The great Florentine observer of human nature, Nicolo Machiavelli, famously wrote, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” Boston leaders are learning that lesson anew as they push to end the era of automobile dominance in urban mobility.
Bike lane brouhaha a test of Boston’s resolve
Posted inEconomy
In 2024, Mass. is still minding the wage gap
There remains a huge gender and race wage gap, and the issue is more complicated than is often recognized.
Posted inThe Codcast
Minding the wage gaps
This week on The Codcast, Jennifer Smith of CommonWealth Beacon is joined by Kim Borman, executive editor of the Boston Women’s Workforce Council, to discuss trends in gender and racial wage gaps in Boston, why they persist, and how to address them.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis Commission says it failed to collect $500,000 in licensing fees
In an email, a spokesperson for the agency said a license renewal extension fee was implemented in August 2022 to give applicants for cannabis licenses more time to file them. Extensions were granted to 161 applicants, the email said, but the fees were never collected by commission staff. The total amount owed in licensing fees was $555,671, according to the email.
Posted inMarijuana
State crackdown on hemp products uneven
The 2018 Farm Act removed hemp from the definition of marijuana and deemed it an agricultural commodity, a shift that has led to the creation of an industry centered around many of the same intoxicating products found at marijuana dispensaries but without the heavy regulation on how it’s produced and who can consume it.
Posted inOpinion
We’ll pay a steep price if climate bill doesn’t get done
The Massachusetts Legislature’s failure to pass comprehensive climate legislation and a major economic development bond bill is deeply concerning. We must recommit ourselves to moving both initiatives forward with great haste.
Posted inState Government
House, Senate leaders to call lawmakers back into formal session
Both Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano issued statements saying they are interested in resolving differences between the two branches on the bill and then holding a special session to approve it and send it along to the governor so she can sign it into law.
Posted inPolitics
Political notebook: Healey hires strategist | Gov. slams Vance’s ‘childless cat lady’ comment
NEARLY HALFWAY THROUGH her first term, Gov. Maura Healey has brought into the State House a longtime political hand. Corey Welford, who left for the private sector after serving as […]
Posted inOpinion
A game plan for the new hybrid work reality
Boston provides an illustrative example of this principle. Characterized by a greater mix of office, residential, dining, and retail uses, the Back Bay and Seaport neighborhoods feel more vibrant than the Financial District, with its preponderance of office towers.
Posted inState Government
Democrats warm to continuing debate on unfinished legislation
Nothing official has been announced, but House Speaker Ron Mariano and members of his leadership team raised that possibility early Thursday morning as it became clear that many of the bills they wanted to pass were not going to make it. Gov. Maura Healey also chimed in, urging action on her economic development legislation.
Posted inEducation
Backers claim progress in push to change teacher layoff rules
Backers of an effort to weaken seniority rules governing teacher layoffs in order to promote diversity in the teaching workforce did not see their bill passed this year, but say the issue is advancing because the state budget directs the education department to carry out an analysis of layoffs.
Posted inState Government
Lawmakers stumble through early morning hours with little accomplished
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s property tax shift proposal, which drew intense opposition from real estate interests, appeared dead, as did overrides of Gov. Healey’s vetoes from the $58 billion fiscal 2025 budget.
Posted inEnergy
Finger-pointing galore as climate legislation stalls
The House was content with a bill that did the siting and permitting changes and little else, but the Senate had additional priorities, including language that would begin to rein in the natural gas industry, eliminate the retail electricity industry, and overhaul the way clean energy is procured.
Posted inOpinion
Presidential election is not just about choosing a leader
Many argue that the activism of the global pandemic and the George Floyd racial awakening are over.
Posted inPolitics
‘I don’t think things are getting rammed through.’ Healey defends lawmakers’ end-of-session dash.
Legislative leaders are sniping at each other over late-breaking bills, but the sprint to plow through a backlog of bills in the closing hours of the session didn’t seem to bother Gov. Maura Healey.
Posted inGambling
Online lottery charges toward legalization with some safety tweaks
Based on other states with iLotteries, some of the products would be as straightforward as allowing someone to play Mass Cash or Powerball over their mobile device. Others look like something of a high-tech scratch-ticket. Some approach the appeal of more traditional mobile games – matching patterns, playing battleship – and still others approximate games more often found in casinos than on a lottery ticket.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis commission governance headed for legislative review
In a letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano, Donahue said the committee plans to hold public hearings to revisit the statute that created the commission, particularly the responsibilities and powers of the chair of the commission and its executive director.
Posted inState Government
Spilka throws Mariano’s own words back at him
Unlike other state houses, it’s not Democrats fighting Republicans, or the executive branch battling the legislative branch. It’s the House versus the Senate.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA agrees to pay New Bedford $3m more for land
The dispute has been simmering for years, with the T low-balling the city initially and then refusing to budge. The fight spilled over into the political arena, with local lawmakers accusing New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell of being too greedy and endangering the long-delayed South Coast Rail project.
Posted inOpinion
Addressing inequities requires policy solutions, not elimination of standards
An economic development bill approved by the Massachusetts House of Representatives includes a proposed amendment that seeks to eliminate the examination requirement for social work licensure. While the amendment is intended to support social workers, the Association of Social Work Boards strongly opposes this proposal.