There were three stories in the papers today that caught my eye. Even though they appear totally unrelated on the surface, there is actually an important - and unfortunate - link between them.
The first is a story in today's Boston Herald that a woman was seriously injured during a sexual assault that occurred inside a bathroom at Massachusetts General Hospital. The alleged perpetrator is a notorious Level 3 sex offender who has more than a dozen sex crime charges on his record, but who nevertheless was roaming the hallways of the hospital, apparently unmonitored.
The second is a story in today's Boston Herald that the State Police Association of Massachusetts recommended a plan to Governor Patrick to save $13 million a year by trimming the number of management positions within the state police. According to the story, the Patrick administration has not acted on the plan - despite its current calls for state employee unions to make sacrifices and implement furloughs to bridge
budget gaps.
The third piece is an editorial in today's Worcester Telegram that points out how a pilot program allowing AAA members to renew licenses and car registrations at certain club offices instead of at the Registry of Motor Vehicles is in jeopardy of going away. The Legislature is currently rejecting a plan to extend the program due to efforts headed by Senator Pacheco, who is famous for opposing efforts to outsource state jobs to private entities.
In my view, the common thread running between these stories is that they point to ways Massachusetts political leaders have been slow to react to serious problems facing state residents, and how they have been even slower to implement reforms that would help our state in its current fiscal problems.
For example, I have filed legislation that would require expanded monitoring of sex offenders using GPS bracelets. So far, despite my advocacy, the Legislature has failed to take any action on the bill. And yet we see cases like the one at Mass. General Hospital all too often in the headlines.
Likewise, I find it troubling that the Patrick administration has not considered the recommendations of the State Police Association as a way to save money. I'm not familiar with the report itself, but it seems to me that any credible proposal to save money through restructuring and cost savings should at least get ample consideration by the administration before we cut programs that help the vulnerable and funding for local aid.
The same is true for the plan to have AAA process license and registration renewals, which eases burdens on the RMV and would allow us to realize budget savings in that area through privatization.
It's unclear whether any law would have prevented the attack at Mass. General Hospital, just as I'm sure there are good and bad reasons for cutting management positions at the state police and privatizing license and registration renewals. But the right place to answer those questions is inside the Massachusetts Legislature, where politicians are supposed to consider ideas like the ones above, subject them to public input and expert scrutiny, debate them, and eventually vote on their merit. But in a Legislature that is mostly concerned about itself, that's simply not happening.
There seems to be no appetite for reform in the Massachusetts Legislature, whether it involves matters of public safety or budget cuts. And unfortunately, at the end of the day, it's the people of Massachusetts who ultimately lose out.
