STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE CLOCK TICKING on the end of the two-year session, House and Senate leaders finalized a deal Thursday to tax and regulate short-term housing rentals […]
Lawmakers reach short-term rental agreement
Posted inPolitics
House, Senate at odds on Grid legislation
THE SENATE APPROVED legislation on Thursday that would extend the unemployment benefits of 1,250 locked-out National Grid workers, but the measure, at least temporarily, stalled in the House, which passed […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Are Chinese rail cars a Trojan horse?
AS IF THE MBTA doesn’t have enough trouble keeping its aging fleet of trains going, a state lawmaker is warning that the cure may be worse than the disease. State […]
Posted inPolitics
Columbus on hot seat in Framingham
THE LIST OF EARLY-ADOPTER Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee […]
Posted inThe Download
Columbus on hot seat in Framingham
The list of early-adopter Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee […]
Posted inOpinion
Ex-lobbyist reveals how the House really works
AT THE MASSACHUSETTS State House, I stepped outside of a packed hearing on updating the state’s bottle bill to speak with a young reporter for a western Massachusetts weekly. I […]
Posted inOpinion
The state’s social contract with utilities
THE ONGOING LOCKOUT of about 1,250 workers by National Grid raises important conflicts between the provisions of labor law and the statutes governing the public service obligations of the state’s […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker backs more worker benefits if Grid lockout doesn’t end soon
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER acknowledged on Wednesday that extending the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers would be an “unusual precedent,” but he said he was willing to take that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Trump the criminal justice reformer
EFFORTS TO REFORM the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]
Posted inThe Download
Trump the criminal justice reformer
Efforts to reform the US criminal justice system have been characterized by an alliance of unlikely bedfellows, with liberal groups like the ACLU joining with Right on Crime, a conservative […]
Posted inPolitics
Ash aide moves up to take his job
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE SECOND SHAKEUP of his Cabinet since Gov. Charlie Baker won reelection in November, the Baker administration announced Tuesday afternoon that Secretary Jay Ash is […]
Posted inTransportation
Mass. joins regional bid to price transportation carbon
MASSACHUSETTS and eight other states plus the District of Columbia pledged on Tuesday to spend a year developing a regional system that would put a price on the carbon contained […]
Posted inPolitics
Oops: DeLeo says Grid bill drafted incorrectly
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO acknowledged a bill to extend the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers doesn’t do what he thought it would do. The bill was approved with […]
Posted inThe Download
Oops: DeLeo says Grid bill drafted incorrectly
House Speaker Robert DeLeo acknowledged a bill to extend the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers doesn’t do what he thought it would do. The bill was approved with […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo acknowledges drafting error in Grid bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS THE HOUSE on Dec. 6 passed legislation authorizing wage benefits for locked out utility workers, House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced that the utility responsible for […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Board acts as if Ramirez never existed
THE MBTA’S FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT Control Board acted as if former general manager Luis Ramírez never existed at its meeting on Monday, failing to even acknowledge his exit last week […]
Posted inTransportation
Decision time near on Cape bridges
THE TOP TRANSPORTATION OFFICIAL in the Baker administration said on Monday that she would like to see the two bridges crossing the Cape Cod Canal and the surrounding road networks […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 129: Sudders talks health care
What’s it like to be in charge of nearly half the state budget? Extraordinarily humbling,” said Marylou Sudders. But don’t confuse humbling with cautious indecision or lack of tenacity. Gov. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Sudders talks health care
WHAT’S IT LIKE to be in charge of nearly half the state budget? “Extraordinarily humbling,” said Marylou Sudders. But don’t confuse humbling with cautious indecision or lack of tenacity. Gov. […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Sudders talks health care
What’s it like to be in charge of nearly half the state budget? “Extraordinarily humbling,” said Marylou Sudders. But don’t confuse humbling with cautious indecision or lack of tenacity. Gov. […]
Posted inOpinion
Benjamin LaGuer deserves a break
IT HAS BEEN SAD to see news updates on opposition to long-time Massachusetts inmate Benjamin LaGuer’s bid for a compassionate release because he has liver cancer and only months to […]
Posted inOpinion
Public higher ed isn’t really that public any more
THE BOSTON FOUNDATION and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation recently released a new report, Grade Incomplete: Implementation of the Community College Funding Formula in Massachusetts. The report examines the “performance-based funding” formula […]
Posted inEducation
Hold leaders accountable for Boston school closings
WHAT I HAVE learned as a Boston Public Schools teacher for the last 14 years is that my teaching has to be consistently scrutinized by the administration to make sure […]
Posted inOpinion
Has the Mass. solar gamble paid off?
HOW MUCH SHOULD we pay to promote solar energy in Massachusetts? Recent state government programs have resulted in the commitment of at least $10 billion of consumer funds—well over $1,500 […]