STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE DEMOCRATS kicked off debate Monday on a nearly $50 billion state budget bill by rejecting Republican-led efforts to weave tax relief into the annual spending plan. Massachusetts raked in more than $5 billion in surplus tax revenues last fiscal year and is running at least $1.5 billion ahead of the […]
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Wu backs low-income MBTA fare
BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu, who has made a fare-free MBTA one of her top priorities, on Monday said she supports passage of a law creating a reduced fare for low-income riders of the transit authority. In remarks at a rally near Park Street Station, Wu didn’t distinguish between her two positions and implied the two […]
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Lessons from story on Globe’s Philip Morris sponsored content
A correction and a clarification has been added to this story. A RECENT story in CommonWealth on a series of articles in the Boston Globe sponsored by Philip Morris has prompted pushback by both the newspaper and the tobacco giant. Their complaints have prompted us here at CommonWealth to look at how we handled the story, […]
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A bump in State House press presence
THERE’S AT LEAST some good news about the news business for a change. According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the total number of statehouse reporters nationwide has increased by 11 percent since 2014, the last time the center carried out a similar survey. But the news was not entirely positive when […]
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Mass. Senate staff seek to unionize
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE employees are hoping to become the second unionized state legislative staff in the country, announcing on Monday night their intent to unionize with Quincy-based IBEW Local 2222. IBEW representatives delivered a letter to Senate President Karen Spilka’s office Thursday seeking voluntary recognition of the union “after successfully collecting authorization […]
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Globe refutes claims made by scientists in CommonWealth article
BOSTON GLOBE Media Partners produced emails and text messages on Monday contradicting the claims of a series of prominent scientists who claimed they were interviewed for Globe sponsored content without being told the sponsor of the advertising was tobacco giant Philip Morris International. The scientists cried foul in an article published by CommonWealth on March […]
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Should remote access to government continue?
MANY BYPRODUCTS of the pandemic cannot disappear too soon – the illness, the social isolation, the toll constant anxiety is taking on our collective mental health. Yet some societal changes have become a silver lining to the pandemic – the realization that some jobs can be done as efficiently at home, the convenience of telehealth, […]
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Scientists object to inclusion in Globe’s Philip Morris ads
Editor’s note: The Globe on Monday April 4 shared emails and text messages with the scientists quoted in this story that sharply contradicted their statements about not being told about Philip Morris’s involvement. CommonWealth is reaching out to the scientists for an explanation and plans a follow-up once more information is obtained. Additional editor’s note: […]
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Groups call for making online meeting access permanent
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DARKNESS OF the pandemic brought a surprise element of transparency to government, and a range of groups, including those representing individuals with disabilities, this week are calling on the Governor’s Council to resume online streaming of meetings where elected officials vet judicial candidates. “In the case of government entities based […]
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House rejects gas tax suspension, pursuing ‘real relief’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A $1.6 BILLION spending bill passed the Massachusetts House unanimously on Wednesday after representatives shot down a Republican bid to add in language that would have suspended the state’s gas tax until prices fall below $3.70 a gallon, a proposal the House’s top Democrat called a “stunt.” Passed a day before […]