Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue last week launched an ad saying he would suspend the gas tax “until prices stabilize.”
Economy
Posted inGovernment
Mass. unemployment agency ‘mismanaged’ call center performance, ‘failed’ to quickly pay claimants, auditor concludes
The auditor’s report unveils how even before the agency was thrust into turmoil with record-breaking poor performance during a time of a relatively stable job market, out-of-work Massachusetts residents weren’t receiving the help they needed in a timely fashion.
Posted inEconomy
Most residents think Massachusetts is a great place to live, and also unaffordable
People who are finishing their education are almost twice as likely to consider leaving Massachusetts in the next five years, quantifying a dynamic many have long suspected in a state that welcomes crowds of college students every year.
Posted inEconomy
Mass. sheds 7,100 jobs in August as losses mount
The total number of job losses in the last two months – about 11,100 – almost matches the jobs gained since September.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts is already putting its untapped talent to work
The administration is working across state agencies and with workforce partners to remove obstacles that prevent people from entering—and staying in—the workforce.
Posted inHousing
On Fall River’s waterfront, the debate over market-rate housing unfolds
The South Coast community is on track to see its 20-acre waterfront transformed by a massive mixed-use development consisting of up to 1,500 new housing units, all of which the city has indicated should be market rate. The move has angered affordable housing advocates and sparked a familiar debate, where pro-development and pro-affordability ideals seem to be at odds.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts has a plan to end hunger, but it’s missing the most important piece
EARLIER THIS YEAR, Governor Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force released its final report. I read it closely. Much of it is right, fortunately, since 40 percent of households in Massachusetts are […]
Posted inOpinion
Uncertainty is the new competitiveness challenge for Massachusetts
Uncertainty driven by macroeconomic, geopolitical, and instability in federal policy has now surpassed affordability as the top concern facing Roundtable members – leaders of some of the largest employers across Massachusetts.
Posted inEconomy
Seeing the future? Massachusetts wants to see your license
It would be easy to assume that most psychics, tarot card readers, and mediums want to do away with the red tape, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Salem licenses more fortune tellers than any other community in the state, and many say although the archaic statute may have been rooted in distrust and prejudice, there are tangible benefits of the law today.
Posted inEconomy
Study pegs median net wealth of Massachusetts families at $370,000
A survey sent to 32,817 randomly selected Massachusetts addresses and yielding 5,018 responses highlighted long-standing racial wealth gaps.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate quietly launches another push for juvenile justice reforms
House and Senate negotiators hashing out a final deal on a sweeping jobs and business support package need to decide whether the measure should also embrace a major criminal justice reform: allowing many 18-year-olds to be tried in the youth justice system, not adult courts.
Posted inOpinion
Boston hosted the world. Let’s make it a habit.
Greater Boston can host the world. Now we need to make sure we are willing and able to do it again and again because doing so brings lasting economic and civic benefits to our region.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: House Speaker foretells Senate tax swerve
He was joking when he described “fortune-telling” as a preferred pastime, but House Speaker Ron Mariano still managed to divine the way electoral politics would affect a Senate tax cap proposal.
Posted inOpinion
In the panic over a talent exodus, Massachusetts is forgetting the underutilized talent it has
Most states compete for the workers everyone else wants. Talent activation is a different discipline. It starts not with who might move to the state, but with who is already here.
Posted inEconomy
World Cup lifts economy, but lower-income households stressed
Increases in tourism and retail spending in New England were contrasted with increased demand for assistance among the region’s low- and moderate-income households.
Posted inState Government
Complicated decisions ahead as lawmakers crystallize Big Tech response
With a bevy of bills in play, legislators need to figure out not just which policies they want to advance to protect user data and shield minors from addictive feeds, but which vehicles will host the proposed reforms.
Posted inEconomy
Coca-Cola’s Northampton plant closing will trigger 175 layoffs
The plant on Industrial Drive will close on December 15, after the company previously eyed shutting down the facility in 2023.
Posted inBallot Questions
SJC blocks high-stakes income tax cut question from the November ballot
In a blockbuster ruling just as ballot measure campaigns submit their final signatures, Massachusetts’s highest court cut the fuse of a revenue bomb that was set to blow $5 billion out of the state budget. An initiative aiming to cut income taxes is blocked from the ballot because of errors in the attorney general’s summary.
Posted inOpinion
Don’t ban data centers. Build better rules.
Through policies rooted in transparency, stewardship, and innovation, Massachusetts can open the door to right-sized, smartly sited data centers.
Posted inEconomy
Raj Chetty’s prescription for reviving the American dream
As the American dream has slipped out of reach for many, few have done more than Chetty to try to understand the fading of the American dream and what could be done to change that dispiriting trendline.
Posted inOpinion
A new high school or housing? Here’s how Boston could have both.
Facing shortages of housing and open land in our densest cities, we should not construct a police station, a fire station, a library, or a school without providing opportunities for housing to be constructed above.
Posted inTransportation
Gateway City leaders celebrate one year of South Coast Rail, but final phase remains in limbo
Getting Phase 1 across the finish line was no easy feat. And just over a year later, state officials still have not rolled out a plan to finance and finish the second phase — also called the “full build” — that was proposed nearly a decade ago.
Posted inOpinion
Congress must act now on AI
No federal agency has clear authority to step in when something goes wrong. While some have argued there is still plenty of time for Congress to act, I would say, look around.
Posted inEnvironment
Controversial private jet expansion proposal at Hanscom faces setbacks as developers look to move project ahead
The proposed hangar expansion has roiled activists and officials alike. Critics fear that a spike in air traffic will bring extra noise and emissions, as private flights are widely considered to be the most polluting source of transportation.
