GOVERNOR Deval Patrick, who ran for office as a political reformer, has struggled to work productively with the Legislature while also being true to his campaign promises to challenge the political status quo. This month Patrick found a way to thread that needle, to the benefit of sound public policy.
On Friday, Patrick resisted pressure from public employee unions and vetoed legislation that would have hiked state pensions without a responsible way to pay for it. On Sunday, despite a squeeze from pharmaceutical interests, he signed a bill that includes disclosure requirements for drug and medical device companies of payments to doctors above $50. Last week, Patrick returned a bill that would have eliminated gender neutrality requirements for a single firm: Savings Bank Life Insurance Co.
These were the right policy decisions, but they also signaled that Patrick won't be rolled by special interests inside or out of the Legislature. Many of the bills were advanced amid intense hallway lobbying in the last frantic hours of the legislative session.
The SBLI bill, for example, passed the Senate without debate or a recorded vote. In his veto, Patrick called the company's bluff that the requirements put it at a competitive disadvantage; he offered an amendment that prohibits all life insurance companies from gender discrimination.
The pension veto came after legislators, too clever by half, undermined Patrick's condition that the increases be restricted to pensions under $40,000 by making the cap expire after only one year.
The disclosure requirements in the healthcare bill prompted overheated threats and warnings from the life sciences industry Patrick has tried to woo.
Patrick's finishing touches on the 2007-2008 legislative session show a governor finding his footing on Beacon Hill.
