ALMOST NOTHING in Boston is built without a zoning variance. Yet few of the thousands of individual variances granted annually satisfy the relevant legal standard. There is perhaps no area of law where practice departs from legal doctrine more than zoning variances. Casebooks and court decisions frequently note that they are intended to be granted […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion, State Government
Ready to sue to protect tax cap giveback
NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO, the esteemed taxpayer watchdog group Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT) and the Massachusetts High Tech Council (MHTC) had the foresight to fight and win the passage of a taxpayer protection law. That law would prevent taxpayers from being gouged during times of plenty, when state tax revenues skyrocket far more quickly […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Is state aid really helping the neediest hospitals?
AS LEGISLATORS ponder whether to resurrect a $350 million “relief” fund for Massachusetts hospitals, we suggest that they first step up the state’s informational capacity to better assure that they are allocating funding to institutions truly in financial need. We worry that the proposed allocations in the 2022 relief package, as well as unanticipated and […]
Posted inEnergy, Opinion
Federal aid shows hydrogen is here to stay
IN A RESIDENTIAL neighborhood on suburban Long Island, a clean energy technology that is both old and new could be the answer to eliminating carbon emissions from the entire economy across the country. In Hempstead, a project called HyGrid will blend green hydrogen with renewable natural gas to safely and reliably heat homes, while slashing […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Raising MCAS bar was a move in the wrong direction
THE BOARD of Elementary and Secondary Education’s recent decision to raise the score high school student must reach to pass the MCAS and graduate from high school is yet another slap in the face for public educators across the Commonwealth. Coming out of the COVID pandemic MCAS scores reported in September 2021 dropped from pre-pandemic […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
Mass. is losing its competitive edge
IT IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED fact that Massachusetts sits at the top of many lists which rank how we compare to other states – on healthcare, on education, on the economy (not to mention our sports teams). And by many of these measures, we have historically done well. But it is also well known that we […]
Posted inGovernment, Opinion
State laws to blame for lack of minority contracting
IN THE EARLY DAYS of the pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program offered a crucial lifeline for millions of suddenly desperate businesses. Yet as banks doled out nearly $1 trillion in PPP money, minority-owned businesses were at the back of the line. It was a glaring example of how even the most well-intentioned public policies can […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Mass. needs to be as bold on drought as it is on climate
WE CAN’T have climate action without drought action. Massachusetts is appropriately regarded as a leader when it comes to climate change and environmental policy. Just this month the Legislature passed, and the governor signed, a historic bill that will keep the Commonwealth at the forefront of reducing carbon emissions, deploying renewable energy, and lowering our dependence […]
Posted inCourts, Health Care, Opinion
How a Mass. court case targeting the opioid crisis could protect abortion access
AFTER THE SUPREME COURT’S decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, several states wasted no time in enacting laws banning abortion. Many of these laws – some without exceptions for rape or incest – went into effect the moment the Supreme Court’s conservative majority wiped away 50 years of precedent. Weeks after the decision, supporters of […]
Posted inCourts, Opinion, Politics
No conviction needed to bar Trump from the ballot
THE CONSTITUTION’S Fourteenth Amendment says that anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same,” is forever disqualified from public office. What does this mean for Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 insurrection? If Trump chooses to run for president in 2024, […]