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Tuesday, December 22, 2015
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Keith Regan
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Today: DeLeo rings the bell; deadline day for special elections
It's Speaker Bob DeLeo's turn to ring the bell for the Salvation Army, 11:00 am in Downtown Crossing. The deadline is 5:00 pm to file nomination papers for the March 1 special electionto fill three open Massachusetts House seats in Brockton, Peabody and Fitchburg.
Subsidizing Denzel Washington's salary
It is the season of giving, so it's only appropriate that the Department of Revenue yesterday released its annual report on the film tax credit. In 2014, the giveaway to Hollywood, along with a smattering of local production companies, totaled $58 million. Film companies are allowed credits on 25 percent of their expenses, including wages, on productions shot in-state. The film tax credit leader of 2014 was "The Equalizer," which was granted $15.5 million in tax credits, according to a story in the Globe. "The Equalizer" starred Denzel Washington, who, a quick Google search revealed, reportedly commanded $20 million to make the movie. It is entirely conceivable that Massachusetts taxpayers subsidized $5 million of that salary.
The studios' filings with the DOR are not public, which muffles what likely would be severe outrage were itemized filings ever made available. Political support for the credit could not possibly withstand the studios' expense itemization. There's no question the tax credit generates real economic activity, and real jobs, only the benefits come at an extremely high premium.
Should the T change its name to OT?
Denzel Washington's movie star salary is impressive, but the sticker shock is even more severe when a seemingly ordinary T employee earns $315,000 in a year. Mark Flaherty, a foreman whose base salary is $84,000, will make double his salary in overtime alone in 2015, according to a database released by the T's Fiscal Management and Control Board. In all, 24 percent of T employees will earn over $100,000 in 2015, much of it coming from OT and retroactive raises. As the T tries to raise fares, a fair question is who's monitoring the T's OT? The database of the $100K club on the Boston Globe website is here: http://bit.ly/1QHfuVR
The Herald breaks down the T salary numbers, putting the "overtime bonanza" at $75 million, with 27 employees earning collective salaries above the $200K mark: http://bit.ly/1MtoVjT
The Big Three speak: Amity, yes, but challenges loom
The lions of the State House -- Baker, Rosenberg and DeLeo -- sat down with Matt Murphy of the State House News Service to discuss what's working and what needs work on Beacon Hill for the coming year.
A few key points from the interview:
* Baker plans to be more "proactive" with his agenda next year.
* Rosenberg said charter school legislation remains a challenge in the Senate.
* DeLeo on House-Senate relations: "I really don't feel any tension, at least with the president. Do we sometimes disagree? Yes."
Much more on the State House News Service website: www.statehousenews.com.
10 percent fare hike in 2016?
Is the T brass hell-bent on raising fares by 10 percent next year? The T's fiscal control board approved a measure that sets the stage for a 10 percent increase, but the question remains whether the Legislature will let them, for some members are saying the intent of the 2013 law was to limit fare increases to 5 percent every two years. The Globe's Nicole Dungca has more here: http://bit.ly/1MtgHIB
Baker: 'Hard look' at budget figures coming
Sitting down with the Herald on the eve of his second year in office, Gov. Charlie Baker deferred on whether he'd support Donald Trump if he's the eventual Republican nominee for president and said a "hard look" at possible additional cuts to the state budget may be necessary heading into the new year. http://bit.ly/1ZmNgkP
Baker sat down with many other media outlets, including MassLive. He named his legislative priorities as "addressing opioid addiction, expanding charter schools, increasing the use of hydroelectric power and improving the troubled Department of Children and Families," Shira Schoenberg reports. http://bit.ly/1O66tn1
Quirk settles over hidden campaign donations
South Shore auto dealer Daniel Quirk will pay $60,000 to settle charges that his dealerships funneled money through employees to four candidates for public office, including Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and Gov. Charlie Baker, the Patriot Ledger reports. In all, the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance says just under $20,000 worth of what were essentially disguised corporate donations were made to the candidates, who were not held responsible for accepting the donations. http://bit.ly/22mV8VJ
Law change reduces suspensions in Worcester
A state law passed in 2014 that erects additional barriers to suspending students has helped reduce the number of suspensions dramatically in Worcester schools, the Telegram reports. Just under 2,000 students received the discipline last school year, compared to 2,600 the year before. The 2014 law requires, among other things, that principals contact a student's family before issuing a suspension. http://bit.ly/1mfxRUE
Parking app gets the boot
Luxe Valet, which offered valet parking through a smartphone app, has ceased operations in Boston after six months, CommonWealth Magazine reports. Luxe has said it was suspending service in Boston but did not say when service might return. http://bit.ly/22mZOed
Long-haired in Lowell?
