Your Public Officials

Perry Opposes Federal Fee for Ocean Fishing

BOSTON - State Representative Jeffrey Perry (R-Sandwich) recently announced his opposition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) proposal to create a registry for saltwater anglers under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

This proposal creates a Federal registry to obtain information and a fee from those who wish to fish in saltwater areas. This registry would be enacted in 2009, and by 2011, a fifteen to twenty-five dollar fee would be required in order to fish in the ocean. According to an article in the Cape Cod Times, these fees would most likely go into the Federal Treasury instead of going toward the local fisheries. Most of the coastal New England states, including Massachusetts, have stopped such efforts to create state sanctioned licenses over the course of the past twenty years and many of their residents continue to oppose this fee.

One aspect that concerns Representative Perry is the Federal regulation behind the registry. Perry believes that this decision should be left up to the individual states and the Federal government should not be making it mandatory for all those wishing to fish in the ocean to register and pay a fee.

The annual fee is also a troubling issue to Representative Perry, “Saltwater fishing has been a tradition in the New England states for centuries, whether it is for leisure or for sport. This fee applies to anglers whether they are fishing off of a beach or a boat, causing those who enjoy fishing along the coast as a leisurely activity or for a sport to reconsider fishing. There is already a licensing fee placed on freshwater fishing, and adding a saltwater licensing fee would cause fishing in general to cost over sixty dollars per year, and on top of travel fees, and equipment, fishing may no longer be an inexpensive way to relax and enjoy a pastime that has been part of our American culture since the founding of our Nation” said Representative Perry.

Representative Perry recently wrote to a member of the NOAA to state his opposition to the registry and fee. NOAA is looking for opinions regarding the legislation to get an idea of how the public feels about the registry and fee. If you would like to express your concern for this proposal, visit the Marine Recreational Program’s website:

http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/mrip/aboutus/organization/anglerteam.html

Housing Assistance is a great resource on Cape Cod:http://www.haconcapecod.org

If you are looking for affordable housing, first-time home buyers courses, looking for answers on eligibility, or making your house energy efficient (affordable), check out HAC’s website.

Looking for Housing Lotteries in Barnstable County and MA? Check out CHAPA:  http://www.chapa.org/

Click the link below to see what Rep. Jeff Perry has to say on criminal justice matters facing our Commonwealth:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc0iog56jkQ&feature=email

Dear Readers: I have been invited by the Enterprise to blog on Affordable Housing. Being an online forum, my concerns are not with the hardcopy readership boundaries, which is great, as my viewpoint is more regional/global. I will comment on housing issues wherever / whenever my interests are piqued: town-by-town, Barnstable County and our planet.

Currently I serve on the Mashpee Affordable Housing Committee, Mashpee Affordable Housing Trust, and the Mashpee Board of Health. My advocacy for humanity is through water quality and affordable housing.

Affordable means more than buying a cheap home. It means living within your means in a home, for the duration of your lifespan. Does that mean putting up jam and using solar panels? Staying home and never shopping? Well maybe, but, what affordable really means is, the opposite of excessive. Affordable supersedes class, race, religion, sex, and gender. Affordable is smartly neutral and globally applicable. Affordable housing is living affordably in an affordable home.
The Tumlare Effect: Have you ever washed dishes on a boat? Not a yacht, but a boat. Very, very quickly, you start using very little detergent effectively and use as little water as possible. Now…think about how you wash dishes at home. Open up the faucets and let ‘er rip? Drizzle detergent all around? Consider this: less detergent and less water = less $$ (and less waste!).

My past work and life experiences have given me a singular point of view from many different angles. Stay Tuned!

Representative Perry on “Facebook”

Cape Representative seeking to encourage younger people to become involved

Representative Jeffrey Davis Perry (R-Sandwich) is seeking young voters to participate in a focus group. The target of the focus group will be voters between the ages of 18 – 25 years old. The goal is to discuss issues that new and young voters are most concerned about, what they desire in a political candidate and most importantly, to discuss new ways to engage other young people in the political process. Conservatives, liberals and independents are encouraged to participate. Those interested in participating may contact the Representative via e-mail (ElectJeffPerry@aol.com) or by calling his District Office at (508) 888-2158.

In continuing his trend of using the newest technologies to connect with the public and reaching out to young voters, Representative Perry has an account with the popular social networking site www.Facebook.com. Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, show their support for politicians and pop culture icons and learn more about the people they meet. Search: Jeff Perry.

Representative Perry also has a monthly YouTube message as a new way of sharing his views and reaching out to a greater audience. YouTube, the innovative and rapidly growing video sharing website that is virtually available to anyone, allows users to upload, view and distribute video clips on a vast array of topics. The website is frequented by upwards of 20 million viewers daily, from across the world. His monthly “YouTube” message is easily accessible through his website, at http://www.electjeffperry.com/youtube.html.

Boston: Representative Patrick (D-Falmouth) has been successful in securing funds for the 3rd Barnstable District in the FY08 House Budget.  If adopted by the Senate, funding will be provided for Veteran’s health services, the Barnstable Drug Court, School-based health Programs, Reading Recovery, Housing Consumer Education Centers and funding to help pay for an ongoing program at the University of Massachusetts that is addressing the invasion of the winter moth.

 Representative Patrick submitted many amendments that would benefit the 3^rd Barnstable district and Cape Cod. One program funded for the third year funds Falmouth Veterans’ Health services at the Falmouth Free clinic. This $100,000 dollar earmark pays for healthcare for veterans through Falmouth Free Clinic and Community Center. This brings healthcare for veterans to a local facility.  Before these funds were available our local vets had to travel to Hyannis or New Bedford. In addition $28,350 was secured by Patrick to pay for the contract for the Homestead Veterans Housing in Hyannis  The funding for BAND: Barnstable Action for New Directions Program is known to the local community as drug court. The Barnstable District Court and the Cape and Islands District Attorney adult treatment program facilitated by Gosnold of Cape Cod Inc. has been allocated $225,000 in the House FY08 budget.   

