A bid for transparency: GOP caucus looks to boost accountability in Senate budget

GOP members of the Senate are looking to increase transparency among the state s quasi-public agencies by throwing the light on their payrolls and making their shrouded operations subject to oversight by the auditor s office Those proposals are among scores pending ahead of this week s Senate budget debate As of Sunday night state Senators had filed at least proposed amendments to the billion budget unveiled by their co-workers from the Techniques and Means committee earlier this month including dozens by Republicans State Sen Bruce Tarr the long-serving Senate Minority Leader stated the Herald on Sunday that his caucus is focusing on five key areas as debate on the fiscal spending plan gets underway in the upper chamber Transparency and Accountability Tarr is joined by State Sens Peter Durant and Kelly Dooner in offering an amendment which would promote community payroll transparency by requiring the state s a large number of quasi-governmental agencies to share their salary input The amendment if adopted along with the senate s budget would require that each quasi-public independent entity shall submit compensation information to the comptroller who shall post such information on the searchable website The state auditor shall publicly post audits conducted of quasi-public independent entities on its website Tarr stressed it s not the first time he s tried to close the gap on community payroll information but that despite the proposal twice clearing the senate it has never made it through conference committee We are pushing through with it once again he commented This is merely an attempt to close the gap and make sure the populace has access to all of the state s payroll information Competitiveness The state s ability to compete with other jurisdictions and attract or maintain talent has been an ongoing concern for policymakers and this year Tarr and Durant are also pushing for a new investigation on how to keep the Bay State in the running with its fellow states The examination would examine the costs of taxation labor physical space and fitness insurance compared to other states and offer a statement to the House and Senate by June of next year Tarr explained the state has been doing a similar thing in a piecemeal fashion but that his proposal would expand the conversations to include non-government entities like labor and business It s a way to create a discussion that hasn t been happening he reported Another proposal would ratchet down the sales tax in the state reducing it to in three procedures beginning in August of this year The sales tax would drop from to this August to in August and in August if the amendment passes Potency Costs After potential bills skyrocketed this winter Tarr Durant and Democratic state Sen Mark Montigny are proposing the creation of an Potential Cost Containment and Reduction Commission and a Natural Gas Cost Containment and Reduction Committee aimed at analyzing the costs of electricity and gas in the Bay State Tarr revealed he aims to bring everyone consumers vitality providers environmental organizations together in order to understand what s driving those costs Tarr and Durant aren t done there they want the Legislature to create an Power Cost Dashboard that will include a public-facing dashboard to display information relative to the cost and supply of potency such as a list of gas and electricity providers by region each company s current rates and explanation of charges included in vitality bills including regional costs If implemented the dashboard would help prevent ratepayers from being caught off-guard by increased power costs just like so numerous people were this last year Tarr revealed Training funding Tarr commented that as things stand bulk of the state s cities and towns receive the minimum amount of funding required under state law to cover the cost of educating local students Amendment sponsored by Tarr Dooner and state Sen Ryan Fattman would up the House-budget proposed per-pupil aid from per aspirant to per novice Another would amendment a defunct commission assigned to research the impact of falling enrollment on school aid We need to look at the plight of districts only receiving minimum aid Tarr mentioned The immediate lifeline for those districts is increased aid Recreating the commission or reactivating it is the first step in changing the funding formula Amendment by Tarr Durant and Dooner would allow teachers to deduct up to of annual training expenses from their state tax obligation Tarr called it a very straightforward and very modest way to acknowledge the work of educators who are spending their own money on their students development Healthcare costs An amendment offered by Tarr and Durant would seek to change the definition of who is allowed to provide at-home care for a family member as a paid caregiver to include spouses Tarr reported this move makes sense as it is often the spouse carrying the burden of caring for sick loved ones The change would require federal approval Tarr explained and the amendment attempts to begin that process Senators will begin consideration of the budget and its various amendments on Tuesday State Sen Peter Durant Matt Stone Boston Herald File