Tom Birmingham says his record speaks for itself
Published on April 3rd, 2002
STONEHAM, MA – This week State Senate President Thomas Birmingham (D-Chelsea) explains why the people should elect him Governor. Similar arguments have been made during the past six weeks by Libertarian Carla Howell, Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Democrats Warren Tolman, Steven Gross-man, Robert Reich and Shannon O’Brien. Republican candidate Mitt Romney will begin press interviews on Monday, April 1, and as soon as he gets to us, we’ll pass along the information to you in our eighth and final article in this series.
THOMAS BIRMINGHAM (Democrat)
State Senate President Thomas Birmingham, 52, grew up in Chelsea, where today he and his wife Selma live with their two daughters. Birmingham represents his home city on Beacon Hill, and he has never run for a broader office.
Birmingham has left Chelsea... Following his high school days at Austin Prep in Reading, Birmingham graduated from Harvard College in 1972, studied at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship from 1972-1975, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1978... But he came back.
After a career as a union labor lawyer Birmingham was ready to be a politician. In 1990 he ran as a Democrat and won the State Senate seat representing parts of Chelsea, Revere, Saugus, Boston, Everett, Cambridge and Somerville. In his first term Birmingham was appointed Chairman of the Education Committee, and he drafted the Education Reform Act passed in 1993. In his second term Birmingham became Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, controlling the State’s purse strings. Then in 1996, in his third term, his peers elected Birmingham State Senate President, a position he has held to this day.
This year Birmingham is leaving his Chelsea seat open to take a shot at moving into the Governor’s office. He has been an active player at the heart of State government, and few question whether he knows how to do the job. But it all depends on whether you like what he’s done or not. Birmingham says his record speaks for itself; voters must decide if they like what it says. Read on, and see what you think...
Question: Do you support the continued incremental reduction of the state income tax as voted by the people of Massachusetts on the 1998 general election ballot? Some sources report that you want to raise the state income tax rate.
Birmingham: I think it is fiscally unwise to try to make the biggest tax cut in the history of the State in the middle of a recession. At a bare minimum we should temporarily delay the roll back to continue to have funds for education, healthcare and safety. Before this cut I was a supporter of what had been the biggest tax cut in the State’s history. When we can afford tax cuts, I support them.
Editor’s note: Although he is running ads against Romney, Birmingham publicly complimented Romney’s refusal to sign a "no new taxes" pledge.
Question: Did you do all you could to fund the Clean Elections Law, a law passed by voters on the 1998 ballot to provide public financing for Mass candidates who agree to fund-raising and spending restrictions?
Birmingham: The Senate has fully funded the Clean Elections Law since its inception. Last year we fully funded and forward funded it. If the Senate position had become law, Clean Elections would have been funded. And I voted against repeal or substantial changes, and I rarely vote as Senate President (the Senate President usually votes only to break ties). That’s my record.
Editor’s note: But the Senate position didn’t win. House Speaker Tom Finneran (D-Mattapan) got his way as usual. Only one candidate, Tolman, got a fraction of what he qualified for under Clean Elections.
Question: You have raised around $3 million for your campaign, the most of any of the candidates for Governor, not counting Grossman’s hefty self-contribution. Do you accept contributions from lobbyists and political action committees (PACs)? And is political patronage a necessary part of the political system?
Birmingham: Professionalism should trump patronage every time. This is a lesson we should learn from Massport. I do accept contributions from lobbyists and PACs, specifically from labor unions. This is a good way for working people to participate in the process.
Question: The state budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, wasn’t finalized until months after the July 1, 2001, start of the fiscal year. The Massachusetts budget was further overdue than all other state budgets nationwide and was still several hundred million dollars underfunded. What went wrong?
Birmingham: The budget process was flawed this year. One reason for the delay was that I insisted even in these difficult times for expansion of education programs, such as programs to help students in danger of failing the MCAS exam (a Mass public high school graduation requirement as of 2003) and for senior pharmacy programs to help seniors afford prescription drugs and for funding for our affordable housing trust.
