Regan has now moved into the policy arena, signing on with people who are clashing with Wu, such as the North End restaurateurs angry over a ban on outdoor dining.
Gintautas Dumcius
Posted inState Government
After years of scandals, have the State Police turned a corner?
Under the State House’s golden dome, there’s been little interest over the years among legislators to take stock of the theft of public funds and abuse of public trust, and whether the agency has been truly reformed.
Posted inGovernment
Moody’s, with caveat, says Boston in ‘healthy’ fiscal position
The Moody’s analysis affirms the triple-A bond rating for the city, the top credit rating available. But Moody’s also warned the effects of remote work are starting to hit some office property types.
Posted inTransportation
Political Notebook: Current and former transit chiefs on comeback trail
We live and work in communities that are just crippled by the congestion on the roads,” said Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “It is actually getting worse. People talk a lot about it. Is this a perception thing? No. It’s actually getting worse. And May has been one of the worst months for congestion in a very long time.”
Posted inState Government
Lawmaker who sent out phony mailer resigns job at Cape association
First-term state Rep. Chris Flanagan last week stepped down from his job as executive officer of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod, the group said in a press release.
Posted inBy The Numbers
New poll finds rise in voters who see Mass. on wrong track
Forty-eight percent said the state is heading in the right direction, down from 59 percent in a similar poll done for the business group a year ago. Thirty-nine percent say the state is on the wrong track, up from 29 percent.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: The Dan Rea primary | Satanists bedeviling Boston City Hall
Elizabeth Warren’s two Republican challengers go on the radio, while federal judges suggest Satanists bedeviling Boston City Hall might have a point.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Wu gets high marks from voters in think tank’s survey
The survey, conducted for the group by national pollster John Della Volpe, asked about Wu’s job performance, among other topics. Fifty-seven percent of registered voters believe she is doing a good job, while 35 percent rate her negatively.
Posted inState Government
Political Notebook: Healey’s no-new-taxes talk | Rollins pay adjustment | Who is Jeanne Louise?
Asked by reporters afterwards about a timeframe for the no-taxes talk, Gov. Healey said, “That’s how I see it now and for the foreseeable future. Yeah, no taxes. I’ve been focused on trying to lower taxes.”
Posted inPolitics
GOP seeks challenger to Rep. Flanagan after campaign finance violations
If someone is able to garner 150 votes and they accept the Republican nomination, they can appear on the November ballot with Flanagan.
Posted inPolitics
Cape lawmaker repeatedly lied to state regulators investigating his 2022 campaign
State Rep. Chris Flanagan paid thousands of dollars in fines to settle a case with state regulators involving a deceptive campaign mailing sent on his behalf after obstructing their probe for months.
Posted inTransportation
Political notebook: Tibbits-Nutt silence | cannabis chief resurfaces | Southie rep race
The former head of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation told the MBTA board of directors on Thursday that a political coalition is needed to tackle the T’s problems, but the natural leader of such an effort, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, who stirred controversy with recent comments about ways to raise revenue, was conspicuously silent during the meeting.
Posted inPolitics
Calling Warren too partisan, Cain launches US Senate campaign
“There’s essentially a market opportunity here to provide new thinking, new perspective, and new energy in the United States Senate,” Cain said.
Posted inPolitics
The shadowy think tank fighting Boston City Hall
The nonprofit’s refusal to make public its sources of funding – coupled with the not altogether happy history one of its founders shares with Mayor Wu – has prompted whispers of grudge-settling and rumors of who could be behind the effort.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Worcester envy turns to relief | Another Mariano missile | Doughty off to Argentina
Fifteen years ago, Worcester looked at Boston with jealousy as cranes dotted the capital city’s skyline, adding new office towers. But now, with more and more people working from home post-pandemic, jealousy has given way to relief.
Posted inBallot Questions
Audit-the-Legislature ballot effort sees slim majority support
A slim majority of Massachusetts residents support a potential ballot question that would grant state Auditor Diana DiZoglio the power to probe the inner workings of her former colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature, according to a CommonWeath Beacon/GBH News poll.
Posted inHousing
MBTA Communities panel splits over state vs. local control
“I think of the folks who were in the Mass. Legislature more than 100 years ago, who said we’re going to go out and we’re going to create the Quabbin Reservoir and flood four towns, and make sure that we had enough water for the Boston metro area,” he said. “That was a hard decision… They made a decision about what they thought was best for the Commonwealth. And so did we.”
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Facebook frenemies, West End ghosts, missing the Trump train
When it comes to many politicians and social media apps like Facebook, there’s a give and take: They take shots at the tech behemoth, and they also give the company money.
Posted inEconomy
Boston’s effort to head off an ‘urban doom loop,’ explained
Boston has seen office vacancy rates spike since the pandemic. That is leading to lowered assessed values for buildings. With fears that lowered tax payments could create budget woes, Mayor Michelle Wu wants authority to raise commercial tax rates as a potential fix.
Posted inState Government
On Everett soccer stadium, Boston says it wants a conversation
As state lawmakers weigh whether to fast track an Everett soccer stadium on the Mystic River, Boston officials across the waterway are casting a wary eye, raising concerns about congestion that the venue, with little to no parking, could bring to an area just off I-93 on the northern edge of the city.
Posted inPolitics
Quincy’s Ian Cain forms campaign committee to challenge Elizabeth Warren
Ian Cain, the Quincy City Council president and a newly registered Republican, formed a campaign committee to take on US Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Posted inHousing
Political Notebook: MBTA panel clash | A fare deal | Call him Charlie
Tension over the MBTA Communities Law was on display Wednesday night at a CommonWealth Beacon panel in Quincy as a state legislator who voted for the law – and feels it did not go far enough – clashed with a city council president who expressed reservations with the top-down nature of the state telling cities and towns what to do.
Posted inBallot Questions
Lawmakers, academics call DiZoglio ballot question a ‘power grab’
DiZoglio’s supporters come from both the right and left ends of the political spectrum, agreeing with her argument that the Legislature is one of the most opaque operating in the country.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Mariano’s blunt urinalysis of Steward
We may be in an era of “Mariano missiles.” House Speaker Ron Mariano, a former schoolteacher from Quincy, can be similarly blunt, or teasing, in his remarks, as he was while speaking at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
