ALMOST EVERY INDUSTRY, from hospitals to restaurants, is struggling to hire in Massachusetts. And while some of this may be due to COVID-related factors that will eventually diminish, a new […]
Low birth rates, slow immigration harms state workforce
Posted inEducation
Study says Boston schools may face ‘fiscal cliff’
BOSTON’S PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM has weathered a steep decline in student enrollment in recent years without any major fiscal fallout, but that’s due largely to a big infusion of money […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Opioid overdose deaths leveling off, but at high level
AFTER A SHARP SPIKE in opioid-related overdose deaths during the COVID pandemic, the numbers appear to be leveling off this year, but they still remain higher than before COVID hit, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker withdraws Amirault pardon recommendations
IN A STUNNING REVERSAL of a controversial policy recommendation, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday withdrew his recommendation to pardon Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault LeFave, who were convicted in a […]
Posted inThe Download
A call for universal rental housing assistance
IN RECENT YEARS, Massachusetts has moved toward making things like health care and quality preschool universally available to all. What if we put affordable rental housing in that same category? […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
A call for universal rental housing assistance
IN RECENT YEARS, Massachusetts has moved toward making things like health care and quality preschool universally available to all. What if we put affordable rental housing in that same category? […]
Posted inOpinion
More permeable surfaces can help save our waterways
IMAGINE SWIMMING in a water so murky that you can hardly see your toes, a water laden with toxic algae, a water devoid of the marine life we know and […]
Posted inGambling
Free sports bets? How to tax them?
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GAMING REGULATORS have reached no conclusions as to how they will treat, for tax purposes, the promotional betting offers that sports wagering companies dangle to attract customers, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Governor’s Councilors skeptical of Amirault pardons
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER recommended pardoning Gerald Amirault and Cheryl Amirault Lefave, who were convicted in a high-profile child sexual abuse case. But members of the Governor’s Council on Tuesday suggested […]
Posted inThe Download
At-grade I-90 Allston project called ‘preferred alternative’
AFTER YEARS OF indecision and delays, state transportation officials on Monday formally bowed to what public stakeholders have wanted for some time and designated a challenging all-at-grade approach as the […]
Posted inTransportation
At-grade I-90 Allston project called ‘preferred alternative’
AFTER YEARS OF indecision and delays, state transportation officials on Monday formally bowed to what public stakeholders have wanted for some time and designated a challenging all-at-grade approach as the […]
Posted inState Government
Healey taps Matthew Gorzkowicz for state budget chief
GOV.-ELECT MAURA HEALEY made her first cabinet pick Tuesday, announcing that longtime government finance expert Matthew Gorzkowicz will serve as her secretary of administration and finance. Gorzkowicz, a Democrat, was […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t try to flout the Housing Choice law
MASSACHUSETTS HAS a residential segregation problem. The issue is particularly pronounced in Greater Boston, where communities of color are tightly packed into environmentally hazardous areas and the racial home ownership gap continues to widen. Entrenched segregation cannot be […]
Posted inTransportation
The long GLX wait is over
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HUNDREDS OF EXCITED riders crowded into trains going north of Lechmere Station for the first time Monday morning, eagerly chattering to other passengers about their experiences […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Lessons learned from guaranteed income experiments
CommonWealth Magazine · Lessons learned from guaranteed income experiments
Posted inThe Download
Lessons learned from guaranteed income experiments
Chelsea, drawing on state, municipal, and philanthropic funding, gave nearly 2,213 families $400 a month via cash cards for eight months under a program dubbed Chelsea Eats. United South End […]
Posted inGovernment
Lessons learned from guaranteed income experiments
CHELSEA, DRAWING on state, municipal, and philanthropic funding, gave nearly 2,213 families $400 a month via cash cards for eight months under a program dubbed Chelsea Eats. United South End […]
Posted inOpinion
An MBTA to-do list for Gov. Healey
THE HEALEY/DRISCOLL administration will take office at a time when rider confidence in the MBTA and T employee morale have reached unprecedented lows. The necessary task of restoring confidence and […]
Posted inGovernment
Boston moving toward giving residents voice in ‘participatory budgeting’
WHEN CITY COUNCILOR Lydia Edwards proposed an amendment last year to the Boston City Charter to reform the city’s budget process, she wanted to shift power out of the hands […]
Posted inOpinion
Old laws, like Prop 2 1/2, need to adapt to times
I’VE BEEN STRUGGLING to find the right metaphor for our current economic situation. After the great recession of 2007-2009, my go-to was a staircase: the recession had knocked us down […]
Posted inOpinion
Closing a gap in our climate plans
THE RECENT report from the Commission on Clean Heat is short on numbers and, like any “consensus report,” it leaves some important issues unresolved. But it does identify the challenges we […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government, State House News Service
Cannabis commission seeks 23% budget increase
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MEMBERS OF THE Cannabis Control Commission voted to approve a fiscal year 2024 budget request of more than $23.7 million, including 26 new hires and $1.5 […]
Posted inOpinion
How do floating wind farms work?
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA has some of the strongest offshore winds in the US, with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off […]
Posted inThe Download
Rivera gets long contract extension at MassDevelopment
WITH LESS THAN a month before a new governor takes over, the MassDevelopment board of directors approved a long-term contract extension for Daniel Rivera, the authority’s president and chief executive […]