REPUBLICANS APPEAR TO BE preparing another run at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. The New York Times reported Tuesday that a new version of the wildly unpopular American […]
Repeal challenge: Republicans love Obamacare
Posted inTransportation
Feds agree with Green Line Ext. cost estimate
THE GREEN LINE EXTENSION moved closer to reality on Tuesday, as the Federal Transit Administration said it agreed with the MBTA’s $2.289 billion cost estimate for the project and state […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Going nuclear
In the arcane rules of the US Senate, the nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the body to override a rule or precedent by a majority vote. In […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
MA emissions continue decline
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS in Massachusetts decreased from 2013 to 2014, continuing a decade-long trend, according to the latest state data. State law requires emissions by 2020 […]
Posted inTransportation
Locomotive defects get T’s attention
THE MBTA’S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER announced on Monday that he is going to be working with Keolis officials to address defects in 40 relatively new commuter rail locomotives that are […]
Posted inTransportation
T backing off paratransit service cuts
STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS signaled on Monday that they are leaning toward no outright service cuts in paratransit service and are amenable to using a portion of a legislative appropriation to […]
Posted inTransportation
Orange Line car pulls into City Hall plaza
THE CHINESE OFFICIALS building new subway cars for the MBTA took a bow on Monday at the public unveiling of a prototype of the new Orange Line car at City […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
What’s a Democrat to do?
Donald Trump is the president. Should Democrats accept that and work with him whenever possible? Should they fight him every step of the way? Or is there some middle ground? […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Whose party is it?
SO FAR, THE DEMOCRATIC RACE to take on Gov. Charlie Baker next year has been a who’s who of “who’s that?” Pols and party professionals are rushing to the sidelines in hopes […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
“What the heck are you thinking?”
“I HAVE A simple question: What the heck are you thinking? What is in your mind?” With that, a dumbfounded Rep. Michael Capuano took to the House floor on Tuesday and spoke […]
Posted inTransportation
T union president indicted for fraud, kickbacks
THE PRESIDENT OF an MBTA union is facing charges that he used his position as a buyer for the agency to submit fraudulent invoices that netted him more than $100,000 in […]
Posted inThe Codcast
Episode 42: Missed opportunities with new K-12 plan
Massachusetts is about to submit to the US Department of Education its plan for monitoring and holding schools accountable under the new Every Student Succeeds Act, the law passed in […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Kill the Access Northeast pipeline
LAST MONTH, 74 conservation commissions across Massachusetts sent Gov. Charlie Baker a letter asking him to drop his support for new natural gas pipelines, and over 450 small business owners […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
The Codcast: Missed opportunities with new K-12 plan
Massachusetts is about to submit to the US Department of Education its plan for monitoring and holding schools accountable under the new Every Student Succeeds Act, the law passed in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Who’s in charge of simulcasting?
The Legislature and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission are in a power struggle over who controls the simulcasting of horse and greyhound races. The issue surfaced on Thursday at a meeting […]
Posted inDrug Addiction, State House News Service, The Download
Pushing the addiction-as-disease envelope
Two assumptions have have come to define discussion of the opioid crisis in the country: 1) It is not a partisan issue, and 2) we need to approach it as […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health spending benchmark lowered to 3.1%
THE MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION voted unanimously on Wednesday to lower the state’s 2018 benchmark for health care spending growth from 3.6 percent to 3.1 percent, a move that some […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Immigration debate heats up in Mass.
The immigration debate raging around the country is taking root in Massachusetts with the vitriol and accusations from both sides feeding a frenzy that we’re being overrun both by illegal […]
Posted inOpinion
The invisible homelessness
FAMILY HOMELESSNESS is sometimes called the invisible homelessness since these mothers and children are more likely to seek nightly shelter in public places – in a hospital emergency room, at […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Drug deja vu
It’s not easy being a health insurer these days, particularly when pharmaceutical companies come along with wonder drugs that cost a fortune. Insurers are all about working the odds. They […]
Posted inTransportation
Orange Line prototype at City Hall
MBTA OFFICIALS SAID A PROTOTYPE of the new Orange Line car will be available for public viewing next Monday through Wednesday at City Hall plaza in Boston. Jeffrey Gonneville, the […]
Posted inTransportation
T running out of options on budget cuts
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD is running out of options to pare back spending in the coming fiscal year. The T wants to balance its fiscal 2018 budget without touching $187 […]
Posted inTransportation
Keolis plagued by train, coach issues
KEOLIS, THE MBTA’S COMMUTER RAIL OPERATOR, is having trouble complying with the maintenance and repair requirements mandated under a six-year, $66 million contract sweetener it received last year. Last July, […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Obamacare more durable than expected
GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT Michael Reich says that the acid test of any national health reform comes when a new national administration takes over. Only when a new president or prime […]