2006 Governor's Race Survey
Deval Patrick's Answers
Health Insurance / Benefits
What is your position on returning all state employees to the 85% - 15% contribution rate for health insurance? Would you champion a 90% - 10% contribution rate when the economy improves?
Deval Patrick
I believe that the current employee contribution is both defensible and sustainable. I believe the bigger task, and the one I want to focus on, is how to get the costs to both government and employees down, so that the size of the total burden, not just who pays what share, is relieved.
What is your position on recent proposals seeking to transfer municipal employee health insurance rate setting power from the collective bargaining table to management exclusively?
Deval Patrick
I oppose unilateral transfer. I believe it undermines collective bargaining. However, I also believe that we must work together to get total system costs down. That is the bigger issue. And if that means we can, working together, find more efficient and cost-effective means to deliver high-quality, comprehensive, patient-centered health care across the system, then we should move there collaboratively.
What is your position on a local option for municipal workers to join the state employee GIC pool?
Deval Patrick
I support granting the option. One of my goals as governor is to reduce the cost of health coverage. One of the ways I will do this is by designing a lower-cost comprehensive insurance plan under the new health care reform law. If done right, employees would want to be part of it since it will also work to relieve pressure on wages and other benefits for which they bargain collectively.
Municipal Funding
Cities and towns have grown more reliant on state aid, and the vast majority of SEIU 888 members serve our municipalities. What changes would you propose to address the increasing financial needs of cities and towns?
Deval Patrick
First, like every other serious budget analyst, I do not believe we can meet the financial needs of cities and towns today if we rollback the income tax. In fact, an income tax rollback today would make the situation worse and only increase the pressure on local property taxes. I therefore strongly oppose the income tax rollback.
As Governor, restoring local aid to pre-2000 levels will be one of my highest budget priorities. I would use the current budget surplus to do so. Once restored, we will commit a fixed percentage of annual state tax receipts to direct support of local services by cities and towns. Additionally, we will return 100% of lottery disbursements to cities and towns. I would also support giving local communities the option to raise revenues from sources other than the property tax, subject to local control, so that they have an additional revenue stream to help manage through fluctuations.
Furthermore, so that communities have the time necessary to make careful fiscal plans, my administration will work with the legislature to complete a final budget on time and provide estimated local aid or "cherry sheets" to municipalities by March 1st each year, 4 months before the start of the new fiscal year. We will also examine the feasibility of multi-year budgeting to encourage sound planning for the future.
Massachusetts has to start investing in ourselves again. People and businesses set down roots in a community, not a state, therefore we must ensure that our cities and towns are vibrant and intact. That is why I am committed to increasing local aid and taking the pressure off of the property tax. We need to start being honest about the challenges we face and the needs we have. The income tax rollback in today's circumstances, however politically appealing, is fiscally irresponsible.
Do you support returning 100% of Lottery revenues to cities and towns?
Deval Patrick
Yes.
Education
Many SEIU 888 members serve in our public school systems in various support capacities, from secretaries, paraprofessionals, and cafeteria workers to librarians and maintenance workers. School districts rely heavily on Chapter 70 funding from the state. Legislative leaders have recently begun a public dialogue on the future of education reform in Massachusetts, and a central issue has been the Chapter 70 formula. If elected, what structural changes, if any, would you propose to the Chapter 70 formula?
Deval Patrick
I agree that the Chapter 70 formula needs updating. We must do more than just increase Chapter 70 funding, but also allocate the funding more thoughtfully. For example, I believe it should take account of both local property taxes as well as median income. I believe it should also be more predictable and transparent.
The Education Reform Act of 1993 primarily focused on teacher/student issues. The collateral impact that the legislation had on school support staff was not realized until after the bill was signed into law. For example, the unilateral authority given to principals over school buildings has negatively impacted the hiring, firing and promotion provisions of many collective bargaining agreements. If elected, would you support revisions to education reform to reduce the collateral impact on support staff?
Deval Patrick
My vision for education includes parents, teachers, administrators, support staff, and community members working together as a team to benefit the students in each school, in every district. Collaboration and cooperation are essential to deliver the "whole child" education that students today need and deserve. I believe in the principle of site-based management because it keeps the decision-making authority as close to the student as possible. If a principal abuses her decision-making authority, she should be accountable for that.
Family child care providers in Massachusetts are the workers who, through the state's voucher system, provide child care services in their homes. SEIU 888 is currently working with family child care providers to pass legislation that would allow them to bargain collectively with the Commonwealth, without becoming state employees. Do you support the right of family child care providers to organize? Would you actively support efforts to organize child care providers either through executive order or legislation?
Deval Patrick
Yes and yes.
Funding for Head Start programs has been decimated by the federal government over the last several years. To help soften the blow, the state legislature increased funding for Head Start programs in Massachusetts by $1.35 million in FY 06, and the House budget proposed an additional $1 million for FY 07. SEIU 888 represents Head Start workers across the Commonwealth. If elected, what steps would you take to support Head Start programs?
Deval Patrick
I would support legislation to raise the pay scale and relevant qualifications of the early care and education workers, and to provide broader training opportunities to develop a pipeline for future workers in day care, pre-schools and Head Start programs.
Health and Safety
Many SEIU 888 members encounter occupational hazards on a daily basis. From draw bridge operators and waste water treatment workers to DPW workers, municipal maintenance employees and highway workers, our public employees in Massachusetts are not protected by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA.) If elected, would you support legislation to establish OSHA as the minimum standard of safety for public employees?
