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BEACON HILL BEAT
NOVEMBER 2006

In a landslide victory, voters elected Deval Patrick the next Governor of MA, ending sixteen years of Republican control in the corner office.  Mr. Patrick garnered 56% of the vote defeating Republican Lt. Governor Kerry Healey, Independent Christy Mihos, and Green-Rainbow candidate Grace Ross.  Prior to running for office, Patrick served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for The Coca-Cola Company, General Counsel for Texaco, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the nation's top civil rights post.  Also on the winning ticket was Worcester Mayor Tim Murray who will serve as Lt. Governor.  Patrick will be sworn in as Massachusetts’ 71st Governor on January 4, 2007. 

In other statewide elections, Martha Coakley was elected Attorney General and State Treasurer Tim Cahill, Secretary of State Bill Galvin, and State Auditor Joseph DeNucci all won reelection.  Additionally, all three ballot questions were rejected.  

Senator Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield) was confirmed by the Republican caucus as the next Minority Leader, replacing Brian Lees (D-East Longmeadow) who held that position for the past 10 years.  Tisei, who holds the distinction of being the youngest Republican elected to the House at age 22, has served in the legislature for 22 years, the longest of any Republican in the legislature.  Rounding out the five-member Republican Senate team will be Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) serving as Assistant Minority Leader and who will also serve as Senate Chair of the newly created Republican Policy Conference, Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) as Minority Whip, Scott Brown (R-Wrentham) as Assistant Minority Whip, and Michael Knapik (R-Westfield) will continue to serve as the ranking Republican member on the Senate Ways & Means Committee.  Among the issues Senator Tisei championed on Beacon Hill is the Commonwealth Sewer Rate Relief Fund. 

The MWRA Blue Hills Covered Storage Tank project will move forward after Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady ruled against the Friends of the Blue Hills’ appeal of the DEP’s decision to grant the MWRA a waiver from regulatory requirements of the State Wetlands Protection Act (WPA).   The court’s decision rejected the Friends of the Blue Hills’ argument that the DEP’s decision was arbitrary and capricious and departed from a no net loss of wetlands policy.  The court also held that the Friends of the Blue Hills had waived any legal rights to appeal the DEP’s finding under the MA Environmental Policy Act, and that the DEP correctly interpreted the WPA when issuing the variance. 
The Blue Hills project will consist of two 10 million-gallon buried drinking water storage tanks, to comply with DEP’s safe drinking water regulations, requiring that distribution storage facilities be covered to protect the quality of treated drinking water.  The new water storage tanks will serve Quincy, Milton, Brookline, Roxbury, West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Mattapan and Hyde Park.  The tanks will store safe drinking water for consumption and fire protection in the event of a pipeline break or other water supply emergency.  This project is the culmination of years of environmental and legal review.  Permits have been issued by state and federal regulatory agencies in compliance with all regulations. When completed, the facility will offer the critically needed emergency water supply, minimize impacts to parklands and endangered species habitat, offer a more diversified wetland habitat, and expand park and recreation use in an area that is currently closed to the public.  The existing reservoir was constructed in the 1950s and was taken offline in 1981 due to contamination from birds and animals.  The reservoir is currently used as a non-potable emergency supply.
The Court’s ruling can be viewed on the internet at http://www.mwra.com/01news/2006/101206bluehillsdecision.pdf

~ FEDERAL LEVEL ~

~ House ~

Under a wave of protest of the Iraq war and indiscretions by Republican legislators, the Democrats gained control of the House picking up at least 28 seats.  The shift in power means that ten-term Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will become the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House replacing Dennis Hastert (R-IL).  The last time Democrats held the majority was in 1994 before Newt Gingrich helped the Republicans take control of the House with his Contract with America.  Pelosi announced that within the first 100 hours as Speaker she will push to increase the minimum wage to $7.25; adopt all the recommendations of the 9/11 report; eliminate corporate subsidies for oil companies; allow the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices; impose new restrictions on lobbyists; cut interest rates on college loans and support embryonic stem-cell research. 

In neighboring NH, both Republican congressmen were unseated.  In the Second Congressional District, Paul Hodes defeated six-term Republican incumbent Charles Bass by 54%.  Also, two-term Republican Jeb Bradley lost to first-time candidate Carol Shea-Porter.

~ Senate ~

The Democrats also look control of the Senate by defeating incumbent Republican Senators in VA, PA, OH, RI, and MT.  Senator Harry Reid of Nevada is expected to become Majority Leader.   
In New England, Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) was defeated by Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, and Vermont’s Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders won the seat to replace retiring Senator James Jeffords.  Democrat Peter Welch replaces Sanders as the only representative in the House for Vermont. 

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