| Quinn Bill: UPDATE |
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All Members: The House of Representatives voted: 101 - 40 to fund the Quinn Bill to $25,000,000. This equals a significant shortfall. There was also language added that grandfathered all current police officers that currently receive Quinn Benefits. Any officer that enrolls in an accredited program prior to July 1st will also be eligible. All new hires that are hired after July 1, 2009 will not be eligible to receive Quinn benefits.
Yesterday, this proposal came from House Leadership, but did not include any grandfathering and called for the phasing out of the Quinn program. This was obviously not acceptable and forcefully rejected. According to Charlie Steffanini Lobbyist for MMPC, Rep Paul Donato and Rep Peter Koutoujian who worked very hard to convince Leadership to at least keep the program intact, $25,000,000 was allegedly all the funds that would be appropriated for funding at this time. As it turned out another $11,000,000 was used for Shannon Grants and Community policing funding; that in my opinion could have been used in Quinn Funding. Rep Koutoujian and Rep Donato spoke directly with MMPC Presidents throughout the day. Members of the FOP spoke to other Representatives from House Leadership. Representatives assured both groups that they were trying to get the best deal possible for us. No one was happy with the lower amounts talked of and language changes to the bill. Rep. Fallon never wavered and continued his support to fully fund the Quinn Bill. Rep Clark from Melrose was also extremely supportive throughout the process, only to mention a few. Please note we were not engaged in any compromise. In the end, the compromise was reached by the Legislator's (not the police groups); the legislator's then voted on what passed in the House. None of the police groups that I know of are happy with the Legislator's compromise, which does not fully fund the Quinn and we may be looking at a reduction in our pay depending upon what your CBA reads. The MMPC worked very hard with the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) and other police groups throughout this process sharing this information. The next step of the process is the development of the Senate Budget. The members will again be asked to make phone calls, send e-mails, and mail letters. We will be looking for your participation, your ideas and suggestions. If the membership does not call and participate we have no chance of prevailing. Pay no attention to the BLAME GAME that will surely raise its ugly head, all police groups worked very hard on this difficult situation that is far from over, we need to work even closer going forward. I will keep you informed as this process moves forward. Fraternally, Chief George J DiBlasi (Ret) Director of Governmental Affairs Cell 617 571 3245 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |