DESPITE THE SORRY STATE of Greater Boston’s commuter rail system, it manages to function well enough to carry nearly half of the city’s suburban commuters to jobs and other destinations. […]
Take long view, build N-S Rail Link
Posted inTransportation
Tough to compete against subsidized Uber, Lyft fares
UBER AND LYFT spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to subsidize artificially low fares. They have never been profitable. Uber lost $2.8 billion in 2016, according to a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Cities and states must take lead on climate change
CLIMATE CHANGE CREATES risks that scientists have been warning about for decades. Fortunately, many actions that reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and hedge against longer-term risks […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker signs pot bill, raises concerns
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed a law on Friday overhauling the marijuana legalization measure voters put on the books in November, and immediately afterward offered a cautious […]
Posted inTransportation
Real progress at the MBTA
ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO, the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board began what many thought to be a thankless if not hopeless task: Transform a fiscally and operationally broken MBTA […]
Posted inEnvironment
Ingredients for climate success
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A STRONG RECORD addressing climate-changing pollution. In the early 2000s, Massachusetts was a founding partner in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state, bipartisan cooperative that has […]
Posted inThe Download
McCain goes maverick-y
In the end, John McCain, whose career has been marked by periods of both swashbuckling independence and fall-in-line toeing-the-Republican party line, chose the former for what may go down as […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
Hydro-Quebec partners up
HYDRO-QUEBEC, a utility giant that fashions itself the electric battery of the Northeast, is partnering with three different transmission companies in competing for a massive clean energy contract with Massachusetts. […]
Posted inThe Download
MassHealth votes represent major shift
The Legislature’s rejection of Gov. Charlie Baker’s MassHealth savings initiatives represents a big political shift on Beacon Hill. In the past, Democratic lawmakers have largely ceded the nitty gritty of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Lawmakers reject Baker’s MassHealth cuts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE AND SENATE DEMOCRATS, insisting they needed more time to consider strategies to control cost growth in MassHealth and the broader health care system, turned aside […]
Posted inGambling
Lawmakers kick the can on horse racing
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE on Wednesday extended the existing simulcasting system for horse and dog racing for another year, essentially kicking the can down the road on proposals to revamp the […]
Posted inThe Download
Another hit for football
We may be known as home to the reigning NFL champions, but Boston is also the center of research efforts that have methodically plowed through the defensive line the multibillion-dollar […]
Posted inHealth Care
House poised to reject Baker’s MassHealth reforms
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BAKER ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS on Tuesday urged lawmakers to get on board with reforms to rein in costs at MassHealth, but the House is poised on Wednesday […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA to get $4.5m in parking theft settlement
THE MBTA IS EXPECTED TO COLLECT $4.5 million as part of a legal settlement with its former parking lot operator, whose employees allegedly stole money from the T over a […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker facing resistance to MassHealth cuts
In Washington, the fight over the nation’s health care future is full of drama. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who is dealing with brain cancer, vowed to return to Capitol […]
Posted inHealth Care
Time to get MassHealth house in order
ELEVEN YEARS AGO, Chapter 58—also known as RomneyCare—was signed into law. The landmark law was passed on the premise that there was a shared responsibility among all of us to be […]
Posted inHealth Care
Defending MassHealth reforms
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A LONG TRADITION of bipartisan health care reform. Our outside-of-the-box thinking, willingness to be nimble as Washington dynamics shift, and resolve to embrace change are critical components in honoring our collective commitment to near universal […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC blocks local detentions for ICE
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE LAW DOES NOT permit officials to detain immigrants solely at the request of federal immigration officials, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday, putting up a […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA solicits proposals for bus garage outsourcing
THE MBTA ISSUED a request for proposals last Friday for its planned privatization of three bus maintenance garages located in Quincy, Lynn, and Boston, a move that has put the […]
Posted inThe Download
A Metco take-down
The headline on the Sunday Globe front-page story suggested the 50-year-old school integration program known as Metco was a mixed bag, but the story painted an almost uniformly dismal picture […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
3 takeaways on the offshore wind RFP
IMAGINE WIND POWER delivering electricity at prices well below today’s rates. It’s not the fantasy of some wildly idealistic environmentalist: In fact, it’s happening today in Texas, and the potential […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s broaden the role of optometrists
IN EVERY OTHER STATE, optometrists prescribe oral antibiotics to treat ocular infections as well as treat and manage glaucoma. Massachusetts is the only state where this is not permitted. If […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker trying to have it both ways
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has publicly criticized Republican efforts in Washington, DC, to roll back health coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act. He rightly argues that such changes will have […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. national parks desperately need new funding
EVERY YEAR, millions of visitors flock to Massachusetts’ 15 national park and historic sites for fun and recreation. They leave with a better understanding of our nation’s past and the […]