IN A STUNNING REVERSAL of a controversial policy recommendation, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday withdrew his recommendation to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who were convicted in a […]
State Government
Posted inHousing, State Government
A call for universal rental housing assistance
IN RECENT YEARS, Massachusetts has moved toward making things like health care and quality preschool universally available to all. What if we put affordable rental housing in that same category? […]
Posted inTransportation
At-grade I-90 Allston project called ‘preferred alternative’
AFTER YEARS OF indecision and delays, state transportation officials on Monday formally bowed to what public stakeholders have wanted for some time and designated a challenging all-at-grade approach as the […]
Posted inState Government
Healey taps Matthew Gorzkowicz for state budget chief
GOV.-ELECT MAURA HEALEY made her first cabinet pick Tuesday, announcing that longtime government finance expert Matthew Gorzkowicz will serve as her secretary of administration and finance. Gorzkowicz, a Democrat, was […]
Posted inOpinion
Old laws, like Prop 2 1/2, need to adapt to times
I’VE BEEN STRUGGLING to find the right metaphor for our current economic situation. After the great recession of 2007-2009, my go-to was a staircase: the recession had knocked us down […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government, State House News Service
Cannabis commission seeks 23% budget increase
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MEMBERS OF THE Cannabis Control Commission voted to approve a fiscal year 2024 budget request of more than $23.7 million, including 26 new hires and $1.5 […]
Posted inEconomy
Rivera gets long contract extension at MassDevelopment
WITH LESS THAN a month before a new governor takes over, the MassDevelopment board of directors approved a long-term contract extension for Daniel Rivera, the authority’s president and chief executive officer. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker issues three more pardons
AFTER FAILING TO issue a single pardon or commutation in his first seven years in office, Gov. Charlie Baker continued to use his final months in office to wield his […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Healey’s office approves Nantucket topless beach bylaw
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey’s office has approved a bylaw that allows anyone to go topless on any public or private beach on Nantucket. Island voters approved […]
Posted inEducation
Foster care mentoring turns into 20-year relationship
MIKE SMITH was 5 years old when he met Justin Pasquariello and Vanessa Fazio. Pasquariello, then 22, had started a Boston-based mentoring program for kids in foster care, and Fazio was […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
State pension board looking to rebound
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE OFFICIALS AT THE STATE pension fund expect economic cycles and market downturns will periodically affect their investments and the quarter that ended in September “was one […]
Posted inPolitics
Race heating up for Mass. GOP chair
AFTER THE CLOBBERING taken by Massachusetts Republicans in the 2022 election, as many as three candidates could be posing challenges to state Republican Party chairman Jim Lyons. The January election […]
Posted inEducation
Hints of Healey education plans
IT HAS FAST become the parlor game of choice among political and policy prognosticators: Exactly what will incoming Gov. Maura Healey do once she grabs the reins of power in […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting our state parks back on track
On October 14, Massachusetts Conservation Voters convened a state virtual parks summit attended by more than 20 environmental organizations from across the Commonwealth. This open letter, signed by more than […]
Posted inTransportation
Regional transit authorities offer free bus service for holidays
THE PUSH TO lower or eliminate public transit fares is getting a holiday boost from the state, which has unwrapped a $2.5 grant that is allowing all 15 regional transit […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey announces transition committee chairs
GOV.-ELECT MAURA HEALEY, whose campaign often addressed issues more with broad brushstrokes than detailed policy prescriptions, announced six transition policy committees on Friday that will be tasked with “translating the […]
Posted inPolitics
The coming dynamics of one-party rule on Beacon Hill a question mark
WHEN MAURA HEALEY takes office in January, it will mark only the second time in 32 years that a Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled Legislature will exercise one-party rule in Massachusetts. […]
Posted inState Government
Baker again clashes with lawmakers on abortion-related law
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday signed a $3.76 billion economic development bill. But Baker, a Republican, once again entered into a controversy with the Democratic-led Legislature over reproductive rights by […]
Posted inNews Analysis
One-party rule returns to Beacon Hill
FOR DECADES IT has served as a winning argument for electing Republican governors in deep-blue Massachusetts: A Republican in the corner office is a sensible check on the impulses of […]
Posted inGovernment, State Government
Baker, Healey pledge smooth transition of power
REPUBLICAN GOV. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito on Wednesday stood side by side in the governor’s office with Democratic Gov.-elect Maura Healey and Lt. Gov.-elect Kim Driscoll and […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Election winners and losers
GO TO CommonWealth’s homepage for stories on the big races, including Maura Healey’s historic victory in the race for governor. What else did we learn from Tuesday’s election about the […]
Posted inImmigration, Politics, State Government
Voters approve millionaires tax, retain driver’s license law for immigrants
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS DELIVERED a double victory to two progressive causes on Tuesday, approving by narrow margins ballot questions to impose a new income tax surcharge on high earners and to […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey elected first female, gay Massachusetts governor
MAURA HEALEY shattered a glass ceiling on Tuesday in a landslide, becoming the first woman ever elected governor in Massachusetts. She topped a Democratic ticket that elected three new women […]
Posted inCourts, State Government
Lawsuit seeks to recoup stolen food benefits
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS who have had their food benefits stolen filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to require the state to repay the lost aid money. The suit filed by the Massachusetts […]