FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, there has always been a strained relationship with our tax system, thanks to rules that keep the gap between black/brown and white wealth disproportionally wide. The tax system was even weaponized against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was investigated in both Georgia and Alabama, and repeatedly by the IRS, which […]
Opinion
Posted inPolitics
Some advice for Boston mayoral campaigns
AN OPEN BOSTON mayoral campaign is often called a once-in-a-generation event. In fact, we had such a race only eight years ago, when Tom Menino retired after a record-setting 20 years in office. In 2013, a crowded field of 12 candidates vied in the September preliminary election, with the two top finishers, John Connolly and […]
Posted inOpinion
Will DOC’s insistence on jury trial hold up?
IN ADDITION to consuming most of the attention of the legislative and executive branches of government, the COVID-19 pandemic is also keeping the judicial branch busy. Twelve times in the last 11 virus-wracked months, the Supreme Judicial Court has issued decisions resolving some legal tangle caused by COVID. Among the questions the court has answered: […]
Posted inOpinion
Mr. Speaker, appoint a commission to study House
What follows is written as an open letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano. Based on news coverage of your decision to postpone the rules debate to July, it appears that you are concerned about the role of Act on Mass and other non-profit grassroots groups in so effectively galvanizing the voting public to demand more […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Will developers block clean energy standards?
LATE IN THE last session, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a landmark climate bill targeting zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and mandating several mechanisms to achieve the goal. Gov. Baker vetoed the bill on the ground that it would make construction too expensive, echoing concerns raised by contractors and developers. The Legislature then passed the identical bill […]
Posted inOpinion
Put an end to cuts at the MBTA
LAST FALL, when the MBTA announced it was planning deep cuts to bus, train, ferry ,and commuter rail service, the opposition was swift and virtually unanimous. Riders, workers, elected officials, and employers raised the alarm that T cuts would make it harder for essential workers to get to their jobs, worsen unemployment, disproportionately impact low-income people and communities of color, and take […]
Posted inOpinion
Missing the boat on vaccinating the black community
MASSACHUSETTS LEADERS have pledged to address systemic racism. A COVID-19 vaccination strategy that prioritizes heavily impacted black communities is the opportunity to slow the spread of the disease while bringing real meaning to those words. Black and brown Americans have shouldered the burden of the pandemic, with blacks particularly impacted. In undervalued and underpaid jobs, many have […]
Posted inOpinion
Push for as much transparency as possible
UMASS AMHERST political science professor Raymond La Raja argues in an opinion piece for CommonWealth that transparency in the legislative process is often not a good thing. Say what? La Raja contends that deep transparency tends to give power to lobbyists to press their demands. “With the slightest whiff that a member might not agree […]
Posted inOpinion
Hospitals should partner with home health care workers
Two recent studies on the impact of COVID-19 on Massachusetts home care and home health workers and the people they care for highlight a need to build capacities for the safe delivery of care in this essential sector during the current pandemic era and beyond. The studies, by the state’s Betsy Lehman Center for Patient […]
Posted inOpinion
Whole lot of clicks to get vaccines
I HAD BEEN hearing the stories about seniors trying to sign up for Phase 2 COVID-19 vaccines: websites swallowing information, hours to find a location with available vaccine, people booking appointments only to have them canceled shortly afterwards because the vendor had allowed Phase 2 patients to accidentally book on a Phase 1 day. Torturous computer applications […]