Welfare to Work
This week, Senate President Stan Rosenberg announced that the Senate will be developing a strategy to get more people off of welfare programs and in to the work force. And after a recent study reported that only 7.3 percent of citizens held jobs while receiving public assistance, developing that strategy needs to be one of the top priorities of this session.
It is deeply unsettling to hear that Massachusetts is one of the worst states in the country at helping people from go from welfare to work, because roughly twenty years ago, this state pioneered that very practice with the welfare reform bill. My colleagues in the legislature and I need to get back to focusing on the fundamentals and stress the importance of education and job training for welfare recipients who are able to work.
Though the specifics have not been worked out, this is a great opportunity to boost the economy and help motivate people to get back into the workforce. One of the strategies being considered is “pay for performance,” where the state would pay organizations to run a program if it meets certain performance goals. This would be an excellent way to give non-profits and private organizations incentive to train or hire individuals.
I’m a huge supporter of focusing on getting people back to work. Quite frankly, investing in getting individuals off of welfare is a much better use of taxpayer money than continuing to spend on social programs that allow people to remain unemployed. Perhaps that’s not the reason why we have the lowest rate of welfare recipients who are working, but being able to live solely off of public assistance definitely isn’t encouraging people to get out there and find a job.
We don’t have to reinvent the wheel in order to get people back to work. There are strategies out there; other states are doing much better than we are to help people transition into the work force. For example, Maine rolled out new changes in October of 2014 that required all able-bodied adults without dependents to work, volunteer, or enroll in a job training program before being eligible for food stamps. As a result of this change, over 6,000 people no longer receive food stamps. In just four months Maine was able to cut down on the fraud in the system and incentivize working and training for a job while still providing for those in need who are eligible.
The jobs and opportunities are certainly there to provide for this strategy. It’s just about assessing the skills effected individuals have and matching them with the appropriate field or employer. If we as a legislature work to bring the various entities such as non-profits, vocational schools, and businesses together to create opportunities for people who are underemployed or unemployed to get back to work, Massachusetts can once again become a leader in moving citizens from welfare to work.
The MBTA
Another issue that this state needs to deal with is the MBTA. The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority is deteriorating at an alarming rate, and it’s creating a major burden on the Commonwealth and its taxpayers. Although on the surface it looks like much of the problem with the MBTA was caused by the recent string of snowstorms that have absolutely buried the Greater Boston area, the real issues with the MBTA go back decades. Some officials are suggesting a solution to the problem would be to raise revenues in the form of tax increases, but that is absolutely unacceptable.
It’s not time to raise taxes for any reason, especially not for the MBTA. Before we do anything we need to take a deeper look into the system in terms of how it got to this point and what we need to do differently to fix it for the long term. We need to look at revenues, spending and the actions that got us to this point and strategize what we can do to get out of this mess. When the legislature and administration comes up with a solution this time around, we can’t expect it to be a quick fix. My colleagues and I will have to work together on a long term solution that is effective and fiscally sound.
One of the most troubling components of the MBTA is how the system is funded. The principal financing source of the MBTA is 20 percent of sales tax receipts… throughout the entire state. That means 20 percent of every dollar of the sales tax collected by cities and towns in Massachusetts – including us here in western Mass. – goes to funding the MBTA. Every time I read that statistic, I see red. It is absolutely infuriating that when we head to the Bon Ton to buy shoes, or go out to dinner in downtown Westfield, 20 percent of the sales tax we pay on the bill goes to the MBTA. It’s another classic example of western Mass. taxpayers paying into services they will hardly, if ever, benefit from. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- we can’t keep wasting money in one region of the state and put it on the tab of every single taxpayer in the Commonwealth, even those who do not use these projects.
On top of that statistic, the MBTA operates in the in a deficit. Almost half of all of the money that goes to fund the system goes directly to debt service. If it were a business, the MBTA would have filed for bankruptcy years ago. This is a clear indicator that throwing money at the system is not a solution by any means.
Yesterday, Governor Baker announced that there will be a commission established to study the MBTA. The commission will have seven members and will focus on the long term, structural problems the system faces. A report will come from this commission by the end of March, hopefully with some information that we as elected leaders can use to create solutions. Also, the Senate will be holding a hearing on the state of the MBTA next week, with key members of the Governor’s administration and MBTA officials testifying.
It is important that we as a government take a good hard look at the strategies we’ve been using when it comes to the MBTA and other services the state provides. No more quick fixes and band aids on internal bleeding- it’s time to roll up the sleeves, open the books, and work together to create lasting solutions and stick with them.
As always, feel free to contact me with any issues, questions or concerns. My email address is [email protected] or you can email my aide at [email protected]. Have a great weekend, stay warm!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