Another part of the reason for the delay was that I proposed new rules to open conference committees (joint committees of the House and Senate that determine the final versions of bills to be sent to the Governor) to the public so people can see what we’re doing. There wasn’t agreement on this.
But we did all agree on one thing: we thought the budget was balanced. The economy this year has been extremely unpredictable. Circumstances we couldn’t have predicted overtook us, but, bottom line, we wouldn’t have signed a budget we didn’t think would balance.
Question: You’ve worked closely with Speaker Finneran? Do you think he did the right thing by getting term limits removed so that he can literally serve as Speaker for life if the House wants him to? Have you asked the Speaker for his support?
Birmingham: Nobody has more disagreements with the Speaker than me. Sometimes I think he should have an "R" after his name instead of a "D." We have fundamental differences. And I don’t think anyone can point to more victories over the Speaker than me. For example, I got a higher state minimum wage over the Speaker’s objection.
Editor’s note: Birmingham avoided the term limits question. He’s been Senate President for six years.
Question: As Governor what would you do to balance the fiscal 2003 state budget, considering the projected $2 to $3 billion deficit?
Birmingham: I would delay the state income tax roll back, increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents, which would bring in $150 million, spend $500 million from the $1.5 billion in rainy day funds, continue education, health and public safety funding, and after that, institute zero based budgeting, meaning making no assumptions that programs will continue to exist. All programs must justify their funding. An example of this would be when I was on Ways and Means; we funded Education Reform but cut lottery advertising.
Question: What’s the biggest issue facing Massachusetts, and what would you do about it as Governor?
Birmingham: Education is my top priority. I grew up in Chelsea in a rented triple decker. My parents did not go to college, but they worked hard to give us opportunities. My brother is a firefighter. My sister is a school principal. I think when we invest in human resources, our people, we’re headed in the right direction. I make the commitment and challenge that by the end of my first term as Governor, Massachusetts will have the finest public schools in the United States.
Editor’s note: Chelsea public schools were so bad that the State had to step in and seize control from the city in the 1990s. Birmingham’s daughters have attended private high schools.
Question: What would you do as Governor about the Big Dig?
Birmingham: The project needs to be managed better. The State just gave general contractor Bechtel / Parsons Brinckerhoff the keys to the car to let them do what they want. This Administration’s first impulse when they heard about the overruns was to borrow until 2050. I have provided $500 million for the Big Dig and state roads without borrowing.
Question: What must be done to improve healthcare in Massachusetts?
Birmingham: The day will come when we have universal healthcare, and when it comes, we will look back at the gapping hole in the center of the social safety net, but until that day we have a moral obligation and the opportunity to lead the nation with senior citizen prescription drug programs and universal healthcare for all kids. We funded the children’s healthcare over a veto with a 25 cent cigarette tax.
Question: What are your positions on abortion and the death penalty?
Birmingham: I’m pro-choice, and I was a leader in passing the buffer zone legislation to protect women and healthcare professionals. And I oppose the death penalty.
Question: Do you have enough delegates to get on the Democratic primary ballot in September? If you receive the Democratic nomination on the first ballot at the June Convention, will you encourage your delegates to cast votes for other candidates on subsequent ballots so that these candidates can also get on the primary ballot?
Birmingham: I have 1,400 committed delegates, more than enough to get on the ballot. It would be anti-democratic to suggest that candidates should have to rely on the largesse of another candidate or his delegates to get on the ballot. We didn’t make up the rules, but we abide by them.
Question: Why are you a Democrat?
Birmingham: The Democratic Party is the party of the ordinary working class people who make up the backbone of the Commonwealth. Democrats work to make the American Dream come true.
Question: Why should voters elect you Governor?
Birmingham: There’s been a lot of talk by candidates, but I have a record of working for the people. I think the voters should choose me because the best predictor of what the next Governor will do is what the person has already done.
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