Jan 18, 2007 6:24 pm US/Eastern
Proposals For Eliminating Government Waste
by Joe Bergantino
BOSTON (CBS4) ―
Eliminating government waste.
That's one of the challenges our new governor faces as he tries to balance the budget and make government more efficient.
What can he cut? The I-Team has several ideas.
Like many governors before him, Deval Patrick is promising to slash the fat out of state government and he has an incentive.
"There's a very significant structural deficit. We have to deal with that and we will deal with that."
So where should Governor Patrick start cutting?
How about police details -- an expensive police perk we've reported on several times.
"We're the only state in the country where just about every work site has police," said Michael Widmer of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation.
Using flagmen for this kind of work would save millions.
"At least $100 million a year in local and state government taxes," said Widmer.
How about reforming the pension system that allows Billy Bulger -- the former President of the State Senate and UMass to collect almost $200,000 per year.
"You end up having individulals game the system in order to fatten their pensions," said Widmer.
David Tuerck at the Beacon Hill Institute estimates Patrick could cut the pension waste by $10 million a year.
"What ought to happen is people contribute to their pensons and the state contributes also," said Tuerck.
In other words, set up 401k plans for state workers. And here's another idea, make them pay a larger percentage of their health insurance.
As the I-Team's reported, there's money to be saved in our prison system by ending 15-20 year mandatory sentences for small time, non-violent drug offenders.
"It certainly makes no sense to me to be spending exorbitant amounts of money to keep people in prison for minor offenses that amount to victimless crimes," said Tuerck.
"You would be able to save tens of millions of dollars," added Widmer.
We've done several stories about county sheriffs like Jim DiPaolo in Middlesex and all the bureaucrats that surround them. Potential savings here?
"I would recommend we merge county jails into the state system as a way of saving money," said Tuerck.
The catch here is that at all these changes require legislative action. Some, like ditching mandatory minimum sentences, are a possibility.
As for the others, to say they are unlikely is an understatement. Impossible would be a better word.
Consider this, the last governor to target police details was Bill Weld. Hundreds of state and local police showed up at a legislative hearing to protest and our representatives and senators gave in.
Going after pensions and health care benefits would be a slap in the face to the state's powerful unions, not to mention the fact that among those who would feel the pinch of pension reform are legislators themselves.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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