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Top 10
| FAQ's
Do you have a question about politics or policy in Massachusetts? Would you like to know how big the state budget is, or who the longest serving Governor was?
If so, then ask IssueSource!
Each month, IssueSource will select 10-20 of the questions submitted
and post the answers here on the web site. The questions and answers
will accumulate; questions and answers from previous months will
be placed in the Ask IssueSource Archive, a user-driven knowledge base,
where they will be organized by category. And we will also maintain
a list of the most frequently asked questions
and their answers.
Submit a question to IssueSource . And remember - check
back and look for the answer.
Top 10
Question: What is the difference between citing "session law" and "Mass General Law"? When does session become General Law?
Answer: The Session Laws are the acts passed this year. They become the Chapters of the yearly laws. The General Laws are then amended by these session laws, for the most part. A local or "special" law would be an exception.
Question: What is the salary of both houses of the legislature?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Legislators have a base salary of $53,380. Committee Chairs earn $60,880-$68,380; the Ways & Means Chair makes $78,380, and the leadership is paid $68,380-$89,380. Representatives and Senators earn the same base salary but many Senators (especially if they are Democrats) have committee chairs.
Question: What is "no-fault" auto insurance?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Under a no-fault system, when you’ve been in a car accident, you file a claim with your own insurer, which automatically pays for the damages regardless of who caused the accident. A pure no-fault system takes away your right to sue in exchange for the insurer’s guarantee of payment. Thirteen states, including Massachusetts, have a modified no-fault system, which allows a suit to be filed if medical expenses reach a certain amount set by the state or if someone has been critically injured. Call your insurance agent for more information because details of no-fault insurance can be complicated.
Question: What does the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission do?
Answer: (05/09/03)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) protects investors in the securities (stocks and bonds) markets by providing important financial information in order to help investors make decisions about where to spend their money. The SEC files civil enforcement actions against any individuals or companies that break securities laws, forcing the lawbreakers to cease and desist and pay back ill-gotten profits. The SEC also refers serious cases of fraud for criminal prosecution.
Question: Why is someone running for governor referred to as a "gubernatorial" candidate?
Answer: (05/09/03)
The adjective form of "governor" as "gubernatorial," which was coined in the 18th century, was derived from the Latin word for governor, which is "gubernator."
Question: What are the requirements for qualifying for Medicaid?
Answer: (05/09/03)
In Massachusetts, Medicaid is part of a program called MassHealth. MassHealth pays for health care for certain low- and medium-income people living in Massachusetts who are under age 65 and who are not living in nursing homes or other long-term-care facilities. These people may include families with children under age 19, children under age 19, pregnant women, disabled people, adults who work for a qualified employer, and people who are HIV positive. MassHealth also covers those over 65, but enforces stricter financial limitations-- MassHealth includes their assets while it only looks at income for the under 65 age group. The group of eligible is shrinking as the state cuts its budget. To find out if you qualify, contact the MassHealth Enrollment Center at 1-888-665-9993.
Question: What state has the lowest minimum wage?
Answer: (05/09/03)
At $2.65 an hour, Kansas has the lowest minimum wage rate in the country. No Kansan can legally be paid that wage, however, unless he or she's in a special category such as farm worker; the federal minimum is $5.15.
Question: What is the average annual cost of one prisoner?
Answer: According to the Dept. of Correction, the average cost is about $35,000 - $36,000. The cost varies according to level of security--maximum security prisoners, obviously, cost more to house than prisoners at lower levels of security.
Question: I heard Lt. Gov. Healey say Massachusetts had either the first or second highest tax burden per capita in the country when federal taxes are included. What is the real story? Is this still Taxachusetts? Is per capita measuring better than as percent of income?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Presumably, the lieutenant governor was referring to the Washington, DC-based Tax Foundation’s most recent "Tax Freedom Day" report, which showed Massachusetts to be second in the country in total tax burden as a percentage of income (not per capita). We get that ranking (just behind Connecticut, at No. 1) largely because the Bay State, with its relatively high incomes, gets hit hard by the federal income tax, which, unlike state income tax, is graduated. In state and local tax burden, Massachusetts comes in 13th this year, tied with Arizona and Georgia. That’s up in rank considerably from the late ’90s, when Massachusetts generally ranked in the 20s in state and local tax burden, reaching 29th in the nation in 2000. But that’s not because the tax bite has gotten much bigger here: State and local taxes accounted for 9.7 percent of Massachusetts income in both 2001 and 2002, yet the Bay State jumped from 24th to 15th in the Tax Foundation ranking. (In overall tax burden, counting federal taxes, Massachusetts has been No. 2 every year since 2000.) And not all tax rankings place Massachusetts as high as the Tax Foundation's, which has its own unique methodology, based on data from the US Commerce Dept.'s Bureau of Economic Analysis. In contrast, the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation, using US Census Bureau figures for 2000, puts the Bay State at 46th in the country for state-and-local revenues per $1,000 of personal income.
