CommonWealth Beacon reporters moderated panels and guided conversations on some of the thorniest problems facing the state. Here are five Codcasts from 2025 worth revisiting — or checking in on for the first time — as the new year kicks off.
State Government
Posted inHousing
Our top five housing stories of 2025
The Bay State’s housing crunch seemed to reach into all corners in 2025, tying up courts, lawmakers navigating climate and transportation concerns, groups dependent on federal fair housing funding, and services promising to make it easier for more people to afford to live in pricey Massachusetts.
Posted inState Government
Our top five Beacon Hill stories of 2025
The Democrats who control the levers of power in Massachusetts spent most of the year fretting about upheaval from the federal government and preparing for more expansive action down the line.
Posted inHealth Care
Healey explores options to cover Mass. residents losing health insurance
Healey said Tuesday that the loss of subsidies will translate into “upwards of 350,000” Mass. residents losing their health insurance.
Posted inEnergy
Our top five climate stories of 2025
Frustrations over high gas and electric costs drove Gov. Maura Healey’s agenda around energy issues.
Posted inTransportation
Talk of new transportation dollars? Bring it on, says Senate chair
Brendan Crighton, the Senate’s point person on transportation issues, wants his colleagues to have hard conversations about new transportation-related levies even if the topic might be politically fraught.
Posted inOpinion
Beacon Hill’s new rules are good. They should follow them.
Everyday people–and not just advocates deep in the trenches–are seeing that things need to change.
Posted inState Government
Amid shaky economy, tax cut proposal draws heightened scrutiny
Already buffeted by economic pressures and federal funding cuts, top Democrats are beginning to warn that major financial upheaval would follow if voters approve a pair of tax-reform measures en route to the 2026 ballot.
Posted inOpinion
We can’t sit idle as Washington pulls the plug on the Massachusetts innovation economy
The Commonwealth needs to act boldly and creatively to respond to the threats to its innovation economy. Fighting to reverse these moves in Washington should be a top priority, but we surely can’t count on that happening.
Posted inLocal Government
Cities and towns desperately need boost in state aid, group says
The Massachusetts Municipal Association rolled out a suite of requests for Beacon Hill, led by a $351 million increase in unrestricted aid the state pays to cities and towns, as communities navigate an increasingly bleak fiscal picture.
Posted inHealth Care
Primary care spending proposal sets the stage for legislative action in 2026
Pressure will rise on the Legislature to take action after a panel created to review primary care reforms coalesced around a “fundamental rebalancing” of how the state spends money on health.
Posted inOpinion
State antisemitism commission report is a strong call to action
The recommendations of the antisemitism commission focus on Jewish students, because that is they who have an unprecedented need for timely, effective intervention.
Posted inOpinion
The state commission on antisemitism doubles down on its mistakes
The report’s concern is not with universal rights but with how anti-Israel speech makes some Jews feel, an approach that can only make antisemitism worse. It distracts from the interests that Jews share with all minorities in vigorous civil rights guarantees.
Posted inOpinion
I’ve seen hate up close. The antisemitism commission’s recommendations can help stop it.
We know from our own lives that antisemitism, if left unchecked, doesn’t stay contained. We must confront it with interventions that work, and the state commission offers reasonable, practical, common-sense safeguards against allowing yesterday’s hate to masquerade as today’s education.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts lawmakers must reject the antisemitism commission’s flawed recommendations
The question isn’t whether to fight antisemitism. It’s how to fight it without sacrificing the democratic rights that actually keep Jewish people—and everyone else—safe.
Posted inTransportation
Phil Eng earns rave reviews for simultaneous MBTA, transportation chief jobs
The Healey administration seems content to have Phil Eng continue to work as both T general manager and interim transportation secretary for the foreseeable future, and Eng himself is warming up to the idea of holding both roles for a longer period of time.
Posted inEnergy
‘Rate shock’: Healey’s affordability push meets a dramatic proposed gas bill hike
Liberty Utilities, which services a small southeastern pocket of Massachusetts, filed its rate hike request in June and is asking the Department of Public Utilities for permission to raise gas rates by about 55 percent on average.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts lagging on implementation of data equity law
Over two years since the law’s passage, we have seen little progress and movement on implementation, and our residents are continuing to suffer the consequences.
Posted inEducation
Bill to prioritize teacher quality over seniority faces uphill battle
The proposal aims to revise how districts decide which teachers get laid off when budgets shrink or enrollment drops.
Posted inEnvironment
‘People have a right to know’: Flood disclosures poised to step into legislative limelight next year
As flooding touches more Massachusetts households, Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a new requirement to mandate the flood disclosures as a means of steering people out of harm’s way in the first place.
