An interesting read!
- promoted by david
Two weeks ago, Progressive Massachusetts released the results of its candidate surveys. The organization sent a questionnaire to the candidates for each of the four statewide races this year: Governor, Lt Governor, Attorney General, and Treasurer. The questionnaire covered jobs & the economy, education, health care, housing, and revenue & taxation.
Four out of the five Democrats responded: Don Berwick, Martha Coakley, Steve Grossman, and Juliette Kayyem. Joe Avellone did not.
When reading through the survey responses, I was caught by the number of hedges. The survey had many simple Yes or No questions to which candidates responded with neither a Yes nor a No.
Below, I’ve included all but one of the Yes/No questions for a side-by-side comparison. I left out the housing question because all of them agreed (“Yes”) and the bulk of that section consisted of written responses.
I’d recommend reading the full responses (See the above link) for the written portions, but the info below will give you a taste.
———————————————–
JOB GROWTH AND THE ECONOMY
All four candidates supported raising the minimum wage to at least $10.50/hour, indexing it automatically to yearly increases in inflation, and increasing the tipped wage to 60% of the minimum wage.
All four candidates opposed the bill currently being discussed in the legislature to pair an increase in the minimum wage with cuts to unemployment insurance.
All four candidates supported requiring businesses with more than 11 employees to provide earned, paid sick time to their employees.
A “Job Creation and Quality Standards Act” would require corporations that receive any kind of public benefits (grants, tax expenditures procurement contracts) to, in turn, pay a living wage ($15 per hour plus benefits) to full-time employees. Do you support such legislation?
Berwick: [BLANK] — “I am generally favorable toward this legislation, and would welcome further study. Over time, I believe we should continue to increase income security toward a living wage, but that is not a one-step process.”
Coakley: [BLANK] — “I support businesses paying their employees a living wage; at this point, our focus should be on raising the minimum wage for everyone in Massachusetts. Going forward, I will consider support for any proposal that will help us eliminate income inequality.”
Grossman: No
Kayyem: [BLANK]
Do you support legislation to foster and develop employee ownership of businesses in Massachusetts?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “I am supportive of this concept, and will review any proposed legislation when I am Governor.”
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support legislation that would encourage the formation of cooperatives and/or benefit corporations and the development of community banks?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “I am supportive of this concept, and will review any proposed legislation when I am Governor.”
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
—————————————————————-
EDUCATION
Do you support creating universal, free Pre-K, accessible to any resident of Massachusetts, integrated into the public school system?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: “I am steadfastly committed to providing access to high quality pre-k for every child in the Commonwealth. When it comes to pre-K, we should have two primary goals: 1) providing universal access and 2) ensuring a consistent level of quality across all pre-k programs.
We need to explore all available options to realize these two goals, including expanding the state voucher program to give the thousands of low-income children currently on waitlists the resources to enroll in high-quality pre-k, developing strategies to better assure the quality of private pre-k programs, and formally integrating pre-K into our public school system.”
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support a program that provides free, publicly funded higher education for every student who wants it?
Berwick: Yes — “I will implement a program based on best practices from around the nation that provides college counseling in high school and “last dollar” scholarships to college for low-income students who work hard and stay in school. Such a program would show low-income students that the promise of higher education is within their reach, provide them the skills and supports they need to succeed in a post-secondary environment, and then deliver on the promise to supply the resources that are not available elsewhere.”
Coakley: [BLANK] — “Cost should not be a prohibitive barrier for anyone who wants to go to college. I will encourage proposals about how we could significantly reduce the cost of higher education, or make it free even. I believe, right now, we need to focus on concrete ways of reducing costs, including bringing more transparency to high executive salaries at nonprofit colleges and universities, increasing funding for grants and other forms of student assistance, and pushing for federal action to further decrease the long-term costs of student loans. I also believe we should explore programs that provide loan forgiveness for public service.”
Grossman: No – “Despite its obvious merits, free higher education is not an attainable goal in the foreseeable future. I strongly support funding and policies to ensure that Massachusetts public colleges and universities are as widely affordable and accessible as possible.”
Kayyem: [BLANK] — “I support residents having access to affordable higher education. This includes linking high schools to higher education institutions to reduce the need for remedial classes.”
Do you support changes to the Chapter 70 Education formula, including the Foundation Budget, to incorporate proper state funding for ELL students, Special Education students, transportation costs, charter school reimbursements to sending schools, and class size reduction?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “I believe our first priority should be to increase funding for Chapter 70 (the overall pool of money that is distributed to schools and districts based on the formula). I also believe that we need to examine the funding formula, both to make it more transparent and to determine if it still adequately addresses the needs of schools. After all, the formula has not been updated in two decades even though, over that same time period, schools and districts have seen tremendous changes in student demographics, educational requirements, and best practices.
We must also work together with teachers, administrators, businesses, and the non-profit community to find other innovative solutions to improve our schools and give them more resources, including realignment of our spending priorities.”
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
—————————————————————-
HEALTH CARE
Do you support moving Massachusetts to Single Payer insurance?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: Not at this time.
Grossman: [BLANK] — “I am proud that our state is the national leader on health care reform. As governor, I would work to ensure the continued success of Massachusetts’ pioneering state level reform laws around access and cost, and their successful integration with the federal Affordable Care Act. Looking down the road a bit farther, yes, I do believe that a public option, or single payer system, could be part of the ultimate solution and I will be watching Vermont very closely. I have publicly put single payer on the table as a viable option to consider as governor.”
