THE LATEST DATA for the state’s MassHealth program indicate enrollment has stabilized, suggesting the assumption behind Gov. Charlie Baker’s health care tax on employers – that Medicaid rolls are soaring […]
Latest numbers undercut need for health care tax
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Political polarization complicates Watergate comparisons
THE CASCADING INVESTIGATIONS into relationships between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign and staff rings loudly with echoes of Watergate. Trump sometimes seems to invite the parallel, tweeting about taping White […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Second thoughts on Globe property
Something must be amiss at the Boston Globe’s property on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. First, Winstanley Enterprises of Concord struck a deal to buy the 16.5-acre property and then pulled […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker backs Paris climate accord
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Students had prepared Wednesday to attempt to persuade Gov. Charlie Baker to speak out in support of the Paris climate change agreement. Instead, they ended up […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack not comparing apples to apples
WE DISAGREE with Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack’s “apples-to-apples” comparison of the South Station expansion and North-South Rail Link projects, especially with the corresponding studies currently being prepared. What the secretary […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Budget uncertainty
There is one certainty with the fiscal 2018 budget: For the first time ever, Massachusetts will have a spending plan exceeding $40 billion to run state government. After that, there […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Senate budget pinned on shaky revenue projections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee members on Tuesday unanimously approved a $40.3 billion spending plan for fiscal 2018 that they said recognizes the state does not […]
Posted inGambling
Idle horse race funds attracting interest
IT’S DANGEROUS TO LEAVE millions of dollars lying around these days on Beacon Hill. Someone is likely to snatch the money. The state’s Horse Race Development Fund is a case […]
Posted inEconomy, Education, Environment, Opinion
Smart buildings need smart workers
BOSTON IS SEEING fast growth and, with that, an increase in green buildings and sustainable design. Boston ranks fifth nationally in total LEED-certified space, outranking many of the greenest big […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The elephant in the lab
An op-ed in today’s Globe by two leaders of the region’s biomedical community is as interesting for what it doesn’t say as what it does. The presidents of Vertex Pharmaceuticals […]
Posted inTransportation
Keolis on-time performance improves
THE MBTA’S COMMUTER RAIL OPERATOR over the last few weeks has done a much better job keeping locomotives running and trains arriving on time, but a mysterious problem with the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Clawbacks threaten mental health services
IMAGINE BEING WORRIED sick, struggling to find a mental health clinician to treat your 12-year-old child who is so anxious that he has not been able to go to school […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack: T scrapping Auburndale station design
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK said on Monday that the MBTA is scrapping its design for a new Auburndale commuter rail station in response to concerns that the proposal might negatively […]
Posted inThe Download
Getting Trump’s attention
Someone needs to take away President Trump’s cellphone or shut down his Twitter account. Stat. Trump raised the specter of recording his January dinner conversation with now-fired FBI director James […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Report: Inmate levels down but spending keeps rising
THE NUMBER OF INMATES in the state’s prisons and jails is going down, but the cost of operating those facilities is going up, largely because correctional institutions are adding more […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston reentry initiative hits the skids
BOSTON’S WIDELY ACCLAIMED prisoner reentry program, which is aimed at reducing recidivism by helping offenders who are released from prison with everything from employment and housing to addiction services, was […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
Prepare to be automated out of a job
WHAT SHOULD WE DO if we knew that, in the near future, a large sector of our country’s workers, currently employed with good-paying jobs, would be put out of work […]
Posted inEnvironment
Boston seizes clean energy opportunity
IT’S BEEN A sobering few months for clean energy advocates. Despite the Trump administration’s disdain for programs and policies intended to lower the carbon emissions that threaten the safety and […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 48: Plotting the future at DOT
Scott Hamwey’s job is figuring out the state’s transportation future. As the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s manager of long-range planning, he is charged with trying to plot a course for […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The Codcast: Plotting the future at DOT
Scott Hamwey’s job is figuring out the state’s transportation future. As the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s manager of long-range planning, he is charged with trying to plot a course for […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Tracking assisted living ‘incidents’
Massachusetts assisted living facilities reported 305 cases of abuse, neglect, and exploitation involving residents in 2015 – and half of the reports were filed late. Reports are supposed to be […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
The downside of renewables
MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN about New England’s electricity markets and the distortions caused by policy makers. There are many lessons that elected officials and bureaucrats can learn by looking overseas […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Trump’s unhelpful hand to workers
It is easy to get fixated on the circus act that has taken up residence in Washington. With Ringling Brothers pulling down the tent after 146 years, as if on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mass. voters strongly back criminal justice reform
MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS STRONGLY support reform of the state’s criminal justice system, including elimination of mandatory minimum sentences and a greater emphasis on rehabilitation and education programs than incarceration, according to […]