Mass. inspector general faults sheriffs for using private bank accounts
Investigators found that sheriffs spent tens of millions of dollars outside state accounting platform
Punctuating a months-long political feud, Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said lawmakers, the executive branch, and sheriffs alike need to make changes to leave behind the “chaos” that consumed budgeting at the county law enforcement offices.
The state’s 2006 health care law was the model for the Affordable Care Act. What is its legacy?
HEALTH CARE AT 20
20TH ANNIVERSARY
The state’s landmark health care reform law at 20
In April 2006, Gov. Mitt Romney signed landmark legislation that aimed to make Massachusetts the first state in the country with universal or near-universal health care coverage for all residents. “An Act Providing Access to Affordable, Quality, Accountable Health Care,” often known as Romneycare or by the shorthand Chapter 58 (its designation in that year’s laws), was a pathbreaking effort to address the persistent coverage gap in US health care.
THE CODCAST
Lessons from Boston on Mass. school segregation lawsuit
Massachusetts has been busing students between neighborhoods and school districts for 60 years, but segregation within the school system persists – and in some places it’s actually gotten worse over recent decades. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Dan O’Brien, professor of public policy and urban affairs and director of the Boston Area Research Initiative at Northeastern University, about a new lawsuit brought against the state. Students and civil rights organizations want the state to step in to address segregation across school districts, and Boston’s long and fraught history of attempted desegregation may offer some lessons.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Commonwealth in depth
It’s hard work making it in the middle class
Massachusetts is the richest state in the nation. So why does the American dream seem to be slipping away, especially for the next generation?
BY THE NUMBERS
In Mass., the middle class is holding on, but financial anxiety continues to climb
A new poll finds that most residents say their quality of life is good, but many expect to be worse off next year
From the Archives
Rooting for the home team
Minor-league baseball is making fans across the Commonwealth
