Time for a bone-afide pension fund

Healthcare workers continue to suffer assaults and other incidents of workplace violence. The Massachusetts Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Division of 1199SEIU, the Massachusetts Emergency Nursing Association and the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians have come together to support meaningful, measurable and enforceable legislation addressing workplace violence in our healthcare facilities. Pass H.4767.

State and local government employees get pensions and health insurance when they retire. Retired police dogs, too, could be in line for benefits under a new state law.

The $63 billion state budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed without fanfare last week creates a Retired Police Dog Care Fund. Money in the fund would support grants to nonprofits that provide medical services and care to retired police dogs.

And that care gets expensive, says James LaMonte. LaMonte's K9 PTSD Research Center, a Seekonk nonprofit, is currently caring for a dozen former working dogs. It's an endeavor that LaMonte says has put him in debt at times, but is worth it to help dogs who can’t be rehomed and have few alternatives.

"I sold my car, I sold my lawnmower, I sold power equipment, I sold furniture,” LaMonte said. “I sold everything I could possibly sell just to put food in their bellies and medicine in their veins."

The fund made its way into this year’s budget through an amendment from Taunton Republican Sen. Kelly Dooner. The amendment — like similar standalone legislation filed by Rep. Steven Xiarhos — was named Dakota’s Law, after a Newton police dog.

Dakota, Dooner said during Senate budget debate, developed canine post-traumatic stress disorder after working with law enforcement in the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The year after the marathon attacks, Dakota escaped from his pen and bit a child, ending his time with Newton PD.

Dakota ended up with LaMonte in 2019 when one of his handlers retired. As LaMonte began to care for the dog at his training center, he noticed Dakota seemed fearful, often spinning around and barking. Working with researchers, LaMonte pivoted his work to focus on canine PTSD.

LaMonte took care of Dakota, who he remembers as “just an amazing canine,” until Dakota’s death in 2022 and chronicled his recovery in a documentary, “Healing Dakota.” LaMonte said he put together a proposal for the retired police dog fund six weeks after Dakota’s death and later sent it to Xiarhos. Xiarhos has championed police dog legislation before — he was a key player behind Nero’s Law, signed in 2022, which allows first responders to treat injured police dogs and transport them by ambulance.

The new state budget doesn’t deposit money into the freshly created fund for retired police dogs. In that sense, it’s a significantly underfunded pension, like many designed for humans. The budget does include language allowing the fund to receive gifts, grants, and donations — which means that, unlike human retirees, the K9s could potentially get their pensions without taxpayers chipping in.

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HAPPENING TODAY

10:00 | Commission on PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) for state-owned land hosts the first of its listening sessions, for residents and stakeholders to share feedback on how the state compensates municipalities for tax-exempt, state-owned property | Marion Music Hall | Register

10:20 | Gov. Healey rides the MBTA ferry with Lt. Gov. Driscoll, Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Eng, and House Ways and Means Chair Michlewitz from Central Wharf to Commonwealth Pier, where they will hold a ribbon cutting and press conference to celebrate the new Harbor Loop ferry service. Ferry leaves at 10:20 a.m., ribbon cutting begins at 10:35 a.m. Media RSVP to [email protected] to cover the ferry ride | Commonwealth Pier Ferry Terminal, 200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston

11:00 | Middlesex DA candidate David Solet officially launches his campaign. Solet, former chief of the office's Cold Case Homicide Unit, is challenging incumbent Marian Ryan, who has been in office since 2014 | Riverside Press Park at 2 Blackstone St., Cambridge

12:00 | Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve holds a press conference on election integrity | State House steps

1:00 | Local Government Advisory Commission meets. Agenda includes update from the Executive Office for Administration and Finance on revenue collections and the $63.4 billion state budget, which Gov. Healey signed Thursday without vetoing a dollar. The Healey administration will also discuss its "data center framework" | Room 157 | Zoom

3:30 | Gov. Healey welcomes representatives from Glasgow who have traveled from Scotland with a commemorative traffic cone that gained social media fame as a symbol of the Tartan Army’s takeover of Boston during the World Cup. Boston Mayor Wu and Massport CEO Davey join | Terminal E, Departure Level, Hall of Flags, pre-security, Logan International Airport, East Boston

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FROM BEACON HILL

IT’S (TOO) LIT: The state Senate passed legislation last week setting new standards for outdoor lights that illuminate roads, parking lots and government buildings, in a bid to curb light pollution and keep the night sky dark. The House has approved similar language, too, leaving supporters hopeful after decades of advocacy. | Brookline.News

CASH IN HANDS: An omnibus anti-poverty bill that would boost various types of cash benefits, among many other poliices, cleared committee in the waning weeks of the legislative session. | State House News Service

NEWS NEXT DOOR

MONITORING THE MONITORS: Officials in New Bedford are questioning the federal government's focus on elections in their city, after the Department of Justice asked for a list of all registered voters and announced plans to send election monitors for the Sept. 1 primary. State Rep. Antonio Cabral said he sees it as "nothing less than voter intimidation and voter suppression." | New Bedford Light

GRUDGE MATCH?: Boston Mayor Wu says it's not revenge that's motivated her to hit the campaign trail to back Latoya Gayle and Daniel Lander, Democratic primary challengers to incumbent state senators who blocked her property tax proposal. Insiders speculate at her endgame. | WBUR

DATA WARS: Westfield city councilors passed a one-year moratorium on future data centers amid community backlash to Servistar Realties' $4 billion project that would become New England's largest data center. Meanwhile, data center operator Markley and Lowell officials agreed to dismiss a lawsuit over the Mill City's moratorium. | Boston Globe and The Sun

STRIKE WATCH: Brigham and Women’s nurses are back at work after their strike and lockout, with no breakthrough on contract talks. Striking Mass General Brigham home care clinicians plan to pack up their picket line after a final rally this afternoon. | CBS Boston

BEACHED: Some North Shore beaches, reopened after last month’s sewage leak, still seem emptier than usual, and local businesses are feeling the impact. | NBC10 Boston

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