Deval Patrick
Yes.
Currently there are no effective laws protecting public employees who work in public buildings from unhealthy air quality conditions. As Governor, would you support legislation to establish and enforce indoor air quality standards in public buildings?
Deval Patrick
Yes.
Public Safety
Several Local 888 members play a vital role in our public safety as 911 dispatchers, state elevator inspectors and crime scene forensics specialists to name just a few. These vital roles are often overlooked and underappreciated, especially at contract negotiation time. As Governor, would you work to ensure that all public safety workers get the dignity and respect that is readily afforded to police and fire personnel?
Deval Patrick
Yes. I will work to ensure that all workers - including public safety workers - get the dignity and respect they deserve. This has been my life's work.
Privatization
SEIU 888 believes that public employees provide vital services at a reasonable cost. Our members make Massachusetts work and their work deserves to be valued and respected. What is your position on the privatization of public employee work?
Deval Patrick
I do not believe that the private sector is inherently better suited to provide public services, and I do not support privatization for its own sake. I support the Pacheco-Menard law, which requires a thorough economic analysis to justify any move to privatize services in the public sector.
If elected, what steps would you take to support public employee work?
Deval Patrick
First, I will thank public employees for their service. Public employees deliver on the commitments of government, and I will start by reversing the trend of bashing public employees by letting them know that the governor appreciates them. Second, I will face honestly the fact that we cannot meet our obligations to public workers, if we roll back the income tax now. I will be forthright about and supportive of our obligations to the men and women who provide the services that our citizens want and need, in terms of wages, benefits and working conditions. Thirdly, I will honor collective bargaining agreements negotiated in good faith and will not refuse to fund them.
Some public employee work has been eliminated, only to resurface through private employers, often at a higher cost to the state and at a cheaper wage to the workers. Would you be willing to bring back public employee work that has already been privatized?
Deval Patrick
I will be constantly be on the lookout for ways to provide public services to people as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. That includes being open to bringing back public employee work that has already been privatized.
Retirement / Pensions
SEIU 888 supports reforming the public pension system by moving all members from group 1 into group 2 and group 2 into group 4. Would you support this type of reform? If not, what kind of pension reforms would you propose?
Deval Patrick
I will consider these and other changes which have been suggested to me in the context of a wider review of the state pension system. One commitment I have and will continue to make to the pension system is to keep on a schedule to fund its liability and to maintain the state revenue stream necessary to support this commitment. This will not be possible if we roll back the income tax at this time.
Appointments
If elected Governor, you would enjoy the privilege of appointing representatives to several state agencies and commissions. When making appointments, who do you envision will be involved in the decision making process? What role, if any, would SEIU 888 play in the decision-making process, specifically with regard to appointments that will impact our members?
Deval Patrick
Many members of organized labor already have played important roles in my policy formation and campaign activities. I look forward to maintaining and deepening these partnerships and developing others with organized labor when I enter the corner office. I also intend to re-establish the position of Secretary of Labor. State government needs labor's expertise and voice on boards and commissions and in many other ways. I intend a collaborative, consultative relationship, but I offer no guarantees of veto power on either policy or appointments.
Taxes
If the Commonwealth were to face a fiscal crisis during your tenure as Governor, would you support employee layoffs to balance the budget, or would you consider raising taxes to increase revenue?
Deval Patrick
If we manage and invest wisely, I will not have to do either during my tenure as Governor.
Union Support
Who on your campaign staff advises you on union issues?
Deval Patrick
I rely on three principal people from different areas of the campaign, two of whom have extensive experience working with labor on both policy and politics. They, in turn, rely on numerous members of organized labor, in the public and private sectors, for guidance and other assistance.
Would you support SEIU 888 organizing drives?
Deval Patrick
Yes, as governor I will publicly and actively support organizing efforts by any appropriate means.
How will you ensure that SEIU 888's voice is heard in the Governor's Office?
Many members of organized labor already have played important roles in my policy formation and campaign activities. I look forward to maintaining and deepening these partnerships and developing others with organized labor when I enter the corner office. I also intend to re-establish the position of Secretary of Labor. State government needs labor's expertise and voice on boards and commissions and in many other ways. I intend a collaborative, consultative relationship, but I offer no guarantees of veto power on either policy or appointments.
Please feel free to share any additional thoughts or comments with the members of SEIU 888.
Deval Patrick
Unions are good. It was when my mother joined a union (a Chicago postal workers union) that my family first began to feel its way out of poverty. It has been an honor for me during this campaign to meet and to celebrate with members of organized labor. I have benefited from the council of laborers, teachers, and many others on the issues of health care and education; from touring work sites with carpenters to better understand the impact on people of the failure to enforce wage and hour laws and misclassification; and from visiting apprentice programs with bricklayers to see what a commitment to training can do to transform a young persons' lives. A strong working relationship with labor has made me a better candidate, and it will make me a better governor.
I have spent a career standing up for workplace fairness. That includes activism on civil and human rights in the United States and abroad in both private practice and as head of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Justice Department in the Clinton administration. I extended that activity and that personal commitment to my roles at Texaco and Coca-Cola. I have also been with you on health care reform, the minimum wage, and the income tax rollback, your three primary public policy goals. No other candidate can claim that.
I recognize that there are pre-existing relationships that the SEIU 888 has with other candidates that will factor into your endorsement decision. While we do not and will not agree on every issue, now or during my tenure as governor, on the merits, I believe I am worthy of your endorsement and would be honored to have it.