Get Out Your Shocked Faces...

Lobbyist’s job was no-show, state says

Lobbyist Richard W. McDonough was making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, but according to the state’s inspector general, he wanted more.

So McDonough arranged for a client to give him a no-show, no-work job on a public payroll, allowing him to get medical benefits and a state pension he was not entitled to, said Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan.

It sounds as though this guy turned his lobbying position into a quasi-double dip - while he didn't receive two paychecks, he used his lobbying efforts to appear as though a public employee, making him eligible for a state pension. He also gets - big surprise here - health benefits not available to private employees. You know, the same health benefits that Joe Sixpack has to pay for - and prove he has - in order to not get docked by the state under the RomneyCare bill...

This begs an obvious question: How many more of these "no show" jobs are there still undiscovered in Massachusetts? They "found" McDonough - only after three years of collecting, and I'd wager only because he was convicted alongside Sal DiMasi. How many more lobbyists are "employees" at these "Education Collaboratives" and other such consortiums around the state? How much is this costing the state in pension money, health benefits, and survivor benefits - McDonough was eligible for a higher pension but opted for the plan that continued to pay his wife; if she's significantly younger than him it's possible the taxpayers of MA could be on the hook for decades.

Why do such "Collaboratives" even exist? It appears they operate on little scrutiny, if such "phantom" employees can exist - it's scary to think that all it takes is a single call to get someone "employed" by such a place so they can be a state employee. It's a system rife for abuse - and according to the lawyer for McDonough, it appears it may even be legal. In this day and age, where tax overrides and budget shortfalls are the norm rather than the exception, it seems as though we should be doing all we can to stop these sorts of situations.

Massachusetts: You're more likely to get a cushy no-show job here.

That is all.