Kayyem: Yes
[At a recent candidate forum, Kayyem backed away from this, noting that she doesn't think that single payer is a fight Democrats could win and, thus, wouldn't actively push for it.]
What role might a Public Option play, in your view?
Berwick: It is time to move toward a single payer system in Massachusetts. The complexity of our health care payment system adds costs, uncertainties, and hassles for everyone – patients, families, doctors, and employers. I will work with the Legislature to assemble a Single Payer Advisory Panel to investigate and report back on whether and how Massachusetts should move towards a single payer option. I suspect that the Panel will find that single payer would be an attractive option, as it has been in numerous health systems that have better outcomes at far lower cost. I will also form a consortium of states interested in the option so that we can make progress and learn together.
Coakley: [BLANK]
Grossman: “I believe that a public option will be a viable option to consider as governor.”
Kayyem: [BLANK]
Do you support establishing a state panel of experts (such as the Affordable Care Act’s IPAB/“Independent Payment Advisory Board”) to recommend high-value and cost-effective services?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: Yes
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support prohibiting pharmaceutical companies from including direct-to-consumer drug advertising as tax-deductible expense?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “As Governor, I would review this.”
Grossman: [BLANK] — “We should explore either prohibiting or severely limiting these tax-deductible expenses.”
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support establishing a bulk prescription drug program that would provide lower cost prescription drugs for public employees?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: Yes
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support establishing this same program for all Massachusetts residents?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: Yes
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
—————————————————————-
REVENUE AND TAXATION
Do you support increasing income taxes on the wealthiest residents of Massachusetts?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “As our economic recovery continues, part of building an economy that works for everyone is analyzing the fairness of our tax code. It is unfair if those at the top are paying a lower effective tax rate than many of those at the bottom of the income ladder.
I am committed to examining our tax system and exploring all the options we have at our disposal to make it more progressive for everyone. What we cannot be doing is asking those at the bottom, who can least afford it, to be contributing more in taxes.”
Grossman: [BLANK] — “I would not rule out seeking additional revenues but I would also insist that any such revenue legislation be coupled with meaningful tax reform that holds harmless low and middle-income families through the use of expanded exemptions.”
Kayyem: [BLANK] — “I support having a progressive tax system where everyone pays their fair share.”
Do you support halting the automatic decrease in state tax when Massachusetts state revenues grow four quarters in a row?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: No
Grossman: [BLANK] — “I am deeply concerned that we have too many unfunded priorities and continuing to take hundreds of millions of dollars out of our revenue stream will undermine our ability to deal effectively with our critical priorities, however as governor, I would be required to implement the current law.”
Kayyem: [BLANK]
Do you support increasing the capital gains tax (with safeguards to protect seniors)?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “I am committed to examining our tax system and exploring all the options we have at our disposal to make it more progressive for everyone.”
Grossman: [BLANK] — “I strongly opposed the plan to take away protections from seniors in the FY 2014 budget. I strongly believe that short-term capital gains should be taxed at a higher rate than long-term gains, which are a form of economic stability.”
Kayyem: Yes
“An Act to Invest in Our Communities” was designed to raise significant revenue while making our tax code more progressive, but it has not passed the legislature. Would you support a renewed effort to pass this or similar legislation?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] — “Again, I believe we need to explore every proposal that would make our tax system more progressive, and fairer, for everyone in the Commonwealth.”
Grossman: [BLANK] –“I would not rule it out but I would also insist that any such revenue legislation be coupled with meaningful tax reform that holds harmless low and middle-income families through the use of expanded exemptions.”
Kayyem: [BLANK] –“As I have said publically I supported Governor Patrick’s legislative push and will continue to push similar initiatives. This act was not solely about increased revenue, but a call to invest in transportation, education, and other much needed services. I commit to fighting for these increases, whether through reformed tax code, public-private partnerships, or regional cooperation.”
Do you support eliminating or substantially reducing corporate tax breaks?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] –“Corporations should not be making massive profits while workers still struggle. We need to explore strategies that ensure that everyone pays their fair share in taxes.”
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support repealing or significantly reducing the Film Production Tax Credit?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] –“Again, we need to do a comprehensive review of our tax system to ensure that those at the top do not have unfair advantages, and that the burden is not increased on those in the middle, and at the bottom.”
Grossman: No
Kayyem: Yes
Do you support increasing corporate tax break transparency and clawback provisions?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: Yes
Grossman: Yes
Kayyem: Yes
Would you support a state constitutional amendment creating a Massachusetts progressive income tax?
Berwick: Yes
Coakley: [BLANK] –“I am committed to examining our tax system and exploring all the options we have at our disposal to make it more progressive for everyone. What we cannot be doing is asking those at the bottom, who can least afford it, to be contributing more in taxes.”
Grossman: [BLANK] –“I would not rule raising revenues but I would also insist that any such revenue legislation be coupled with meaningful tax reform that holds harmless low and middle-income families through the use of expanded exemptions.”
Kayyem: [BLANK] –“As I have said publically I supported Governor Patrick’s legislative push and will continue to push similar initiatives. This act was not solely about increased revenue, but a call to invest in transportation, education, and other much needed services. I commit to fighting for these increases, whether through reformed tax code, public-private partnerships, or regional cooperation.”