FAQ's
Question: How are judges appointed in Massachusetts?
Answer: (05/09/03)
When a vacancy arises in a judgeship, people in government and the legal community submit names (sometimes their own) to the Judicial Nominating Council, a board appointed by the governor that conducts background checks and interviews. The JNC sends a batch of the best possibilities to the governor, who chooses one and sends his or her nomination to the Governor’s Council, an eight-member, elected body that approves all nominations. The process can be political; judicial choices are sometimes criticized as being based more on who the candidate knows than what the candidate has done, but in the great majority of cases it is clear from the candidate’s résumé and interview that he or she is exceptionally qualified to serve.
Question: Can a judge pick any sentence for a crime she wants?
Answer: (5/9/03)
Traditionally, judges have been constrained in sentencing only by a maximum (up to life in prison, in some cases) set in statute for each crime. Below that maximum, a judge may impose any term of imprisonment or any period of probation. For some crimes, state law dictates a minimum prison term as well. Such mandatory-minimum sentences include life imprisonment without possibility of parole for first-degree murder, and range of mandated penalties for drug dealing and trafficking. Lawmakers and the governor are trying to set up a system of sentencing guidelines so the public has faith that sentences are consistent from court to court and judge to judge. Lenient sentences, especially for notorious crimes, sometimes make headline news and usually result in calls for less judicial discretion in sentencing. (See the 2001 Issue Page on Sentencing Guidelines [in the Archives Index] for an in-depth discussion of sentencing.)
Question: Who is Massachusetts’s largest employer?
Answer: (05/09/03)
State government itself, with about 70,000 workers. In the private sector, Verizon has the most, with 18,000 Massachusetts employees. The largest Massachusetts-based employer is Stop & Shop Supermarkets of Quincy. Stop & Shop employs the equivalent of 16,340 full time workers here. Raytheon, the defense contractor based in Lexington, has an FTE (full time equivalent) of 14,000 workers.
Question: What's the MCAS pass rate?
Answer: (07/06/04)
Overall,96 percent of the class of 2004 passed the MCAS exam in time to graduate--1 percent above the level achieved by the class of 2003.
Question: What is the state doing to help students pass MCAS?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Students who fail to pass the 10th grade test, a requirement for graduations, can retake it up to four more times. Students go to summer and take extra classes to cram for the test. An online tutoring site has been established. Former Gov. Swift launched an initiatve aimed at recruiting 30,000 volunteers to tutor high-schoolers as they prepare for the high-stakes test. That plan failed.
Question: Can the state be sued by students who are denied diplomas as a result of MCAS failure?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Yes, but so far, none of the attempts to do so have been successful.
Question: What is the chain of command for state government?
Answer: (05/09/03)
The governor is the "chief executive officer." The Legislature sets laws and, oftentimes, policy. If the governor is out of state or cannot serve, the lieutenant governor acts as governor. The line of succession after the lieutenant governor is secretary of state; attorney general; treasurer; auditor.
Question: How do ballot questions get on the state ballot?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Groups propose questions and submit them to the Attorney General, who makes sure they’re allowed to go on the ballot under the state Constitution. If the AG says a question is approved, its proponents start collecting signatures. The number needed varies depending on turnout at the last election, but is usually around 55,000. The Legislature has until May of the election year to act on the proposal in the ballot initiative; if lawmakers don’t act, proponents gather another, smaller batch of signatures and the question goes before voters in November.
There are three major kinds of questions: initiatives for a new law; referenda to repeal existing laws, and constitutional amendments. The Legislature can put any of these types of questions before voters on its own, without signature gathering. Constitutional amendments, if approved by two successive Legislatures, automatically go to the voters.
If approved by a majority of voters, laws, repeals or amendments go into effect 90 days after the election unless they contain a clause saying they’ll go into effect immediately.
Question: What is the "Urban Ring?"
