ACTIVISTS PUSHING EXPANDING DISCRIMINATION BILL FACE QUESTIONS

By Catherine Williams
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 25, 2008…Short people are less likely to get promotions and fat people are less likely to get hired than average-weight people, said advocates who pled a case on Tuesday to update the state's anti-discrimination law.

Supporters of Second Assistant House Majority Leader Byron Rushing's bill expanding the law to include height and weight said there are no legal protections for overweight and short-stature discrimination victims. Advocates faced questions from members of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee, who asked why similar laws have not been passed in other states and how researchers measure weight discrimination.

Under current law, employers, labor agencies and real estate proprietors may not discriminate against people based on race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or ancestry. The original legislation became law in 1946. "Age" was added to the anti-discrimination list four years later. "Sex" was added in 1965 and "sexual orientation" in 1989.

Ellen Frankel, board member of the National Organization of Short Statured Adults, said short-stature people are promoted and hired less often than average height people.

"As a culture, we glorify the tall the way we glorify the thin. We stigmatize the fat the way we stigmatize the short," said Frankel.

Rebecca Puhl, director of research and stigma initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, said that weight discrimination in the United States is on the rise. Over the past decade, the prevalence of weight discrimination increased from 7 percent to 12 percent, said Puhl. Overweight people get lower starting salaries, are passed over for promotions and are less likely to be hired, said Puhl.

Mark Roehling, associate professor at Michigan State University, called weight discrimination "pervasive" in the workplace.

Rep. Paul Casey (D-Winchester), a committee member, asked Puhl how many people she studied and if the sample sizes were large. Puhl referenced two studies, one that measured 2,200 people and a second that measured 12,800 people.

Height and weight anti-discrimination laws exist in Michigan and in four cities, including Washington and San Francisco, according to the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

Sen. Thomas McGee (D-Lynn), committee co-chair, asked Roehling if the law has been a positive impact on Michigan since the law was passed in the 1970s. Roehling said he was in the midst of a study on the issue. "This legislation has not tied hands in Michigan," said Roehling.

Casey asked Sondra Solovay, an attorney in San Francisco, why California has yet to pass a statewide law despite laws in two California cities. Solovay said she hoped Massachusetts would push the issue forward. "I think we need to see strong leadership for this law," she said.

"I want to remind everyone that that Massachusetts was one of the first states in the United States to pass civil rights legislation," said Rushing (D-Boston), during the committee hearing Tuesday afternoon.

The bill (H 1844) was sent to study by Labor and Workforce Development Committee earlier this month but the House Committee on Rules "recommitted" the bill to the Labor Committee last Thursday, according to Labor Committee staff.

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GUV'S REHAUL OF SHERIFFS SYSTEM UNLIKELY THIS YEAR

By Jim O'Sullivan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 25, 2008…..Gov. Deval Patrick's effort to corral seven independently elected county sheriffs under firmer Beacon Hill control and save millions of dollars appears headed for defeat unless the administration agrees to major changes.

Patrick's proposal, which several sheriffs said they embraced in principle but heavily criticized on a number of different fronts, would divert all of the individual departments' revenues to state coffers, consolidating their payrolls onto the state budget and resulting in what Patrick aides say could be $9 million in annual savings. Contained in the budget Patrick filed in January, the rehaul needs to be passed by May in order to go into effect for next year, officials said.

"I think it's unlikely you'll see action other than a study on it at this point," said Public Safety Committee House chair Rep. Michael Costello.

Costello said "the only way I can see us taking any positive action" on the bill (H 4498) is if Patrick budget aides address discrete concerns voiced by sheriffs over autonomy, by county treasurers over retirement and pension liability issues, and "some political questions" harbored by county commissioners.

Costello called it nearly "impossible to get something redrafted, agreed upon, and passed by May 1."

Several legislative sources said the Patrick administration had also oversold the amount of support the seven county sheriffs targeted for consolidation were bringing to a March 12 committee hearing. At that hearing, a parade of sheriffs signaled vague support for the bill in principle, but blasted its specifics.

"I walked out with a completely different impression" of the sheriffs' support than he had going into the hearing, Costello said, pointing to "an idea gap between the administration and the sheriffs."

A Patrick budget aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration wanted to work with lawmakers and sheriffs to iron out concerns, but said she was unaware of the bill's probable fate. Patrick's spending blueprint for the fiscal year that starts July 1 does not call for any savings from the reform, the aide said.

The administration appeared likely to give ground on language that several sheriffs and lawmakers said appeared to threaten the sheriffs' status as elected officials.

Less clear were how many of its revenue diversion reforms the administration would cede. Sheriffs claimed the funds they draw from federal reimbursements and grants, prisoner canteen purchases, and other channels are essential to offering programs tailored to individual facilities.

"We are willing to work with them on what kinds of revenues they can maintain," the aide said.

In a statement, Patrick deputy press secretary Rebecca Deusser said, "This is another serious cost savings initiative put forth by the administration. We continue to work closely with members of the committee to create millions of dollars in savings for the Commonwealth, and eliminate budget uncertainty for the sheriffs departments while maintaining a high standard of public safety."

The current system divides the state's 14 sheriffs evenly between those with more autonomy and those more tightly under Beacon Hill control, after revelations of mismanagement in many county departments during the 1990s. Failure to budget adequately for the county departments leads to annual midyear funding packages, which cover costs that are not subsequently annualized into the state operating budget.

Last May, the Legislature authorized Patrick's request for $17 million in a supplemental budget to help sheriffs pay their bills. At the March 12 hearing, Patrick budget chief Leslie Kirwan said that number was likely to rise.

"I don't even want to tell you the number that's been put on the table by the sheriffs this year," she said, adding, "Where do we draw the line and say this structure isn't working anymore, let's do something else?"

Nantucket County, where public safety operations are largely self-contained, sought an exemption from the reform, but Kirwan called singling out individual counties "awkward."

Costello told the News Service on Monday, "I guess, ultimately, when it came before us the thought was the sheriffs supported it, but every sheriff who testified said we support the idea but we don't support the bill. Ultimately, those are the folks who are supposed to benefit from it."

While the Legislature has swatted away most of Patrick's fiscal policy initiatives, they have supported most of his streamlining and consolidation efforts.

Rep. Paul McMurtry, a Dedham Democrat who represents a Norfolk County seat and testified against the bill at the March 12 hearing, said Monday, "I just heard from a few constituents and a few elected within the county system that they wanted some more time."

McMurtry said, "If it can't be resolved with the ongoing meetings and discussions, it may be something that's appropriately served" next session.

The Public Safety Committee last week received an extension on a legislative deadline to take action on the bill. A slew of other bills were referred to study, a common grave for many proposals each session.

The committee sent to study Rep. Anne Gobi's proposal to allow hunting on Sundays, Sen. Michael Morrissey's bid to prohibit paint ball guns, and a pair of proposals to allow police officers to pull over motorists for not wearing their seat belts. Also marked for study was House Minority Leader Bradley Jones's priorities bid to establish "reverse 911 service" for an early warning system statewide.

The panel endorsed House Ways and Means chair Rep. Robert DeLeo's effort to require that new school buses are equipped with seat belts, and a phasing out of older buses.