Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:58:05 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/ Matt Patrick Site Admin en-us http://www.mattpatrick.org/images/logo.gif http://www.mattpatrick.org/ info@mattpatrick.org http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=71 Chapter 6, The Passion of Matt Patrick It’s a rough game, underneath the backslaps and the handshakes and the big noble speeches . . . Allen Drury, ADVISE AND CONSENT The Community Counseling Service–generated letter to “John Q. Prospect” claimed that the Alliance had “gained support from all the local politicians” and had “developed a strong base of influential republican and democratic supporters in the State House and in Congress.” Politically, it did look as though project opponents had everything sewn up. Even Mitt Romney, close to Republican financier Richard J. Egan, had signed on to the cause. In early 2002, Romney announced he would stand for the fall gubernatorial election. Gordon sent Romney a campaign donation and attended a fund-raiser. When he approached Romney to talk about the project, the candidate openly admitted that he’d already made a campaign promise to oppose Gordon’s project. “I never go back on my promises,” Romney told Gordon. Read the rest by going to my website at www.mattpatrick.org . Then look for "On the Issues" in the column on the left and scroll down to Chapter 6 of Cape Wind, The Passion of Matt Patrick.  The book is now out in paperback for $15.00 and I encourage you to read it. The St. Petersburg Times said, "...enough political intribue to keep a John Grisham fan happy..."  The Boston Globe chimed in, "yes, this book is lots of fun..."  Boston Magazine called it a, "a page turner..." and the New York Times Sunday Book Review made it an "Editors Choice." The Wall Street Journal said of the book it is, "a ripe subject, populated with the sort of people who would be among the first to count themselves as friends of the earth but the last to accept an environmentally friendly energy source if it meant the slightest cloud on their ocean views." One of the best reviews came from Robert Sullivan of the New York Times Sunday Book Review who said, "A great summer beach read about longtime summer beach communities, "Cape Wind" describes ho the alliance managed to raise $4 million in one ballroom meeting at the Wianno Club, where the 'grass-roots' campaign against the 'industrial complex' of offshore 'Cuisinarts' was kicked off by Douglas Yearley, a copper minin executive whose company was fined for killing birds in an acid runoff mishap in 2000, among other infractions." You can also find out about the ongoing exploits of the people in the book at author Wendy Williams' website www.capewindbook.com       Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:58:05 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=70 Boston: Representative Patrick’s office (D-Falmouth) announced today that he successfully established funding in the State’s Environmental and Capital Bond Bills for the 3rd Barnstable District. Rep. Patrick secured funding for an alternative sewage treatment demonstration project. The project will evaluate the potential use of urine diverting toilets and composting toilets as a means of cost effectively reducing nitrogen loading. Rep Patrick stated, “This project has far reaching implications for Cape Cod towns that are exploring expensive options for conventional sewage treatment. This project will hopefully demonstrate an appropriate technology for sewage treatment that is less expensive by at least a factor of ten and just as effective as conventional sewage treatment.” Patrick continued, “If this proves viable we will be able to clean up our salt ponds and estuaries much more quickly than currently anticipated which for for conventional sewage treatment is 20-30 years.” Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:03:48 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=69 The Falmouth Board of Selectmen voted to support Representative Patrick's amendment to the Environmental Bond Bill by a 3 to 2 margin with chairman Mustafa breaking the tie vote. Two Murphys objected but Pat Flynn and Brent Putnam remained unconvinced by their argument. Flynn spoke forcefully for the need to be open to new technologies that could save taxpayers money. Two conservation Commission members who happened to be in the audience also spoke strongly in favor. Maureen Harlow Hawkes and Courtney Bird Jr. expressed their approval of the concepts and displeasure with the arguments against supporting the amendment offered by Carey Murphy and Kevin Murphy. The Enterprise stepped to the plate by strongly editorializing in favor of the amendment last Friday (July 11, 2008) in a piece entitled "Closed-Minded On Alternatives". The editorial led off by saying, "It is discouraging that two of Falmouth's selectmen voted no to Representative Patrick's request that the board support a study of the use of urine separating toilets in Barnstable County." If that weren't enought, Sunday's Globe (July 13, 2008) in the Ideas Section an article on the new technologies appeared entitled "Waste? Not." The lead paragraph in that article said, "In a World of rapidly diminishing resources, there's one we tend to overlook. It's easy to produce and extremely abundant. But instead of viewing it as an embarassment of riches, we're more likely to see it as just an embarrassment." Here is the link to the article. