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Sam Power is enagaged!
Posted on May 9, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under Election 08, Higher ed | Leave a Comment
The Harvard professor who made headlines by telling a Scottish newspaper Hillary Clinton is “a monster” is engaged. [Via Boston Daily]
Lobby day
Posted on May 6, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under State politics | Leave a Comment
This from Sen. Galluccio’s office: Senator Anthony D. Galluccio (D-Cambridge) addresses the Massachusetts Association of School Committees during its annual lobby day at the State House.
Why is the City Manager in court?
Posted on May 6, 2008 by Erin Smith
Filed Under City politics, Huh? | 1 Comment
We got word yesterday that City Manager Bob Healy wouldn’t be at City Hall for the next few days because he would be tied up in court.
Curious whether he was testifying in a city-related case, we called and left messages for Don Drisdell, the city’s top lawyer. After three messages yesterday and one message today, Mr. Drisdell has yet to return our calls.
Anyone know what’s going on? Or why Mr. Drisdell won’t return calls from the Chronicle about the case?
105 Days
Posted on May 5, 2008 by Erin Smith
Filed Under City politics | 2 Comments
That’s how long it took for Mayor Denise Simmons to update her Web site. If you remember, the page previous had this message for a while now.
And here’s the promising news advertised on her city page: Simmons is making herself available for drop-in office hours.
What if Cambridge was its own country?
Posted on May 5, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under City politics, People's Republic | 1 Comment
Marjorie Decker’s column on the Colombian free trade agreement is here.
Pol: Telephone wire tax would bring in >$2M for Cambridge
Posted on May 5, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under General | Leave a Comment
According to state Rep. Carl Sciortino, Cambridge would receive $2,358,344 in revenue if the House had passed an amendment (instead of a study).
Quote of the week
Posted on May 5, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under General | Leave a Comment
Goes to state Rep. Angelo Scaccia about the proposed endowment tax:
“Mr. Speaker, we have a chance to tax the well-endowed.”
Rep. Angelo Scaccia (D-Boston) debating a proposal to impose a new excise tax on private universities that have an endowment fund in excess of $1 billion. Current law exempts these universities from paying property taxes to their local communities.
Alice Wolf wants to be in the House again
Posted on May 5, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under State politics | Leave a Comment
According to a press release from her campaign:
State Rep. Alice Wolf will be on the ballot for re-election to the 25th Middlesex district (Cambridge) House seat. Her nomination papers were certified by the Cambridge Election Commission and approved by the Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
“I invite all my constituents to see what I’ve been doing on Beacon Hill by looking at my web site www.AliceWolf.org” said Ms Wolf. “And I look forward to the upcoming campaign as an opportunity to continue to hear from my constituents.”
Alice Wolf, currently in her sixth term, is Vice-Chair of the House Public Health Committee and is a member of both the House Ways and Means and Education committees. She also recently served as the representative of the Chairman of Ways and Means On the Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time.
Wolf was previously Mayor of Cambridge and a member of the Cambridge School Committee and City Council.
A Rx for a waste of time?
Posted on April 28, 2008 by David Harris
Filed Under State politics | Leave a Comment
Last week, the Senate voted on an amendment that would make it mandatory for pharmacies to establish a record of prescriptions for patients and have them available for doctors 24/7. The amendment was voted down 6-32, but the reason is kind of interesting/amusing, according to a Galluccio staffer (Galluccio initially supported the amendment, but later voted against it): most pharmacies already have a list of prescriptions and readily provide it to doctors.
Are labor unions buying elections?
Posted on April 22, 2008 by Erin Smith
Filed Under Election, State politics | 5 Comments
Who really controls the outcome of elections? The answer may be labor unions, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
Four labor unions accounted for 94 percent of the $99,704 spent on “independent expenditures” for election campaigns in 2007: 1199 SEIU, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, Lynn School Employees Local Union 1736 and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
From a press release from OCPF:
Labor unions accounted for most of the spending in 2007, with 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East topping the list at $69,234. The 2007 total is just a sliver of the $3,995,453 spent in 2006 during gubernatorial and state Senate and House races. SEIU spent $1.15 million in 2006.
Here’s two local pols that got help from the unions:
State Sen. Anthony Galluccio, D-Cambridge, received $12,854 in support from 1199 SEIU and $3,900 from the Massachusetts Nurses Association. He won the special election to replace state Sen. Jarrett Barrios.
State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, D-Boston, received $8,614 in help from 1199 SEIU and $4,379 from the Massachusetts Nurses Association in the special election to replace former Senate President Robert Travaglini.
Individuals and political action committees are generally prohibited from giving more than $500 to political campaigns, but there’s a loop hole that allows individual voters and groups to spend “independent expenditures” campaigning for or against candidates. The money must be spent without cooperation or consultation with any candidate or campaign, and the “independent expenditures” must be disclosed to OCPF if they exceed $100 in a calendar year.
Don’t expect legislators to bite the hand that feeds them and change the loophole.
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