Wednesday, December 16, 2015
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Sara Brown
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Today: Weighing in on next year's revenue
It's crystal ball time: the 2017 consensus revenue hearing. Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore, Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka and House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey will give opening remarks. The first panel will feature Revenue Commissioner Mark Nunnelly and Kazim Ozyurt, of the Office of Tax Policy Analysis at the Department of Revenue. It will be held at the Gardner Auditorium, 10:00 am.
The JFK Presidential Library and Museum hosts a forum on "Building a Better World: Empowering Women and Girls." Melanie Verveer and Kim Azzarelli, co-authors of "Fast Forward: How Woman Can Achieve Power and Purpose," will speak in a discussion moderated by Jill Abramson, former editor of The New York Times. It's at the JFK Library, Columbia Point, Boston, 6:00 pm.
Who won last night's debate(s)?
In the Republican debate from Las Vegas, perhaps there were no clear winners. The Globe's James Pindell breaks the debate into two parts. "In the first ring, US Senator Ted Cruz and US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida debated national security and immigration. In the other ring, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and New York businessman Donald Trump held an altogether different debate on presidential competence." http://bit.ly/1O8j8aP
The state is close to maxing out its credit card
Massachusetts is on track to reach its self-imposed debt limit, perhaps as early as next fiscal year, when the cutoff will reach close to $22 billion. The state has one of the highest debt loads per capita in the country, and yet there's still powerful need to shore up its infrastructure. It's a paradox: Massachusetts has a "spending problem," to quote the governor. It also has a lot of broken or decrepit stuff that needs to be fixed or replaced.
As Colin Young of the State House News Service reports, the impending debt limit may force difficult decisions unless the Legislature decides to expand the cap. Although Massachusetts has a high credit rating, clouds are gathering. Last month, Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook on Massachusetts bonds to negative, citing the paltry amount of reserves. Year-to-date revenues are under the benchmark. Administration and Finance Secretary Kristen Lepore told the Globe it will take "multiyear fix to overcome issues which we inherited." One thing the Baker administration is trying to do: Give the credit card a rest. Capital spending was kept flat this fiscal year.
Debt, of course, costs money. The annual interest on Massachusetts' debt? It added up to $932 million in Fiscal Year 2015.
Another mini income tax break for MA residents
The state income tax continues it slow, steady descent to 5 percent, dropping to 5.1 percent as of January 1. The new rate will again drop by .05 percent because a series of economic conditions were met, triggering the cut. For an individual with a taxable income of $60,000 this amounts to a $30 per year tax cut. Small change for us, big bucks for the Commonwealth, which has budgeted for a $74 million loss in revenue for the current fiscal year in anticipation of the income tax rollback.
MASSterList op-ed: Baker riding wave of MA's strong economy
Gov. Baker owes much of his popularity to the economic successes of his predecessor, writes Alec Loftus, a former spokesman for the Patrick administration. "As any pollster will tell you, approval ratings are strongly tied to economic climate... As the keys to the corner office were passed to Baker, Bay State residents were left with more jobs, higher wages, and less poverty than residents in other states," writes Loftus.http://bit.ly/1k1uQpC
T conductor likely to be fired
The operator involved in the runaway Red Line train incident is on the brink of being fired, according to several reports. The firing of the operator, who has been identified as David Vasquez, a 21-year MBTA veteran, "would make him the seventh operator -- from a pool of more than 700 full-time and part-time MBTA subway and trolley drivers who make 915,000 trips a year -- to be terminated since 2010 for a safety offense, according to the T's labor relations department, and the first in modern T history faulted for a runaway train," reports the Globe's Eric Moskowitz. http://bit.ly/1ITS90u
Bridj to almost double fleet
While public transportation is struggling, the bus startup Bridj is thriving. It plans to almost double its fleet by mid-January, writes the Globe's Jon Chesto, and must suspend its monthly pass program because buses were sold-out during peak travel periods.http://bit.ly/1Ux6FNb
Eviction crisis in East Boston subject of series
WBUR and its "Radio Boston" is running a weeklong series on the growing number of tenant evictions, seeing East Boston as its epicenter. "Many long-term tenants in Boston's neighborhoods are being issued "no fault evictions," forcing them out because of skyrocketing rents and home values." The series airs from 3-4 pm all this week.http://wbur.fm/1JbCMv7
With First Night funding in place, columnist targets July 4
Globe columnist Shirley Leung has used the power of the pen to help raise enough money for the city's First Night celebration, and now she's calling attention to the need for corporate sponsors to step up for the city's annual July 4 celebration. "It's hard to hear, let alone write down and commit for the record, that no company is eager to pay for a Fourth of July celebration in Boston," Leung writes. http://bit.ly/226Pozt
Senate Prez undecided on legal pot, hopeful on charter cap
Senate President Stan Rosenberg sat down with the Globe's Joshua Miller for a "Political Happy Hour" event and said he's still undecided on the question of legalizing recreational marijuana, that a strong effort will be made to lift the cap on charter schools in the new year and that the state's ethics laws concerning elected officials are too broad and "overreaching." Rosenberg also defended the state's casino gaming law, which he helped craft, despite new data showing revenue from the only casino to open so far will fall below projections. http://bit.ly/1QrTIFj
Rosenberg says fiancé "has a right" to run
Also during the event, Rosenberg stopped short of saying he would endorse a Senate campaign by his longtime partner, Bryon Hefner, CommonWealth Magazine reports. Rosenberg also sought to tamp down reports that Hefner had considered running against Rosenberg and criticized the use of unnamed sources in the reporting around Hefner's plans. http://bit.ly/1lP82LB
UMass staffers get raises amid budget crunch
University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan gave sizable raises to several staffers, despite budget strains that forced the system to raise tuition rates, the Herald reports. Some raises approached $20,000 yearly and one staffer, Executive Vice President James Julian Jr., now earns more than $370,000 a year, more than $200,000 above Gov. Baker's annual take-home pay. The system says the raises are in line with what union employees bargained. In all, eight people in the UMass office out-earn the governor, the Herald's Joe Battenfeld reports. http://bit.ly/1m6FWem
Lawn on D no longer free?
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority board is weighing charging admission to the popular Lawn on D outdoor gathering space, the Globe's Jon Chesto reports, as it tries to reduce the more than $2 million it cost to subsidize in 2015. The board said it will reach out for private donations and sponsorships first, but wants to leave the door open to possible admission charges. http://bit.ly/1P6DvlO
Blue Hills hunt deemed a success
State wildlife officials say the controversial controlled hunt in the Blue Hills Reservation was a "great first step," toward controlling the deer population in the area, the Globe reports. Because 47 of the 64 deer killed were female, the hunt will continue to control the population in future years, officials said. http://bit.ly/1I8CdaK
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