Due to its activist advocacy of charter schools, the Boston-based Pioneer Institute has come under much fire in Northern Berkshire in recent months.
Some local officials, particularly in North Adams, opposing the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School, have blasted Pioneer as an arch-conservative conspirator for its role as a funder and promoter of the charter school concept during the administrations of recent Republican governors. And indeed three members of the same state Board of Education that recently granted the school a five-year charter have connections to Pioneer: James A. Peyser, Abigail M. Thernstrom, and Charles D. Baker, Jr.
Baker recently headed up the health care transition team for the incoming administration of Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican like his three predecessors in the office.
Whatever one’s opinion of the Pioneer Institute, Baker would seem to be qualified for the task: he is president and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a prominent New England HMO, and served as secretary of Administration and Finance and secretary of Health and Human Services during the Weld and Cellucci administrations.
Baker is author of the December 2002 white paper entitled Rationalizing Health and Human Services for the Pioneer Institute and its Shamie Center for Restructuring Government.
To an extent, Baker’s white paper seems a blueprint for what Romney is attempting in his recently proposed restructuring of Health and Human Services. In his message with his proposed fiscal 2004 budget, Romney even refers to “the attempt to rationalize [emphasis added] the system for providing direct and specific services to the public.â€
In this message, Romney calls his budget proposal Common Sense for the Commonwealth, adding that “it draws upon some of the best practices of other states as well as those of large enterprises in the private sector.â€
The reorganization will place 16 HHS agencies into four different groups, which the Executive Office of Health and Human Services will continue to oversee. The four groups will focus on children, disabilities, health, and elder services. (See accompanying chart).
Bosley blasts plan and Pioneer
State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley (D-North Adams) has spoken of the need for state government to change the way it does business to provide better services and meet economic challenges. A strong supporter of Romney’s Democratic opponent in the recent election, he is not impressed with the proposed HHS reorganization.
“I am disappointed,†Bosley said of the HHS restructuring plan. “He’s trying to streamline, but he’s cut services.â€
Bosley used as an example the Prescription Advantage program for seniors and the disabled. Romney has not put any money in his proposed budget to fund the program.
The Romney plan for HHS doesn’t make fundamental changes in the way the state conducts services: “It changes the way we administer the same system.â€
Bosley called the Pioneer Institute a “very conservative think tank†very influential with recent Republican administrations in the governor’s office. Pioneer has an activist agenda in health care, education, and privatization of government services, he said.
North Adams office closing
On Monday, Romney announced as part of his HHS restructuring a plan to close 36 HHS offices of the department’s total of 164 local and regional offices. He said this would save the state $2.3 million in fiscal 2004 and will result in annual savings of more than $3 million a year.
In North Adams this will mean that Mass. Rehabilitation Commission Office at 85 Main St. will close and the service will be moved to the Department of Transitional Assistance Office at 37 Main St. in the city.
Eventual employee layoffs are also expected in Health and Human Services statewide.
The HHS restructuring proposal — one of several being forwarded by the administration — comes as Massachusetts faces perhaps its deepest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“With this crisis, we also have a tremendous opportunity to permanently change the way state government operates and reform the current wasteful and inefficient system,†Romney has stated.
“In the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the problem with duplication goes beyond wasting money. With a current maze of 15 different agencies, a family looking for help could spend days driving between offices trying to find the right people to help them,†Romney said in his State of the State address. “I’ll bring our agencies together into four groups: one for needy children and families, one for seniors, one for health care, and one for long-term care. The agencies won’t go away, they’ll just be a lot easier to find. And by combining their administrative functions, we’ll save money.â€
According to information about the proposed HHS reorganization available from the state, “The reorganization is not about saving money per se; it is about creating greater efficiencies in government through the use of technology and consolidation so that we have more resources for actual service delivery.
“We are engaged in this process to both preserve and create more services for those in need. We are also interested in making health and human services friendlier and easier to negotiate for the average citizen.â€
In Rationalizing Health and Human Services, Baker writes “The proposal to rationalize health and human services presumes that EOHHS would eliminate its existing operating agencies over time and replace them with an integrated Secretariat organized along functional, rather than product lines. In this model, each operating division would be led by a commissioner, who would report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.â€
“The stated overall goals have to be less administration, less duplication, and better service provision — it can’t be viewed as just another way to cut the budget,†Baker writes.
