Prepared remarks of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)
The Chamber’s Government Affairs breakfasts are a meaningful way for leaders in government to get together with leaders in business to share ideas and work together to improve our great Commonwealth.
A strong economy fueled by good jobs allows the state to support the services that make Massachusetts a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
In turn, a strong business climate depends on government’s ability to give you the tools you need to grow your businesses and get out of your way when government threatens to slow you down.
As we gather here today, much is on our plate in state government.
We see clear signs of a worsening economic forecast, a significant state budget deficit, and many substantial issues to tackle – from energy reform that reduces our dependence on foreign oil to health reform that slows the annual double-digit premium increases that hurt businesses and individuals.
Unfortunately, the public, political, and press attention has been diverted almost entirely from those important issues to whether or not Massachusetts should allow casino gambling.
Today, the Governor’s bill will get a full, fair hearing before the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
I’m sure it will be an overflow crowd with proponents and opponents.
And I’m confident there will be many questions –- tough, pointed, detailed questions.
And I’ll be listening for answers –- real, honest answers.
We were repeatedly assured that the plan offered conservative estimates. We were told the proponents had done their homework.
But these conservative estimates have been called into question.
The Boston Globe looked at the job estimates and found they were inflated –- by at least six times.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the estimates for revenues are also overstated by at least $100 million.
Proponents say casinos will solve all our budget problems, lead to lower taxes, and be the salvation of cities and towns.
Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island all have casinos –- and they all have higher taxes than Massachusetts.
Pennsylvania allowed slots to give property tax relief –- now the Governor is proposing a major sales tax increase.
We also don’t hear much about the demonstrated negative economic effects. We know most gamblers come from within a 50-mile radius of the casinos.
In states that have allowed casinos, there has been an economic drain from thriving local businesses that have seen their revenues devoured.
Which city or town in Massachusetts is willing to become a casino sacrifice?
We will absolutely have increased bankruptcies, foreclosures, divorce, broken families, increased property crimes, domestic violence, and on and on and on.
Proponents have a responsibility to provide real numbers on the social costs of casino gambling.
Make no mistake about it: the taxpayers will pay the costs. And none of the glossy promotional brochures have provided any real estimates.
If any industry wanted to come into our Commonwealth that would pollute our clean air or contaminate our rivers and streams, we would rise up to stop it –- even if it would create thousands of new jobs.
Casinos will absolutely cause human damage on a grand scale.
The cost of cleaning up the human devastation brought by casino gambling is too great.
The cost of creating a casino culture is too high.
Our great state is the birthplace of public education, the epicenter of worldwide higher education. We have the best in arts, culture, and history. Just across the river, one batch of scientists is dreaming up a cure for cancer and another is designing the next space orbiter.
We are the Athens of America.
Do we really want this? Do we need this casino culture? After six months of debate on this bill, I believe the evidence is not there, the case has not been made and time is running out.
Right now, my answer is no!
There is, of course, a healthy debate on casinos and we can disagree about facts and figures but one argument I will not accept is that, if we say no to this plan, casino gambling is the only choice for economic growth and development.
To say that is to ignore our recent accomplishments and to say that is to give up on the good ideas in the pipeline.
True economic development requires the best thinking and the best planning to create a strategic vision that will help create a better society.
Since I have been Speaker, the House of Representatives has focused on economic development plans that are real and that are sustainable.
The House recently passed legislation that will invest $1 billion in the life sciences industry, a bill that will allow Massachusetts to retain its spot as the top super-cluster in the industry.
It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
It is a generational investment in what Massachusetts knows and does best, investing in the innovation economy, in good, high-paying jobs and in a truly sustainable industry.
The House has made successive investments in economic stimulus bills.
We brought Bristol-Myers Squibb and hundreds of high-paying jobs to Fort Devens.
We helped Target build a huge distribution center in Westfield, with 1,000 jobs in Western Massachusetts.
And hundreds of thousands of people are taking advantage of our One-Stop Career Centers and our School-to-Career programs.
And, recently, I rolled out a detailed plan to balance the budget by closing the $1.3 billion budget gap.
This plan is realistic, reasonable, and fiscally responsible.
It contains three major components -- tough budget cuts, conservative allocation of the state’s rainy day fund and new revenues generated by corporate tax changes and an increase in the cigarette tax.
I embraced two of the Governor’s changes to the corporate tax structure, adding combined reporting and check-the-box.
I also offered a much more significant cut in the corporate income tax rate to help a significant number of Massachusetts businesses.
Under our plan, the corporate tax rate will be cut over three years – from the current rate of 9.5 percent to 8.5 percent in 2009, to 7.5 percent in 2010 and 7 percent in 2011.
As you know, we already froze the unemployment insurance rate for 2008, saving businesses $150 million.
For the state budget, the increase is $204 million.
The bottom line impact to businesses is just $54 million.
For that, I believe businesses in Massachusetts should give us their public support.
Some of these changes are difficult, but all of them are fair and necessary.
Even with these tight times, however, we are not stepping back from our commitment to cities and towns.
We will fund our commitment to Chapter 70 school aid this year with an increase of $223 million, 6 percent, over last year.
And we will provide additional funds to hold cities and towns harmless from the deficit in the Lottery.
Cities and towns, like state government and some of your businesses, are facing difficult times ahead.
Many prudent financial planners and elected officials in cities and towns have planned ahead and are making the tough choices right now –- especially in light of the legislative changes that allow for new efficiencies.
