BOSTON — A powerful Boston lobbying firm was behind an amendment being slipped into the state budget that effectively blocks a proposal by a Mashpee shellfisherman to build an oyster farm in Popponesset Bay.
State Rep. Michael Costello, a six-term Newburyport Democrat who isn't seeking re-election, got the amendment added to the House budget at the request of ML Strategies.
Related Stories
Related Photo Galleries
ML Strategies, which employs former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, former Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Affairs Stephen P. Tocco, former interim U.S. Sen. William "Mo" Cowan and numerous former state lawmakers as lobbyists, has contributed more than $3,000 to Costello's campaigns in the past decade, according to filings with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Costello's amendment creates a "special coastal resource sanctuary" on the Mashpee site, prohibiting development of wetlands at the center of a dispute between shellfisherman Richard Cook, environmental activists and homeowners who oppose the project.
A spokeswoman for ML Strategies confirmed that Costello filed the amendment on behalf of the firm for Chuck Clough, an investment banker whose waterfront mansion is located near the proposed oyster farm.
Costello, who chairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Financial Services, said he doesn't know why the lobbying firm asked him to put the amendment into the budget.
"I'm not going to speculate, but maybe they felt that I had a better chance of getting it through," he said. "Every year I get requests from lobbyists and constituents to add amendments to the budget. In this case I felt the amendment had merit, so I filed it."
Costello argues that the proposal seeks to protect a salt marsh that serves as an environmentally sensitive habitat for sea birds. The area, he said, is "much like my district in Newburyport."
"Quite frankly, I think this is a state issue," Costello said. "The state has a vested interest in making sure that those waterways remain as open space and undeveloped."
The Popponesset Bay site was identified only by GPS coordinates in the bill.
Cape Cod lawmakers have criticized the move, saying they were not consulted about the amendment before it was offered by Costello, whose district is nearly 100 miles away. The measure was one of 1,184 amendments included in the House budget proposal. The budget's amendment section is frequently used by lawmakers as a mechanism to pass changes in the law without attracting the level of scrutiny normally given to bills.
"I really don't understand why he did it," said Sen. Daniel Wolf, D-Harwich, who represents the district and supports the oyster farm proposal. "I'm scratching my head wondering why he didn't talk to anyone in Mashpee or lawmakers who represent the district."
Wolf said he doubts the proposal will be included in the Senate version of the budget.
No comments:
Post a Comment