New from CommonWealth Beacon DEBATE: CommonWealth Beacon hosted a Question 3 debate on Tuesday night between Danielle Allen, a Harvard University professor who founded the group advancing the ballot initiative, […]
CommonWealth Beacon staff
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Question 3 debate highlights disagreements over fixing the lack of competition in Mass. elections
New from CommonWealth Beacon CODCAST: Telehealth providers can mail abortion pills to patients living in states where abortion is illegal. In Massachusetts, such providers are shielded from legal action by […]
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The Download: Why 3 red states are suing Mass. over abortion
New from CommonWealth Beacon GASSED UP: The top executive at Eversource doesn’t sound too concerned with the rhetoric coming from the corner office, telling attendees at an industry conference he […]
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The Download: Eversource CEO tells industry conference he expects Healey to turn down the ‘volume’ on utility criticism post-election
New from CommonWealth Beacon DEBATE: Gov. Maura Healey and GOP challenger Mike Minogue sparred in their debate Thursday night over many issues, but Healey is ultimately banking on a simple […]
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The Download: Chelsea considering eliminating parking minimums to promote housing production
New from CommonWealth Beacon ENERGY LIMBO: A political backlash to Mass Save — a program that provides low or no-cost energy efficiency upgrades to homes and businesses around the state […]
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The Download: Future of Mass Save in limbo as Legislature stalls on energy bill
New from CommonWealth Beacon COURTS: The state’s highest court is now picking apart a hairy collision course that has emerged between the state’s system of justice and federal immigration enforcement […]
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The Download: Three criminal cases involving ICE hit the Supreme Judicial Court
New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW PODCAST: Mike Minogue, the Republican mega-donor and candidate for governor who spent 19 years as CEO of Abiomed, joined hosts John McDonough of the Harvard […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Healey asks Trump administration to speed up review of planned gas expansion in latest sign of shifting energy politics
New from CommonWealth Beacon BALLOT QUESTIONS: A dive into the crosstabs of a new CommonWealth Beacon poll reveals a striking divide between voters and party leaders on two of the […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: Republican voters split with party on gun law; Dems want more access to public records from Democrat-dominated offices
New from CommonWealth Beacon BLAME GAME: Massachusetts voters mostly blame President Donald Trump and utility companies for the energy affordability crisis enveloping the state. Jordan Wolman digs into new polling. […]
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The Download: Mass. voters hold Trump, utilities most responsible for high energy costs, new poll finds
New from CommonWealth Beacon AUDIT SUPPORT: A new CommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling Group survey finds 72 percent of voters back the law empowering the state auditor to examine the Legislature — […]
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The Download: Poll shows voters on track to retain legal cannabis and 2024 gun law
New from CommonWealth Beacon HEALEY POLL: Gov. Maura Healey is cruising in her reelection bid against Republican challenger Mike Minogue, according to a new CommonWealth Beacon/MassINC Polling Group survey that […]
Posted inThe Download
The Download: ‘A disbelief that the disparity could be so wide’
New from CommonWealth Beacon FIRING LINE: A legal challenge before the state’s highest court targets the “suitability” part of the state’s firearm licensing statue, which gun rights advocates say allows […]
Posted inThe Codcast
‘A disbelief that the disparity could be so wide’
In 2015, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found that white households in Boston had a median wealth of $247,500, while Black households had a median wealth of close to $0. That was more than ten years ago.
Now, the Boston Fed has released a new report examining the wealth gap across Massachusetts. Have things improved? What trends do we see in the new report? And how has the ongoing affordability crisis affected wealth disparities?
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The Download: The next Quabbin fight is already here
New from CommonWealth Beacon ELECTIONS: As November’s general election approaches, Gateway Cities are grappling with how to improve voter turnout rates that have remained stubbornly lower than the state average, […]
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The Download: ‘A self-fulfilling cycle’: Why Gateway Cities consistently have lower voter turnout
New from CommonWealth Beacon AFFORDABILITY WOES: Heading into an election season in which “affordability” is the defining issue, a majority of Bay Staters agree that Massachusetts is a better place […]
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The Download: Most residents think Massachusetts is a great place to live, and also unaffordable
New from CommonWealth Beacon UNEMPLOYMENT WOES: Problems within the state’s unemployment assistance system predated the upheaval that CommonWealth Beacon documented this year, according to a new report from Auditor Diana […]
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The Download: Where organized labor hits the ballot
New from CommonWealth Beacon SJC SETTLES IT: The state’s highest court, which already upheld the sweeping and controversial MBTA Communities multifamily housing law last year, waved away the second challenge […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Where organized labor hits the ballot
Organized labor has been out in force on ballot measures — recently literally trying to secure bargaining power through the ballot — and that means manpower, mobilization, and money funneling toward a set of policy measures that the Legislature has waved away. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith looks at unions and direct democracy with two guests.
Nick Juravich, associate professor of history and labor studies and associate director of the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston, breaks down where we sit in the history of unions and ballot efforts. Then Chrissy Lynch, head of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, explains how the unions themselves pick their targets.
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The Download: Tenant right to purchase bill closer than ever on Beacon Hill
New from CommonWealth Beacon ON THE MARKET: Fall River’s waterfront is heading toward a major transformation, landing it in the middle of a debate over development and market-rate housing that […]
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The Download: On Fall River’s waterfront, the debate over market-rate housing unfolds
New from CommonWealth Beacon POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: The Massachusetts Teachers Association is pushing hard against a ballot measure to repeal the state’s gun law, campaign finance quirks offer a misleading picture […]
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The Download: Political Notebook: Teachers vs. Smith & Wesson
New from CommonWealth Beacon UNDERSTANDING THE BALLOT: Your ballot will be jam-packed, and CommonWealth Beacon is here to help. We’ve launched a voter guide to the nine ballot questions stretching […]
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The Download: The 9 Massachusetts ballot questions, explained
The 9 Massachusetts ballot questions, explained September 15, 2026 In less than two months, Massachusetts voters will go to the polls not only to elect a governor, a senator, nine […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Artificial intelligence enthusiasm and energy needs clash on Healey’s docket
Gov. Maura Healey is all-in on artificial intelligence, but she’s also trying to get a handle on soaring energy costs and a growing backlash to the very structures supporting the AI boom — data centers. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Jordan Wolman discuss the governor’s new executive order trying to make data centers greener and more responsive to community feedback, and the paradox of pushing for expanded AI usage as communities revolt against its infrastructure.
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Dueling lawsuits emerge in hydropower saga and four more stories: The Saturday Send
The Saturday Send Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed. This week, dueling lawsuits were filed between Massachusetts’s […]