The task of obtaining that pre-holiday haircut just got a lot more difficult in Lowell. The Sun reports that the city's Board of Health shuttered 11 out of 30 barber shops citywide last week. Shops were closed for having out of date local licenses, for failing to obtain state licenses or other health and safety violations, such as missing or broken smoke detectors. http://bit.ly/1Oib2q8
Belichick mash-up has him singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Fox Sports gets into the spirit of the holidays with a fun video mash-up, turning Coach Belichick in a Christmas caroler. It's posted on the Boston magazine site: http://bit.ly/1MttKtx
More end of year charitable giving ideas
Here's our third round of charitable giving ideas submitted by MASSterList readers. We'll have more tomorrow and will continue to run them as they come in. Send no more than two sentences describing the nonprofit, along with a link to donate, to gdonnelly@massterlist.com.
Partners in Health: Based in Boston, but with global health care successes. Paul Farmer radically changes the meaning of delivering health care to the poorest of the poor. https://donate.pih.org/give-today
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. https://donatenow.heart.org/
CommonWealth magazine is a rarity in Massachusetts, a nonprofit, nonpartisan source for news, analysis, and commentary about Massachusetts.
Bird St. Community Center is youth center that has stood the test of time in Dorchester. The main webpage is birdstreet.org and the donation page can be found here.
MassEquality is the leading statewide grassroots advocacy organization working to ensure that everyone across Massachusetts can thrive from cradle to grave without discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.http://www.massequality.org/contribute
CommonWealth Kitchen, Inc. (formerly CropCircle Kitchen) in Grove Hall, Dorchester. is collaborative community working to strengthen the local economy, particularly for people who have been impacted by racial, social, and economic inequality. It offers Boston entrepreneurs shared kitchens with integrated business assistance, creating and growing dynamic food-based businesses and careers, and operates a contract food manufacturing operation that creates jobs for those facing barriers to workforce entry. Support CWK athttp://www.commonwealthkitchen.org/donate.
The Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair provides free access to the science fair for every MA student in grades 6-12; more than 1,000 students participate each year for an opportunity to win $500,000 in cash, scholarships and prizes. Free graduate-level professional development courses are offered to STEM teachers from high needs districts. Please support at http://scifair.com/donate-now/
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a Nobel Prize-winning organization that uses science and medicine to stop mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. PHR's specialized expertise is employed across the globe: from advocating to defend medical professionals in Syria who are being systematically killed in the ongoing crisis; to training doctors and lawyers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo how to forensically document cases of sexual violence; to mobilizing with our volunteer network of health professionals in Massachusetts and across the US who provide medical and psychological evaluations of asylum-seekers to support their claims in immigration court. http://physiciansforhumanrights.org
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts serves Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire Counties by distributing food to their member agencies (which include food pantries, meal sites, and shelters), who in-turn, provide that food to our neighbors in need of food assistance. Currently, there are more than 211,000 people who rely on the services of The Food Bank and their member agencies. For each dollar donated, they are able to provide 3 meals. https://www.foodbankwma.org/donate/donate-now/
Lemberg Children's Center, a non-profit childcare center providing high quality day care for infants, toddlers and pre-school aged children. With a focus on developmentally appropriate early care and education, Lemberg offers a sliding tuition scale based on family income and seeks funding to construct a new playground that will be accessible to all of the children it serves.
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP) is a leading nonprofit dedicated to connecting the residents of Greater Boston with safe, decent homes they can afford. MBHP empowers families and individuals to move along the continuum from homelessness to housing stability, serving more than 20,000 households annually in Boston and 32 surrounding communities.
Donate at: www.mbhp.org/donate
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