Tuesday, May 20, 2025
TARR IN THE NEWS 5.19.25
TARR IN THE NEWS | 5.19.25
‘A bid for transparency: GOP caucus looks to boost accountability in Senate budget’
Boston Herald Article | Matthew Medsger
Transparency and Accountability:
"Tarr is joined by Durant and Dooner in offering an amendment — #261 — which would promote “public payroll transparency” by requiring the state’s many quasi-governmental agencies to share their salary data."
Competitiveness:
"The state’s ability to compete with other jurisdictions and attract or maintain talent has been an ongoing concern for policymakers, and this year Tarr and Durant are also pushing for a new study on how to keep the Bay State in the running with its fellow states."
Health Care:
"The study would examine the “costs of taxation, labor, physical space, and health insurance, compared to other states”...Tarr said the state has been doing a similar thing in a piecemeal fashion, but that his proposal would expand the conversations to include non-government entities like labor and business."
Energy Costs:
"After energy bills skyrocketed this winter, Tarr, Durant, and Democrat
Montigny are proposing the creation of an “Energy Cost Containment and Reduction Commission” and a “Natural Gas Cost Containment and Reduction Committee” aimed at analyzing the costs of electricity and gas in the Bay State."
"Tarr said he aims to bring everyone — consumers, energy providers, environmental organizations — together in order to “understand what’s driving those costs.”"
Education Funding:
"Amendment 601, sponsored by Tarr, Dooner, and Fattman, would up the House-budget proposed per-pupil aid from $150 per student to $200 per student.
"'We need to look at the plight of districts only receiving minimum aid,' Tarr said. 'The immediate lifeline for those districts is increased aid. Recreating the commission — or reactivating it — is the first step in changing the funding formula.'"
Read the full article here: https://www.bostonherald.com/.../a-bid-for-transparency.../
