The Download

New from CommonWealth Beacon COMPETITIVENESS: Gov. Maura Healey’s top economic development official and state lawmakers musings at a recent budget hearing about affordability in the nation’s second-most expensive state centered […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Jordan Wolman hosts a discussion about how rising utility bills became the chief political headache […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon LAWSUIT: Democratic Party insiders are suing to block a proposed ballot question that would end partisan primaries in Massachusetts. If that measure passed, it could create […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon MBTA COMMUNITIES: Did the controversial MBTA Communities housing law impermissibly force towns to shell out money to devise carefully crafted multifamily zoning plans, or were any […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon Records: Lawmakers kicked off their review of the massive ballot-question field with trepidation about subjecting themselves to the public records law — plus another round of […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon CLEANUP: Communities in western Massachusetts are split on the prospects of a landfill planned to hold sediment contaminated with low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon New Codcast: This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Hallie Claflin sits down with Department of Early Education and Care commissioner Amy Kershaw and Strategies […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon OPINION: What totally predictable crisis will start in just five years? The doubling of the need for elder care. A dangerous demographic cliff lies just ahead, […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon MASS SAVE: House Democrats have passed a major energy bill that aims to cut rising utility costs that have inflamed an affordability crisis in the state […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon LITERACY: Massachusetts is inching toward a major overhaul of literacy instruction that would require districts to use state-approved curricula including phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension, but some […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon ENERGY: Massachusetts Democrats are poised to vote on a controversial and sweeping energy package in the House on Thursday. The bill, which is intended to respond […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon NEW CODCAST: Is the T spending too much or too little? That’s the question Chris Lisinski explores on this week’s episode alongside guests Jim Aloisi, a […]

New from CommonWealth Beacon POLITICS: CommonWealth Beacon relaunches its Political Notebook feature with a trio of eye-catching items from Beacon Hill and beyond, including the next collision course between Boston […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]