Massachusetts has been known as an environmentally friendly state–often at the expense of the business community. But how much does the Commonwealth actually spend on environmental programs compared to the rest of the country? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state and its cities and towns together spent about $270 per capita on environmental […]
CommonWealth Staff
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Labor Unions and Labor Law
Massachusetts is more heavily unionized than the national average, with 15.9 percent of those employed belonging to a union. Yet despite the state’s pro-labor reputation, it ranks behind 17 other states–including New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut–in union membership. In every state, there are more employees represented by unions – 17.4 percent in Massachusetts–than there […]
Posted inPolitics
Civic Culture and Good Government
Massachusetts is a state high in civic participation and government performance, according to a measure devised by two academic researchers. Tom W. Rice of Iowa State University and Alexander F. Sumberg of the University of Vermont have come up with a “civic culture index” that ranks Massachusetts as the second most civic state in the […]
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Slim DiNuccios Poll
No pollster on the Massachusetts scene today has the ability to get under the skin of the state’s electorate in the way Edwin “Slim” DiNuccio does. Part seer, part savant, DiNuccio brings a rare perspicacity to the field of public opinion research. DiNuccio’s company–KFC/Public Opinion Research and Communications Dynamics, Inc.–looms especially large during election seasons. […]
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Homeownership Rates
The nation is in the midst of a home-buying boom, pushing homeownership rates across the country to record highs. After a small decline in the mid- to late-1980s, the percentage of U.S. households who own a home rose to an unprecedented 65.7 percent last year. Massachusetts has seen the same trend. Between 1990 and 1997, […]
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The Button Lady
The stuffed elephant hat gets your attention, but it’s the dozens of campaign buttons that pinpoint Jeanne Matatall as a true-blue Republican. President Nixon–Now More Than Ever… Vote Volpe for Victory… Richardson Cares About People… Matatall, 62, started voting Republican around 1960 and has been collecting Republican memorabilia ever since. She estimates she has 600 […]
Posted inPolitics
Voter Turnout
Judging from election statistics in 1986, 1990, and 1994, the Bay State is only fair-to-middling in getting voters to the polls in non-presidential years. The true paragons of civic virtue are Minnesota and South Dakota, which along with Montana, Oregon, Alaska, Maine, and Vermont, rank ahead of Massachusetts in all three tables below. (Yet to […]
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Journal of the House
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE Thursday, April 31, 1998 Met according to adjournment, at eleven o’clock A.M. in a Full Formal Session. Prayer was offered by the Guest Reverend Scarlet Byrd-Tanager of the First Unitarian Church of Salem, as follows: Oh God, Yahweh, Allah, Buddha, Divine Spirit, Great Whatever — shine your […]
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Term Limits and Turnover
Massachusetts is above the national average in turnover among state Senators, but is lower than average in the House. A term limits law was approved by the voters in 1994 but was thrown out by the Supreme Judicial Court last July. Though 21 states have passed term limit laws, there are only 18 with term […]
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Cost of Doing Business
Massachusetts has become, in some ways, a more affordable place to do business, according to research by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. In 1993, when MTF released its first report on business costs, the state ranked near the top in six key categories: health care costs, manufacturing wages, workers’ compensation insurance rates, unemployment compensation rates, corporate […]