WE PREVIOUSLY CO-AUTHORED an article in CommonWealth detailing the increasing discrepancies in municipal finance between the “haves” and the “have-nots” among Massachusetts cities and towns. It should not be surprising, therefore, […]
Mass. cities losing clout in ed funding fight
Posted inEducation
Use pot revenue to expand afterschool programs
IN A RECENT report on the importance of afterschool programs, the Legislature’s Afterschool and Out-Of-School Time Coordinating Council, chaired by Sen. Brendan Crighton and Rep. Jennifer Benson, reached a familiar conclusion, […]
Posted inEconomy
Poor role modeling in tech school renovation
THE IRONY SHOULDN’T be lost on students and staff at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton as they watch unlicensed construction workers perform the school’s $84 million renovation. As students inside Blue […]
Posted inOpinion
A Partners take on BI-Lahey merger
I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS about the merger of Beth Israel Deaconess and Lahey Health, but now that it has received the conditioned approval of Attorney General Maura Healey I want […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Seth Moulton and the shifting sands of polls
POLLING IS A SNAPSHOT in time. When times change, polls are a time capsule of the way it used to be. Perhaps no one better exemplifies the shifting sands of polls […]
Posted inOpinion
Pot shop restriction a nonstarter
ON TUESDAY, the Boston City Council will hold a hearing on a proposal by District 1 Councilor Lydia Edwards to prohibit cannabis facilities from operating within a half-mile of addiction […]
Posted inPolitics
Globe to Warren: Just say no
IF ELIZABETH WARREN wants some encouragement for what has seemed a likely presidential run, she’ll have to look beyond the dominant paper in her home state. The Boston Globe runs out […]
Posted inPolitics
House, in informal session, passes Grid legislation
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE, in a sparsely attended informal session on Thursday, approved legislation that would extend unemployment assistance for the 1,250 locked-out workers of National Grid or any other utility […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Grid hearing had one-sided feel
Legislative hearings are supposed to be fact-finding missions – a bill comes before a committee, proponents and opponents testify, and lawmakers ask questions to understand the implications of the proposed legislation. But hearings can also serve as […]
Posted inPolitics
Could Wisc. lame-duck power grab happen here?
The stunning, lame-duck power grab this week by the Wisconsin legislature would be far more difficult to pull off in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Legislature operates under a system of rules that […]
Posted inThe Download
Could Wisc. lame-duck power grab happen here?
The stunning, lame-duck power grab this week by the Wisconsin legislature would be far more difficult to pull off in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Legislature operates under a system of rules that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Big question for lawmakers: When will downturn come?
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DESPITE A STRONG ECONOMY, last year’s $1 billion budget surplus, and revenue collections that are outperforming expectations so far this year, the potential for an economic […]
Posted inOpinion
Paul Tsongas showed way to civility
FORTY YEARS AGO, Paul Tsongas was elected United States senator from Massachusetts. It was a time before laptops or cell phones. This was a time of only three national news […]
Posted inOpinion
Union ‘loophole’ going to Supreme Court
THE SO-CALLED UNION LOOPHOLE is a longstanding social injustice that MassFiscal, and its sister organization the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, are determined to right. On Wednesday, we teamed up with the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Judging the judge
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN with Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph, who is apparently the focus of a federal grand jury considering whether she improperly aided a defendant in eluding federal […]
Posted inThe Download
Judging the judge
What should happen with Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph, who is apparently the focus of a federal grand jury considering whether she improperly aided a defendant in eluding federal […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
National Grid takes pounding on Beacon Hill
NATIONAL GRID took a public relations pounding on Tuesday at a Beacon Hill hearing where steelworkers testified that the utility’s decision to lock them out in June had compromised public […]
Posted inPolitics
Former senator Joyce died from overdose
FORMER STATE SENATOR Brian Joyce, who was found dead in his Westport home in late September, died from a barbiturate overdose, according to the state medical examiner’s office. Joyce died […]
Posted inTransportation
T shows a willingness to experiment
The MBTA tried something new on Saturday. When the MBTA shuts down a subway or commuter rail line for repairs, standard operating procedure is to run replacement bus service along […]
Posted inThe Download
T shows a willingness to experiment
The MBTA tried something new on Saturday. When the MBTA shuts down a subway or commuter rail line for repairs, standard operating procedure is to run replacement bus service along […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Capital delivery arm has 80 openings
THE MBTA’S CAPITAL DELIVERY arm, which is tasked with spending $8 billion over the next five years, is struggling to ramp up its hiring to oversee projects. Beth Larkin, the […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA ponders its role in ‘mobility marketplace’
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD took some tentative steps on Monday to begin exploring the transit authority’s role in a fast-changing “mobility marketplace” where ride-hailing apps, taxis, bikeshares, car-sharing companies, and […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 127: Aiello on the state of the T, new revenues
The head of the MBTA’s oversight board says the hoped-for transformation of the transit agency has a long way to go yet. “We’re still at the very beginning,” says Joseph […]
Posted inTransportation
Aiello on the state of the T, new revenues
The head of the MBTA’s oversight board says the hoped-for transformation of the transit agency has a long way to go yet. “We’re still at the very beginning,” says Joseph […]