For the first time since Barack Obama was president, Massachusetts did not land in dead last in Ballotpedia’s biennial assessment of state legislative competition across the country.
Government
Posted inOpinion
The crucial marijuana question not on the ballot: Why has Massachusetts failed to educate the public on the harmful effects of cannabis and monitor the impact of its growing use, especially on young people?
Despite clear evidence that cannabis has had negative health effects in Massachusetts, our state has done little to survey and confront these harmful consequences.
Posted inElection 2026
Affordability and accountability dominate Healey-Minogue finale
Gov. Maura Healey and Republican challenger Mike Minogue clashed over rising energy costs, abortion rights, and accountability for misconduct in their second and final gubernatorial debate before Election Day.
Posted inTransportation
Slideshow mistake prompts T to disclose new delay to Red Line train procurement
A project already pockmarked with delays and growing costs will once again stretch on longer than MBTA officials hoped, this time due to federal scrutiny of components shipped from China.
Posted inOpinion
More donor disclosure is always in the public interest
Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts can protect data privacy without hurting small businesses
As lawmakers debate the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, they should be careful not to adopt an approach that unintentionally makes it harder and more expensive for local businesses to compete, grow, and innovate online.
Posted inOpinion
To maximize consumer protection, new data privacy law must include a ‘private right of action’
Regular people’s ability to sue businesses for the alleged violation of a law is called private right of action, and it is a necessary inclusion if the future Massachusetts data privacy law is to truly protect citizens’ rights, safety, and privacy.
Posted inOpinion
Complexity isn’t the issue. The Legislature’s dysfunction is.
The complexity of our few bills tells us very little, if anything, however, about the quality of the bills or of the process that produced them. In fact, the complexity of bills covering multiple topics often only adds to the dysfunction and underperformance of our Legislature.
Posted inOpinion
Rather than a defense of their productivity, the Legislature’s reliance on omnibus bills should be an indictment
Democracy depends on being able to give positive and negative reinforcement to elected officials. Constituents should be able to praise legislators for what they do right and criticize them for what they do wrong. Omnibus bills weaken that ability, and that’s the point.
Posted inOpinion
Omnibus bills enable opaque lawmaking
The modern trend of relying on omnibus bills for routine legislative work is not a neutral choice. It turns a simple democratic process into a labyrinthine ordeal.
Posted inPolitics
Trump is the elephant in the room during first Healey-Minogue debate
Voters in the deep-blue state are sometimes open to a gesture toward bipartisanship through a Republican governor that could, at least in theory, square off against a Democratic supermajority in the Legislature. But Minogue’s odds look long.
Posted inBallot Questions
Baker joins Patrick in bipartisan all-party primary support
The Massachusetts Democratic Party and the Massachusetts Republican Party both oppose Question 3, which has drawn support from former Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and former MassGOP Chair Jennifer Nassour as well as Democrat Auditor Diana DiZoglio, former State Treasurer and MassDems Chair Steve Grossman and former US Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a Democrat.
Posted inHealth or Consequences
Mike Minogue talks Medicaid cuts, primary care spending, and immigration impacts on the health care workforce
Minogue, who spent 19 years as CEO of Abiomed, the Danvers-based heart pump company, joined hosts John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute on this month’s Health or Consequences podcast.
Posted inElection 2026
Healey touts Wu endorsement to start October push
The governor and mayor, both Democrats and each the first woman elected to the chief executive positions in the state and city, are not known to have a close political connection.
Posted inBy The Numbers
New poll finds strong voter support for auditing the Legislature holding steady
For all of the sound and fury legislative leaders have raised, voter support for the audit law has not budged in two years.
Posted inElection 2026
Dionne would use ‘bully pulpit’ to press for more local aid
Elizabeth Dionne appeared on GBH Radio on Tuesday and detailed how she sees the state Treasury addressing “affordability via local aid.”
Posted inPolitics
Healey cruising in reelection bid with Trump high on voters’ mind, survey shows
A new MassINC Polling Group survey finds that Bay Staters are still concerned about Gov. Maura Healey’s response to affordability concerns, even as she appears poised to win reelection with relative ease.
Posted inState Government
Healey visits South Coast fire station she’s trying to save
Fire Station 9, which covers a portion of the city’s North End neighborhood, had been billed for closure this fall as part of a round of city layoffs and program cuts intended to resolve what Mayor Jon Mitchell has said is a $32 million budget deficit for the city.
Posted inOpinion
Suspending the gas tax would be a shortsighted election-year stunt
The state gas tax is the price we pay to ensure that we have safe and reliable ways to get where we need to go, with sufficient funding to build, operate, and maintain the essential transportation infrastructure we all depend upon.
Posted inElection 2026
Rising costs await winners this election cycle
As cost-of-living pressures bearing down on Massachusetts residents become painfully obvious, the state’s gubernatorial candidates are centering affordability in their 2026 campaigns.
Posted inEnvironment
The next Quabbin fight is already here
The part of the plan that’s arguably generating the most blowback is the process the MWRA is deploying to win approval from state officials.
Posted inElection 2026
‘A self-fulfilling cycle’: Why Gateway Cities consistently have lower voter turnout
Cities like Worcester — where the poverty rate is twice as high as the state’s — may have trouble getting people to the polls this November. The state’s most disadvantaged and diverse urban communities often have some of the lowest voter turnout rates. In the last midterm election year, nine of the 10 municipalities with the lowest voter turnout were Gateway Cities.
Posted inOpinion
White Stadium and the community engagement gap
There’s still time for White Stadium project planners to deliver on the principles of EJ Community Engagement and Outreach – improved levels of trust, transparency, and stronger pathways for ongoing collaboration.
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.
