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.
State Government
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.
Posted inEnvironment
New state coastal resilience plan proposes voluntary buyout program
The state’s final ResilientCoasts plan, unveiled on Thursday, calls for such a program to be stood up within three to five years, once a study currently underway is completed.
Posted inEnergy
House energy chair signals effort to dial back 2030 climate commitments
Rep. Mark Cusack, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, said he is pushing for his redraft of Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability bill to receive a floor vote before lawmakers break for the year on November 19.
Posted inState Government
Unions: Buyout talks could affect 2,000+ state workers
Labor leaders say the Healey administration approached them to begin conversations about a buyout program that could reduce the state workforce by roughly 2,000 positions, the latest attempt at belt-tightening amid upheaval from the federal shutdown and funding cuts.
Posted inGovernment
DTA: Some food aid recipients will see benefits drop to ‘zero’
“I’m trying to do the best I can to manage the situation,” Healey said. She added, “No state can come forward and replace what the federal government has taken away.”
Posted inEnergy
Municipalities warn Beacon Hill they’ll need to slow down solar projects due to state limit
The issue threatens to undermine Gov. Maura Healey’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy as she seeks to thread an increasingly tighter needle to drive down costs, grow power supply, and meet climate commitments as offshore wind stalls.
Posted inCourts
SJC considers whether charter schools must obey public records laws
The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, in rebuffing at least 10 public records requests for information on various aspects of its operations, insists that it is not covered by the sweeping statute guaranteeing public access to the records of government entities.
Posted inState Government
Lawmaker representing Randolph seeks to loosen Gateway City eligibility criteria
Census counts and income thresholds haven’t stopped state Sen. Bill Driscoll, who represents the town of Randolph, from trying to secure its Gateway City status. He has introduced legislation that would revise the eligibility criteria of a Gateway – something previously attempted but never done successfully on Beacon Hill since the Legislature codified the designation in 2009.
Posted inEnergy
Boston looks to go on offense on energy affordability
Cuts at the state level mean the city’s initiative will be operating in a more financially constrained environment. The crux of the new effort will rely on the state’s Mass Save program, which funds energy efficiency upgrades around the state through ratepayer charges.
Posted inState Government
State House labor pains: The long fight carries on for unionizing legislative aides
Three and a half years after State House aides went public with their desire to unionize, the effort remains stalled by skepticism from top Democrats who often position themselves as allies of labor.
Posted inOpinion
Gov. Healey’s mixed messages on housing for those most in need
AS A FAMILY medicine physician at Boston Medical Center, I have cared for hundreds of individuals and families experiencing homelessness over the last 20 years. The landscape of housing services […]
Posted inEnvironment
Tepper stands by Mass. climate goals, ramps up outreach on Canadian wind power
Tepper shared in an interview with CommonWealth Beacon that she took a previously-unreported trip up to Nova Scotia last month to meet with officials to discuss how Massachusetts can potentially tap into Canadian offshore wind, much in the way the state will soon have access to 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec.
Posted inOpinion
Move over ‘motor voters,’ it’s time for ‘patient participation’
EVERY YEAR, thousands of Massachusetts residents see a doctor—but never see a ballot. For low-income and minority communities that face barriers to voter registration, health care facilities can offer a […]
Posted inPolitics
Winter special election scheduled to fill Lowell-based Senate seat
“The Senate on Monday adopted an order scheduling a March 3, 2026 special election to fill the First Middlesex seat, held since 2018 by the late Sen. Ed Kennedy, who died on Oct. 1 at the age of 74.”
Posted inOpinion
Addressing food insecurity starts with adequately staffing the state office responsible for SNAP benefits to meet the rising need
THE RECENT REPUBLICAN megabill, H.R.1, slashed the largest amount from basic needs programs in American history to give tax breaks to the wealthy. The bill cuts 20 percent of funding […]
Posted inState Government
Senate Dems propose oversight council to counter ‘unsustainable’ spending growth by sheriffs
Reaching beyond the probe backed by the House, the Senate will vote Thursday on a bill that would create a “fiscal oversight council” that could force sheriffs to rein in their spending with muscular authority.
Posted inOpinion
Finding common cause and common sense in complexity
“THERE’S A PLACE in the world for the angry young man,” wrote Billy Joel almost 50 years ago. Unfortunately, that place seems to have expanded in our public square (for […]
