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Winslow: Don't put mowing on the credit card - Jones - Don't borrow for salaries - and more...

by: Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno

Wed Jun 20, 2012 at 07:21:42 AM EDT


A quick survey of the amendments filed on H4179 the Transportation Bond Bill, yielded some good finds, and some head scratchers.  Here are some highlights.

Winslow Amendment 18 - No borrowing to cut grass

Over the past decade, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and its predecessor agencies, have become more reliant on off budget capital borrowing to pay for routine operations.  This includes the mowing of grass.  Dan Winslow filed an amendment to ensure that we pay for mowing as we go, and not put it on the state's credit card.

Brad Jones - #243 - No salaries paid with bond money

Like Winslow's amendment to ban grass cutting, Jones amendment seeks to end the practice of MassDOT paying salaries with borrowed money.

Bastien Amendment 148 - Light vs Commuter Rail

Rep Bastien filed an amendment calling on a study to be done to weigh the benefits of light vs. commuter rail.  The amendment would prohibit the construction of light rail stations within 1/8 mile of existing commuter rail lines until a cost benefit analysis is done.  If it makes sense to put a commuter rail station on that line instead, that is the recommendation.  One wonders if Rep. Bastien has seen this post...

continued after the jump
Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno :: Winslow: Don't put mowing on the credit card - Jones - Don't borrow for salaries - and more...
Eugene O'Flaherty - #19 - Establish motorist hotline

Representative O'Flaherty has apparently not heard of the 511 system instituted by MassDOT.  For he called for MassDOT to institute a system where one can call in roadside debris.  Something which is done every day using the 511 system.

Timothy Madden - #99 - Prevailing Wage Thresholds

Representative Timothy Madden, a Demcorat, filed an amendment to raise the minimum threshold project cost requiring the payment of prevailing wage.  Currently the threshold stands at $10,000.  His amendment would raise that to $25,000, meaning that small projects would no longer require the payment of prevailing wage.

Daniel Winslow - #238 - End the Union Monopoly

Republican Dan Winslow filed an amendment to end the union monopoly on public works projects.

Daniel Winslow - #241 - Chapter 90 local aid relesae

No bonding money shall be released until the state releases Chapter 90 local aid money first.

Daniel Winslow - #245 - Suspension of the Prevailing Wage

Winslow filed an amendment to exempt all projects funded with the bond bill from the prevailing wage.  The prevailing wage increases project cost.

Brad Jones - #249 - MBTA Control Board

Jones filed an amendment to coincide with the Senate's push for an MBTA control board.

Dan Winslow - #259 - Indexing Prevailing wage to Median wage

Currently in Massachusetts the prevailing wage is set de facto by the unions.  Winslow's amendment would move to a system closer to that used by the Federal Government where the wage is based on the Median wages for the trade in a geographical area.  This would lower the prevailing wage, reduce project costs, and create more jobs.

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Winslow: Don't put mowing on the credit card - Jones - Don't borrow for salaries - and more... | 8 comments
Let the Tide Lift All Boats (5.00 / 1)
About 85% of construction workers and tradesmen in Massachusetts have chosen NOT be be in a union. Yet tax-funded construction projects (most recently the Longfellow Bridge at a quarter billion dollars) have been limited to union labor only. With so many workers unemployed for so long, this is NOT the time (even if there were ever the time) for MA to limit job opportunity to the small minority of workers. It's a matter of fairness and equity. It's also a matter of fiscal sense because a small pool of eligible contractors will drive up prices. Or, as a President recently noted in his inaugural address, "And yet at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.  For as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.  It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours....". Selfless workers who help a fellow citizen find work? A noble, and necessary, endeavor. We'll see if the MA Democrats embrace or reject that sentiment when put to the test.. The President who uttered those words? President Barack Obama. And as the President (and our Governor) has said, "Words have meaning.". Will the Democratic monopoly in MA give meaning to the President's words today?
Dan (0.00 / 0)
What happened to your Amendment 18 - No borrowing to cut grass?
[ Parent ]
Waiting for the Big Kahuna (0.00 / 0)
In discussions on the floor of the House, I learned that a five year bond is being queued up in addition to today's one year bond authorization. Since the odds are against a positive vote on any of these concepts, I have made a strategic decision to reintroduce these amendments when the consequences of rejection are even more costly. Stay tuned.  
[ Parent ]
My plea (0.00 / 0)
Please get these guys at least on the record on these issues.  Even if they reject them the voters have a right to know their position on these amendments with an up and down vote.  
[ Parent ]
Borrowing doesn't matter - it is all about spending... (5.00 / 1)
The prevailing wage amendments are great and necessary.

Not so sure about the borrowing ones (to pay for mowing or paying salaries). The bottom line is the spending. Every dollar of spending must be paid for with a dollar of taxation. If the taxation comes today or comes tomorrow, it still comes. Sure, if you can't borrow for it, it makes the spending less likely to occur. And that is good. But then the demand for current tax hikes grows. In some instances, it might be more advantageous to borrow. If the spending is a given, then why not finance in the best way possible (and government borrows at low rates today).

The key is to attack the spending...  

Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom.  

well.. (0.00 / 0)
Yes and no.  At some point the state does need to mow the lawn (figuratively and literally) and borrowing money to mow it, doesn't make any sense.  If we can't afford to do the basics, then forcing them to stop borrowing can help them re-evaluate spending.  So yes you are right it's about the spending, but it's also a wakeup call.  
[ Parent ]
Prevailing Wage costs jobs (0.00 / 0)
Prevailing Wage laws on any project increase costs on average of 30% more than projects that use market rates.  This conclusion is the finding of a recent Columbia University study found here:

http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/20120605_WallStreetJournal.pdf

When we pay 30% more, or perhaps it would be better to say that we waste 30% of every projects budget, we get less work done with those same dollars.  This means that keeping budgets constant, we get fewer people employed with our public projects than we should have had using market rates.  We also get 30% less work done for that money.

Rep. WInslow is both very right and very brave to support this position.  If unions want to add value by ensuring the high professional standards of their members and offering a better value for a dollar paid, I am all for unions.  If, as seems to be the case now,  unions want to use political power to extort rents from public budgets and exercise monopolistic power to dominate public projects, I say we must have the courage to legislate them out of existence.

Courage is the first of human qualities because it the quality which guarantees all others-Churchill

So if the money isn't there then the grass doesn't get mowed? (0.00 / 0)
I'm guessing this amendment won't help the track fire problems.  Is Winslow serious or does he just hate public transportation so much that he wants to sabotage it?

---
"That it ceased to exist, I'll grant you, but whether or not it failed cannot be definitively said." - Metropolitan (1990)
Winslow: Don't put mowing on the credit card - Jones - Don't borrow for salaries - and more... | 8 comments
Adverstise here for as low as $60 per week.








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