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/07/13/waste_not/ In a brief paper Representative Patrick outlined his reasons for seeking the funding which can be seen below. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:44:35 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=68 Dear Mr. Chairman, The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country. Robert F. Kennedy I had a thought provoking experience yesterday at Flag Day ceremony in Mashpee. I was reminded about how my father, a combat veteran of WWII, felt about war. A colleague read a poem about the flag that talked. It talked almost exclusively about the blood and glory of war. It spoke of being in every battle in the last 200 years and using its torn pieces to staunch the bleeding of the wounded on the battle field. It is a moving piece appealing to our nationalistic instincts. It never asks us to examine what the flag represents. I spoke next and reminded people it’s not the flag itself but what it represents that is important. It’s the Constitution. Without our Constitution, the flag just represents a place. It could be a flag from any nation. What makes our flag special is that it represents our Nation that is backed up by our Constitution. The Constitution protects our democratic way of life. It protects us from the tyranny of the government and the tyranny of the majority. All of our officers in the armed services swear to up hold the Constitution as do all of our state and federal legislators. My dad warned me never to forget that it is the Constitution that makes this Nation great. As a youngster, I was always curious about the war. He discouraged me but I couldn’t help admiring soldiers and loved to watch all the old WWII movies that, for the most part, glorified war. Those movies never showed the awful and unavoidable brutality of war that deeply affected my dad and every other combat veteran. In his later years, at my urging, my father was able to relate more of his war experiences. They were truly gut wrenching. The one movie my father said came close to a realistic picture of the brutality of war was in the opening scenes of D-Day in “Saving Private Ryan.” He said they were very accurate and he couldn’t watch much of it. My dad has passed on now but I can tell you that the war deeply and negatively impacted his life. I wanted to know more about war so I read many books about it. To me the most important of the books were written by combat veterans. “With the Old Breed, From Peleliu to Okinawa” by E.B. Sledge gave the most realistic accounts of what it is like to be in battle. I also read the official history of my father’s outfit the 27th New York National Guard Division by Edmund Love which gives a heart rending account of how horribly wrong war can go and how mistakes by our own side destroyed many American lives on the Island of Saipan. It’s a story that should get more publicity someday. Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:45:34 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=67 This is a giant step forward for the Commonwealth towards tax fairness for everyone. Many corporate executives and their lobbyists told us there are no corporate tax loopholes in Massachusetts. They want you to think that the Governor proposed new taxes that will burden businesses and stunt our economic recovery. John Regan of AIM says, “…references to loophole closings are an insult to business taxpayers and betray a lack of understanding…” Like Grover Norquist, the head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, who says, “The so-called “loopholes” the governor seeks to close look more like a noose around the neck of the Bay State’s economy.” Grover is the same guy who said, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Corporate executives don’t want you to know the facts. For example, according to Massachusetts Department of Revenue, in 2006 there were about eleven hundred (1,100) corporations in the Commonwealth that grossed more than one hundred million dollars annually and paid the minimum corporate tax of $456.00. That’s less tax than a family earning $50,000 a year will pay in state taxes. How do they do it? How is that possible? Maybe some of them don’t earn a profit on revenues of one hundred million but how is it possible that 1,100 corporations don’t earn any money? There are another 113 corporations with over a billion dollars in sales that pay no taxes. How do they do it? The corporations create subsidiaries in other states that charge no corporate taxes and assign all their profits to those places. