Port cities try to weather shifting winds
Salem and New Bedford were banking on the wind industry to create jobs. But inflation, supply issues, and the Trump administration have scrambled their plans.
Salem and New Bedford both received millions from the state to develop the sites of retired fossil fuel power plants into terminals that would serve as logistics and operations centers for the construction of offshore wind. But wind projects have long been struggling to get off the ground.
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
CommonWealth Beacon turns 30
Dave Denison was the first editor of CommonWealth magazine and oversaw the publication of its first issue 30 years ago, in the spring of 1996. Although much has changed about the country, the state, and the organization since the 1990s, Denison and current editor Laura Colarusso discuss the enduring mission of creating a more transparent political system for the common good.
Commonwealth in depth
‘They’re making a huge bet’: Rent control referendum splits progressives
A sweeping proposal to bring back caps on rent has generated hand-wringing, infighting, and one of the cycle’s most fascinating political debates
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
