March 22. 2008 12:18AM
Polito, AG clash over Jessica’s Law
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jmonahan@telegram.com
BOSTON— The state’s leading supporter of a new law for stiffer mandatory minimum sentences for child rapists and the top law enforcement official in Massachusetts clashed this week over the Legislature’s reluctance to pass the bill adopted in many other states, known as Jessica’s Law.
State Rep. Karyn E. Polito, R-Shrewsbury, fired off statements criticizing Attorney General Martha Coakley after Ms. Coakley made comments outlining her concerns that the proposed law could work against prosecutors trying to lock up violent pedophiles.
The attorney general said the proposed law would limit the state’s ability to get plea agreements in cases where prosecutors may face difficulty gaining a conviction through a trial.
“If Jessica’s Law is enacted in Massachusetts, the practical effect of such a law will be that more pedophiles will escape conviction,” Ms. Coakley said.
“Having spent a long career investigating and prosecuting child abuse cases, I know that sexual predators are dangerous and should be investigated, prosecuted and jailed when found guilty of a sex crime,” Ms. Coakley said. However, in many cases, she said, young children cannot testify, are unable to testify or may not perform well before a jury. Also, she said, in many cases there is no physical evidence on which to base a trial prosecution.
“My concern with regard to Jessica’s Law is that any defendant facing 25 years in jail will opt to go to trial, knowing full well that if the victim cannot testify, or does not convince beyond a reasonable doubt, he will go free,” she said.
Ms. Polito, who has sponsored legislation to enact the law here, sharply criticized the attorney general over the comments.
“I am extremely disappointed to hear it reported today that our highest elected law enforcement official, Attorney General Martha Coakley, has publicly denounced Jessica’s Law, a bipartisan measure that would better protect children from violent sexual predators,” Ms. Polito said yesterday.
She said Massachusetts is one of only seven states that have not adopted laws similar to Jessica’s Law, named after a child rape case in Florida that gave rise to similar legislation there. Ms. Polito said the law “would keep dangerous sex offenders who prey on children behind bars with a mandatory minimum sentence.”
She argued it would be one more tool to help prosecutors dealing with what she called “the most dangerous sexual predators” and would help drive up the average 3- to-5-year sentences from plea bargains in child rape cases involving “lenient judges.”
“Massachusetts, and especially our attorney general, should seize every opportunity to protect our children,” Ms. Polito said.
Ms. Coakley countered that the proposed law could misfire on those trying to protect children and that “more pedophiles will escape conviction” if the law is passed.
“Although Representative Polito’s intent in public safety is commendable, in my view this particular statute does not accomplish that goal and will in many instances be counterproductive,” Ms. Coakley said.
The bill is one of several on child rape laws pending before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Polito's Point of View: February 2008
Budgets and Priorities
It's that time of year again, when the legislature begins the Commonwealth’s budget process. The first step in this process involves the determination of projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year. State law requires that the Secretary for Administration and Finance shall jointly develop a consensus tax revenue forecast for the budget for the next fiscal year with the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means on or before January 15. The Fiscal Year 2009 consensus tax revenue estimate is $20.987 billion, representing revenue growth of 3.8% over the Fiscal Year 2008 estimate of $20.225 billion.
The agreed upon 3.8 % growth is a conservative revenue estimate. Notwithstanding an economic outlook dampening consumer and business confidence, in January 2008, our state's Department of Revenue (DOR) collected $2.201 billion, up $148 million or 7.2% from the same monthly period last year. Total tax collections were $87 million above the January monthly estimates, due largely to greater than anticipated income tax estimated payments. Specifically, January 2008 income tax collections totaled $1.659 billion, up $229 million or 16%. This level of revenue may be a positive sign, but also could be aberrational.
With the Governor and legislature both projecting modest revenue growth, now is not the time to fund new programs (as suggested by Governor Patrick) but instead to maintain existing levels of spending and to strengthen the relationship between state and local government. As the Assistant Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, I am currently participating in a series of public hearings across the Commonwealth to better understand our state's spending needs. I understand that the new health care insurance requirements will utilize more revenues than anticipated, which we will need to address first and foremost. Health care analysts underestimated the number of uninsured and eligible for free care by $147 million, which we must accommodate for in our Fiscal Year 2009 state budget.
Our FY '09 state budget must also prioritize state aid to cities and towns. I hear time and time again, that without a better state-local partnership, cities and towns are being forced to cut spending to a point where we are compromising our quality of life. I have fought consistently to increase and protect funding for municipalities. As a co-sponsor to House Docket 2632, I am calling for full reimbursement of $450 million in lottery aid to cities and towns, which aid had been diverted to the state general fund. I am also urging legislative leaders to reject Governor Patrick's attempt to use a $124 million cut in local aid to pressure the Legislature into approving his proposal to bring casinos to Massachusetts.