Answer: (05/09/03)
The “Urban Ring” can best be explained like this: right now, Boston public transit lines are spokes out of the city center without a wheel. The Urban Ring would be a series of trackless trolleys or other transit vehicle routes forming the wheel, linking all subway, train and bus routes together around the perimeter of Dorchester, the inner Boston suburbs, and East Boston. http://www.allston.org/transit/ring.html
Question: How many state legislators are there?
Answer: (05/09/03)
There are 200 state legislators: 160 representatives and 40 senators. Prior to 1979, the House had 240 members.
Question: How big is the state budget?
Answer: On June 25, Gov. Mitt Romney signed a $22.4 billion budget for FY 2005 (7/1/04 - 6/30/05). He also vetoed $108.5 million in spending.
Question: What's an "outside section?"
Answer: (05/09/03)
An “outside section,” or “rider” is a way to make a new law without going through the usual process. The text of an outside section is typically identical to the text of a House or Senate bill, but instead of becoming a bill, it is proposed as part of the budget bill. Sometimes legislators and governors use outside sections when they want to force debate on an issue because the budget is just about the only bill guaranteed to come up for debate. Other times, legislators use outside sections to push through bills important to their constituents that are not high on the state agenda, and might otherwise never make it onto the House and Senate calendars.
Question: What is Proposition 2 1/2 ? What is an override?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Proposition 2 ½, often called Prop 2 ½, was a 1980 ballot question affecting local property tax policy. Once voters passed it, Prop 2 ½ became state law. Prop 2 ½ states that property taxes, which pay for most of a city or town’s activities, cannot be higher than 2 ½ percent of the community’s assessed property values. The law also limited the amount property taxes can rise in a given year: the increase must be lower than or equal to 2 ½ percent of the previous year’s tax. Cities and towns do have the ability to override the second part of Prop 2 ½: if a majority of the community’s voters agree, property taxes can rise by more than 2 ½ percent in a given year. But at no point can the taxes cost more than 2 ½ percent of the assessed property value.
Question: What is the salary of the governor?
Answer: (05/09/03)
The governor’s salary is $135,000. The lieutenant governor’s salary is $120,00. Both Gov. Romney and Lt. Gov. Healy have forsworn their salaries through their first terms.
Question: What's a "budget buster?"
Answer: (05/09/03)
“Budget buster” is a term used for a government account that increases to the point that other programs must be cut in order to pay for it. Medicaid, the state’s health insurance program, often threatens to become a “budget-buster.”
Question: The "bond rating" issue page talks about Moody’s Investor Services setting a bond rating. What do they look at when setting it?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Analysts study business and financial statistics of the government (or company) that’s issuing the bonds, sorting out strengths and weaknesses in order to understand the long-term risk to bond purchasers. The better the bond rating, the lower the risk. Once a rating has been set, adjustments are made based on a change in an issuer’s long-term credit risk.
Question: What is the difference between an informal and a formal session in the Legislature?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Members must wear gowns and tuxedoes during formal sessions. Just kidding - the difference is that in a "formal" session, debate and roll calls are allowed. So formal sessions are when controversial, high-visibility matters are considered. In an informal session, all proceedings occur by "unanimous consent" of the members, so if just one member objects to consideration of a bill or a motion, it cannot
be taken up. Therefore, almost nothing controversial happens in informal sessions; there is no debate or roll call votes. But many important matters are considered and passed during informal sessions - it's just that disputes over them are settled behind closed doors before they are taken up on the floor.
Contrary to popular belief, the Legislature is in session from January through December unless it votes otherwise. When "the end of the legislative session" is referred to, that usually means the end of formal sessions. Under rules adopted in 1995, formal sessions end July 31 in even number years, and the third Wednesday of November in odd number years.
Question: What is the process by which the Legislature would/could/might grant relief to cities and towns from the strictures of Proposition 2.5, either permanently or temporarily?
Answer: (05/09/03)
Modifying Prop. 2.5 would require a change in state law. There would be no special procedure necessary, but passing any law is a long and difficult process, and this particular proposal would be extremely convtroversial. Changes in state law can be enacted by a simple majority of both branches (House and Senate), but if the governor vetoes a bill, a 2/3 vote of both branches is needed to override the veto. Such veto overrides do happen, though, and even on highly controversial items like tax increases. Govs. Cellucci and Swift were both overriden on tax hikes. The House has scheduled debate the week of May 27 on proposals to let cities and towns raise new revenues without further Legislative approval.
(Tutorial: Prop. 2.5 is the state law enacted by the voters in 1980 that limits increases in local property taxes to 2.5 percent a year, and imposes other limits on local borrowing and spending.)
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