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Weekly Roundup
| May 20th, 2010
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Greetings! Over the past year, in nearly every state across our country, newspapers have been filled with stories of state legislatures and town committees trying to work their budgets out of the red. These times of fiscal crisis can be opportunities for us all to work together to rebuild healthy, safe, and appropriately-funded state and local communities, but we can only be
effective in these efforts if all involved have access to the necessary
budget and revenue information. Brockton community members have demonstrated their agreement as evidenced by at least two school committee members refusing to meet secretly with their Superintendent, and by the recent opinion piece on in The Enterprise regarding secret school committee meetings surrounding a potential layoff of hundreds of staff:  "As we face a serious financial crisis, the superintendent needs to lead openly, strongly and decisively. He can dispel any questions about his abilities to steer Brockton's system to even higher academic achievements if parents and citizens are certain of his strength and clear thinking under pressure. But no one can support what they can't see or hear. We urge Malone to embrace public discourse over private consultations that raise the impression of deal-making or secret sessions. All School Committee members should also decline to discuss the public's business in private as well. They are the elected representatives of Brockton's citizens. Making decisions (or plans for decisions) that affect thousands of children and tens of thousands of city and state taxpayers in any forum but the most open and transparent is not in the public interest. This funding crisis is an opportunity for the community to come together to face a common challenge. The city's elected and appointed officials, parents and taxpayers can and should work collaboratively for the benefit of the children and the future of the city." Our ally, Common Cause Massachusetts, promotes this type of local transparency each year with e-Government Awards, honoring towns and cities in Massachusetts that have made government more accessible via the Internet. And transparency is equally important at the state level - no one feels comfortable funding agencies and organizations not knowing where that money is coming from or how it is being spent. That is why we have worked with MASSPIRG to urge members of our Senate to support government spending transparency measures, including tax credits in the FY 2011 Ways and Means Budget, and why MASSPIRG's recent report lays out a need for greater disclosure by our quasi-public agencies. But transparency is only as good as the people who are looking at the
information. That is why our network is working to with fellow nonprofits and community organizations to compile and distribute thoughtful, public analysis of our government processes and budgets. In addition, we are currently building community trainings, so that all of our friends and neighbors have the tools they need to access and put to use all available information in building the type
of cities and towns we all want and need.
If you are interested in helping to build or host one of these transparency trainings - or any of our other free trainings - please contact me today!
Harmony BlakewayDirector of Operations, ONE Massachusetts
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN HAPPENING ACROSS THE STATE:
Civic Engagement | Revenue | Government Reform
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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:  HOUSE BUDGET: House spending bill, with redistricting. The House [last] Thursday morning advanced the latest in a stream of midyear spending bills. The new $42.6 million proposal features $700,000 to finance House and Senate redistricting efforts and $25 million to address a deficit in the state account that pays for public counsel services. The bill also includes $9.5 million for workforce training programs, $257,000 to pay for this week's special Senate elections, and $200,000 in death benefits. The bill also appropriates $450,000 in spending for accounts overseen by Treasurer Timothy Cahill. [SHNS]
 HEALTH FUNDING: Governor seeks $163 million more for medicaid, deficits. Health care spending continues to gobble up state funds, with Gov. Deval Patrick now seeking $163 million more for the state's massive MassHealth program... Demand for publicly funded services has shot up in the recession, just as state tax revenues have collapsed. [SHNS]
- SENATE BUDGET:
Senate bumps spending $53M over House plan. The
$27.88 billion fiscal 2011 spending plan Senate leaders plan to release
Wednesday... for roughly $330 million below what Gov. Deval Patrick
called for in his budget, Senate budget chief Steven Panagiotakos said
Tuesday. Panagiotakos warned that uncertainty around income tax revenue
receipts, due to a postponement of filing deadlines for taxpayers
affected by the heavy floods earlier this year, could prompt House and
Senate negotiators to carve more spending out of the budget. [SHNS]
Analysis from MassBudget: The Senate's proposal is a budget that you'd see in the middle of a fiscal crisis where there are very deep cuts across the board, including health care, human services, education, and local aid - some of which had been spared in the past... The cuts to local aid will have a negative affect on services, and could have an affect on property taxes as, but are a part of a longer-term trend. For over a decade and a half, our state has been cutting state-level taxes - which means in good times we barely get by and during hard times we have an exacerbated fiscal crisis. It's essentially a shift in our fiscal policy - cutting state taxes and putting the responsibility to maintain many services on cities and towns... [WBUR Interview] [MassBudget Analysis]
- MUNICIPAL BUDGETS: Senate approves muni-management bill. Senate unanimously approved legislation last Thursday offering new tools for municipal government leaders to manage spending as they absorb additional local aid cuts. The bill allows cities and towns to defer unfunded pension liabilities, establish early retirement programs and encourages regionalization of government services provided at the local level... The House and Senate now need to reconcile their differing versions of so-called municipal relief legislation. [SHNS]
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
| | 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.
UPCOMING:
 TODAY - May 20th - Coalition for Social Justice & Coalition Against Poverty - 15th Annual Banquet & Awards Ceremony. ONE Massachusetts organizational network member, Coalition for Social Justice seeks to build a powerful peoples' movement in Southeastern Massachusetts to advocate for public policies that can improve the lives of ordinary people. This event will celebrate 15 years of Democracy in Action. [Advance RSVP Required]
Thursday, May 20, 2010 - 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Venus de Milo, 75 Grand Army Highway (Rte. 6), Swansea, MA 02777 [Map]
- May 22nd - Centro Presente US Citizenship Fair. As part of its 'Our Voices, Our Vote' campaign, Centro Presente will hold a US Citizenship Fair to encourage permanent residents to become US Citizens in order to more fully participate in the political life of their communities. [For more information, please call 617-629-4731]
Saturday, May 22, 2010 - 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Centro Presente, 17 Inner Belt Road, Somerville, MA 02143.
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GOVERNMENT REFORM
| | GOAL: By 2013, a transparent, accessible and accountable state and local policy-making process will be in place.
UPDATES:
 TRANSPARENCY: Quasi-public agencies. Forty-two quasi-public agencies in Massachusetts, with budgets collectively totaling $8.7 billion, fail to disclose basic spending information and operate outside of the oversight process afforded to $27 billion state budget, according to a report released Tuesday. According to MassPIRG's Education Fund, which released the report, the problem could be addressed by passage of legislation recently approved by the House and pending before the Senate that imposes new rules requiring all state spending and revenue, including the financials of quasi-public agencies, to be disclosed on a state spending website. [MassPirg Report]
- TRANSPARENCY: Senate Missing Budget and Tax Reforms. MASSPIRG Legislative Director, Deirdre Cummings told ONE Massachusetts today that, "while the Senate Ways and Means budget did not contain the significant budget and tax credit transparency and accountability reforms passed in the House last week, we are hopeful the Senate will embrace the transparency reforms and even consider enhancing them. Amendments are being filed by Senators, Creem, Eldridge and Downing."
House passed reforms included the creation of a state budget website, making transparent much of state spending and revenue sources for all state agencies, including quasi publics. The searchable website will allow the public, including local officials, businesses, lawmakers, citizens, and others to see where the state is investing our tax dollars. It also called for greater transparency of ten refundable or transferable tax credit programs granted to businesses in the Commonwealth.
- CORI REFORM: Leading state law enforcement officials back change. The Criminal Offender Record System, CORI, for short, is the record of arrests, convictions and verdicts amassed by anyone who comes into contact with the court system. On Tuesday, police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors gathered on Beacon Hill to support legislation that would change how and when employers could access these records. [WBUR Article]
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