Other amendments submitted by Patrick and funded were;  

School Based Health Programs; School-based health Programs assure access to comprehensive, high quality, primary, preventative care to children particularly to those with poor access to primary health care. 

Reading Recovery; Implement and fund early intervention pre-referral services that will reduce special education referrals.  Reading Recovery is the only early intervention pre-referral program that has been shown to significantly reduce the number of special education referrals in the first grade. Housing Consumer Education Centers; The centers provide education, outreach and counseling to consumers.  The centers have a variety of services and materials for tenants, first-time homebuyers, homeowners and owners of small rental properties.  This is a cost-effective way to create and preserve homeownership, financial stability and self-reliance. 

Winter Moth; The funding requested will help pay for an ongoing program by the University of Massachusetts to control the advance of winter moth or European bud worm.  Massachusetts has been experiencing over the past five years.  This moth causes extensive damage to deciduous trees and there is no natural predator.  Most of the damage has been along the coast.  Trees that have been defoliated two years in a row are likely to die. UMass has already begun to introduce the natural predator of the bud worm into areas of concern and this funding will help them to propagate more.

Check out Jeff Perry’s June YouTube video message on the Abuse of the Process:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CthUEeXxcRs

 What do you think?

Boston: In a letter delivered to Speaker DiMasi on Friday May 23, 2008 Representative Matthew Patrick (D-Falmouth) and nine colleagues present their findings on closing corporate loop holes and the combined reporting legislation.

The day the House passed the combined reporting bill legislators met with Speaker DiMasi regarding their concerns with some aspects of the bill. DiMasi said that he would be open to further analysis of the legislation. This letter reports back to him on their findings.

The group operated with the shared principles that tax policy or more specifically tax codes should be simple, clear, reasonable and fair. They consulted with local and national tax policy experts. The result, both the House and Senate version of the Bill offer changes to the current law that if combined offer a compromise that the business community could support while providing greater tax equity.

In the final analysis they support the House version of the Safe Harbor in Federal Consolidated Returns. They support the Senate version for the apportionment formula.On all other issues they support the Senate version of the bill as “more pragmatic.”

The combined reporting bill is before a conference committee.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkKgeqCXt6A

State Representative Jeffrey Davis Perry (R-Sandwich) is turning to YouTube, as a new way of sharing his views and reaching out to a greater target audience. YouTube, the innovative and rapidly growing video sharing website that is virtually available to anyone, allows users to upload, view and distribute video clips on a vast array of topics. The website is frequented by upwards of 20 million viewers daily, from across the world.

At a recent Town Meeting session in Bourne an impassioned speaker, upset at the prospects of increased tax bills due to a debt exclusion asked why, if these projects were so important, weren’t they just put into the budget. The speaker also seemed dismayed that the Finance Committee, as opposed to being the guard dog of tax relief, regarded Prop 2 ½ as an impediment.

First a little background: Proposition 2 1/2 was passed in 1980 and put into effect in 1982. It has two parts where a municipality is subject to two property tax limits:

1. Ceiling: The total annual property tax revenue raised by a municipality shall not exceed 2.5% of the assessed value of all taxable property contained in it.

2. Increase limit: The annual increase of property tax cannot exceed 2.5%, plus the amount attributable to taxes that are from new real property—what we call simply New Growth.

Most of us involved in Town Government are concerned about the annual increase of 2-½%.

It seems clear that Prop 2 ½ has over the years squeezed a lot if not all the fat out of municipal governments. In Bourne, for example, the “head count”, the number of municipal employees is down dramatically from the level of the 1970s. Our police department has the same number of officers that we had in 1972.

So, 2 ½ kept the growth of taxes at a manageable level for both the taxpayer and the municipality for some period of time. The inherent flaw is if inflation rises faster than 2 ½% plus new growth, the town’s real income goes down. And indeed for many years during the span of Prop 2 ½ costs have risen faster than revenue growth. Here in Bourne we refer to it as our Long Term Structural Deficit. We can even project how large the cumulative deficit will be using a simple planning tool. Right now if things stay roughly the same, we’ll be under water to the tune of $20 odd million through 2015.

Back to Town Meeting. The Town of Bourne’s FY 09 budget will use $650,000 in reserves to balance the budget—funding the basic costs of operating the Town. This is bare bones budget that couldn’t afford the increased burden of adding new personnel, or paying debt service on a large capital expense.

Prop 2 ½ anticipated these situations and allows things called overrides and debt exclusions for projects or additional services that are considered to be of high importance. By proposing these increases in taxes outside the normal budget process they get a fair hearing and intense examination by the voters who have to approve them by a majority vote at a town-wide ballot election.

The fact that the Town’s real income has gone down makes the need for overrides and debt exclusions a fact of life. Bourne has passed two overrides in 20 years. This approach seems like a fair way to address pressing needs in a difficult financial situation.

There are hundreds of so-called ballot initiatives in the form of overrides and debt exclusions in our State. Last time I looked the success rate was around 40%.

I haven’t met anyone who wants to pay more taxes, but there are some people who are willing to. Only if the need is great enough, the benefit perceived to be high enough, will the voters likely approve these initiatives. This year the Finance Committee feels that the two proposals—debt exclusion and an override meet the aforementioned criteria. Prop 2 ½ is the only way we can accomplish this, and it seems like a half way decent way of doing things.