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill to allow municipalities to enroll their workers in the state health care system, the Group Insurance Commission.
Instead of premium increases as high as 20 to 30 percent, the GIC has seen single-digit percent increases on average the last five years.
Cities and towns can benefit from this by joining the GIC and they should.
In addition, we passed pension reform which, combined with the health care reform, could have saved cities and towns hundreds of millions of dollars.
Unfortunately, we have not seen cities and towns take advantage of these reforms.
I believe that municipal leaders want to join GIC because they also believe that they can provide savings and good health care for municipal workers.
I also believe that municipal leaders should have the sole decision in determining whether their communities join GIC and deliver on the promise of property tax relief on the local level.
Therefore, I believe it may be time to change the law to allow municipal leaders alone to make this decision.
We must have cost savings first at cities and towns, the same way we do at the state level.
As a Commonwealth we want to help cities and towns help themselves in providing better services more efficiently,
Last year, for example, we provided grant funds to communities in Western Massachusetts exploring ways to consolidate or more efficiently deliver educational services.
Many communities are experiencing significant enrollment declines and need to rethink the traditional districts they operate.
Unfortunately, local officials who often volunteer their time are not able to provide leadership on this issue.
We must marshal existing state resources to assist our partners at the local level and expand them where necessary.
And so today I am announcing that the House will eagerly embrace a proposal in Governor Patrick’s budget that will fund better fiscal and municipal planning training for city and town leaders.
This important initiative, The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the McCormack Institute at UMass-Boston will help our communities and our state develop best practices, aid them in finding critical efficiencies and doing all they can to keep the taxpayers costs down.
It will offer cities and towns as well as state agencies training and education, consulting, and the use of a vast public policy clearing house and database.
I am also considering the creation of a new Municipal Audit Bureau to analyze and report on local management practices and spending patterns.
The purpose would be to identify the kinds of efficiencies the voters expect and provide an independent source of analysis and information for state and local policy-makers.
We are investing much in our cities and towns, as we should.
But when they call for more, as they do every year in good and in bad, we have a right to know why –- and for what.
We are answerable to the taxpayers and, particularly at a time when many cities and towns are considering Proposition 2½ overrides, our citizens need a much better understanding of the financial condition of their communities.
At the same time, we in the House are moving on several other fronts to grow the economy to better ensure the revenues of tomorrow.
The House’s top priority has been economic growth through clean, renewable energy.
Last year before this group, I unveiled my Green Communities Act of 2007, a bold energy reform bill designed to curtail dirty emissions, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and firmly establish our state’s commitment to clean and renewable energy.
That bill overwhelmingly passed the House and the Senate and we will have a bill to the Governor soon.
But, as I mentioned last year, our focus on the energy sector will be ongoing. True reform will take time.
Since 2002, the price for a barrel of oil has climbed steadily from around $30 a barrel to more than $100 per barrel.
That, combined with the weak dollar, makes it even more imperative to take some control over our energy future since these costs ripple through every aspect of our economy.
Today, I am unveiling a new energy reform initiative, one I’m calling the Green Jobs Act.
It is yet another bold plan that will grow the right kind of jobs in Massachusetts -- clean energy jobs, green jobs and good-paying jobs in the economy of the future.
There is a tremendous opportunity here on clean energy, just as there is in life sciences.
The New England Clean Energy Council reports that clean energy has now become the 10th largest industry sector in Massachusetts, with 14,500 jobs and growing at more than 20 percent a year.
To keep up that growth, Massachusetts will have to fight for the jobs. Other states are competing for these jobs and rolling out the red carpet for clean energy firms and green jobs.
Iowa, Minnesota, California –- all investing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for research and development, green jobs programs, and workforce training.
Here in Massachusetts, we have a natural clean energy cluster – the University of Massachusetts, MIT, and Harvard are leaders in the movement and are educating the leaders and innovators of the future.
All around Cambridge, Boston, and up and down Route 128, we have venture capitalists developing and supporting these businesses.
And throughout the state, we have workers ready to capitalize – to manufacture green products, to test green facilities, to continue green research.
We will create the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and set aside $50 million.
We will create a Clean Energy Seed Grant Program that will award grants of between $2 million and $5 million per year.
This program will create new clean energy companies, attract local venture capital, and deliver huge benefits to the Commonwealth in new jobs and revenue.
We will also create a Clean Energy Fellowship program to give Massachusetts entrepreneurs the training they need to drive the sector.
We will create a Green Jobs Initiative to coordinate workforce development efforts on clean energy, investing up to $2 million per year in our universities and colleges to create the workforce needed to support this cluster.
We will redirect the funds currently spent by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund on economic development to support the programs of the Clean Energy Center.
This will ensure a steady stream of revenue to support the Center’s programs and will coordinate all clean energy economic development in one place.
Through our efforts, I believe we can keep these jobs here in Massachusetts, the birthplace of innovation.
We will help create a powerful economic engine for the state in an industry that will double and triple its size in the years to come.
Last year, I stood before you and started by saying how much Massachusetts has changed since the 2006 election. It did change and it is still changing.
Sometimes, we have had conflict and we have had disagreements over policy proposals.
That is healthy, that is the nature of what we do, that is Democracy.
With Senate President Murray and Governor Patrick, I am confident we are taking Massachusetts in the right direction.
We have more shared priorities than the media or public give us credit for.
We have much work to do in the remainder of this session but I know that, by working collaboratively toward a common set of goals, we will continue to accomplish great things for the Commonwealth.
Thank you.
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