BEACON HILL BEAT
MARCH 2008
SPEAKER DiMASI OUTLINES FY 2009 HOUSE BUDGET PROPOSAL
As the House Ways & Means Committee prepares to present their FY 2009 State Budget proposal (expected to be released in mid-April) House Speaker Sal DiMasi (D-Boston) embraced cutting the state’s corporate excise tax rate from 9.5% to 7%, over a three year period, along with endorsing Governor Patrick’s plan to close business tax loopholes, making it harder for companies to avoid state taxes. The Speaker also proposed increasing the state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack, generating an additional $152 million to help address the costs associated with the state’s mandatory Health Insurance Law. The state is facing an estimated $1.3 billion budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year, and the Speaker plans to use over $400 million of the state’s rainy day fund to help decrease the budget deficit. It is expected that the House will not include proposed casino revenues in their FY 2009 state budget proposal, which the Governor had included in his budget recommendation submitted earlier this year.
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GOVERNOR PATRICK SIGNS BILL TO FREEZE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE RATE
After the House and Senate passed H. 4528, Governor Patrick signed the bill into law freezing the state’s Unemployment Insurance rate for 2008. The freeze will save employers roughly $143 million by preventing a scheduled increase in Unemployment Insurance rates and will save employers $43 per worker this year. The state fund that pays benefits to unemployed workers is expected to reach $1.43 billion by the year’s end.
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HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS ANNOUNCE THEY WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION
Several legislators in both the House and Senate have announced that they will not be seeking re-election. In the House, Frank Hynes (D-Marshfield), Stephen DeDuc (D-Marlborough), Patricia Walrath (S-Stow), and Mary Rogeness (R-East Longmeadow) have announced that they will be stepping down to pursue other opportunities. In the Senate, Chair of the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee Pam Resor (D-Acton), Chair of Bills in Third Reading Edward Augustus (D-Worcester), and Senate Ways & Means Committee member Robert Antonioni (D-Leominster) have also indicated that they will not seek re-election. State Representative James Eldridge (D-Acton) has indicated that he will run for the Senate Seat vacated by Resor.
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GOVERNOR PATRICK ELECTED TO TWO LEADERSHIP POSITIONS FOR REGIONAL GOVERNOR ORGANIZATIONS
During the winter meeting of The New England Governors’ Conference (NEGC), Governor Patrick was elected the organization’s Vice Chair. The NEGC, established in 1937, is led by New England’s six Governors to promote the region’s economic development. The Conference was formed to allow the Governors to coordinate and implement policies and programs which are designed to respond to regional issues. Maine Governor John Baldacci was elected Chair.
Governor Patrick was also chosen to lead the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) on energy issues. He will focus on energy and transportation issues and encourage smart growth development and efforts to promote smart energy use. The Coalition named Vermont Governor Jim Douglas as Chair and New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as Vice Chair. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was appointed to head transportation issues, and New Hampshire Governor John Lynch was tapped to lead the Low Income Energy Assistance Program.
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MWRA RECEIVES ASSET MANAGEMENT AWARD FROM NEW ENGLAND WATER ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATION
The MWRA received The Asset Management Award from the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) at the group’s annual conference held in Boston, MA. The award recognizes the initiative and leadership of the MWRA and its staff in the field of facility management, most notably at the Deer Island Treatment Plant. The MWRA initiated one of the country’s first comprehensive facility asset management programs in 2000.
NEWEA is a regional non-profit organization for wastewater management professionals that promotes education, training opportunities, and public outreach.
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DEP REQUIRES CITY OF LAWRENCE TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS AT WATER TREATMENT PLANT
The DEP has entered into a consent order agreement with the City of Lawrence to bring operations of the city’s new water treatment plant into compliance with state and federal Safe Water Drinking Act regulations. Twenty thousand dollars of the $39,500 penalty will be suspended if the city complies with the terms and conditions contained in this order.
The DEP initiated the enforcement order after numerous inspections and a review of performance data from the new plant’s operations indicated inadequate security procedures, non-compliance with the plant’s disinfection process, sampling protocols and turbidity requirements.