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:58:46 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=66 Seems like I raised the hackles of a real live right wing blogger. For the record, I disagreed with what he wrote about our Democratic candidate for President. I have no dislike for southerners, only the people who have ruled their state houses for quite a long time if not thirty years and I think the facts speak for themselves. Where would you rather live? This is what the right winger said,"Last week Barack Obama once again stepped out of the shadow of his own selfless rhetoric and into the spotlight of his own personal sunshine revealing himself to be exactly what many of us believed him to be long ago; an arrogant, naïve, snob, with Marxist leanings who attempts to hide his sense of personal entitlement and suppresses his militant views behind his flowery speeches." We are going to see more and more of this right wing propaganda and if you are a Democrat you should respond to let them and everyone else on the list know that it is foolishness. I've listed some of the statistics where the Red States lead in human misery catagories and yes I did check on the statistics to make sure they are real and all can be found in U.S. Census Data or are derived from U.S. Census Data. James Wolcott had an excellent article in the November 2006 issue of Vanity Fair entitled, “Red State Babylon” in which he discusses the findings of several books and studies that compare the red states to the blue states in quality of life statistics and morality issues. Of the top ten states with the highest divorce rates and the highest rates of illegitimacy all but one are red states. None are northeastern states. You remember when the former Senator from Pennsylvania made derogatory comments about the liberals in Massachusetts leading to the moral decay of the nation and pedophile priests in the Catholic Church. Well guess what, Massachusetts leads in the other direction having one of the lowest divorce rates in the nation and lowest rates of unwed mothers including teenage mothers. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:50:25 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=65 “I believe all of the items I’ve asked to be funded in the budget are for the greater, long-term good of the people of the 3rd Barnstable District and the Commonwealth. None of them were frivolous. In FY09, predictions are that revenues will be down and we need to be mindful of the choices we make. I believe we were successful at striking a balance between taking care of our most vulnerable, paying our debts and staying within the bounds of these economic times.” Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:28:32 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64 Boston: State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D-Falmouth) and Senator Robert A. O’Leary (D-Barnstable) have filed as interveners to a complaint filed with FERC by the Massachusetts Public Systems (MPS)* against ISO New England. The complaint was filed on March 28, 2008, alleging that ISO-NE has overcharged MPS for the cost of running two generating units, located in Sandwich Massachusetts. At issue is ISO New England’s practice of operating the oil-fired Canal Electric Generating Units on Cape Cod to ensure that service to Cape Cod can be maintained in the event that both major power lines feeding Cape Cod were to fail. In short these Units are left idling just in case. This has resulted in a surcharge of more than $200 million for consumers in Southeastern Massachusetts in 2006 and 2007. Because the price of oil has risen even more recently, the monthly cost to ratepayers has hit $18 million per month or $190 million each year. This adds 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour to the current price or about 7.5% to the average electric bill. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:55:02 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=63 Twenty one members of the legislature from southeastern Massachusetts are sending a letter to the Department of Public Utilities expressing their extreme opposition to the extra $9 million a month area ratepayers are paying for electricity to keep the Canal Power Plant open when it is uneconomic to do so. This is on top of electric rates that are some of the highest in the nation. The Canal Power Plant is being kept open because of a federal regulation that requires redundancy in transmission wires. Because the transmission system to southeastern Massachusetts from the north does not have this redundancy, the Canal Power Plan is run even though it could not compete economically with today’s oil prices. Representative Matt Patrick who has been monitoring the situation for a year said, “Clearly there is a less expensive alternative that is good for the environment and our health. The ratepayers of southeastern Massachusetts are not responsible for keeping inefficient power plants in operation. We insist that the DPU and ISO New England reverse this failed policy as quickly as possible.” Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:50:56 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=62 March 10, 2008 Minerals Management Service I am State Representative Matthew Patrick of the Third Barnstable District. I am a long time member of the Legislature’s Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee and I have volunteered many years to environmental causes on Cape Cod. Before joining the legislature I was the Executive Director of Self-Reliance, the non-profit energy advocacy and research organization for 15 years. I led the successful effort to save the Quashnet River Valley from imminent development and was co-chair of the campaign to pass the Cape Cod Commission Act. Tonight, I’m offer some new information that you should consider. 