MA Legislators planning taxpayer-funded jaunt to Dominican Republic

Beacon Hill is at it again. They continue to thumb their noses at us!

This week Senate President Karen Spilka and a delegation of senators are going to the Dominican Republic. How convenient that a so-called trade mission happens in January to a warm island – a sunny place for shady people, as Graham Greene once wrote.

According to Spilka, the trip “will focus on strengthening economic relationships, with planned meetings with industry and government leaders across various sectors to explore trade, investment, and workforce development opportunities.”

Who knew we needed to work on our “economic relations” with the Dominican Republic? Is the Commonwealth in desperate need of chocolate for warm cocoa?

Of course, Spilka’s office has refused to say who is paying for this winter break. As always, Beacon Hill doesn’t believe they are accountable to the taxpayers. I wonder if the audit passed by voters (with a 72-28 percent margin) would provide that information?

Now I understand people need a vacation, but we are only 20 days into the new year and the legislature has not worked since Aug. 1 of last year. If it was a true trade mission, why didn’t they do it last fall? 

This trade mission sends a message that work is not their priority at the State House, even after receiving an 11 percent pay raise. The legislature has not done committee assignments or even established their governing rules.

Beyond technical operations, the Commonwealth is facing some very serious issues such as the costly and dangerous migrant crisis. After it was revealed that Healey was not doing the background checks, shouldn’t the legislature be in session passing a requirement to do them?

How about passing a residency requirement for the Right to Shelter law to stop the hemorrhaging of funds in the Emergency Assistance Housing program?

Last week Needham rejected the MBTA Communities Act that would have would jammed thousands of low-income, i.e., welfare, housing into that town. How about repealing that dumb law that every community is rejecting?

Gov. Maura Healey announced an $8 billion transportation plan which she says won’t raise taxes. Yeah right! Healey is a known and proven liar. How about reviewing that plan before our tax dollars are spent into oblivion? Will it be as successful as Biden’s billion-dollars boondoggles to increase broadband access in rural communities (zero hookups so far) or the $8 billion for EV-charging stations (seven in four years!).

As you and I know the real work doesn’t matter to them. It is about how much pork they can get out of us.