In April 2024, the state signed on to the Marsters v. Healey settlement, a federal court-enforced agreement to transition at least 2,400 residents with serious mental illness and other disabilities out of nursing facilities and into community settings over eight years, backed by projected investments exceeding $1 billion.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Legislature should impose limits on harmful book bans in state libraries
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A rare opportunity to strengthen the public’s ability to freely debate ideas, a foundational democratic concept under attack at the local, state, and national levels. Passing “An Act […]
Posted inOpinion
Healey and lawmakers are overreaching with proposed social media restrictions for children
The bill’s goal is to protect children, but in practice it restricts younger users’ access to lawful online content. Courts have repeatedly made clear that protecting minors does not give the government a generalized power to limit what people can read, view, or say.
Posted inOpinion
No time for timidity on clean energy
As fuel prices surge from the war in the Middle East and residents demand relief from their monthly bills, now is the time to deliver clean energy and energy efficiency solutions for the people of Massachusetts.
Posted inOpinion
We’ve lived in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems. Here’s why we’re fighting to ‘Raise the Age.’
Too often, young adults in the criminal justice system are told the second they reach 18 that their mistakes are who they are rather than something they can learn from. We know this is not true.
Posted inOpinion
Here’s how we could build market-rate housing units in Boston that cost $100,000
Proven construction methods already exist to build housing at much lower cost than standard methods. What is missing is a strategy that aligns these elements into a system that actually produces entry-level homeownership.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts has a once-in-a-decade chance to stop predatory electric suppliers
The bill’s consumer protections would move Massachusetts from having some of the weakest safeguards for residential electricity customers to some of the strongest.
Posted inOpinion
An Earth Day call to action against dangerous rollback of federal environmental protections
The EPA’s Endangerment Finding has served as the backbone of action under the Clean Air Act to limit pollution from motor vehicles, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. The Trump administration axed it.
Posted inOpinion
Hampshire College’s demise is another blow to creative, outside-the-box options in higher education
It’s another sign of the higher ed consolidation, in which wealthy schools and those that deliver a traditional and often vocationally driven curriculum have a big advantage.
Posted inOpinion
Here’s how to fix primary care for the highest-need patients
Health care in Massachusetts isn’t living up to its full potential. A revised model of the patient-centered medical home would be a meaningful step in the right direction.
Posted inOpinion
Why Boston’s biggest institutions should co-invest in climate protection
If every institution acts independently, Boston risks a patchwork of expensive and inefficient defenses that protect individual buildings but fail to secure the broader systems that keep the city functioning. A better approach would coordinate a portion of those inevitable investments into shared infrastructure solutions that protect entire districts and employment centers.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts must have a common, measurable graduation standard for all students
Stripped of its appealing rhetoric, Laurie Gagnon’s recent op-ed is an argument for dismantling the very mechanisms that protect the students most likely to be left behind.
Posted inOpinion
For new high school graduation requirement, Massachusetts doesn’t have to choose between standards and innovation
Reciprocal accountability is a system where the state sets high expectations for outcomes, but grants districts flexibility in how students demonstrate mastery, with the state responsible for providing the support communities need to succeed.
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
Massachusetts health care reform met the moral moment
Living out the Brandeis credo to be a laboratory for democracy, we showed a path to providing health care coverage for nearly all residents
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
We declared that access to health coverage should not be left to chance or circumstance
Two decades after making health care history, Massachusetts must now face unfinished work on affordability, primary care access, and behavioral care
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
We solved the health care access challenge, but are failing miserably to control costs
The business community backed the 2006 law on the promise that the state would address costs and spending — a promise that has gone largely unfulfilled
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
Chapter 58 has made health care unaffordable for families and small businesses
We need an honest reckoning with the shortcomings of Massachusetts health care and what it would take to address them
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
The Massachusetts Health Connector has been a resilient — and flexible — foundation for a bold experiment
Cost and affordability concerns, along with federal retreat on Affordable Care Act funding and policy, present big challenges as we enter our third decade
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
Our history-making reform extended coverage to immigrants. That is now under threat.
Despite Massachusetts’s inclusive policies, structural racism and legal status discrimination have consistently undermined immigrants’ access to care, creating barriers that persist even for those who have coverage.
Posted inOpinion
We’re ready to help craft a 25-year vision for the MBTA
We need a long-term vision and plan for a transit system that enables all of us to fulfill our essential needs — easy and affordable access to jobs, opportunities, and resources. Now is the time to start advocating for this.
Posted inOpinion
A new vision for career and technical education in Massachusetts
Rethinking the structure and funding for career and technical education would not only open doors for more young people, but it would also help address the growing challenge the state faces in meeting the high demand for skilled workers.
Posted inOpinion
My all-of-the-above approach will lower energy costs and advance our climate goals
This is not about choosing one source over another. It is a practical approach to building enough energy from different sources to lower costs, improve reliability, and create jobs.
Posted inOpinion
Rent control ballot question won’t solve our housing problems — it will add to them
Although the goal of protecting tenants from sudden spikes is noble, evidence from decades of research and practical experience shows that broad rent caps often deliver the opposite of their intended outcomes.
Posted inOpinion
Invest in the 80 percent: Why Mass. must fund summer and after-school learning
The gross disparity between in-school and out-of-school learning investments represents a singular challenge for the Commonwealth. We need a new mindset regarding when and how learning occurs.