In Baker’s white paper, there would be seven commissioners with the following responsibilities: information technology, licensing, investigations, purchased services, administrative and financial operations, case management, and transitional assistance.
Romney’s proposed restructuring, clustering existing departments together with related counterparts, seems much less radical.
Under Romney’s proposal, however, key functions from all HHS agencies that would be consolidated in the Executive Office of HHS include information technology, human resources, legal services, budgeting, contracting, federal revenue, and revenue maximization projects.
According to Romney’s budget proposal, “Better coordination of human resource policy, increased flexibility and accountability and less duplication of effort will result in long-term savings.â€
“Health and Human Services (HHS) represents almost 48 percent of state spending,†it states. “The lack of a unified mission has led to uncoordinated services and a fragmented system for those in need.â€
“The restructured secretariat will implement a strong coherent vision for serving the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable citizens.â€
Is reorganization being rushed?
The administration’s intent is to file an Article 87 reorganization of state government proposal in May timed to coincide with the beginning of fiscal year 2004, allowing the governor to make changes in the executive branch subject to an up-or-down vote in the Legislature.
However, in Rationalizing Health and Human Services, Baker writes of the process happening one division group at a time to take place “over at least a two-year period.â€
Al Bashevkin, executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, who has read Baker’s white paper, said that all of Romney’s restructuring proposals in such tough economic times need more than three months of consideration. All of the various areas where programs are going to be cut or restructured should not be looked at in isolation but all together as part of a bigger whole, he said.
“We can’t do this in three months,†he said. “I certainly feel it’s being rushed.â€
“The system needs some help, but we need to take time to do this,†Bashevkin said. “The devil is in the details.â€
He said debate over and planning of such restructuring proposals should not take place only in Boston — community input is needed in places such as Northern Berkshire. He also questioned the wisdom of such things as centralizing legal staffs, as specific legal skills are needed in such departments as the Division of Social Services.
Bosley doesn’t think Romney’s restructuring plan will be approved. The all-or-nothing nature of an Article 87 proposal routinely leads the Legislature to reject them, he said.
Steve Green, a professor of sociology and associate dean for Academic Support Services at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, said that what often happens with such reorganizations is that those receiving services end up on the short end of the stick.
“My fear as always is that the shuffling around at the bureaucratic level is that services to those who need them will get lost,†said Green, who is president of the board of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.
He said he was not that familiar with the proposal to reorganize HHS and what he has seen on the subject has been rather vague and short on details, much like Romney’s proposal to consolidate MCLA with Berkshire Community College.
Massachusetts Hospital Association President Ronald Hollander said in a press release after the proposed reorganization of HHS was announced that response to the state’s fiscal crisis requires creative thinking.
“And we welcome any changes that would streamline the delivery of care to patients and communities, reduce administrative burdens, and provide new perspectives on the way the state delivers services,†Hollander said. “After the reorganization plans are unveiled, SUVs are sold, and press and legal offices are consolidated, however, we will look for a commitment from the administration to the core needs of caring for the sick, providing access to the uninsured, and upholding standards for quality care.â€
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Windsor Man Promoted to Major in National Guard
WINDSOR, Mass. — Corbin Lounsbury of Windsor was recently promoted to major in the New York Army National Guard.
Major Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general for the state of New York, announced the recent promotion of members of the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their capability for additional responsibility and leadership.
Lounsbury, assigned to Cyber Protection Team 173, received a promotion Sept. 5 to the rank of major.
Army National Guard promotions are based on a soldier's overall performance, demonstrated leadership abilities, professionalism, and future development potential. These promotions recognize the best-qualified soldiers for a career in the New York Army National Guard.
There are 20,000 members in New York's Army, Air National Guard, the Naval Militia, and the New York Guard. They are managed by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, the state's executive agency responsible to the governor.
Guardsmen and women are eligible for monthly pay, educational benefits, international travel, technical and leadership training, health and dental insurance, and contributions towards retirement programs similar to a 401(k).
The city has lifted a boil water order — with several exceptions — that was issued late Monday morning following several water line breaks over the weekend. click for more
The bridge had been closed to all vehicle traffic since March 2023 after being deemed structurally deficient by the state Department of Transportation. click for more
The Water Department has been responding to multiple water line breaks throughout the city since Friday, causing temporary loss of water in some areas. click for more
Nearly a year of study and community input about the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge has resulted in one recommendation: Take it down. click for more
