The most important legislators involved in reforming health care are, naturally, Senate president Robert E. Travaglini and Speaker of the House Salvatore F. DiMasi, both of Boston. In fact, some say that one problem with the negotiations is that both men are too personally involved — and too personally antagonistic toward each other.
The House and DiMasi want to cover almost everybody in the state and pay for it by taxing companies that don’t fully cover their own employees. Travaglini and the Senate want a more modest plan, without any tax on businesses.
Their rival visions were supposed to be ironed out in conference and turned into one bill by a committee created last fall and made up of six legislators: Senators Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), and Brian Lees (R-East Longmeadow); and Representatives Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy), Patricia Walrath (D-Stow), and Robert Hargraves (R-Groton).
Moore and Mariano are considered the key players; not coincidentally, both were among the top receivers of contributions from lobbyists, political-action committees (PACs), and unions last year, according to a Phoenix review of campaign-finance disclosures.
Despite severe limits — registered lobbyists can give only $200 to a candidate per year; PACs and unions, $500 — Moore took in more than $25,000 from those groups (via individuals). This was several times more than most senators. Mariano scored about $20,000 from them, which blows away most state representatives.
Murray, the powerful chair of Ways and Means, took in some $43,000 from PACs, unions, and lobbyists in 2005. This makes her second among senators, trailing only Travaglini himself. Lees, the top-ranking Republican, took in just more than $20,000 from those contributors. Hargraves and Walrath, on the other hand, took virtually no money from lobbyists and interest groups.
Other important legislators on the bill include Representative Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), Representative Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham), and Senator Andrea Nuciforo (D-Pittsfield). They, too, have received plenty of lobbyist and special-interest contributions.
Senator Edward Kennedy has helped push the process, and Mitt Romney, though largely irrelevant — he can and would be overridden if he dared veto — has helped by encouraging passage of the bill in his State of the Commonwealth speech. But at this point, the all the power rests with DiMasi and Travaglini.
