LAST WEEK, a survey by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation reported that Massachusetts residents are having trouble accessing mental health care when they need it. A new survey released […]
Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked for more than seven years at the Springfield Republican/MassLive.com where she covered state politics and elections, covering topics as diverse as the launch of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state's foster care system and the elections of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2018 award for Excellence in Legal Journalism and has had several stories win awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where she wrote about state government, City Hall and Barack Obama's 2008 New Hampshire primary campaign. Shira holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted inHealth Care
Friedman, Senate push transparency in pharmaceutical drug costs
MASSACHUSETTS HAS taken lots of steps to rein in runaway spending on healthcare, but one area has largely avoided state regulation: prescription drugs. “If we’re really going to have a […]
Posted inPolitics
Meet Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne
One in series looking at newly elected mayors across Massachusetts. FORMER SOMERVILLE mayor Joe Curtatone was known statewide for his harsh criticism of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, and his pithy soundbites […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker vetoes ‘unrealistic’ deadlines in supp budget
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Saturday signed into law a $101 million supplemental budget bill that puts money toward increasing COVID-19 testing, buying masks, doing vaccine outreach, and recapitalizing a COVID-related […]
Posted inUncategorized
Labor appeals board upholds Baker’s vaccine mandate
A STATE APPEALS board has ruled that Gov. Charlie Baker’s vaccine mandate for executive branch workers is legal, ending the final avenue of appeals for a challenge by the state police […]
Posted inHealth Care
Beacon Hill divided on soldiers’ home governance
THE DEVASTATING toll COVID-19 took on the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home made headlines, and was even discussed at a congressional hearing. But attempts at reforming the home are coming down to […]
Posted inEducation
Massachusetts will lift school mask mandate Feb. 28
MASSACHUSETTS WILL LIFT its mask mandate for schools on February 28, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Wednesday. “Given the extremely low risk to young people, the widespread availability and proven effectiveness […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Pervasive mold plagues state hospital for mentally ill detainees
PERVASIVE MOLD AND the potential for exposure to asbestos are endangering the health of individuals confined at Bridgewater State Hospital, according to a new report, leading to renewed calls to […]
Posted inEconomy
A&F Secretary Heffernan calls millionaire’s tax ‘dangerous’
RAISING TAXES ON income over $1 million would be a “dangerous policy,” given how well the state is doing financially under the current tax system, Secretary of Administration and Finance […]
Posted inUncategorized
State sending $500 checks to 500,000 low-income workers
APPROXIMATELY 500,000 low-income individuals in Massachusetts who worked during the pandemic will receive $500 bonus payments in the mail this March. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito said in a statement that […]
Posted inBy The Numbers, Health Care
Survey: Widespread need for mental health care during pandemic
MORE THAN ONE-QUARTER of Massachusetts adults say they needed behavioral health care over the first year of the pandemic – but many of them never got it. They couldn’t get […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker sketches plan for $9.5b in fed infrastructure spending
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday laid out in broad strokes his plan for spending $9.5 billion in federal infrastructure money, which the state is expected to receive over the next […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
COVID spending bill grows to $101m, passes within hours
A $55 MILLION COVID-related spending bill ballooned into a $101 million bill under an agreement reached between House and Senate negotiators, which lawmakers sent to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk just […]
Posted inEnvironment
Hunters, conservationists at odds on Sunday bow hunting
OVER THE YEARS, Massachusetts has gradually repealed its “blue laws” — historically religious laws aimed at preserving Sunday as a day of rest. In 1983, retail stores were allowed to […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker mask mandate, no longer in effect, facing challenge
THE STATEWIDE MASK mandate is no longer in effect, but litigation over it continues. The Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments in a case challenging Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inHealth Care
Vaccine mandate prompts exit of 1,013 state workers
MORE THAN 1,000 state employees have now left state government rather than comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The Massachusetts executive branch vaccine mandate went into effect October 17, […]
Posted inPolitics
Poll: Baker not running, but still looms large in gov race
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is not running for reelection, but he is likely to cast a long shadow over the race to replace him. A new poll released Monday by the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Can a parent’s right to a child be terminated via Zoom?
WITH THE COVID-19 pandemic upending judicial proceedings, courts have ruled that under certain circumstances, a criminal trial can be held via Zoom. Now the same question is arising in Juvenile […]
Posted inPolitics
Former Republican state senator Dean Tran will run for Congress
FORMER REPUBLICAN state senator Dean Tran of Fitchburg is running for Congress against incumbent Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan. Tran, whose ethical issues marred his tenure in the Senate before he […]
Posted inUncategorized
Marijuana industry ‘fixes’ moving in the Legislature
A COMPREHENSIVE BILL that would address several major problems that marijuana regulators and industry experts have pinpointed in the legal cannabis industry is starting to move in the Legislature. The Joint Committee on […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Education, Transportation
Millionaire’s tax opponents sue over ballot language
OPPONENTS OF THE so-called “millionaire’s tax” filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the Supreme Judicial Court to change the summary of the constitutional amendment that will appear on the November 2022 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Souza-Baranowski prison to introduce officer-worn body cameras
SOME CORRECTION OFFICERS at Souza-Baranowski prison will begin wearing body cameras this summer, under a new pilot program being launched by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. […]
Posted inPolitics
House, Senate differ on COVID spending, voting rights
THE HOUSE AND SENATE may agree on broad contours of policy, but when it comes to actually passing bills, the devil’s in the details. That truism is on full display […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker budget includes $700m tax break proposal
IN HIS FINAL budget proposal before leaving office, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday included nearly $700 million worth of tax cuts for Massachusetts residents, setting up a debate over tax policy with […]