PAX Centurion - January / February 2014

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • January/February 2014 • Page 17 Patrick’s gearing up for White House run D eval Patrick is holding firm that he doesn't need to change anything about the way he runs state government, this even as controversies at his state agencies continue to pile up. Patrick made these statements as he jetted out out of Logan on a Swiss vacation. Deval Patrick is totally blind to his scandals and will not be held responsible for any of them. If reporters question him, he bristles and goes on the defensive. He is very terse and short with his answers about them. Taken all together the incidents raise questions about his oversight, his accountability and competence. Deval owes the public answers. His current scandal is the Department of Families and Chil- dren. A child at risk, was murdered by a systematic failure of people who were suppose to protect him. Anyone who has closely worked with that system, could see the train wreck coming. It just didn’t just happen now, has been happening for years. This DFC scandal comes on the heels of other two DPH na- tional scandals that first came to light in 2012. The first involved DPH crime lab chemist Annie Dookhan, sentenced to 3 to 5 years for falsifying drug tests, who through intention, ignorance, apathy or negligence – jeopardized over 40,000 criminal cases, costing the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The other involved the Framingham-based New England Compounding Center, which was overseen by DPH. It was responsible for a fungal meningitis contamination of its steroid injections which has so far resulted in 64 deaths, while sickening over 700 others. Tragic situations and results for so many patients and families. No upper level DPH managers were punished in either of these scandals and the former DPH Secretary was given full honors and send off by Gov. Patrick just as both controversies broke. DPH's controversial oversight of both the crime lab and the compound- ing pharmacies while rewarding it’s managers not smart. Let’s not forget the “squeaky clean” the Massachusetts Gam- ing Commission's licensing process and it’s “connected” Chair- man Steve Crosby. Plus a state auditor's report showing welfare benefits were going to dead people and an Early Education Commissioner who lived in Connecticut and stepped down amid questions over her enrollment in a program that trains school superintendents. Can’t wait for theWhite House run, if we survive the rest of his term. – James Barry, BPPA Legislative Agent T here is a bill pending in the legislature (House Bill 2131) that would require collection of E911 surcharges on all throw- away cell phones at the point of sale. This is not a new tax or fee, but is simply uncollected. The monthly $0.75 surcharge paid by landline and post-paid phone customers is currently not being paid by prepaid phone customers. Retailers have fought the idea of collection because it requires them to do it and they simply they don’t want to. That isn’t in the best interests of the public’s safety. They want to sell it and be done with it. With the sale of the throw-away phone, comes the public responsibility to collect the E911 surcharge. But cops on the streets have long seen many of these phones turning up. They are virtually untraceable and are the phone of choice in many illicit and illegal activities. The projections for the monies that are going uncollected from this situation could be as high $5 million dollars per year. In a time with diminished resources, a legislative correction to this situation is what’s needed. Stop a throw-away of E911 money, that could be used for public safety services. It just does not make sense. There are 33 other states in collecting the important E911 surcharge on prepaid phones at the point of sale. – James Barry, BPPA Legislative Agent Throw-away phones don’t pay E911 surcharges