Pension Reform done, two to go, Sals pension on hold
Good news has come from the State House in the form of Pension Reform. ALL the proposals have been adopted by the conference committee and while more needs to be done in capping huge pensions, the fact that Beacon Hill finally gets it... is worth something to the voters. Let's demand the same results for ethics and transportation reform. As one analyst said today, The House needed to make friends before toll increases and gas tax increase.
And wouldn't you know, finally some common sense takes hold of the pension board. DiMasi's recent indictment shook the halls and perhaps was a wake up call for those still on the Hill, looking to game the system.
The patient is off the respirator and is breathing on their own now. Let's see in the coming weeks if the new remedies will allow the patient to go home and live a productive life.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 7:42 AM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
Some good news, but there is still so much more to be done. Whether they got the message about cleaning up their act or not still remains to be seen, but at least there is some hope that they are starting to see the real picture. Elections are not all that far away. They should be starting to think about that now, and if they expect to get re-elected, then they need to pass some more ethics reforms and not pass the gas tax!
One good thing does not erase or negate the damage done by 100 bad decisions made at the State house. Let’s hope this is just the first of a string of rational, honest, ethical, and responsible decisions. Wouldn’t that be a shocker, if they actually did turn things around. If they do, it is only because someone (like you) has been holding their feet to the fire by publicizing all the dumb, unethical behavior going on there.
When is the next big issue up for them to decide? Will they hold any type of public hearing on the gas tax or the toll hikes, or will they just vote that through as a done deal we can not do anything about? I sure am not ready to pat them on the back just because they did what should have been done on pension reform. All they did was fix mistakes they have made in the past. Why the heck should we say good job for doing that?
Maybe it is only one small thing they are doing right, but at least it is something they are doing right. There has not been much done right in those hallowed halls for quite a while if you ask me, not that anyone did ask me. This blog is really a useful service thanks for providing Pillsbury. Don’t know how you keep up with it all and make sense of it. But you do a good job of it and we appreciate it.
Maybe, just maybe, we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Has been pretty dark in that tunnel for a very long time. DeMasi losing his pension is the best news I have heard all week. Seems that they are finally starting to listen to people like Jim here who keep calling them on their actions. Without that, they would have just continued to do what they have been doing for years, taking care of themselves and ignoring their constituents. Heres to keeping the politicians honest Jim. Thanks.
Hi, hip hooray for DeMasi's pension being on hold. He does not deserve one red cent of the state's money
I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Seems that maybe, finally, the legislators are catching on to the fact that their behavior is not without consequences. Lets hope that is actually the case and that they are not just cleaning up their act short term so we will stop being so vigalent in watching their actions and they can start being sneaks again. Jim, thanks to you for keeping on top of what they are actually doing, and not doing, under the gold dome.
What the heck are you going to write about here Jim if they clean up their acts at the state house? I don't think you have anything to worry about. They are all too corrupt and self serving to every actually be honest politicians. But nice to see that because of blogs like this that keep the public informed about what is going on, they are actually doing something that is good, stopping Demasis pension check, and at least taking a stab at pension reform. Keep up the good work here. It is appreciated by all of us who come here daily to find out what is going on.
Just think how many problems could be solved, how much work could be done, if we didn't have to spend every waking minute trying to get the elected elite and their supporters just to be honest with us and our money. It took a financial meltdown, multiple indictments, daunting press coverage, stubborn Governor and informed masses to make them do the right thing for a change. Taking low hanging fruit is what some say about what the legislature has done so far in pension reform. A good start for sure... as long as it doesn't stop there.
While the taxpayer can claim some victory for justice with DiMasi and friends, lurking under all this great news is much more that has not been done at the State House and as I understand it, 40 bills have been filed dealing with pension adjustments for individuals and groups. All, have to do with increasing the benefits for a select few and others, raise the level of job ranking to get more money. This is where the money is folks... and a blue ribbon legislative committee is supposed to look into this and report back in September.
Let's see what they come up with by then, but by then, hoping I'm wrong, we will have already had a sales tax increase, gas tax increase, toll increase, meals, alcohol, candy, and soda tax increase and perhaps an override or two in some places. Two months from now.... it will cost some of us more to live here.
I hate to say it but I agree with Pillsbury. It is going to cost us much more to live in MA pretty soon and we have not seen the end of the ethics and pension fights in this state. They changed some rules, but they just need to write new legislation to overwrite the standard rules, and from what Pillsbury says here, they have already done that for at least 18 people. The rule should be the rule, no exceptions. That would stop the secret abuses of these rules, and if our legisaltures were not spending all their time writing up separate regulations for the friends to get more money under, then maybe they would have time to deal with the issues that are killing our state. One can only hope. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings, and I have certainly not seen Kate Smith anywhere near the MA state house myself.
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