Praise Abounds For Productive Session For Governor, Lawmakers

     Governor Deval L. Patrick called the 2007 - 2008 legislative session “extraordinarily productive,” and local lawmakers agree.
     “He’s giving himself a pat on the back, and we will too,” State Representative Eric T. Turkington (D - Falmouth) said. “We have had a successful session…given the issues we faced, I think we handled it all pretty well.”
     “This session has been very successful in addressing major issues facing Cape Cod and the entire state,” Senate President Therese Murray said. “We have worked to protect our children and invest in their education, protect our environment, including our oceans, and promote alternative fuel sources. We have made inroads into curbing the cost of healthcare, attracting new business to the Commonwealth.”
     “On some issues, absolutely, we were very productive,” State Representative Jeffrey D. Perry (R - Sandwich) said, “and on other issues, it was disappointing…I know he’s trying to focus on the positive, but highlighting the successes diminishes our failures as an institution of state government.”
     “So much of what got done was both good and important,” Mr. Patrick said in a press release. “We got those results because the administration and the Legislature worked together in a true spirit of partnership.”
     Mr. Turkington echoed that sentiment, noting that many of the bills and projects approved during the session originated as much from Senate President Therese Murray and Salvatore F. DiMasi, speaker of the House, as they did from Mr. Patrick.
     “This is not a ‘he leads, we follow’ kind of state,” Mr. Turkington said. “When all three partners work in sync, we can get a lot done.”
     Mr. Turkington indicated that Mr. Patrick’s productivity during his first year in office was sidetracked by the casino gaming debate, since the governor was pro-expanded gaming and Mr. DiMasi was firmly against casinos. “That got them off to a bad start,” he said. “Once that was decided and put aside, they worked together fairly successfully.
     “I think [the governor] had a better year than he thought he was going to have six months ago,” Mr. Turkington added.
     “Their relationship did seem to be better,” Mr. Perry said, but he believed that the productive session was more due to the fact it was the Legislature’s second year rather than Mr. Patrick’s second year. “Bills are further along in the process and the clock is ticking…the pressure is on to get things done” before the end of the formal legislative session on July 31.
     Clean energy related initiatives topped the governor’s list of notable achievements. Among them:
     • Signing Massachusetts onto the multi-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), in which member states agree to cap carbon dioxide emissions
     • The “Clean Energy Biofuels Act,” which promotes the development of biofuel—liquid fuel derived from sources such as plant matter—and the increased use of biofuel-based products through tax incentives
     • The “Oceans Management Act,” which called for the development of ocean zoning guidelines that would dictate exact location, project size limits, and allowable technologies within ocean sanctuaries
     “That was amazing, that we accomplished that many pieces of substantive legislation,” Mr. Perry said, adding that green energy was a focus of the Republicans’ agenda for the session.
     Mr. Turkington said the wealth of renewable energy proposals “is a direct reflection of $4 gasoline,” but called the initiatives “very progressive, and they put Massachusetts in the lead nationally in the renewable energy field.”
     The governor and the Legislature also approved the development of a Clean Energy Technology Center to stimulate growth of that industry in Massachusetts. Another major potential economic engine, the life sciences industry, got a boost from the state with a 10-year $1 billion investment.
     That bill provides over 10 years $500 million to develop new life sciences laboratories and research facilities; $250 million for research grants; and $250 million for tax credits to companies in the life sciences industry. In return, the growth of the industry is projected to add 250,000 new permanent jobs.
     Mr. Patrick also signed off on a series of corporate tax loophole closures, which established “check the box” conformity that requires corporations to classify themselves consistently on state and federal tax returns.
     Massachusetts saw the beginning of its “managed competition” auto insurance model this spring, which allows insurance companies to set their own rates, though the state retains the right to deny unreasonable increases.
     The session saw the approval of several infrastructure investment bond bills, which invest: $3 million in long-deferred road and bridge repair and maintenance; $40 million to develop broadband Internet networks in underserved areas, including Cape Cod; $1.275 billion in affordable housing development; and $2.2 billion over 10 years in higher education capital improvement.
     Mr. Turkington said the bond authorization activity was unusually high, but such spikes in activity were cyclical. “It comes around every five years or so, so we were due,” he said.
     Mr. Patrick touted the state’s advances in “engaged governing—governing for the long-term [and] making an impact on the daily lives of Massachusetts residents.” Topping that list was the Readiness Project, a 10-year blueprint for reforming the public education system to improve classroom instruction, broaden the availability of early childhood education programs, and attract and retain qualified teachers.
     The governor also praised the state’s actions in tackling the foreclosure crisis and healthcare reform. On the former topic, the state passed late last year a foreclosure prevention bill that called for greater oversight and regulation of certain mortgage lenders, expanded public outreach and education to homeowners facing foreclosure, and changes to state law that give residents more options for saving their homes from foreclosure.
     Although the healthcare reform law was passed by Mr. Patrick’s predecessor, W. Mitt Romney, the law went into full effect early in Mr. Patrick’s first term. An estimated 340,000 residents previously without insurance have since obtained healthcare coverage, and recently the governor approved a new law designed to help contain rising healthcare costs.
     Mr. Turkington said homeowners’ insurance reform was the one area in which the state did not do enough. “The homeowners’ insurance legislation is something where we got very close to the finish line, but did not get across,” he said.
     A FAIR (Fair Access to Insurance Requirements) Plan reform bill did not receive full Legislative approval by the end of the formal session. The bill would have created a series of discounts, reduced deductibles, and refunds for FAIR Plan policyholders, and would have created a study commission to examine computer models used by the FAIR Plan to set rates.
     However, the state did prevent a 25 percent rate hike for Cape and Islands’ homeowners. Mr. Turkington said the reform bill “would have been the icing on the cake…I guess they’ll just have to make do with cake.”
     The bill could receive a vote during the informal session or an emergency formal session. “Even though our formal session have concluded for the year,” Ms. Murray said, “we are still hard at work on Beacon Hill, finalizing several more bills within our informal sessions.”
     Mr. Perry said an emergency formal session was “likely,” and in fact desirable should revenue projections early in Fiscal Year 2009 fall short.
     “I believe we’ve overspent on our FY09 appropriations,” Mr. Perry said, and if revenues are below expectations, “we might be called in to de-appropriate funding or give Mr. Patrick] his expanded 9C powers…I would much rather see the Legislature come in to de-appropriate funding.”
     “9C” refers to the governor’s statutory authority to make emergency cuts to an active budget if revenues are below projected levels. Governor Patrick asked the Legislature to expand his 9C authority to make across-the-board reductions to every budget line item, but that request was not approved.