[MassHistPres] FW: HOUSE DROPS SENATE PROPOSAL AIMED AT ADVANCING FALL RIVER PROJECT

Fri Feb 3 10:45:09 EST 2012

Good news sent to me by our state rep.
James Hadley
Chair, Orleans Historical Commission

From: State House News Service <news at statehousenews.com>
Date: February 2, 2012 6:30:35 PM EST
To: "news at statehousenews.com" <news at statehousenews.com>
Subject: HOUSE DROPS SENATE PROPOSAL AIMED AT ADVANCING FALL RIVER  PROJECT

HOUSE DROPS SENATE PROPOSAL AIMED AT ADVANCING FALL RIVER PROJECT

By Matt Murphy

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 2, 2012….A midyear spending bill that includes several significant policy changes with impacts for jobs and health care got another rewrite on Thursday when the House dropped a provision that would have cleared the path for a major
 business expansion on the South Coast.

The bill, which advanced during a lightly attended informal session, also removed a Senate amendment designed to force transportation officials to identify funding sources for MBTA expansion projects, and scrapped an order for a study on the impact of a meals
 tax holiday previously adopted by the House, but not by the Senate.

While the House on Thursday passed its second version of the bill, officials in both branches said they also continue to work on a compromise with the governor’s office over changes to the state’s limited and tiered health care networks.

Both branches approved changes to the 2010 law that would require plans to cover patients, including many children, undergoing treatment for long-term chronic conditions at specialty hospitals like Dana Farber who might have lost coverage during the switch
 to limited networks.

Rep. Steven Walsh, however, said on Thursday there were still ongoing discussions about whether the word “chronic” could be too broadly interpreted, and expand the scope of the changes to patients beyond the 90 or fewer targeted for coverage. The coverage requirement
 for limited-network health plans would expire on July 31, 2013.

Asked about his level of concern over the limited network changes on Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick said he would wait to see what landed on his desk.

“I haven’t seen final language yet. I don’t think they have final language yet. I know that the limited networks have made a difference in terms of moderating the premiums increases down from nearly 17 percent a couple years ago to less than 2 percent now so
 they have a place and they are working so I’ll see what they send me and go from there,” Patrick said.

The $131 million supplemental budget bill passed quickly through both branches two weeks ago, but has stalled over these questions of policy despite broad agreements for millions of dollars in funding for low-income heating assistance, adult day health and
 corrections and a business-backed freeze in unemployment insurance rates.

Senate officials said the redrafted bill had not yet been reviewed, but could be taken up again next week.

An aide to House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Brian Dempsey said the House eliminated the Senate policy riders because Dempsey preferred to keep the spending bill more limited, not necessarily to signal opposition.

The Senate’s bill included an amendment offered by Sen. Robert Hedlund, and then redrafted, that backers argued would force the MBTA to explain how it planned to pay for commuter line expansion projects and their impact on existing services and infrastructure.
 Senators called it necessary at a time when the transit authority is requesting fare increases and service cuts to eliminate its $160 million deficit.

The revised House bill also eliminated a study of a meals tax holiday after the House initially blocked a Republican-led attempt to offer a week-long statewide meals tax holiday in mid-March by sending to idea to a study.

With an identical bill pending in the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight pending, Sen. Michael Rodrigues added a provision into the Senate version of the budget bill that would have expressly limited the authority of the state Historical
 Commission to properties listed on the state's official historic register.

The amendment would have cleared the way for Meditech, a medical software manufacturer, to go forward with a proposed expansion on a 138-acre site that is part of the Riverfront Development Park in Freetown near Fall River to bring 800 to 900 jobs to the region.
 Meditech has proposed a $65 million investment in a new building and parking on 21 acres with the remainder of the land to be placed in a conservation trust.

The project, however, has been delayed over concerns expressed by the commission about the archeological sensitivity of the Native American site, and the two sides have been unable to agree on a path forward.

“We’re disappointed, but we’re continuing to pursue other avenues,” Rodrigues said, indicating he would support the revised supplemental budget without his amendment because of the importance of the other funding in the bill.

Rodrigues said he was concerned that further delays might force Meditech to take its jobs to another state. Asked if it would be easier to comply with the commission requests than fight a protracted battle in the Legislature, Rodrigues said “the end game always
 moves.”

Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, Rep. David Sullivan, Rep. Paul Schmid and Rep. Steven Howitt all testified in support of Rodrigues bill (S 2053) at a hearing two weeks ago.

Secretary of State William Galvin, however, opposes the law change and blamed the “intransigence” of the developer for construction delays. He called the bill an "anti-historical, anti-economic" piece of legislation that would have implications far beyond the
 Freetown development park.

Haddad said she was not surprised the Senate amendment didn’t make the cut, arguing it has “always” been House policy to limit appropriation bills to spending related items.

“We’re trying to be nimble and grasping at everything that comes our way to save this. There’s no minimizing how important it is,” Haddad told the News Service, pointing to a Feb. 9 Town Meeting scheduled in Freetown with local officials hoping to approve a
 home rule petition that would exempt the Meditech parcel from Historical Commission oversight.

Dempsey’s office said the Ways and Means committee will continue to work with the State Administration Committee and supporters on Rodrigues bill, but preferred to keep the supplemental budget narrower in scope.

“I don’t know how to give up, so someone might have to hit me over head,” Haddad added.

-END-

02/02/2012

Serving the working press since 1910

http://www.statehousenews.com

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20120203/d58147c0/attachment-0001.htm>