The municipal budget process is underway, and final budgets are being approved at a local level without confirmation of state school funding and local aid numbers, which is wrong. I have continue to advocate for an Early Aid Resolution between the Governor and Legislature to make final state aid figures available to cities and towns earlier in the budget process. A budget is a reflection of our values and priorities as a citizenry. While I applaud Governor Patrick for maintaining a commitment to the newly organized Chapter 70 school aid formula in his budget, which resulted in increases in school aid to both Shrewsbury and Westborough, I do not support funding new programs before fixing current needs, specifically municipal aid. New proposals such as universal Pre-Kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and free community college may sound good, but we must focus first on adequately funding school aid, special education, and special education transportation, a growing unfunded burden for school districts across the Commonwealth.
I assure you that I will advocate for a reasonable, fair and practical state budget with a strong commitment to our cities and towns. The House Ways and Means Committee will release its budget recommendations in the coming weeks, and official budget debates will likely commence at the end of April. When the House of Representatives concludes its debates, the budget will be sent to the Senate for its deliberations. Any differences between the House and Senate budget recommendations will be resolved by the Conference Committee before being sent to the Governor for his input.
You can expect the legislature to debate corporate taxes and consider other new revenue sources like increasing taxes on cigarettes. In my view, in order to responsibly balance our state budget, we need to establish priorities and control spending. We must use the revenues we anticipate collecting wisely rather than asking our already over-burdened families, seniors and businesses to pay more. Balancing our budgets with restraint and priorities is the most prudent course of action for our state.
www.karynpolito.com
Karyn E. Polito, State Representative- 11th Worcester District
It's that time of year again, when the legislature begins the Commonwealth’s budget process. The first step in this process involves the determination of projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal year. State law requires that the Secretary for Administration and Finance shall jointly develop a consensus tax revenue forecast for the budget for the next fiscal year with the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means on or before January 15. The Fiscal Year 2009 consensus tax revenue estimate is $20.987 billion, representing revenue growth of 3.8% over the Fiscal Year 2008 estimate of $20.225 billion.
The agreed upon 3.8 % growth is a conservative revenue estimate. Notwithstanding an economic outlook dampening consumer and business confidence, in January 2008, our state's Department of Revenue (DOR) collected $2.201 billion, up $148 million or 7.2% from the same monthly period last year. Total tax collections were $87 million above the January monthly estimates, due largely to greater than anticipated income tax estimated payments. Specifically, January 2008 income tax collections totaled $1.659 billion, up $229 million or 16%. This level of revenue may be a positive sign, but also could be aberrational.
With the Governor and legislature both projecting modest revenue growth, now is not the time to fund new programs (as suggested by Governor Patrick) but instead to maintain existing levels of spending and to strengthen the relationship between state and local government. As the Assistant Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, I am currently participating in a series of public hearings across the Commonwealth to better understand our state's spending needs. I understand that the new health care insurance requirements will utilize more revenues than anticipated, which we will need to address first and foremost. Health care analysts underestimated the number of uninsured and eligible for free care by $147 million, which we must accommodate for in our Fiscal Year 2009 state budget.
Our FY '09 state budget must also prioritize state aid to cities and towns. I hear time and time again, that without a better state-local partnership, cities and towns are being forced to cut spending to a point where we are compromising our quality of life. I have fought consistently to increase and protect funding for municipalities. As a co-sponsor to House Docket 2632, I am calling for full reimbursement of $450 million in lottery aid to cities and towns, which aid had been diverted to the state general fund. I am also urging legislative leaders to reject Governor Patrick's attempt to use a $124 million cut in local aid to pressure the Legislature into approving his proposal to bring casinos to Massachusetts.
The municipal budget process is underway, and final budgets are being approved at a local level without confirmation of state school funding and local aid numbers, which is wrong. I have continue to advocate for an Early Aid Resolution between the Governor and Legislature to make final state aid figures available to cities and towns earlier in the budget process. A budget is a reflection of our values and priorities as a citizenry. While I applaud Governor Patrick for maintaining a commitment to the newly organized Chapter 70 school aid formula in his budget, which resulted in increases in school aid to both Shrewsbury and Westborough, I do not support funding new programs before fixing current needs, specifically municipal aid. New proposals such as universal Pre-Kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and free community college may sound good, but we must focus first on adequately funding school aid, special education, and special education transportation, a growing unfunded burden for school districts across the Commonwealth.
I assure you that I will advocate for a reasonable, fair and practical state budget with a strong commitment to our cities and towns. The House Ways and Means Committee will release its budget recommendations in the coming weeks, and official budget debates will likely commence at the end of April. When the House of Representatives concludes its debates, the budget will be sent to the Senate for its deliberations. Any differences between the House and Senate budget recommendations will be resolved by the Conference Committee before being sent to the Governor for his input.
You can expect the legislature to debate corporate taxes and consider other new revenue sources like increasing taxes on cigarettes. In my view, in order to responsibly balance our state budget, we need to establish priorities and control spending. We must use the revenues we anticipate collecting wisely rather than asking our already over-burdened families, seniors and businesses to pay more. Balancing our budgets with restraint and priorities is the most prudent course of action for our state.
www.karynpolito.com
Karyn E. Polito, State Representative- 11th Worcester District
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)