In addition to the penalty, the city must take the following steps to improve operations at the water treatment plant:
- Ensure that all perimeter gates and doors are secure at all times
- Provide an updated operations and maintenance plan
- Ensure that fluoride and chlorine dioxide systems are operating properly
- Ensure all alarms are operating properly
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EOEEA AWARDS $439,000 IN COASTAL POLLUTION GRANTS TO ADDRESS WATER QUALITY
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) announced that it has awarded $439,000 in Coastal Pollution Remediation Grants to help seven shoreline communities tackle problems ranging from treating stormwater pollution to reducing ocean contamination caused by the dumping of waste from boats. The towns of Cohasset, Provincetown, Duxbury, Dennis, Brewster, Weymouth and Bourne were awarded grants through a competitive process that began in November. Seventeen towns submitted proposals.
Since 1996, the Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grant Program within EOEEA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) has provided more than $5 Million in grants to help communities improve water quality degraded by non-point source pollution. Grants also fund the design and installation of shore-side boat waste pump-out facilities, which are prerequisites for communities to consider establishing “No Discharge Areas” (NDA) where dumping is prohibited.
The following communities and projects received grants:
- Cohasset - $46,430 to design and install systems throughout the James Brook and Jacob’s Meadow watershed area to improve water quality of Cohasset Cove and Harbor. This work is part of a comprehensive effort to improve water quality and flooding which includes the Jacob’s Meadow salt marsh restoration project, a priority project of CZM’s Wetland Restoration Program.
- Provincetown - $93,800 for design and construction of a vessel sewage pump-out facility to serve commercial and recreational vessels in Provincetown Harbor. This project is essential for designation of an NDA in Cape Cod Bay.
- Duxbury - $118,699 for the final phase of an effort to curtail bacterial contamination to the Nook, a portion of Kingston Bay that is currently closed to shellfishing. At the completion of this project, CZM will request the town and the Division of Marine Fisheries to reassess the situation.
- Dennis - $22,500 for design and construction of a vessel sewage pump-out facility at Sesuit Harbor. This project is essential for designation of a NDA in Cape Cod Bay.
- Brewster - $21,057 for the design and permitting of a series of best management practices to mitigate contaminated stormwater discharges to Stony Brook, the Paines Creek estuary, and Cape Cod Bay.
- Weymouth - $25,930 to identify and design a series of stormwater management retrofits for Herring Brook, to mitigate impacts to downstream shellfish beds and improve habitat for fish that migrate and spawn in the Herring Brook watershed.
- Bourne - $110,692 to design and construct stormwater best management practices to reduce bacterial contamination of Conservation Pond – the suspected cause of shellfish bed closures in Hen Cove, Buzzards Bay. At the completion of this project, CZM will request the town and Division of Marine Fisheries to reassess the situation
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~ Federal Level ~
PRESIDENT BUSH PROPOSES $3.1 TRILLION FY 2009 FEDERAL BUDGET
In February, President Bush submitted his $3.1 Trillion FY 2009 Federal Budget. This is the President’s final budget proposal before a new President is elected and takes office next year. President Bush continues this Administration’s policy of cutting the amount of federal money available to help communities meet their clean water infrastructure needs. The President’s budget requests $555 Million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), a cut of approximately $135 million from this year’s allocation of $689 Million.
In addition, the President’s Budget includes $35 million to support EPA’s water security activities, including helping utilities maintain preparedness in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Overall, the budget request for funding EPA is $7.142 billion, a decrease of $350 million from last year.
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SENATORS CONTACT BUDGET COMMITTEE MEMBERS REQUESTING INCREASED FEDERAL FUNDING FOR STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUND (SRF)
A bipartisan coalition of Senators sent a letter to the Senate Budget Committee, Chaired by Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Republican Member Judd Gregg (R-NH), requesting that the Senate Budget include $1.35 Billion for the Clean Water SRF and $850 Million for the Drinking Water SRF. Forty-five Democratic and Republican Senators, including Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and John Kerry (D-MA) along with the two Democratic Presidential candidates, Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) signed onto the letter. The letter touts the environmental, public health and economic opportunities that are realized from the SRF program and references the EPA’s Wastewater Needs Survey which indicates a $202.5 billion national need over a 20-year period for wastewater upgrades. The Senators also point out that every billion dollars invested in water and wastewater construction creates over 40,000 jobs.
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