A proposal to eliminate the state’s income tax is back on the ballot this year, after losing 40 percent to 48 percent, with 12 percent of voters blanking on the […]
Robert David Sullivan
Posted inCriminal Justice
The price of prisons
What part of state government is growing faster than education or Medicaid? Nationwide, spending on correctional facilities jumped by 9.2 percent in fiscal 2006, second only to transportation, according to […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Play money
During tough fiscal times, arts and sports programs are often the first to get cut from municipal budgets. So it’s not a big surprise that the “culture and recreation” category, […]
Posted inEconomy
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster FORECLOSURE CRISIS FLOODS DOUBLE-DECKERSThe current foreclosure wave in Massachusetts has knocked down a disproportionate number of multifamily homes, at least compared with the housing market crash […]
Posted inEconomy, Education
Fewer high school grads in jobs pipeline
INTRO TEXT Massachusetts is facing a serious brain drain. Over the next 15 years, forecasters expect the state’s school-age population to shrink and the number of high school graduates to […]
Posted inEducation
Raising the bar
By most measures, K-12 public education in Massachusetts is in better shape than in other states. We can boast higher scores on standardized tests, more spending per student, and fewer […]
Posted inEducation
Prep schools
The Bay State’s public colleges and universities attract a sizeable number of students from Boston, but they seem to be more valued as a higher-ed option in other parts of […]
Posted inTransportation
Statistically Significant
BUSES TAKE A HEAVY TOLL ON THE T Passenger fares accounted for only 29 percent of operating expenses on the MBTA during 2006, according to new data from the Federal […]
Posted inPolitics
Needs improvement
Here’s one report card that Massachusetts might want to hide: Governing magazine and the Pew Center on the States gave the state a “C” in their Grading the States report, […]
Posted inEconomy
Job seekers
UPDATE: The Bay State’s unemployment rate over the 2009 calendar year was 8.4 percent, far above the 4.5 percent that we found worrying in 2007. See the map below for […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Uncategorized
Easy street
zero tolerance is always a favorite concept in American politics, and publicity-hungry politicians are still finding plenty of things they want to ban: transfats, people without health insurance, violent video […]
Posted inEconomy
House hikes
UPDATE: Get town-level data on average property-tax bills for single-family households in 2000 and 2009 as an Excel spreadsheet or PDF. Note that the state’s Division of Local services does not […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Generation slap
mushy-middle political columnists often despair over the “blame game” that has supposedly poisoned American politics. And when a questionable use of taxpayer money appears on the front page of the […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster VOTING AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT According to a recent article in Scientific American, whether or not you vote may be “hardwired” in your genetic […]
Posted inEconomy
Mass. in the middle
at the end of 2007, “free-market economists” Stephen Moore and Arthur Laffer—most famous for the “Laffer Curve” illustrating the idea that higher tax rates can actually bring in less revenue—touted […]
Posted inPolitics
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster The Web site LegiStorm reports that Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank of Newton has logged more trips paid for by private sponsors (84) than any other member […]
Posted inEconomy
Pension pinching
massachusetts is not quite the public pension paradise that it’s often made out to be. In fiscal 2005, we ranked 15th in the total amount of paid benefits divided by […]
Posted inEconomy
Protection money
nothing is certain in life but death and taxes, and the one thing almost everyone thinks taxes should be used for is saving us from early deaths. Police and fire […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
America’s 10 political regions redefined
UPDATE: November 2008 results. Also see my pre-election preview in America magazine. UPDATE: See charts on the voting history of each of the regions from 1948 through 2004 here. There […]
Posted inEconomy
Not-so-prime spots
UPDATE: For more recent foreclosure data, go to the Head Count in our Winter 2009 issue.home foreclosures in Massachusetts continued to climb this spring—up 40 percent in May compared with […]
Posted inHealth Care
Statistically Significant
Illustrations by Travis Foster Maybe it’s a subliminal reminder to do well in school, but girls’ names ending in “a” are all the rage in Massachusetts. According to the Social […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Uncategorized
Brainstorms
we’re still in a state of invention, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Massachusetts ranked fourth in the total number of patents granted last year, outranked only by […]