The Senate subcommittee hearing offers the auditor the opportunity to make the case that her demand of the Legislature is consistent with constitutional principles, but it seems that she has declined to take it.
Margaret Monsell
Posted inOpinion
On Beacon Hill, rules seem made to be twisted, if not broken
The pile-up that occurred at the end of the Legislature’s two-year session, with a frenzy of action extending well past the supposed deadline at midnight on July 31, shows that Beacon Hill’s rules seem made to be broken.
Posted inOpinion
Maybe the Globe should take a look at itself
“IT’S BEEN YEARS since legislative democracy truly flourished at the State House,” the Boston Globe editorial board sighed in exasperation a few weeks ago. For more than a decade, Globe […]
Posted inOpinion
Breaking down the Legislature’s ARPA veto options
WHEN THE LEGISLATURE ended its formal business for 2021 on the third Wednesday of November, as its rules require, it left behind one of the year’s biggest bills, a spending […]
Posted inOpinion
Incumbent-first law is unique to Massachusetts
AMONG THE WAYS that Massachusetts is unique among the 50 states: our state election ballots give top billing to incumbent state officeholders who are seeking re-election, with the other candidates […]
Posted inOpinion
Is it true no one wants to work anymore?
AMRHEINS RESTAURANT in South Boston recently posted a notice on its door advising would-be patrons that it was not to be held responsible for the sub-par dining experience awaiting them […]
Posted inOpinion
Will DOC’s insistence on jury trial hold up?
IN ADDITION to consuming most of the attention of the legislative and executive branches of government, the COVID-19 pandemic is also keeping the judicial branch busy. Twelve times in the […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Trump’s rise — and fall — carry a Massachusetts echo
HIS ELECTORAL TRIUMPH seemed like a fluke. Just to pursue our highest public office as a first-time candidate was improbable enough. To go on to win it was so flabbergasting as […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislature punted on emergency powers issue in 2009
“DON’T YOU HAVE to admit that Governor Baker has done a pretty darn good job here, especially when you compare him to the other states?” That was a question Supreme […]
Posted inOpinion
Why is Beacon Hill embracing sick bank bills?
A RECENT Commonwealth opinion piece by former state senator Ben Downing forcefully criticized “the glacial pace of change on Beacon Hill.” For the past three decades, Downing argued, our political leaders have […]
Posted inEconomy
Trump labor secretary spreads dangerous misinformation
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S secretary of labor, Eugene Scalia (yes, he’s the son of the late Supreme Court justice), has been on the road this month, touting the return of American workers […]
Posted inOpinion
Soldiers’ Home early retirements costly
IN A PRESS CONFERENCE last Wednesday on the scathing report by an independent investigator into the COVID-related deaths of 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, Gov. Charlie Baker lamented […]
Posted inOpinion
Healey UI attacks on Baker misplaced
As noted by Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi, Attorney General Maura Healey disapproves of the way the Baker administration is handling the spike in demand for unemployment insurance that’s coming […]
Posted inOpinion
Shining a light on dark money
“WE CANNOT GUARANTEE the sun will rise tomorrow, but we can guarantee our donors will never be disclosed.” So vowed Paul Craney, spokesperson and board member of the conservative Massachusetts […]
Posted inOpinion
Speaker’s PAC provides incumbent protection
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S DOMINANCE in the Massachusetts Legislature is a matter beyond dispute. Since 1978, when a constitutional amendment reduced the number of seats in the House of Representatives from […]
Posted inOpinion
Bump follows lead of DAs
STATE AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP has joined the debate over the legal status of the advisory sentencing guidelines that the state’s Sentencing Commission issued two years ago. Her audit of the […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker overreacting on vaping decision
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER says the courts are trying to restrict his authority to declare a public health emergency, but that claim seems like an overreaction. Baker’s emergency order banning the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker administration tying up medical parole program
EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO, Peter Cruz began serving a sentence of life imprisonment for his role as an accessory in the armed robbery and murder of a Holyoke store manager. This past […]
Posted inOpinion
Bill would overturn local gun ordinances
THE LEGISLATURE’S PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE will hear public testimony on firearms bills on Wednesday. In roughly equal numbers, the 68 bills before the Committee would either tighten gun control in […]
Posted inOpinion
Sentencing guidelines raise thorny legal issues for DAs, judges
“WE’RE SAYING to the judiciary: ‘Stay in your lane.’” That’s how Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey summed up the letter he sent in May to Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker undermining solitary confinement initiative
LAST YEAR’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM LAW tried to nudge the state toward a more humane policy on solitary confinement in the state’s prisons and jails by adding due process protections for […]
Posted inOpinion
The ‘wolf’ of solitary confinement
AFTER THE ENACTMENT of the Missouri Compromise in 1820 prolonged the impasse over slavery with little hope for a peaceful resolution, Thomas Jefferson offered this assessment of the nation’s quandary: […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. GOP’s unconvincing urban strategy
REPUBLICANS ACROSS THE NATION gleefully passed the popcorn this past weekend as they watched the spectacular fall of Ralph Northam, the Democratic governor of Virginia. Northam, who had defeated his […]
Posted inOpinion
EF grows on backs of cheap labor
A CAMBRIDGE COMPANY, Education First, is a big winner in the race for state business tax credits. The privately owned Swedish company now occupies two buildings (and, thanks to its […]