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Weekly Roundup
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February 18th, 2010
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Greetings!
ONE Massachusetts has worked for years to create a network of organizations and individual members that understand and support the public structures we all value and rely on in Massachusetts. Through our trainings and latest letter to the editor campaign we encourage our members to host training events and write to their local newspapers and elected officials about our need to raise more revenue to continue supporting our programs and structures. One of our allies in this effort is the Massachusetts Public Health Association.
 The Massachusetts Public Health Association is a statewide membership organization of people working to protect the health and safety of all our Commonwealth's residents. In a recent op-ed to the Worcester Business Journal and in a letter to the editor in the Boston Globe, Valerie Bassett and Robin Toft Klar, executive director and vice president of the board of directors respectively, talked about public health as a value that has not attracted enough attention by our elected officials to obtain sufficient funding to keep protecting our communities.
This op-ed and letter to the editor explain how our lack of revenue is jeopardizing our capacity to work together to prevent diseases that would otherwise undermine our capacity to attract businesses, strengthen our state finances, and keep the financial wellbeing of families across the state. If you or your organization would like to learn more about the current state of the fiscal crisis in Massachusetts or would like to participate in the letters to the editor campaign, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yawu Miller Project Director, ONE Massachusetts
yawu@realclout.org | 617-275-2918
Here's a look at what else has been happening around Massachusetts:
Civic Engagement | Revenue | Government Reform
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 CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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Goal: By 2013, the voice and input of the state's multi-racial, multi-ethnic communities will create a counterweight to the currently dominant voice and will be tangibly reflected in the public decision making process.
Updates:
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 Letters to the Editor Campaign. ONE Massachusetts strives to
strengthen the voices of each person in our state, especially those have not
traditionally had a place at the table. We want to encourage our readers and
members to write to their local media about what they value in their communities
and about their support for more revenue in the state.
Please visit our
site for tips to getting your letter
published as well as talking points or check some sample letters you could
use to customize your message.
For more information on the campaign, and
how you or your organization can get more involved - including free trainings
and coaching, contact ONE Massachusetts Project Director, Yawu Miller.
Upcoming:
- Feb 16 - Mar 5 - Budget Hearings. Eight public hearings are planned on fiscal 2011 budget bill Gov. Deval Patrick filed last week. The schedule includes hearings during which testimony will be accepted from members of the general public all across the state. Learn more about a hearing close to you and participate!
- Feb. 16 at the State House,
- Feb. 19 in Waltham,
- Feb. 22 in Amherst,
- Feb. 23 in Sudbury,
- Feb. 26 in Worcester,
- March 1 in Sturbridge,
- March 2 in Fall River and the final hearing,
- March 5 at the State House.[More Information about Dates and Times]
Update. The launch of annual budget hearings Tuesday will not kick off with
traditional testimony from the chief architect of the governor's $28.2
billion spending bill. Administration and Finance Secretary Jay
Gonzalez will instead testify March 5, Ways and Means aides disclosed
Monday afternoon. [SHNS]
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| REVENUE |
Goal: By 2013, a fair, adequate, and stable tax system will be implemented. It will raise sufficient revenue so that state and local governments can fund the array of services needed.
Updates:
 Small Business: Governor Patrick's Jobs Bill. While the Legislature agreed Monday to send Senate President Therese Murray's sweeping economic development proposal to a single committee for review, the House on Thursday chopped up Gov. Deval Patrick's small business job creation bill, sending pieces of the 62-page proposal to six committees for review. The approach means the administration will need to spread its efforts out within the Legislature as it pushes in the coming weeks for action on its plan. [SHNS]
- Sales Tax: Gubernatorial Race. Mass. gubernatorial candidates weigh in on sales tax proposal. "You don't raise taxes in the middle of a recession. I think my main concern about the 3 percent on the sales tax piece is just the size of the issue that's involved. -billion dollars is what the rollback would cost the state at a time when the economy is still struggling from the recession" Charlie Baker said. "The question is not whether but when and at what level. I don't know about three percent but I think rolling it back is a great idea --- it's just the time is wrong." Governor Patrick said at the Somerville Democratic Caucus.
In fact, of the six declared candidates for governor only one - Republican Christy Mihos -- has endorsed the ballot question. [NECN]
 Casinos: Legislative Shifts. House budget chief Charles Murphy appeared to begin laying political cover Thursday for lawmakers to switch their votes in favor of expanded gambling, signaling his own shift as the Legislature prepares to tackle casino and slot machine legislation. "In addition to providing much needed revenue for the state, destination gaming proponents tout the potential for thousands of good-paying, permanent jobs in construction, lodging, transportation, and food service, among other industries," said Murphy, who also voted in 2003 to snuff a legislative effort to sanction slot machines at the state's four racetracks. [SHNS]
- Health Funding: Electronic Records. Massachusetts will receive a $15 million grant to support the implementation of electronic health records for approximately 2,500 health care providers in small group practices across the Commonwealth and an additional $10.6 million grant to support the development of a secure network to support a statewide health information exchange. [Facebook - Mass.Gov]
 New Revenue: More States Looking at Cigarette Taxes. A recent report from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids highlights the budget impact of raising the tax on cigarettes for states across the nation. The group claims it's a win for the budget (more revenue), for health (less smokers), and for politicians (an easy win).
On a second note Governor Deval Patrick today announced more than $2.3 million in federal recovery funds to help smokers quit and prevent youth from becoming addicted to tobacco. [Mass.Gov]
Upcoming:
 Feb 23rd - Economic Development Public Hearing. The Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee will hold a public hearing on the economic development bill filed Monday by Senate President Therese Murray and committee co-chair Sen. Karen Spilka. Senate leaders are touting the proposed restructuring of state economic development agencies and a type of "one-stop shopping" that government officials in Massachusetts have been touting for decades.
February 23rd, 2010
Massachusetts State House, Room 22
10:30 am
- Feb 25th - Green Budget Press Conference and Natural Resources Hearing. The Environmental League of Massachsuetts will be holding a Green Budget press conference prior to the Natural Resources Hearing.
February 25th, 2010
Massachusetts State House, Room A-1
11:00am - Green Budget Press Conference
1:00pm - Natural Resources Hearing
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GOVERNMENT REFORM
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Goal: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
Update:
- Transparency: Tax Credits. Senator Jamie Eldridge called for a more transparent look at the impact of Film Tax Credits on Massachusetts in an Op-Ed in the Globe on Monday, saying, "In this time of massive budget cuts, we need to examine where every public dollar is going, and what impact it is having. I hope that film industry leaders will join us in calling for public disclosure of the results of these tax credit programs. If they are truly creating jobs in a cost-effective way, the results will show that." [Full Letter]
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