The House of Representatives, in one of their many budgetary amendments to the Ways and Means budget, added back $25 million for the Quinn Bill for Police Officers. Overall the House added back about $600 million in spending to the original Ways and Means budget, including $205 million for local aid and $275 million for transportation. Unfortunately this exercise was delusional, as the House budget is over $1 billion out of balance. The Senate will apply the hatchet by cutting the House revenue number down to $18.4 billion, which is probably generous. (Widmer has downgraded to about $18 billion.) It means that all the nonsense about adding back local aid and transportation money is kaput, pending Senate action on revenue. To see $600 million added back while everyone in the place knows that the amendments are funded with funny money only adds to cynicism about the whole process.
The Quinn Bill needed $52 million for full funding, and an amendment offered by Rep. Fallon would have done just that. Fallon lost the fight for full funding, but the Quinn amendment falls into the same category as the rest of the House add backs, which is to say that there is no money for any of it. What will the Senate do with Quinn. It is unlikely that they would add to the $25 million put in by the House. Will they ax it entirely? From the State House News Service.
The House voted 101-40 Friday night to appropriate $25 million for Quinn bill education benefits to police officers, about half the present funding level. The amendment includes language curtailing benefits under the program for future generations of officers. The amendment’s passage prevented consideration of an amendment pushed by Rep. Christopher Fallon and Martin Walsh to fully fund the program. Fallon and Walsh argued the benefit is an important part of overall compensation to police officers, who they said are not highly compensated. Supporters of the amendment said $25 million represented the most the state could offer given the decline in state tax collections. Twelve state representatives voted “present” on the roll call.
Bill Manzi.com 
So … I guess I would ask if the premise is true: are police officers in the Commonwealth highly compensated?
With or without the work details?
How does the pension plan look? Better or worse than the MBTA?
I suspect Jules has the numbers at his fingertips …
-FM
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Fellow Bloggers,
Whether or not this budget item is included, it pales compared to millions of dollars of earmarks about to be added to our tax burden.
What leadership we have:
A brain dead Governor who keeps hiring ‘friends’ and muddling around with ideas he can’t sell.
A legislature that can’t control itself. Tax and spend is the fact if not the mantra. This legislature, in its recent history has created a pay and benefit system which is the envy of the UAW at its worst.
Folks, as you lose your jobs be prepared to pay more taxes.
Jules
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If you look at the compensatio of Police officers and Fire Fighters overall it is very generous. It never use to be but it is now. Something I bet the public is not aware of. Police and Fire Fighters receive a pension based on the three highest years of their base pay AND their overtime combined. Other state workers who earn overtime DO NOT have that factored in only Police and Fire. The money made on details alone is often equal to or more than base pay.
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Speaking as a police officer, our overtime is not factored into the pension from our 3 highest years! You might want to get your facts straight before speaking! For details and overtime why don’t you equal the hours we have to work to make ends meat and see if you would like to spend that time away from your families! If someone is breaking into your house do you care if that officer is on overtime or not, I don’t think so!
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