It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally flawed reading of legislative productivity for reasons that are virtually never acknowledged amid the easy targeting of lawmakers.
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Boston is arguing about crime statistics. The real test is the walk home.
The test is simple: Are people safe, and do they feel safe, walking through downtown’s streets, stations, and parks? Judge our progress by that standard.
Posted inOpinion
Addressing our housing crisis means tackling transportation woes, too
MASSACHUSETTS RANKS NEAR the top in education, health, and economic output. It also ranks near the top for cost of living. Housing and transportation drive much of that cost. Those […]
Posted inOpinion
If we want better local government, especially in Gateway Cities, let’s change the election calendar so more people vote when we elect municipal leaders
“No other institutional reform we know of—short of making voting compulsory—comes anywhere close to having this kind of impact on turnout,” says the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government of aligning local and national elections.
Posted inOpinion
Your teenager is still figuring out who they are. Big Tech’s algorithms act like they already know.
At precisely the age when young people are still figuring out who they are, an algorithm optimized for engagement should not be shaping the possibilities.
Posted inOpinion
How can voters know if Suffolk DA Hayden deserves a second term?
If the evidence that he deserves a second term exists, Hayden should produce it. The jurors — Suffolk County voters — deserve to see it before they deliberate.
Posted inOpinion
Uncertainty is the new competitiveness challenge for Massachusetts
Uncertainty driven by macroeconomic, geopolitical, and instability in federal policy has now surpassed affordability as the top concern facing Roundtable members – leaders of some of the largest employers across Massachusetts.
Posted inOpinion
Now that we’ve adopted Right to Read legislation for our schools, we must revamp teacher preparation to match it
In order to be sure our state’s new literacy legislation has the most impact on our students, we need to ensure that we have the same laser focus on teacher training that this bill has brought to our students.
Posted inOpinion
Why are political insiders so afraid of giving voters more choices?
This November, Massachusetts voters can decide whether our elections are working for them, or whether they are mostly working for the people already in power.
Posted inOpinion
Fall River waterfront makeover shouldn’t leave out affordable housing
Unfortunately, under Fall River’s current plans for the almost 1,500 homes slated for the site, bidders must defer to the city’s “strong preference for market-rate housing as the development option for the Property.”
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts needs a data-center strategy, not a series of permits
Massachusetts should decide what role data centers will play in its energy, climate, economic-development, and environmental-justice future—and what these extraordinarily energy-intensive facilities must contribute in return for public support.
Posted inOpinion
Why polling is so prone to prediction problems in primary races
As races from other places and times have shown us, when it comes to primaries, anything can happen.
Posted inOpinion
A Cambridge turf battle offers broader lessons on citizen involvement
The Ahern Field saga is a reminder that when all stakeholders—parents, neighbors, young people, and taxpayers— show up together, they can move government.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts must put communities before data center profits
Before we commit to a new generation of energy-intensive infrastructure, we must prove that the benefits outweigh the costs and ensure that residents determine what comes next in their communities.
Posted inOpinion
Senate plan shifts energy costs – it doesn’t eliminate them
While customers may see some short-term bill relief, securitization does not eliminate costs. It shifts them, and consumers ultimately still pay the same amount, or more.
Posted inOpinion
UP Academy Holland’s turnaround success offers a nuanced lesson on receivership
If the goal is to improve outcomes for students attending chronically underperforming schools, the most important question is not whether receivership succeeded everywhere. It is whether it succeeded anywhere, and if so, why.
Posted inOpinion
Homeownership preservation must be part of our housing strategy
There is a significant gap between making a homeowner and sustaining one.
Posted inOpinion
Boston hosted the world. Let’s make it a habit.
Greater Boston can host the world. Now we need to make sure we are willing and able to do it again and again because doing so brings lasting economic and civic benefits to our region.
Posted inOpinion
IG report ignored the critical role of over-prosecution in straining the indigent defense system
Massachusetts cannot ignore the realities of how over-prosecution and overcharging are part of the reason for the price tag on indigent defense.
Posted inOpinion
Data privacy bill must have real teeth
We can end Big Tech’s abuses — but only if we have the courage to stand up to the tech oligarchs and maintain the strong standards of our consumer protection law when it comes to enforcing our data privacy law.
Posted inOpinion
Towns surrounding the Quabbin Reservoir protect the water for 2.7 million people in Eastern Mass. They’re getting financially starved in the process.
The state’s payments in lieu of taxes system treats Quabbin land as nearly worthless. In reality, it’s the most valuable land in Massachusetts: Without it, more than 2.7 million people across Eastern Massachusetts — 40 percent of the state’s population — would have no water.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts must regulate cannabis like alcohol and tobacco
The retail cannabis sector faces a fraction of the regulatory strictness, compliance checks, and public safety enforcement applied to other age-restricted products.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts is making free speech a guessing game
This isn’t about whether donor disclosure has a role in elections; It’s about whether government can expand those rules through vague interpretations that leave ordinary civic organizations guessing where the legal line is.
Posted inOpinion
As a physician providing abortion care in Maryland, I see Massachusetts families on their hardest days.
I trust my patients—and Massachusetts legislators should, too.
