STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION is “putting the final touches” on tax legislation with a plan to roll it out alongside the annual state budget bill due March […]
Government
Posted inEducation
It’s time to make debt-free higher ed a reality
IN A RECENT CommonWealth commentary piece, Christopher Geary laid out the many complications and carve-outs created by many of the “debt-free” public higher education plans across the nation. For years, […]
Posted inOpinion
Mandating tax payments from nonprofits is a bad idea
A recent op-ed in CommonWealth focused on a bill at the State House that would give municipalities the ability to require payments to cities and towns by nonprofits that are […]
Posted inHousing, News Analysis, State Government
Can a housing secretary make a difference?
THERE’S NO silver bullet to fix the dire housing shortage in Massachusetts, but Gov. Maura Healey is banking on a cabinet shuffle to set the state on the right track. […]
Posted inGambling
Regulators contend with illegal sports betting
WITH ALL THREE of the state’s legal sportsbooks now having already owned up to accepting bets on games that were not legally permitted, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday began […]
Posted inGovernment, Housing, News Analysis
Wu’s rent control plan takes hits from both sides
WITH YESTERDAY’S FILING of a home-rule petition with the City Council to impose rent restrictions in Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu followed through on a cornerstone promise of her 2021 campaign. Now […]
Posted inTransportation
Healey talks bridges and rail in DC visit
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BACK FROM A string of activity in the nation’s capital that featured a pair of events with President Joe Biden, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday that […]
Posted inEconomy
Secret ballot vital in union elections
THE LATEST real-life parable that reminds us why the Founding Fathers made secret-ballot elections a centerpiece of American democracy comes from a distinctly 21st-century source – the video game industry. […]
Posted inEducation
Debating vocational school admissions policies
IN THE END, it comes down to a question of how to allocate a scarce public resource when the demand exceeds the supply. In this case, the scarce resource is […]
Posted inEconomy
Report says millions from new tax on high earners could be lost to loophole
STATE BUDGET-WRITERS have begun planning to spend $1 billion in new revenue to fund education and transportation needs thanks to the so-called “millionaires tax” approved last year by voters. But […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
IRS says most one-time refunds from state surplus not taxable
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MANY, BUT NOT necessarily all, Massachusetts taxpayers will not need to count one-time state tax rebates they received last year as income when they file federal […]
Posted inPolitics
Voters favor even split of millionaire’s tax
WHEN MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS approved a new surtax on income over $1 million last year, it was clear what that money was supposed to go to: transportation and education. But how […]
Posted inOpinion
Abolishing Senate president term limit was the right thing to do
State Sen. Will Brownsberger, Democrat of Belmont, posted the following to his website after Thursday’s 32-6 vote by the Senate to abolish the eight-year term limit that had been in […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
T board grapples with how to gauge ‘new reality’ for system
TWO WEEKS AGO, the MBTA board of directors sat quietly and had no questions for interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville after he reported on crippling delays in the delivery of […]
Posted inPolitics
Some Senate Dems on fence on term limit issue
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS SENATE DEMOCRATS emerged Wednesday from a private caucus in President Karen Spilka’s office, they had mixed reactions to the proposed removal of a decades-old term […]
Posted inCourts, Opinion, State Government
The state child welfare system needs an overhaul, not more Band-Aids
THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES is broken, and as public defenders faced with the deficiencies of this system every day, we hope Gov. Maura Healey will make it a […]
Posted inGovernment, Politics, State Government
Key lawmaker proposes ending term limits for Senate president
A KEY LIEUTENANT to Senate President Karen Spilka is proposing a rule change — with her apparent blessing — that would scrap term limits on the chamber’s president. The proposal […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Healey not rushing things at the MBTA
GOV. MAURA HEALEY is slowly – some would say too slowly – putting the pieces in place to take control of the MBTA. Back in August, when it was widely […]
Posted inEconomy
Michelle Wu is ready to remake the system for remaking Boston
LOOKED AT ONE WAY, Michelle Wu concedes, it’s pretty eye-glazing stuff. “I bet if you ask most residents around the city, what are you worried about most, I don’t know […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
State tax revenues miss mark for first time since June 2020
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REVENUE collections missed the mark by nearly 5 percent in January, with the $3.834 billion that the Department of Revenue reeled in landing $192 million, […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Under new rules, House returns to in-person sessions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE on Wednesday unanimously adopted its rules for the two-year term that began four weeks ago, agreeing to eliminate a pandemic-era policy that allowed representatives […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Will Reidy be different as Healey’s public safety chief?
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM advocates may have been looking to the arrival of a new Democratic governor on Beacon Hill to turn the page on differences they had with the Baker […]
Posted inPublic Records, State Government
Healey won’t file legislation subjecting her office to records law
GOV. MAURA HEALEY said on Monday that she will not introduce legislation that would make her office subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. ”I don’t think I need to […]
Posted inOpinion
3 steps for Mass. education course correction
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S appointment of Education Secretary Patrick A. Tutwiler shouldn’t be a dramatic move. Having a veteran educator in this leadership position shouldn’t be unusual. Unfortunately, his experience as […]