1. Based on information I have received as a member of the Energy Committee, it is my opinion that it is likely that the Canal Power plant will be shut off most of the year if the Cape Wind Project is built and a peak load shedding program is implemented. 2. For a little more than a year the Canal Power Plant has been kept running only because of a transmission restriction in southeastern Massachusetts. If not for this transmission restriction the Canal Power Plant would be shut off most of the year because it could not compete due to the high price of oil. 3. Southeastern Massachusetts ratepayers are now paying $9 million a month to keep the Canal plant running at about 17% of its capacity and we don’t even need its electricity. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:04:46 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=61 Cape Cod; At a press conference today at the Hyannis Transportation Center the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative (CIRenew) presented Representative Matthew C. Patrick with the CIGoGreen award. Patrick earned this award for demonstrating energy-related vision, leadership, and action. Patrick stated, “It is an honor for me to be recognized by such an active group of energy advocates. Thanks to them we have one of the most progressive regions in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Their energy action plan lays out a clear course and aggressive course for the Cape and islands to follow to a sustainable energy future.” This press conference and award ceremony also marked the public release of “CIGoGreen: Call to Action & Report to Community” a regional energy action plan developed through the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative (CIRenew). CIRenew Steering Committee members will introduce 5-Step CIGoGreen action plans for residents, visitors, businesses and organizations, students and schools, officials and agencies, and communities. Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:03:33 -0500 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=60 Boston: Mass Energy Consumers Alliance has given Representative Matthew C. Patrick its Excellence in Public Sector Leadership award at their annual meeting. Patrick was introduced by Rob Sargent, a national director for PIRG. Sargent said it was his honor to recognize Patrick for his tireless work on behalf of consumers and the environment specifically citing Patrick’s tenure as the executive director of the Cape and Islands Self-Reliance. Patrick’s research and advocacy led to enabling legislation and the formation of the first municipal aggregator, the Cape Light Compact. Larry Chretien, the Executive Director of Mass Energy Consumers Alliance said, “Representative Patrick was given this award because of his sponsorship of progressive, pro-consumer and pro-environment energy legislation; early support for Cape Wind; and a long time commitment, many years prior to his election to state representative, to making energy affordable and environmentally sustainable.” Patrick, who represents the Third Barnstable District, talked briefly at the award banquet about his support for Cape Wind, his unique position to understand its benefits and the difficulty his stand put him in before his run for re-election. He won re-election by just seventeen votes in a recount. His opponent pursued it all the way to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which ruled in Patrick’s favor nine months later. Patrick also said that public opinion on Cape Cod has gradually shifted as could be witnessed in his succeeding elections and recent polls. Patrick beat the same opponent handily in the following election and had no opponent in the last election. The most recent poll showed that 60 percent of Cape Cod residents supported the project. Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:51:53 -0500 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=59 Boston- Representative Patrick (D-Falmouth) has announced that House Bill 3769 “An Act authorizing the town of Falmouth to install, finance and operate wind energy facilities.” was engrossed in the House this past Thursday and today it was engrossed in the Senate. Falmouth requested Representative Patrick and Senate President Murray file special legislation to enable it to design, install and operate wind energy facilities at its wastewater treatment facility at Blacksmith Shop Road in Falmouth. It also authorizes Falmouth to issue bonds or notes in order to finance the project. Falmouth Town Meeting voted Tuesday the 14th of November to finance the wind turbine at the waste water treatment facility for $4 million.  The Senate engrossed the legislation today and it will be enacted in both the House and Senate tomorrow November 20th. Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:32:53 -0500 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=58 HR 3355, A BILL TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY OF HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR CATASTROPHIC EVENTS “HOMEOWNERS’ DEFENSE ACT OF 2007” By Massachusetts Representative Matthew C. Patrick, Third Barnstable District Thank you for giving me this opportunity to describe the homeowners’ insurance crisis in Massachusetts and how HR 3355 will benefit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Beginning in late 2003 the price of homeowners’ insurance started increasing for residents and businesses of Cape Cod. On Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket the increases began earlier. Other coastal areas of Massachusetts have more recently felt the effects of the increasing cost of homeowners’ insurance. The price of insurance in these areas has gone up more than 150 percent in three years for many homeowners. Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:23:29 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=57 TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF CAPE WIND By Representative Matthew C. Patrick September 6, 2007 As the former co-chair of the Coalition for the Cape Cod Commission Act I would like go on record as being in favor of the Cape Wind project proposed for Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound. I put many hours of my own personal time into the passage of the Cape Cod Commission Act because I believed that it would provide a fair venue for an objective view of various projects proposed for Cape Cod. I hope this is the case with this project. The regional policy plan’s original energy element, has or should I say had, a directive to facilitate renewable energy developments, specifically wind. I guess the current commission has either chosen to ignore that directive or has eliminated it out of political necessity. While I was involved in writing the first iteration of the energy element, I have not been involved nor have I read the current policy but one can only deduce that it is of no consequence to the staff and members of the Cape Cod Commission after reading the Staff Report for the Cape Wind Energy Project JR#20084. After twice reading the Cape Cod Times’ editorial page this past weekend, it is obvious that their real objection (and one they believe is held by the vast majority of Cape Cod residents but cannot backup with data) is the imagined view of 130 wind turbines six miles away from the closest building. For example they say on page F 4 of the September 2, 2007 Cape Cod Times: “Still other members of the public recommend further offshore sites in deeper waters, such as east of Cape Cod; south of Martha’s Vineyard; and other areas where the wind turbines would not be visible from land (emphasis is mine).” Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:03:37 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=56 First, let me say that as a proud liberal, I am and have been an ardent supporter of Senator Kennedy and his initiatives of social and economic justice and one of his more vocal supporters. However, on the issue of siting Cape Wind, I believe he has, understandably, made a decision based on emotional attachments to the place and not to the facts. It is obvious that Senator Kennedy relied on others for his information on the wind farm and he has not read the state approved Environmental Impact Report. The one thing I have learned from the past five years as an early, qualified supporter of Cape Wind is that it is difficult if not impossible to debate an emotionally justified argument. As an illustration to this emotionalism, I’ll tell you a story about the State Senate hearing on Global Warming at the CCCC last Thursday which I attended. Senators O’Leary and the Chairman Senator Pacheco opened the hearing and asked me to join them on the panel. We listened to roughly three hours of testimony from various experts on how global warming was affecting us today and how it will only get much worse in the next fifty years. Coastal habitat will be destroyed, towns flooded during hurricanes at high tide, entire species of shore birds and commercial shell fish will become extinct, Massachusetts’ climate will be more like South Carolina than New England, the ocean will become too acidic to support the base of the food chain, diseases will spread and yet, an older gentleman from Craigville got up and made almost the exact same argument that Kennedy made in his column. He said, while global warming is a moral issue, he wouldn’t put wind turbines up at the Grand Canyon; it’s not just the rich coastal property owners that don’t want Cape Wind; commercial fishermen oppose it; navigation will be hindered; use of public land for commercial use and capped it all off by saying deepwater wind is just on the horizon so let’s not act hastily Thu, 09 Aug 2007 07:19:13 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=55 PATRICK RESOLUTION HEADING TO WASHINGTON Stop Sewage Discharge in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds Boston: Representative Matthew Patrick announced today that the Massachusetts Legislature has forwarded to Washington the resolution requesting that the