Tarr, a Republican, said he saw the Senate’s new standing order for this session as a one-time event. “We should never let this practice be part of the everyday operations of this body,” he told his colleagues during a speech.
Senate goes different law-making route to pass climate bill
Posted inCourts
Tracking cookies doesn’t violate wiretap law, SJC rules
The 1960s-era Wiretap Act prohibits covertly intercepting communications, but the majority of Supreme Judicial Court justices concluded Thursday that use of popular AdTech tools that monitored a Revere resident’s browsing on the New England Baptist Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center websites doesn’t fall under that definition.
Posted inState Government
Beacon Hill mourns death of Rep. Gifford, Republican from Wareham
“Susan was also kind, and a person of integrity, traits that allowed her to bring an invaluable perspective to her work here in the Legislature,” said Spreaker Ron Mariano.
Posted inState Government
Business community needs attitude adjustment, Michlewitz says
“The negativity I hear on a daily basis is enough to make you think we’re bordering on the Great Depression, or that we’re almost wishing it into existence.”
Posted inOpinion
As minority enrollment slips at most colleges, Mass. offers way forward
And, at a time when the state faces real challenges to retain its talented workforce, the roughly 19,000 who graduate from UMass every year are overwhelmingly more likely to stay in Massachusetts than the graduates of private schools and contribute to our workforce.
Posted inGovernment
Wu, business leaders reach compromise on property tax shift
Business leaders and analysts say the compromise is a short-term solution to a problem that isn’t going away.
Posted inHealth
Tobacco-free movement takes aim at access to nicotine pouches
Some municipal boards of health, like those in Greenfield and Groton, are floating an “out of sight, out of mind” tactic, restricting certain nicotine product sales to adult-only retail tobacco stores and sparking the ire of retail associations.
Posted inEnergy
Vineyard Wind to remove already installed blades, strengthen others
The wind farm and its wind turbine supplier, GE Vernova, said the decision to remove some blades and strengthen others followed a review of 8,300 ultrasound images of each installed blade and physical blade inspections using “crawler drones.”
Posted inOpinion
Legislature pulled up short in July, but it’s getting job done now
My reduced anxiety about the Legislature’s productivity this session doesn’t mean that there isn’t still room for improvement. There is no question that the lawmaking process can be smoother, and I’ve been glad to see leadership acknowledge that the Legislature can do better.
Posted inBallot Questions
Mariano, Spilka don’t rule out revisiting ballot questions after election
Two ballot questions in particular have drawn Beacon Hill’s scorn: Question 1 would explicitly authorize the state auditor to audit the state Legislature, while Question 2 would remove passing the MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement.
Posted inEnergy
Decision time for offshore wind cable plant at Brayton Point
THE ITALIAN COMPANY seeking to build an offshore wind cable manufacturing plant at Brayton Point in Somerset has a big decision to make. Prysmian Group has nearly all of the […]
Posted inTransportation
McGee to lead MBTA board as Glynn steps aside
McGee, a former state lawmaker and mayor of Lynn, is very similar to Glynn in a policy sense. But the two men have very different leadership styles.
Posted inOpinion
My roadmap for funding the state’s transportation system
Ultimately, Massachusetts’ political leaders need to do two things next year: stop the T from falling off the coming fiscal cliff, and then build a financial bridge enabling the T to reach across the chasm to the other side, which is the future. That means not simply solving the fiscal cliff crisis but making essential and strategic investments in a better transit system.
Posted inGovernment
Wu, business leaders getting closer on tax shift
The difference between the two current proposals from Wu and business leaders comes down to $21 for Boston residents’ tax bills, according to Wu. Residents in the average single family home would see a $21 increase under Wu’s proposal, while businesses would see a $319 decrease.
Posted inBallot Questions
DiZoglio releases audit of Legislature 2 weeks before ballot question vote
Polls indicate DiZoglio’s ballot question is expected to pass overwhelmingly, but any victory is likely only the beginning of a legal struggle over what operations of the Legislature the auditor can audit without infringing on the authority of a separate branch of government.
Posted inState Government
Struggling with dos and don’ts for millionaire tax
Despite the wide latitude afforded by the language, a budget-balancing maneuver by Gov. Maura Healey using millionaire tax money is drawing criticism on Beacon Hill and shaping up as the first real test of what exactly voters intended for the money.
Posted inThe Codcast
Striving for fairness in spending the fair share funds
This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon’s editor Bruce Mohl sits down with Phineas Baxandall, Policy Director for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and Pete Wilson, Senior Policy Director for Transportation for Massachusetts. They discuss the recent controversy between the Healey-Driscoll administration and state Legislature over distributing surplus revenue collected by the millionaire’s tax.
Posted inHousing
Single stairwell buildings could be next frontier in housing reform
The report estimates that doing away with the second stairwell could cut construction costs by 15 to 25 percent and add about 130,000 new homes on undeveloped small- to mid-sized parcels near public transit in the Greater Boston area.
Posted inOpinion
Learning firsthand the value of helping immigrants
Hosting a family, however, is one way I can assert my values in this troubling time. I encourage others to find ways to do the same.
Posted inOpinion
Train conductors, NFL players do it — why not the president?
We simply cannot roll the dice and hope that the president we elect is cognitively sound enough to handle this kind of pressure.