Dykema Votes for Fiscal Management and Public Safety Legislation

Submitted by the Office of Carolyn Dykema

Wednesday night Rep. Carolyn Dykema (D- Holliston) joined her colleagues on both sides of the aisle in passing a bill to improve state fiscal management practices and make important changes to the Commonwealth's criminal statutes.

"These pieces of legislation address two critical issues for our Commonwealth: fiscal discipline and public safety," said Dykema. "One bill will result in more disciplined fiscal management, better long term financial planning, and better cash flows of the towns I represent. The other will limit access to parole for the state's most violent repeat offenders and protect the public. These two issues are fundamental to the welfare of our citizens and represent and important step forward."

An Act to Improve the Administration of State Government and Finance includes provisions that formalize performance management and measurement standards,require perfomance management information be provided to the legislature for more informed budgeting, and require five-year prospective budget estimates to facilitate longer term planning.

The bill also changes the payment schedule for state payments to towns from quarterly to monthly which will improve local cash flows.

The update to the crime statutes includes provisions that eliminate the possibility for parole for the most violent, repeat offenders who have been sentenced to threeyears or more in state prison more than twice. It also strengthens oversight and provides for a more formal framework around how parole decisions are made. Other provisions seek to address concerns around prison overcrowding by shortening"mandatory minimum sentences" for non-violent drug offenses, and protects "good samaritans" from prosecution who seek medical assistance for drug overdose victims.