New from CommonWealth Beacon IMMIGRATION: It’s been more than three weeks since both Gov. Maura Healey and the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus each unveiled major legislation to blunt the […]
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The Download: It’s anyone’s guess when Beacon Hill will agree on an immigration response
New from CommonWealth Beacon CHILD CARE: Gov. Maura Healey pledged that every family of a 4-year-old in a Gateway City would be able to enroll their child in preschool at […]
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The Download: Healey has called for universal pre-K in every Gateway City by the year’s end. Providers say they won’t get there.
New from CommonWealth Beacon CROSS-BORDER CRITIQUES: From taxes to ICE detention, Govs. Maura Healey and Kelly Ayotte are trading cross-border barbs and turning each other into convenient political foils in […]
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The Download: Big tech is watching
New from CommonWealth Beacon RED FLAGS: The latest climate report card reveals that the state’s climate mandates are in serious trouble, as Massachusetts remains noticeably off track of its electric […]
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The Download: Mass. falling short of key climate targets, with some bright spots, after one year of Trump attacks
New from CommonWealth Beacon AUDITOR: State Auditor Diana DiZoglio and lawmakers played it cool at a Wednesday budget hearing, sticking to the topic at hand and deftly avoiding the elephant […]
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The Download: Reluctant MBTA Communities start to buckle
New from CommonWealth Beacon FRAYING SAFETY NETS: Gov. Maura Healey is drawing criticism over her push to tighten eligibility for the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children program […]
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‘It just requires people to be destitute’: Healey draws criticism over push to tighten eligibility for safety-net program
New from CommonWealth Beacon COURT COSTS: Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget focuses its courts-related spending boosts on operations and staff costs in the Trial Courts, plus ramping […]
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The Download: Mass. climate chief missed her own deadline to calculate the cost of state’s climate commitments
New from CommonWealth Beacon OPINION: Some of the neediest Bay State students aren’t applying for financial aid for higher education. Massachusetts should require doing so as a condition of high […]
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The Download: Regulating insurance as health care costs surge
New from CommonWealth Beacon BALLOTS FIRED: The campaign opposing a ballot measure that would impose strict rent control limits across the state wants the Supreme Judicial Court to keep the […]
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The Download: Holyoke’s unsheltered homeless count hits new record as threats to federal aid loom
New from CommonWealth Beacon HEALTH INSURANCE: Commercial insurers denied roughly one out of every five claims submitted in 2024, with administrative issues driving a large chunk of those blocked coverage […]
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The Download: From T support to school aid, surtax emerges as crutch for state budgeting
New from CommonWealth Beacon UNEMPLOYMENT: The state’s unemployment system made big strides on paying checks in a timely fashion in November and December, but even with those improvements, it still […]
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The Download: Despite improvement, Mass. unemployment system remains one of the worst in the country by some measures
New from CommonWealth Beacon EMINENT DOMAIN: The state’s highest court will wade into a yearslong fight over land owned by Northeastern University that Nahant Town Meeting voted to seize by […]
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The Download: Was a vote to seize Northeastern University land for conservation in ‘bad faith?’
New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Gov. Maura Healey has released her state budget proposal – a $63 billion spending plan. This week on the Codcast, reporter Chris Lisinski digs […]
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The Download: Unpacking the governor’s state budget proposal
New from CommonWealth Beacon ENERGY: A sustained cold snap is driving up energy usage in Massachusetts, threatening to blunt the utility bill savings Gov. Maura Healey targeted with state investment. […]
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Mass. vs. ICE
reporter Jennifer Smith explains the state’s legal limitations in addressing ICE actions and Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s lawsuit against nine towns for not adhering to the MBTA Communities law. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club calls for the removal of the House energy chair and cold weather throws cold water on Governor Maura Healey’s energy savings efforts.
Plus: the state’s budget significantly increases MassHealth spending, declining immigration threatens the Massachusetts economy, and Everett’s new mayor inherits a slate of major development projects.
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The Download: Cold weather threatens to take bite out of Healey’s energy savings bid
New from CommonWealth Beacon LAWSUIT: Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing nine towns for their refusal to comply with the MBTA Communities multifamily housing law, Jennifer Smith reports. BUDGET: […]
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The Download: Growing health care pressure drives up spending in Healey’s annual budget
New from CommonWealth Beacon ICE STORM: Massachusetts officials are bracing for another possible immigration surge, but what could they actually do if a Minneapolis situation unfolds in the Bay State? […]
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What Mass. can and can’t do about ICE
New from CommonWealth Beacon GROWTH ON ICE: Massachusetts population growth has slowed to a crawl – a combination of President Trump’s immigration policies and more people leaving the Bay State […]
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The Download: Mass. Sierra Club takes unprecedented step to call for removal of House energy chair
New from CommonWealth Beacon EVERETT: Everett’s new mayor, who is just settling into office, is now tasked with implementing a flurry of major development deals put into motion as his […]
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The Download: Healey’s State of the Commonwealth balancing act
New from CommonWealth Beacon STATE OF THE STATE: Gov. Maura Healey leaned into affordability concerns and took aim at the Trump administration during her 2026 State of the Commonwealth speech. […]
Posted inThe Saturday Send
Dark money aims to kill the recreational buzz and four more stories
Chris Lisinski looks at the national anti-marijuana group financing efforts to ban recreational use in Massachusetts and Jennifer Smith breaks down the state’s $250 million investment in health insurance subsidies. In Springfield, Hallie Claflin speaks with housing housing teams who are facing chaos as the Trump administration seeks to overhaul the federal government’s main homelessness program. Plus: the MBTA (again) faces financial shortfalls and Gov. Maura Healey makes her final State of the Commonwealth address before she’s up for reelection.
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The Download: Healey comes out swinging against Trump in election-year address
New from CommonWealth Beacon OFF TRACK: Updated MBTA financial projections rolled out last week suggest the agency is once again careening toward a shortfall in the next 18-plus months. Chris […]
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The Download: Trump administration targets program for chronically homeless residents, sparking fear for vulnerable populations in cities like Springfield
New from CommonWealth Beacon LITERACY REFORM: The Senate will take up its own version of a House-approved early literacy reform bill next week, increasing the likelihood that a new law […]
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The Download: National dark money anti-pot group bankrolling efforts to ban recreational marijuana in Mass., Maine
New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: On the newest episode of The Codcast, Massachusetts Health Connector executive director Audrey Morse Gasteier and Health Care for All senior director of policy […]