Boston Globe
Below is an excerpt from a June 30 article published by the Boston Globe.
State lawmakers rejected a proposal on Thursday that would have raised maximum fines on troubled nursing homes from $50 a day to $10,000, prompting questions from elder advocates about the influence of industry lobbyists.
Records from the secretary of state show that the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, the industry trade group, has paid two Boston firms a total of $635,000 since 2011 to lobby lawmakers on nursing home issues. One of those firms, Travaglini, Eisenberg & Kiley, founded by former Massachusetts Senate president Robert E. Travaglini, received most of that money, $435,000.
Neither the trade group nor Travaglini returned calls seeking comment on the nursing home fines.
The proposal that would have raised fines also dictated that money collected from the higher fines be used to establish a trust fund dedicated to improving nursing homes. The higher fines were stripped from the state budget lawmakers approved Thursday.
Still, legislators left intact language establishing the trust fund, even though there will be no money to support it.
Read more at the Boston Globe.
