Quinn Bill to be cut (and other PD money)

Boston cops sue for $10M from Quinn Bill cuts

By O’Ryan Johnson

Members of the Boston patrolmen’s union are suing the city for back payments of the “Quinn Bill” - a state-mandated pay boost for higher education that was cut from the budget earlier this year.
The Menino administration blasted the suit yesterday, saying it would cost the cash-strapped city an additional $10 million.
“If the plaintiffs were successful with the lawsuit, it would be equivalent to another $10 million local-aid cut to the city,” said city lawyer John Dunlap.
The Quinn Bill gives cops a bonus for associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, half of which is funded by the city, with the rest by the state. But the state slashed Quinn Bill reimbursements last year from $55 million to $10 million. In response, the city cut payments to cops by nearly half.

Police pay system questioned, but funds approved

WESTMINSTER — Residents last night voted for the town to appropriate $30,141 to cover the state’s unpaid portion of Quinn Bill funds.

Introductory statements at the special town meeting showed the divisiveness of the issue. The Board of Selectmen was divided, with two in favor and one against, but issued no minority opinion.

“This article is not asking voters to say they are in favor of, or to rescind the Quinn Bill,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman John Fairbanks. “That is something that could be added to a future town meeting.”

“The question tonight is, ‘Are you going to pay for the services received last year?’” said Selectman Joseph Flanagan. The majority of the Advisory Board was in favor of the motion, but member Peter Normandin opposed it.

Full Story:
Police pay system questioned, but funds approved

You know, I just saw this. The gaul of Menino to even make this suggestion. "I know, we owe you $10 million, but we can't afford it. Sue us? Didn't you hear, we can't afford it!"

What do you suppose would happen if I went down to City Hall next week and said "I can't afford my (insert ridiculous cause here) tax this year, but it's OK because I just can't afford it." How about if BPD did this, and said the money to pay the tax was in the $10 mil the city owes them? I bet they wouldn't even find a sympathetic ear.

I wasn't sure where to post this list of legislators that voted against Quinn...look at all those (D)'s!

Damn!!!! Looks like a really bad report card:redcarded:!!!

Just keep in mind the reason there are no "R's" on that sheet is that the Republicans had a few different amendments that would have also cut Quinn in different ways. Additionally, if you don't see you legislators name, don't assume they voted FOR you. Remember many of them took that BS advice from the ethics commission that if they were in anyway related to a cop they had to abstain from voting.

Does anyone know how much Quinn was funded for fy11? Last year they funded around 10% instead of 50%.

FY10 was 10 million, FY11 was 5 million.

j, no one's going to answer any of your posts cuz, well, that awesome sig of yours is awesomely distracting and no one will read them. Don't change it either..

You'd give up at least 10% of your Quinn to hit that. :teeth_smile:

If I hit that I'd lose a lot more than 10%..


WTF happened to it?? Put it back!

Sigs only appear once if you have multiple posts per page. Besides, in about 5 years those things are gonna look like tube socks filled with sand. I hope she invests wisely...

Ah, I see. Ok, j, you're limited to 1 post per page..


That's 5 years of playful joy. And cosmetic surgery has come a long way..

Quinn Bill deal cut in Falmouth

By Aaron Gouveia / Cape Cod Times
Saturday, November 6, 2010 -

FALMOUTH — The chairman of the board of selectman says he made a mistake in signing off on an agreement to give three police department captains more than $50,000 annually without town meeting approval, reports the Cape Cod Times.
The captains and selectmen reached a settlement in August in response to the state’s decision not to fund the so-called Quinn Bill, a state program that gives law enforcement officials pay increases after earning higher education degrees. Town Manager Robert Whritenour said the deal was dependent on town meeting voters approving a reclassification of the captains’ jobs that would have placed them in a higher pay grade.
The captains hired a private attorney and were threatening legal action against the town.

Full Story:
Quinn Bill deal cut in Falmouth - BostonHerald.com

North Reading told to fund officers’ Quinn bill raises

Judge tosses deal to save costs as state’s share lags

By Travis Andersen

Globe Staff / December 23, 2010

A superior court judge has ordered the town of North Reading to fully fund all pay raises for local police officers under the Quinn Bill, even though the state has sharply cut the town’s reimbursement for the educational incentive.
In a decision dated last Friday, Judge Kathe M. Tuttman ordered the town to pay for the raises for all officers who qualified for the salary hikes dating back to July 1, 2009. Attorneys for the town and the union representing police could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Town Administrator Greg Balukonis said that if the ruling stands, it will cost North Reading upwards of $180,000 per fiscal year. He said officials have not decided if they will appeal the decision.