Federal Government designate the Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds as “No discharge Zones”. Patrick stated, “I was dismayed to discover that it is legal for commercial vessels and ferry boats to dump their septic waste in the Sounds. I spoke to my colleagues and they supported designating Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds as ‘no-discharge zones’. While this dumping of waste may not be a significant contribution to nitrogen loading of our salt ponds and estuaries we don’t know the potential for harm. It is unnecessary and should be pumped out at pumping stations which is done in Buzzards Bay. With the designation of “no-discharge zone” the Sounds are protected and the ferry boats will be forced to find a more environmentally friendly way to dispose of their waste.” Senate President Murray, Senator O’Leary, Representative Peake, Representative Turner, Representative Turkington, Representative Perry and Representative Williams-Gifford from the Cape Delegation signed on to the resolution. Wed, 08 Aug 2007 11:06:29 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=54 Dear Friends, Mr. Churbuck was gracious enough to let me pass his blog along to you. It's about how he originally opposed the wind farm and why he has changed his mind. Matt www.churbuck.com/wordpress/?p=1226 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:58:28 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=53 Boston: State Representative Matthew Patrick is circulating a Resolution in the Massachusetts Legislature requesting that the Federal Government designate the Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds as “No discharge Zones” after discovering that commercial vessels and ferry boats are legally dumping their waste in the Sounds. Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:11:23 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=52 RE:  Docket No. R2007-02 FAIR Plan rate increase request             I respectfully write in opposition to the rate increase requested by the Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association or the FAIR Plan.  I can’t emphasize enough the sense of urgent concern my constituents feel about this impending increase.  Long time residents are literally moving off Cape because they can’t afford to own a home anymore.  I urge the commissioner to reject this rate increase and roll back the last one as there have been no losses for the FAIR Plan since taking on most of the Cape homes.  New legislation, that is due for passage this year, will ameliorate the problem.             The combined rate increase of 25 percent last year with the new 25 percent proposal for this year, would be too heavy a burden for at least half the homeowners on Cape Cod that have no other choice to insure their homes.  After most of the homeowners insurance companies have stopped selling here on Cape Cod the cost has tripled in price for many.  The problem is extending along the coastline in both directions from the Cape.             According to U.S. Census data, twenty five percent of populace on Cape Cod qualify as retired senior citizens on fixed incomes.  Some have decided to do without homeowners insurance and can get away with it because they have no mortgages.  However, they are left critically exposed to storms or fire.  Census data also tells us that sixty percent of the people who work are employed in the retail trade and service industries where the average annual wage is about $23,000.  Neither group can afford another rate increase on top of the one they received last year. The working underemployed are living on the edge of bankruptcy because of high housing costs.  Greater insurance expenses will only make the cost of housing more expensive.  Foreclosures are up exponentially this year.  This is an untenable situation that has reached emergency proportions.           The Cape Cod delegation has filed legislation that will correct the situation by creating a state reinsurance pool modeled after Florida’s successful legislation.  We have many cosponsors from coastal areas and we have garnered a verbal agreement from the House Chairman of Financial Services, Representative Ronald Mariano, to act on the legislation this term.  The legislation will bring the insurers back to the coastal areas and in the mean time the FAIR Plan should put all rate increases on hold.              It should be remembered that the FAIR Plan has had no losses due to storms in the last few years since they started picking up Cape homeowners.  The FAIR Plan in only increasing their rates to stay at average cost when compared with other insurers.             The Commissioner should consider declaring an emergency to deny the new increase request.  