Briefing: Municipal Partnership Act II
In late January, Governor Deval Patrick filed the Municipal Partnership Act II, a piece of legislation that proposed cost-saving measures for cities and towns across the state. Recently, Lt. Governor Timothy Murray testified in front of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government to continue supporting the proposal, which he says contains tools cities and towns need to better manage limited resources and prepare for economic recovery.
What are the cost-saving measures?
Through the act, municipal officials will gain control of their employee health care costs by reducing the requirements for Group Insurance Commission approval. Each community will be required to transfer their municipal retirees to Medicare coverage and provide some pension funding relief using “fiscally responsible parameters.”
What is Lt. Gov. Murray saying?
“Communities are struggling to stay afloat during this unprecedented fiscal downturn,” Murray told the committee. “Unfortunately, due to declining revenues, the commonwealth just doesn’t have the fiscal resources cities and towns need to weather this storm.” He added that this plan to manage limited resources more efficiently will save millions of dollars over time and take pressure off property taxes.
What are the act’s opponents saying?
“The plan would effectively remove elected and appointed municipal leaders from the final decision-making process,” says Geoffrey C. Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “[The plan would] place all authority in the hands of an unelected, unaccountable arbitrator who could impose unaffordable requirements on cities and towns and essentially control all aspects of health insurance at the local level. This is not acceptable, and it is not reform.”
When will legislators vote on the act?
The act will be brought before the House of Representatives for a vote, but not until after the Senate budget is addressed. That budget session was scheduled for the week ending May 24th. At the time of publication, no specific date has been set to address the Municipal Partnership Act II.
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