The Health of the Bargain...

Beacon Hill (WMassP&I)

Yesterday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives effectively voted to give cities and towns the unilateral right to set deductibles and co-pays for their employees health insurance.  Additionally, communities would no longer required to seek public employee approval to transfer insurance to the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC).  The 111-42 vote surprised organized labor, while drawing caution from the Senate and Governor Deval Patrick.

The effort to allow communities to join the GIC has been building for years.  It has been consistently road blocked by the public employee unions, largely without explanation.  That the legislature has decided to grant this right over the objection of the unions is not really the news.  While the unions still oppose it, in all likelihood, they knew it was never an important loss to them.

By way of information, Springfield joined the GIC during the Control Board's tenure.  When asked what the deductible/co-pay provision's impact would be on Springfield's budget, the office of Mayor Domenic Sarno had no comment.

What is more striking is the ability to set deductibles and co-pays unilaterally.  Well, technically it is not unilaterally. Under the amendment, which can be read here, municipalities and other government bodies would call the affected public employee reps together and begin negotiating.  However, after 30 days, if no agreement is made the employer's offer wins.  Notably, none of this amendment takes effect unless the governing body like a city council or town meeting "accepts" it as is the language of such local administrative laws.

Speaker DeLeo (WBUR)

Unions are screaming that this is like Wisconsin or Ohio.  House Speaker Robert DeLeo contends that this is a necessary tool to save cities and towns during yet another tough fiscal crisis and that this is exactly the same rights the commonwealth has with its employees.  Frankly, however, neither of them are entirely right.

The unions are right that the ability of municipalities to set their own rates is like what has happened in Ohio.  That state's SB 5, among its many draconian provisions, essentially forces unions to accept the local community's first offer if an impasse ensues.  However, there are some important caveats in the Massachusetts bill.  The unilateralism only appears if the community joins the GIC.  Realistically, only a few communities gain anything by NOT joining, but still.  Additionally, unlike SB 5 in Ohio, virtually all of labor's rights to bargain is intact.

The Year in Springfield 2010...

So comes again another year the wide world of Springfield.  As is tradition, WMassP&I will recount the events and news that made 2010 different from 1876 in Springfield.  As both a city and as one of 351 parts of Massachusetts, Springfield saw its share of ups and downs that may come back to haunt, er, define us in the coming decade.  I guess it really depends.

City Hall (WmassP&I)

The year's most important event may very well have been a continuation of an event we mentioned last year.  The Springfield City Council underwent a paramount shift not only in structure, but in composition as it expanded form nine to thirteen in order to welcome new councilors from the city's eight wards.  Five seats remained at-large.  Four of those seats were retained by councilors under the old setup, with former School Committeeman Thomas Ashe filling out the fifth.  The diverse group of newcomers included time-tested figures like E. Henry Twiggs and past city council candidates John Lysak and Clodo Concepcion.  New faces included the city's youngest councilor in its history, Michael Fenton, Tim Allen, Melvin Edwards, Zaida Luna, and Keith Wright, a Springfield schoolteacher.

Not long afterward, Massachusetts rocked the national political landscape by electing State Senator Scott Brown to the United States Senate.  While national Republicans spun a fairy tale that the President Obama's allegedly left-wing policies were to blame, determined tea partiers aside, the result was due to a dismal campaign by Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Beacon Hill was not without its share of attention.  Budget troubles meant more cuts, particularly for cities and towns meant a reduction in school and unrestricted aid.  The entire situation was laid against the backdrop of an election for governor, which even early in the year was thought to be a bruiser for Democrats.  Charles Baker was coming at Gov. Deval Patrick from the right, Tim Cahill, former Democrat, was coming from the further right, while Jill Stein attempted to slip in from the left.  

Mohegan Sun (wikipedia)

Casinos, too, became an issue that would crest at the end of the session.  Massachusetts Speaker Robert DeLeo rammed through casino legislation that would have essentially given dying racetracks the right to open slot parlors in an attempt to make it like it never was when Deleo's father worked at the tracks.  Locally Mohegan Sun, who forays into non-Connecticut states has not been without controversy, got behind building a casino right off the Mass Pike in Palmer.

Longtime Hampden County District Attorney William Bennett announced his intention to retire this year.