There has been no better example in Massachusetts politics of the chasm that exists between what is actually true, and what the loudest voices are willing to say for their own personal gain, than the legislative audit spectacle.
Government
Posted inState Government
Regulators adopt emergency rules tied to new cannabis law
The regulations specify that for the first 12 months they’re in place, only social equity businesses are eligible to get up to six retail licenses and non-social equity businesses can hold up to five retail licenses.
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 inHousing
New report urges state to think small on housing crisis
Massachusetts has become “a victim of our own affluence,” said Andrew Mikula, the report’s author. “It’s like we forgot how to build smaller homes that can be more affordable for folks.”
Posted inState Government
Mass. schools doubling down on education to protect boys from gambling problems
A recent survey of 11- to 17-year-old boys found that around a third gambled in the last year. A new state program aims to prevent problem gambling in youth.
Posted inBallot Questions
Powerful real estate group says it’s open to rent control compromise
With just two weeks until a controversial rent control ballot measure could be locked in, a flurry of negotiations — and pockets of sustained resistance — puts Beacon Hill in a tricky position.
Posted inTechnology
Congress shouldn’t block Massachusetts from protecting workers from AI
AS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE races forward with lightning speed, Congress is scrambling to catch up. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have proposed various bills to address the […]
Posted inEnvironment
At Massport’s urging, Healey signs tax break for sustainable aviation fuel
Authorizing a pilot program like this is inviting a larger debate about how Massachusetts should weigh the complicated tradeoffs associated with reaching ambitious climate targets, especially for hard-to-decarbonize sectors like air travel.
Posted inState Government
New CCC chair flags internal operations as ‘critically important’
Chris Harding, who Gov. Maura Healey tapped to lead the CCC in May, said during a meeting Thursday that his priorities for the role include engaging with staff and understanding their focuses as well as the agency’s organizational challenges and opportunities.
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 inCourts
SJC keeps recreational marijuana repeal in the mix for November
The first of four expected rulings about ballot question eligibility went in favor of the campaign, with justices deciding that a push to reverse the 2016 statewide pot vote was properly certified and summarized.
Posted inHealth Care
Senate ready to force more money toward primary care — and away from specialists
Inviting a political fight with influential hospital systems, the Senate plans to approve legislation that would more than double the share of health care dollars that go toward the ailing primary care sector.
Posted inOpinion
Including end-of-course testing in new graduation requirement unlikely to do much good
New test mandates like those in the governor’s proposal are not likely to help our children prepare for satisfying and productive adult lives.
Posted inState Government
Healey taps National Grid counsel, clerk magistrate for District Court bench
She also hopes to elevate Judge Zachary Hillman, associate justice of the District Court since 2021, to serve as a judge in the Appeals Court.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA eyes another spending boost as ‘austerity’ approach fades
Transit agency leaders will seek approval Thursday on a $3.4 billion budget that would add another 550 positions, embracing an eager-to-spend approach that supporters say has improved service and safety.
Posted inEnergy
Two-week pause of Canadian hydropower exposes frailty of Mass. plan to wean off natural gas
The two setbacks signal the continued challenges ahead for how to bring on new clean energy sources to move off fossil fuels and meet growing power needs while maintaining reliability.
Posted inState Government
Shortsleeve would tie legislative funding to audit compliance
Angered by the Legislature’s tactics to curtail the scope of the voter-backed audit law, Republican Brian Shortsleeve said Monday that if he were governor, he would veto the budget appropriations […]
Posted inState Government
House approves later last call bill that would run through July
If it clears the Senate and is signed into law, the bill would take effect Monday, June 8 and expire Friday, July 31, and enable bars to push last call to 3 a.m. “subject to approval of the local licensing authority.”
Posted inState Government
House wades in on data privacy: ‘Your data belongs to you.’
“Without exaggeration, we are living through the largest unregulated extraction of information in the history of civilization,” said Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, of Pittsfield, on the House floor.
Posted inState Government
Transparency fight escalates as House votes to limit its exposure to audit, public records requests
The House’s top Republican described the controversial bill as an “[expletive] sandwich with extra pickles.”
Posted inOpinion
Ending the requirement that legal ads be published by news outlets would harm democracy and journalism
Legal ads are one leg of a three-legged stool — along with public-records laws and open meetings — ensuring government transparency.
Posted inEnvironment
Massachusetts’s slow adoption of EV chargers through federal program is ‘mystifying’ to transit advocates
While Massachusetts ranks fourth in the country for charging ports per capita after a sharp increase in installments over the past few years, the state is still about 2,000 charging ports short of what it estimates it needs.
Posted inOpinion
Lack of contested legislative races and overflow of ballot questions reflect democracy in decline
The many ballot questions but few contested legislative races is less a study in contrasts than a snapshot of correlates.
Posted inGovernment
Healey backs later last call for ‘once-in-a-generation summer’
The proposed bill would allow Massachusetts restaurants and bars to stay open later from June 1 through Aug. 31, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 250th American Revolution celebrations.
