Reforming CORI would make it easier — in some cases possible — for felons who have served their time to find gainful employment. Pruning overly harsh mandatory criminal sentences is also necessary, to correct existing inequities and ease overcrowding in correctional facilities. More stringent post-release supervision is included in the plan.
Legislating is, for sure, a tricky business. It is fraught with tough choices. And often those choices have to be culled from fields containing equally legitimate claims. But voters send representatives and senators to Beacon Hill to do just that. It is their job.
Instead, the House and the Senate have shortchanged the citizens of the commonwealth by failing to engage more seriously with the next looming phase of the budget crisis.
The House's inaction on education and sentencing reform may not have scuttled state government. But its failure to act with a modicum of dispatch contributes to the public's erosion of respect and lack of confidence in state government.
The late, great Rodney Dangerfield used to constantly bemoan the fact that he did not get any respect.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives appears willing to live with this. As a body, it just doesn't seem to care anymore.
Voters may take issue with Patrick's agenda or question his political skill. But when considered in concert with the legislative leadership in the state, the governor these days is the most serious figure on Beacon Hill.
