According to the Assoc. Press: A source says the U.S. Department of Education has picked Delaware and Tennessee for the first round of its “Race to the Top” funds. Massachusetts was one of the finalists The state however wasn’t picked this time

Back In January I wrote about the House and Buffalo Bob DeLeo going on a 6 week vacation before voting on this Bill. Gov. Patrick wanted to make the House come back to work but Deleo insisted that they could finish in time. If You recall they just barely made it.
(here is a reprint of the Sun article)
Working late into the night to finalize the bill, lawmakers missed the 8 p.m. deadline to file the final legislation and make it eligible for a vote today. Leaders still expect to push for a vote, but will need two-thirds in both the House and Senate to suspend rules and act. The rush is due in part to the looming deadline next Tuesday for the state’s application for up to $250 million in federal funding from President Obama’s Race to the Top fund

Please keep in mind that both the House & Senate adjourned their formal session November 18th 2009 with Six weeks or so left in the calendar year. The Senate had already approved their version of this bill. The House if they had stayed in session could have taken to debate the merits of this bill and not have to jam it through and maybe the State could have gotten submitted it earlier and in a better presentation and received some of the grants. But instead we were one of the last to apply. Did the House cost us the $$$? Who knows but the expression the early bird gets the worm comes to mind. Why did the HOUSE HAVE TO HAVE 6 WEEKS OFF?

So as the Schools throughout the State face more budget cuts and lay-off remember to THANK your House Speaker and his colleagues who went on their Christmas break while our kids and teachers stayed in School only to lose out because of them not doing their job. AGAIN if I am a candidate for Representative anywhere in MA. I’m beating up Bob DeLeo and his leadership team and talking about replacing this speaker.

Federal officials will collect a second round of applications for the highly selective grant program in June. The House and Senate end their formal session in JULY !

The money is part of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus law, which provided an unprecedented $100 billion for schools.

With the news that Sen. Panagiotakos is not running for re-election, the question that needs now to be addressed is WHO out of the local delegation is going to pick up the slack and become the leader delivering for Lowell.

 Steve has left a huge void and the fact that the 3 Representatives backed the loser in the House Speakers race makes it all the more challenging for Lowell. To go from having the Chairman of Ways and Means as your Senator to relying on three Representatives who aren’t in the favor of the House Speaker weakens Lowell tremendously.

If not for Senator Panagiotakos would Lowell still have a Registry of Motor Vehicle?

Tom Golden has been in the House since 1995 –  Sixteen  years  and is not even Chair of a Major committee. Vice-Chair – Joint Committee on Election Laws

Kevin Murphy has been in the House for Fourteen Years and presently isn’t a Chair or Vice-Chair

Dave Nangle who has been in the House for Twelve years  isn’t a Chair or Vice-Chair

It seems that the three have not risen through the ranks as the Senator did. Is it because  in  Kevin Murphy’s case he only works at this part-time and is to busy with his law Practice ?

Is it a lack of drive as some have  criticized Golden and  Nangle for?  

Have all three been content to ride the coattails of the Senator and just gone along without having to rise up the ranks knowing that Steve would lead the way and they would be supporting players?

This is a critical election for all three of the Lowell State Representatives. It will be the first time that they have had to be the main deliverer of funds and projects for the city on their own without a large presence in the Senate.

If Lowell gets slighted because we no longer have the clout of the Ways and Means Chairman then the races in 2012 will not only be about redistricting but will be with their job performance and delivery ability.