Jones: Governor Patrick All Politics, No Policy

BOSTON—House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. issued the following statement after State House News Service reported media strategy played a role in Governor Patrick’s plan to push for a new crime policy initiative.

I am appalled by the recent reports but certainly not surprised. I’ve grown to expect this kind of behavior from the Patrick-Murray Administration – after all Governor Patrick’s track record precedes him.

This is just the latest in a long list of poor public policy decisions made by the Patrick-Murray Administration for nothing more than political consideration. From the Gloucester charter school licensing debacle to the effort to artificially cap health insurance rates and most recently the abandonment of state education standards, Governor Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Murray have sacrificed sound public policy in favor of special interest demands.

State House News Service reported late Saturday night on the contents of the memo called “Crime Bill Strategy.” In that memo, two aides to Governor Patrick said, “We recommend waiting until after the weekend when the Globe may run their spotlight series on the Department of Community Supervision reform to determine whether to work with legislators to push for the following: creation of a Department of Community Supervision; requiring reports from probation; or merely a commission to study the creation of a Department of Community Supervision.”

The memo went on to read, "If these sentencing reform amendments were pushed and failed, the House would be on record opposing sentencing reform and it would make it more difficult to fight for sentencing reform in conference committee. The sentencing reform advocates … are also working to make sure that these amendments don't get filed. The advocates want to wait for a more favorable opportunity and until they can secure votes before pushing for sentencing reform.”