliminate some tax deductions might be driving lawmakers back to that moment in 2009 with a chance to reconsider. It would be odd if House lawmakers turned later this month to the gas tax for new revenue. But not implausible. At least not anymore. The plot thickened as the negotiations between House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Patrick – private up until now – spilled more into the public sphere. And with little to nothing else on the legislative agenda at the moment, all ears were tuned. DeLeo on Thursday went before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to embrace Patrick’s priorities of investing in transportation and education, with one big caveat. He committed to raising new revenue for transportation, but said the House plan would be “far more narrow in scope and of a significantly smaller size” than Patrick’s $ 1.9 billion ask. And he said he wanted to do it apart from the budget, possibly by the end of the month. And so on a snowy Friday afternoon, Patrick went before the House and Senate Ways and Means committees to testify on his own plan, an unusual but not unprecedented step by the governor to lobby lawmakers face-to-face in public with the clock ticking a little faster. And he brought charts. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England. Cognizant of DeLeo’s comments, Patrick warned against the temptation to focus just on transportation for now and to ignore education needs until a later date. He said he did not “pad” his $ 1.9 billion investment plan, and while there may be more than one way to skin a cat, he cautioned against “backing ourselves into half a cat.” Calling “brainpower” the hallmark of Massachusetts, Patrick likened a transportation-only strategy to the idea that Texas would stop investing in oil, or Iowa turning its back on corn. And then he addressed the gas tax, a topic that has dogged him for years – in short, he was against raising it before he was for that idea. Without being specific, Patrick said he has heard that some in the Legislature want to raise […]
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