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House OKs Patrick's Volunteer InitiativeBy Gintautas Dumcius - October 27, 2007
State House News Service
BOSTON - The House on Thursday voted 122-26 to approve a bill establishing a state volunteer corps, one of Gov. Deval Patrick's first-filed initiatives.
Dubbed "Commonwealth Corps," the organization would be made up of a "limited number of carefully selected men and women of all ages to be made available for a limited time for projects directed toward satisfying unmet community needs," according to the bill (S 2301), which has
undergone changes in House and Senate deliberations.
The Senate approved the bill last month and the House vote today means the branches may soon agree on one of Patrick's top priorities.
Supporters of the bill say users of food kitchens, shelters, parks and beaches will benefit from the volunteers the bill, if signed into law, is expected to deliver.
Citing the corps as a way to encourage civic engagement, a plank of his campaign platform, Patrick filed a bill (S 13) setting up the corps four days after he was sworn in as governor, seeking to start the corps with 250 individuals in its first year and expanding it to 1,000 members over five years. The individuals would dedicate a year of service to a non-profit, public entity or civic initiative. This year's state budget appropriated $3 million for the new corps.
The bill drew criticism from House Republicans who, like their Senate counterparts last month, unsuccessfully attempted to add an amendment undoing a separate program to allow state employees to take one day off with pay every month to volunteer. Patrick expanded the Weld-era program earlier this year through an executive order, allowing state employees to volunteer beyond a public school.
Pointing to volunteer programs the state already has and using both Webster's and online dictionaries, Republicans argued state workers
are essentially getting paid to volunteer, leaving taxpayers with the tab.
"That's 12 days that the state is losing their services," said Rep. Mary Rogeness, R-Longmeadow. "This amendment just attempts to bring back the meaning of 'volunteer.'"
Rep. Antonio Cabral, D-New Bedford, House chairman of the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, said the amendment had little to do with the bill. "It's not about executive orders or state employees," he said. "It's about all of us being able to volunteer."
The corps would be governed by a 15-member commission of gubernatorial appointees, including the state education commissioner, a 16- to 25-year-old participating in the corps, and members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the state chapter of the AFL-CIO, Associated Industries of Massachusetts and a national service program.
Volunteerism at the state's universities would be encouraged through allowing college students to create a Commonwealth Student Corps pilot program.
The bill also eliminates the existing office of Community Service Corps, the Office of Volunteerism and the Elder Corps.
Cabral added an amendment giving the governor the option to designate an alternative agency to oversee the corps. The Massachusetts Service
Alliance, a non-profit, is the state's existing volunteer entity.
In his bill, Patrick had sought to codify the Massachusetts Service Alliance into law. Through an executive order under then-Gov. William Weld, the MSA acts as the state commission on community service and volunteerism.
Patrick aides did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but the governor was quoted in a press release from House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi's office. In it, Patrick thanked House members and said, "Through mentoring, staffing soup kitchens and shelters, cleaning up parks and
beaches, we can help transform communities and inspire others to take action to promote the common good."
Sen. Marc Pacheco said he had been "disappointed" with the redraft and would have to look at the version that got engrossed. "We have to see how the changes impact the substance of the legislation," the Taunton Democrat said. "We'll either make some changes and send it back, or we could possibly appoint a conference committee. It depends on the form the legislation is in."
Senate Republicans reiterated concerns with the bill, saying there were some administrative issues on where people could actually volunteer and whether the places they volunteer are legitimate.
"The whole program, I think, it's a feel-good program, for sure, but I'm hoping it's a program, at a time of limited resources that isn't going to deplete state money that could be going to other programs," said Sen. Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield. |
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