Full Story:
North Reading ordered to fund officers’ Quinn bill raises - The Boston Globe


Who should pay for the Quinn bill?

Posted 6 hour(s) ago
A lawsuit challenging whether cities and towns can get out of paying millions in bonuses to college-educated police officers has made its way to the state’s highest court. Who do you think should be responsible for making up shortfalls in funding of the Quinn bill, cities and towns or the state? Take our poll. Post a comment or e-mail us at editpage@ledger.com or letters@enterprisenews.com. Call 781-340-3157 and leave a short message that we might post as an audio letter.


Who do you think should be responsible for making up shortfalls in funding of the Quinn bill, cities and towns or the state?

Challenges to Quinn bill funding head to state supreme court

This is great news! Here's hoping that the BPD suite has the same victorious results.

There is one thing I do want to share; I don't doubt that as we win these law suites, that the compensations should be retroactive to the day our bargained benefits were cut. HOWEVER, I strongly believe that we can not be greedy either. I am of the opinion that if our towns and cities restore full Quinn payments going forward, we SHOULD fore go retroactive pay and [in this economy] realize how lucky we are to be in this [victorious] position and the fact that we now get an extra "x" % every paycheck etc....

Cities and towns are struggling to keep up, yes, we did our part by foregoing increases and the Quinn hit for the past year, but lets be grateful it is bing restored.
Happy Holidays Ya'll.

Going to completely disagree with you here. If it is restored the city/town will look for any and every reason at the next contract to eliminate it. You bargained for it and the city/town breached the agreement and unilaterally decided not to pay, they owe you the money.

I agree cities and Towns are absolutely scraping by, however it cannot be only on our backs. Where do you see them trying to cut teachers salaries or other department's salaries. Because it's restored does not mean it will be restored for the next contract. You can use it as a tool in negotiations, but you can't just forego what is owed to you.

MCOP said no more Mr.Nice guy with the towns as we are getting screwed every chance they get, with the new evergreen clause and home rule petitions to circumvent CBA on medical insurance.

Many depts already have language that it's gone forever for new hires (we all saw that coming). But fast forward a few years and we'll see the desparity in pay between those with and those without, for doing the same job.

The argument should be made that, is there an inherent different set of standards, responsibilities or job descriptions for those officers with a college degree as opposed to those with only HS or a GED? The answer is obviously not. The officer with no college has to do exactly the same workload, case preparation and court testimony as the one with the JD.

So if we string out that argument it should be noted, as compared with other depts or states of similiar sizes, (I'd have to reference the exact source, just not right this second) that the depts with higher numbers of college grads enjoy the least amount of civil and criminal liabilities on behalf of their officers. Thus making the college incentive more attractive for the employer, not the employee.

Does anyone have a link to the decision?

http://blog.hanrahanconsulting.us/files/105405-98178/Quin_Bill_decision_North_Reading.pdf

Sorry to bring back a zombie thread but I've searched and I can't find the info I'm looking for. I need a list of how State Reps voted over the last few years on Quinn. Any help will be appreciated. Thx.

As long as you brought the thread back, I found this on the NEPBA website:




An Act relative to police incentive pay program
Prime Sponsor: Representative Stephen Kulik (D)
SECTION 1. Section 108L of Chapter 41 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following sentences after the first sentence in the fifth paragraph:- Notwithstanding the foregoing and notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, an employee of a city or town police department who is covered by this section shall be entitled to one half the amount of such payments during the employing citys or towns fiscal year. The employees entitlement to the remaining one half of the amount of such payments shall be conditioned upon the commonwealth satisfying its reimbursement obligation which is set forth in the first sentence of this paragraph and that amount shall not be due to such employee until and unless the commonwealth makes the reimbursement payment to the employing city or town.
SECTION 2. In a city or town in which an existing collective bargaining agreement provides for payment of the full amount of career incentive salary increases without regard to reimbursement by the commonwealth, this amendment shall not take effect until the expiration date stated in the agreement but shall take effect thereafter even if the agreement has a provision which provides for automatic extension of the agreement pending entry into a successor agreement.