WHILE WAITING FOR JOBS BILL, GOP MANAGES TO ADVANCE SOME OF ITS OWN IDEAS By Matt Murphy STATE

HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MAY 8, 2012.With the days quickly ticking by before lawmakers turn their full attention to re-election campaigns, House Republicans this week are taking full advantage of the chance to air out job creation proposals filed as part of a package crafted earlier this year. With five bills pending before joint House and Senate committees dealing with energy costs, veterans' education, business regulations, taxes and health care, the outnumbered GOP lawmakers are keeping close tabs on their proposals, some of which have already found their way into larger bills sponsored by Democrats. Two week ago, several proposals filed by House Minority Brad Jones and other Republican members as amendments to the House budget were incorporated in the $32.4 billion bill. Those amendments aim to give vocational and technical schools a seat on professional licensing boards, expand access to college credits for military training, create a student start-up business fund, and expedite professional licensing for veterans. Other pieces have been incorporated by Senate Democrats into an omnibus clean energy bill and the Valor Act passed by the Senate last week aimed at expanding job and education opportunities for veterans. This week there are four hearings on Republican-sponsored job creation bills, and at least House Minority Leader Brad Jones and Rep. Viriato deMacedo have planned media appearances to discuss their efforts. Though Democrats claim many of the ideas put forth by Republicans have been proposed by Democrats as well over the years, the absence of a clear-cut job creation bill from Democratic leaders has given Republicans an opening to take some measure of credit. As Republicans have sporadically amplified their criticism of leadership for a perceived lack of attention to job creation, Democrats have pushed back pointing to expanded gambling, a bill that froze unemployment insurance rates and pending legislation addressing electricity and health care costs as efforts that will spur job growth and remove impediments to hiring.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Economic Development Committee Chairman Rep. Joseph Wagner have also talked about an economic development proposal in the works, though Wagner has said such a bill could take a back seat to the budget and a health care cost control bill. "This election both statewide and nationally is jobs, jobs, jobs," Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli told the News Service Tuesday. "It's got to be about the economy and I think we need to step up and try to do something. I think Chairman Wagner is talking about an economic development bill coming out in the next couple of weeks and I'm very eager to see what that looks like and maybe we can incorporate some of the components of these Republican bills as well." Wagner could not immediately be reached for comment on the timing of a bill, but Republicans say they are pleased to see some GOP ideas being accepted by their Democratic colleagues. "It is nice to see when common sense is used. The caucus put forward a lot of good ideas in its job package and I am pleased to see those ideas being used," Rep. Angelo D'Emila (R-East Bridgewater) recently told the News Service after his amendment providing educational opportunities for veterans was incorporated in the House budget. On Tuesday, D'Emilia, Rep. Steven Howitt (R-Seekonk) and Rep. Brad Hill (R-Ipswich) testified before the Joint Committee on Higher Education in favor of a bill that would require the Board of Higher Education to develop a policy requiring each public college and university in the state to develop procedures for evaluating whether veterans should receive credit toward a degree based on their military occupation, training and experience. "They served their country and come back here and it's a disgrace we don't have work lined up for them," Howitt said. Sen. Michael Moore, co-chair of the Higher Education Committee, noted that the proposal had already been incorporated in the House budget and the Senate's Valor Act. "The House and Senate are trying to address this issue," he said. House co-chairman Rep. Thomas Sannicandro also noted that "we've been hearing about this issue for quite some time." Prior to the higher education hearing, several House Republicans testified before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on a bill that would establish a 19-member commission to study the impact of state energy policies, such as the Green Communities Act, on ratepayers. "My concern is that we do these long-term, renewable energy contracts in the most open and transparent way," said Rep. Keiko Orrall (R-Lakeville).

The bill would also require competitive bidding for long-term renewable energy contracts and incorporate large and small scale hydro power into the state's renewable energy portfolio. "I want to thank my colleagues from across the aisle. This is a great piece of legislation and as the chairman said, we will be taking this up," Rep. Stephen DiNatale (DFitchburg) said. Noting that competitive bidding and some use of hydro in the state's renewable energy portfolio were already included in the Senate's broad energy cost bill now before the House, Co-Chairman John Keenan (D-Salem) promised a "robust debate" on those issues in the House. Senate Co-chair Sen. Benjamin Downing said, at the risk of being what he called a "wet blanket," cautioned that some forms of hydro power such as pump storage hydro are not efficient and the state should be selective in how it provides subsidies. Not all Democrats, however, are willing to cede the mantle of job creators to the Republicans. Pignatelli, a Lenox Democrat and member of the Higher Education Committee, said he's unconvinced that awarding college credits to veterans will put them back to work. "The construction trades took the biggest hit in the economy the last four or five years, so until people start building homes and those kinds of things you can have the best educated electrician in the state, but if there's not a job to go to it's all for not. I haven't seen where that's really a jobs bill," Pignatelli told the News Service. Pignatelli said he supports the GOP sponsored veterans' bill, which was included in the House budget, but is also looking forward to further efforts from Democratic leadership to spur job growth. Jones plans to testify on Wednesday in favor of an update to business regulations, and deMacedo will testify before a legislative committee on Thursday in favor of proposals to reduce commercial vehicle registration fees, create an angel investment tax credit and other tax code changes. -END05/08/2012

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