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.
State Government
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.
Posted inBallot Questions
Ballot measures must clear courts, lawmakers, and voters
As the secretary of state’s office certifies hundreds of thousands of signatures submitted on behalf of the proposed 2026 ballot questions, campaigns and ballot initiative veterans estimate about half of the questions could be vulnerable to legal challenges, though not all may materialize.
Posted inHousing
Beacon Hill clears hurdle for Weymouth naval air base redevelopment
After a series of stops and starts stretching back 15-plus years, Beacon Hill is on the verge of removing one of the last remaining obstacles to redevelopment of the former naval air base in Weymouth.
Posted inState Government
Legislature downshifts into holiday mode after short burst of activity
What reached Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and what’s still on hold until 2026 now that the Legislature is done with major business for the year?
Posted inEnvironment
Massachusetts agencies never followed a 2017 rule to cut emissions from state vehicles, court documents show
The rule was issued under Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and followed a landmark court ruling that found the state needed to issue more specific and stringent regulations in order to meet the 2050 climate commitment.
Posted inPolitics
‘They’re making a huge bet’: Rent control referendum splits progressives
If a campaign to instate rent control across the Commonwealth makes it to the ballot, voters will need to weigh whether every municipality should adopt a measure more stringent than earlier attempts by Boston, Brookline, and Somerville.
Posted inEnergy
House punts on sweeping energy bill that would dial back state climate commitments
After intense blowback to a draft House bill to weaken the state’s 2030 clean energy target, the chamber’s budget chief says the topic is on hold until next year.
Posted inOpinion
House climate bill is a big step backward
At a moment when President Trump is dismantling federal climate policy, this bill would do the work for him. It would abandon our 2030 emissions targets, gut our most effective programs, and lock Massachusetts into the very fossil fuel dependence that has driven today’s affordability crisis.
Posted inEnergy
Energy industry pads key lawmaker’s campaign coffers as major bill advances
Cusack’s legislation would lower the amount of renewable energy the utilities would be required to purchase and cut the state’s energy efficiency initiative, which is funded through the utilities’ ratepayers, by $500 million.
Posted inEnvironment
Massachusetts EV charging plans continue to take hit
The delays underscore the challenges facing the state in cutting pollution from the transportation sector, which accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts at 38 percent.
Posted inEnergy
Are the 2030 Massachusetts emissions mandates out of reach?
Massachusetts isn’t the only progressive state reassessing this challenge. States like New York and Vermont have also taken a hard look at their emissions mandates in light of clean energy shortfalls.
Posted inEnergy
Sweeping energy bill to weaken 2030 climate goals clears key House committee
The measure is ushering in an unexpected — and messy — debate over the state’s overall policy push to meet its 2030 climate commitments as Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability package filed earlier this year is thrown into disarray.
Posted inHealth Care
State council approves Leicester hospital, nursing home sale
By a 10-2 vote, the council backed the $9 million transfer of Vibra Hospital of Western Massachusetts and the Meadows nursing home in Leicester, along with the property they occupy.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts health care is in trouble
A confluence of challenges points to very hard times ahead for the Massachusetts health care system.
Posted inEnergy
‘We will fill the State House’: Advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments
The effort is bound to divide the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill and test officials’ willingness to defend the state’s climate policies just as winter hits and Healey mounts a reelection bid.
Posted inMarijuana
Social pot consumption vote could come by Christmas
Chair Shannon O’Brien offered the latest timeline at the end of a meeting on Friday, as commissioners also learned that a new member, Carrie Benedon, is joining the commission.
