Seems even some Democrats are starting to push back against President Barack Obama's attempt to rewrite federal law to allow millions of more workers to qualify for overtime payments.
Last week Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced a bill designed to delay implementation of a new Department of Labor rule promoted by the president, citing concern that imposing the measure all at once will unduly burden business.
Gov. Charlie Baker aired his thoughts Sunday on balancing the state budget, racial divisions, police body cams, the performance of the MBTA, and the role of hydropower in the state's energy mix. Baker was the guest on "On the Record," the Sunday morning political program hosted by Ed Harding and Janet Wu on WCVB. Here's a rundown:
— ON THE STATE BUDGET, AND VETO OVERRIDES: Democratic legislative leaders are gearing up to add spending back to the state budget but Baker said he vetoed $256 million because the Legislature's $39.15 billion spending bill underfunds accounts by about $250 million. The underfunded accounts include public counsel for indigent defendants, emergency assistance to the homeless, and winter road-clearing, Baker said, predicting bills "we think we're going to have to pay for no matter what between now and the end of the year." Baker said he "felt bad about" vetoing certain spending. "There's a lot of very worthwhile stuff that was on that veto list but we have to have a balanced budget," he said. The governor described a "tremendous amount of scrambling" to deal with a $480 million fiscal 2016 revenue shortfall and said he was "very nervous" about a similar situation occurring in the fiscal year that began on July 1. Defending his veto decisions, he said, "We can't have another year where we're just chasing the revenue number all year long. It creates enormous instability for everyone." Highlighting a major difference of opinion with the governor, House Speaker Robert DeLeo last week suggested the Legislature could override all of Baker's vetoes and the state budget would still be balanced. House leaders are still determining which veto overrides to initiate.
