From The Beacon, Summer 2009, Vol. XXXV, #7

The ink was barely dry on the new state budget when all heck broke loose in the political arena. It seems as though the campaign season is starting earlier than ever. Massachusetts activists love to watch every pitch, every at bat, and every inning of every campaign for governor, almost as fervently as they follow the Red Sox. But this early start will make for a very long election season (to put this in perspective, baseball will hold two World Series showdowns before Bay State voters decide the outcome of the 2010 election).

In the meantime, there are very real and serious problems facing cities and towns that must be clearly understood by the public and all stakeholders, and should not be pushed to page 2, superceded by the sometimes jazzier but always superficial jockeying that takes place in the early stages of a campaign. In short, this must be a season of solutions, not promises.

The early campaign kick-off started just days after the new state budget become law, when Gov. Deval Patrick’s chief of staff announced that he is leaving his job in order to help run his boss’s re-election campaign. Then the state treasurer left the Democratic Party to position himself to run for governor as an independent candidate, with a long line immediately forming to fill that potential vacancy. Finally, former Administration and Finance and Human Services Secretary (and Swampscott Selectman) Charlie Baker announced that he is stepping down from his influential private-sector CEO post to join the race for the Corner Office. In all, we have Gov. Patrick, Charlie Baker, Christy Mihos, and (likely) Tim Cahill in what will be the most spirited campaign since 1990.

All of this activity certainly gives media pundits a reason to divert coverage from the harsh reality of the state budget. Record cuts in local aid, major reductions in key local services, and widespread layoffs of vital local workers all threaten the fiscal stability of our communities. And the news is getting worse, not better, as June state tax revenues fell more than $200 million below worst-case forecasts, plunging the fiscal 2009 budget deeper in the red, and forcing speculation that fiscal 2010 and 2011 could be worse than even the most pessimistic prognosticators predicted.

Our political system is based on a simple framework – checks and balances – designed to make it very hard to change the status quo. That’s the way it has been since our Massachusetts Constitution first took effect. (Indeed, the U.S. Constitution is modeled in part on our own guiding document). Add to this the natural tendency of most political bodies to put off difficult decisions because it is so hard to build consensus on controversial matters, and there is cause for concern that what must be done today may be delayed for too long.

But there is real work to be done now. We cannot allow the problems facing our communities and our commonwealth to be pushed off and packaged into position papers and campaign slogans for the 2010 gubernatorial and legislative elections, to be acted on after January 2011.

Cities and towns need real municipal health insurance reform now, reform that gives local officials the same authority that state leaders have to set health insurance benefits outside of collective bargaining. We need this now, not in 2011.

Communities need real relief from unfunded mandates such as the one caused by funding shortfalls in the Police Career Incentive Program. This is today’s problem, and it can’t wait until 2011.

Local governments need the power to regionalize services, including emergency dispatch and other critical activities, without having to negotiate for permission with municipal unions. We need new structures now, not in 2011.

Localities need an end to the telecommunications tax loophole on equipment, which would generate $25 million in needed local revenue, and we need this now, not in 2011.

And the state will need to weigh another tax increase, in great part because the budget drop-off will be far too steep when the federal stimulus dollars dry up at the end of this fiscal year. The debate can’t be delayed, or there will be damaging consequences.

Thanks to the remarkable and enduring efforts of local officials, and the support of the Legislature and the administration, cities and towns were able to win some key changes this year: passage of a first-ever, local-option meals tax, the first increase in the local room occupancy tax in two decades, and closure of the telecommunications property tax loophole on poles and wires. Thanks to local leaders and the state budget conferees, we were able stop a very damaging union-backed plan to impose binding arbitration in health insurance matters. In the face of the worst recession in generations, local officials rose to the occasion and won clear victories for cities and towns.

But the struggle has not ended. Too many challenges remain. The recession is eroding the state’s tax base, threatening a deeper budget crisis and more uncertainty. That’s why the problems facing cities and towns must be on the front burner for action. The early soundings of a new election season must not mute the call for action.

Beacon Hill should resist rushing into campaign mode, and we must call on our state leaders to act today to give communities what is needed to provide the vital services that build our economy, attract businesses, and keep families and workers where we want them – here.

We don’t need a campaign season just yet. We need a season of solutions first.

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