It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally flawed reading of legislative productivity for reasons that are virtually never acknowledged amid the easy targeting of lawmakers.
Government
Posted inPolitics
Recounts taking shape in two Democratic legislative primaries
Elections have come down to just a few votes in the high-profile showdown between 19-year legislator Sen. William Brownsberger and challenger Daniel Lander.
Posted inState Government
LG nominee Oliver quick to jump on Minogue’s team
Shortsleeve and Oliver pitched themselves as the “only unified ticket in the Republican gubernatorial primary,” but Oliver on Tuesday night spoke about aligning with Minogue as as part of the GOP’s larger quest in the general election cycle.
Posted inEducation
The unintended consequences of the Student Opportunity Act
The well-intended legislation was aimed at addressing persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps, but what Beacon Hill perhaps didn’t foresee was the greater financial pressure it would place on municipal budgets as sluggish state aid growth that has not kept pace with inflation, strict limits on local tax increases, and rising costs continue to trap many local governments between a rock and a hard place.
Posted inOpinion
If we want better local government, especially in Gateway Cities, let’s change the election calendar so more people vote when we elect municipal leaders
“No other institutional reform we know of—short of making voting compulsory—comes anywhere close to having this kind of impact on turnout,” says the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government of aligning local and national elections.
Posted inOpinion
Your teenager is still figuring out who they are. Big Tech’s algorithms act like they already know.
At precisely the age when young people are still figuring out who they are, an algorithm optimized for engagement should not be shaping the possibilities.
Posted inState Government
Melissa Hoffer, nation’s first state-level climate chief, to step down
Hoffer was chosen for the new position after holding several high-powered roles in climate policy, serving under then-AG Healey before working at the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and then moving back to the Bay State to link up with Healey again under this newly crafted role.
Posted inTechnology
$17 billion Meta settlement lands in hotbed of debate over social media regulations in Mass.
A landmark agreement both reshapes Instagram and Facebook for teenagers, and adds fuel to legislative debate about permanent reforms.
Posted inState Government
Mass. gives schools a playbook for ICE at the door
The governor’s office shared new guidance for how Massachusetts schools and child care centers should handle federal immigration enforcement.
Posted inEnvironment
A climate shake-up is jolting one of the most progressive cities in Mass.
The question is whether, in the end, it’s more of a mundane municipal reorganization or a sign of retreat in Newton, one of the state’s most climate-forward communities.
Posted inState Government
Mail-in ballots have cut into popularity of early in-person voting
As voters this election cycle weigh ballot questions allowing people to register and vote on Election Day, and substituting an all-party primary in for the traditional party-based primaries, early in-person voting remains an enduring and often utilized election reform in Massachusetts.
Posted inCourts
High court rules against Quincy mayor on Catholic saint statues
The statues will be kept in storage and off the building while litigation continues at the lower court level. The visages of a winged Michael and towering Florian extinguishing fire await further judgment, but the ruling signals a rough legal road ahead for Quincy.
Posted inBallot Questions
Odd bedfellows: Progressive critics join Democratic, Republican party bosses to oppose election reform ballot question
“It’s not that our current system is good. It’s that this alternate one is worse,” says Jonathan Cohn, policy director for Progressive Mass.
Posted inEnergy
Lawmakers appear poised to take some big swings against competitive electric suppliers. How big is the question.
The pushback comes as Democrats on Beacon Hill are on the cusp of a long-sought breakthrough to rein in what critics contend are shady energy companies that rip off unwitting customers.
Posted inOpinion
Fall River waterfront makeover shouldn’t leave out affordable housing
Unfortunately, under Fall River’s current plans for the almost 1,500 homes slated for the site, bidders must defer to the city’s “strong preference for market-rate housing as the development option for the Property.”
Posted inState Government
CCC hoping for funding infusion as it implements new law, policies
Cannabis regulators are planning a sweeping overhaul of the state’s marijuana industry while also advancing plans to let adults buy and use marijuana at the same establishment.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts needs a data-center strategy, not a series of permits
Massachusetts should decide what role data centers will play in its energy, climate, economic-development, and environmental-justice future—and what these extraordinarily energy-intensive facilities must contribute in return for public support.
Posted inState Government
Voting season puts focus on election administration, litigation, turnout
“With 600,000 ballots on the street, I think it’s important for people to vote them and send them back,” Secretary of State William Galvin said, calling the figure average and declaring that his “strong suggestion” is that mail-in voters return their ballots “immediately.”
Posted inEducation
Higher education commissioner stepping down in September
Ortega’s departure will further shift the state’s education leadership, following turnover within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler stepping down earlier this year.
Posted inEnergy
Mass. regulators approve new plan to shield solar customers from unexpected price spikes
The move, adopted with buy-in from the energy industry, advocates, and state officials, could save thousands of electric customers looking to install solar panels across the state from being saddled with last-minute, seemingly random charges that could stretch past $10,000 per project.
Posted inState Government
Massachusetts is second state to appoint heat resilience officer
Schlick will coordinate state government agencies and work with communities to “prepare for rising temperatures, protect public health and reduce the impacts of extreme heat,” according to a press release from Gov. Maura Healey’s office.
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 inOpinion
A Cambridge turf battle offers broader lessons on citizen involvement
The Ahern Field saga is a reminder that when all stakeholders—parents, neighbors, young people, and taxpayers— show up together, they can move government.
Posted inState Government
Healey, in new letter, urges MWRA to meet the ‘pressing needs’ of Quabbin Reservoir communities
Healey, through her letter to the head of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, is wading into an escalating battle between small towns along the Quabbin and the quasi-public agency that uses that water to serve 2.7 million residents in 61 communities mostly in and around Boston.