The FAIR Plan will survive until the new legislation is passed and customers leave to join with other insurers. Sincerely, Matthew C. Patrick   Wed, 02 May 2007 15:31:35 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=51 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2007 CONTACTS: Peggy Konner: 617-722-2090 MEMBERS OF THE CAPE DELEGATION HOLD FORUM TO ADDRESS HEALTH INSURANCE RESPONSIBILITIES Representative Matthew Patrick and Senator Robert O’Leary along with Representatives Demitrius Atsalis, Cleon Turner and Sarah Peake are hosting a Forum at the Cape Cod Community College to brief the public on the Commonwealth’s new healthcare law. Date: MAY 3rd, 2007 Time: 6:30 pm Place: Cape Cod Community College Tilden Theater Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:28:45 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=50 Many corporate executives and their lobbyists tell us there are no corporate tax loopholes in Massachusetts. They want you to think that the Governor is proposing new taxes that will burden businesses and stunt our economic recovery. Like Grover Norquist, the head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, who says, “The so-called “loopholes” the governor seeks to close look more like a noose around the neck of the Bay State’s economy.” Grover is the same guy who said, “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” Corporate executives don’t want you to know the facts. For example, according to Massachusetts Department of Revenue, in 2001 there were eleven hundred (1,100) corporations in the Commonwealth that grossed more than one hundred million dollars annually and paid the minimum corporate tax of $456.00. That’s less tax than a family earning $50,000 a year will pay in state taxes. How do they do it? The corporations create subsidiaries in Delaware or countries that charge no corporate taxes and assign all their profits to those places. Another fact is we would be joining New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and fifteen other states. It’s been proposed this year in New York, Pennsylvania and Iowa. This one loop hole costs state taxpayers about $200 million each year. Sat, 17 Mar 2007 19:23:47 -0400 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=49 Boston: Representative Matthew C. Patrick filed his 2007-08 legislation today. Several of his bills focus on the immediate need for the state to reduce its consumption of energy. He also filed legislation to restrict the use of ATV’s by children, to educate and test Massachusetts National Guard troops on the dangers of depleted uranium and to create a funding source for education and the prevention of domestic violence. Representative Patrick is one of the chief sponsor s of the Energy, Climate and Economic Security Act along with Rep. James Marzilli of Arlington; an omnibus bill that addresses more than twenty major energy policies covering utilities, transportation and buildings. It emphasizes the use of energy efficiency and renewables to meet new growth in the demand for electricity, gas and oil. It includes language that will remove the state statutory barriers that reduce the ability of our cities and towns to implement new energy projects and it provides them with new funding. (see legislation side bar for complete list and summaries) Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:02:07 -0500 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=47 You knew it was coming. Somehow the religious right was going to turn it around and make the legislators who stood up to protect the Constitution the destroyers of it. They used politics of fear to further confuse and divide us. There was Romney telling us how he was going to file a case before the Supreme Judicial Court demanding that we obey our Constitution and vote to put a question on the ballot that will eliminate the civil rights for a minority as determined by the same court. The giant flag hung on the historic State House as his backdrop with the throngs of ordinary citizens beaming their admiration his way. The opponents of gay marriage are quick to remind us that it isn’t about gay marriage, it’s about protecting the Constitution. Well that goes double for me. Had anyone thought to tell his excellency that the world has not come to an end since gay marriage was allowed? I’m sure he knows this but it doesn’t matter – he’s running for president as a Republican from a very liberal state. If Romney was not running for president do you think he would be doing this? I know one thing – the scene in front of the State House will make a great backdrop for a television ad that will definitely play in the conservative states. He is so shamelessly transparent it’s embarrassing. Wed, 22 Nov 2006 11:48:11 -0500 http://www.mattpatrick.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=46 I have been getting a lot of calls from constituents asking me what they should do about the Dominion Power Supply offer we all recently received in the mail. This is what I have found out. You are pretty much guaranteed to save 35% of your power supply costs for November and December of 2006. It would have saved me $33.02 on 724 kilowatt hours (kWh) for the months of November and December last year. I'm assuming the same level of usage this year. [$93.54 - $60.52 = $33.02] After December you are totally at the whim of market forces. That means Dominion will charge you the market rate for electricity each month in 2007. That could be good and it could be bad. You will not know if it is bad until after you receive your bill for the month and then it will be too late to complain. Thu, 12 Oct 2006 16:32:34 -0400