This week on The Codcast, two experts dive into what’s behind the surge in momentum for government regulation of social media use by minors.
The growing movement to keep kids off social media
Posted inGovernment
How would proposed age restrictions on social media use actually work?
Massachusetts may join a growing number of governments here and abroad looking to force stricter rules for social media companies with young users.
Posted inOpinion
Hampshire College’s demise is another blow to creative, outside-the-box options in higher education
It’s another sign of the higher ed consolidation, in which wealthy schools and those that deliver a traditional and often vocationally driven curriculum have a big advantage.
Posted inOpinion
Here’s how to fix primary care for the highest-need patients
Health care in Massachusetts isn’t living up to its full potential. A revised model of the patient-centered medical home would be a meaningful step in the right direction.
Posted inState Government
Massachusetts continues to flout a nearly decade-old climate regulation to track state vehicle emissions
The state’s interpretation that a later executive order from Baker supersedes this regulation isn’t sitting well with advocates and legal experts — and risks leaving the public in the dark about the actual pollution stemming from state vehicles.
Posted inOpinion
Why Boston’s biggest institutions should co-invest in climate protection
If every institution acts independently, Boston risks a patchwork of expensive and inefficient defenses that protect individual buildings but fail to secure the broader systems that keep the city functioning. A better approach would coordinate a portion of those inevitable investments into shared infrastructure solutions that protect entire districts and employment centers.
Posted inEducation
Head Start programs face funding squeeze
Head Start is navigating what advocates describe as a painful stretch of uncertainty. The federal budget for the early ed program is level-funded, lagging cost increases. While that has forced programs to reduce the number of families they serve, it is a retreat from earlier signals that the administration might seek to eliminate the program entirely.
Posted inEnvironment
Senate passes $3.6 billion environmental bond bill in bipartisan vote
The $3.64 billion bond bill, the state’s first for environmental efforts since 2018, is meant by and large to address the state’s adaptation to a changing climate, though Massachusetts projects the need will far outpace the spending authorized by this measure alone.
Posted inLocal Government
Political Notebook: South Hadley voters reject controversial Proposition 2½ override
The proposals sparked a heated local debate as sluggish state aid growth and strict limits on local tax increases continue to trap many local governments in a difficult position with few options to manage rising costs.
Posted inOpinion
Massachusetts must have a common, measurable graduation standard for all students
Stripped of its appealing rhetoric, Laurie Gagnon’s recent op-ed is an argument for dismantling the very mechanisms that protect the students most likely to be left behind.
Posted inHealth Care
Massachusetts celebrates health care milestone amid gathering storm clouds
Twenty years after Massachusetts passed landmark health care reform legislation that gave the state the highest rate of insurance coverage in the country, the leading players behind the law gathered in the same storied meeting hall where the 2006 bill was signed to celebrate their uncommon achievement.
Posted inEnergy
Gasoline price spike bears down on Massachusetts
Average regular gas prices in Massachusetts are now $3.97 per gallon, up sharply from $3.47 a month earlier – and $2.96 a year ago, according to AAA.
Posted inState Government
Senate extends 20-cent fee on ride services
The Senate on Thursday passed a Transportation Committee Chair Sen. Brendan Crighton amendment — within a bundle of other amendments adopted on a single voice vote — to its surtax supplemental budget that would preserve the existing fee structure by eliminating the sunset clause in the 2016 law.
Posted inThe Codcast
The grassroots campaign that changed health care
On the latest episode of The Codcast’s Health or Consequences, Paul Hattis interviews his normal co-host John McDonough and Cheri Andes about their work 20 years ago to secure passage of a landmark health care reform law.
Posted inOpinion
For new high school graduation requirement, Massachusetts doesn’t have to choose between standards and innovation
Reciprocal accountability is a system where the state sets high expectations for outcomes, but grants districts flexibility in how students demonstrate mastery, with the state responsible for providing the support communities need to succeed.
Posted inHealth Care
Methuen Hospital will be next in a string of maternity unit closures since 2010
This will be the 12th maternity service closure in Massachusetts – five of which have occurred in Gateway Cities – since 2010. The state technically doesn’t have any maternity care deserts – counties without hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care, and no obstetric providers. But recent losses have experts and advocates sounding the alarm.
Posted inCourts
In first ruling of its kind, Mass. high court says Meta not shielded from lawsuits over addictive features
The Supreme Judicial Court became the first statewide high court to decide that a 1996 federal law shielding internet platforms from liability over user-posted content does not render Meta immune to allegations that its design exploited young users.
Posted inBallot Questions
Lawmakers offer mixed messages on income tax ballot question
The House and Senate took different approaches toward conditioning tax relief on the fate of a ballot question, and legislative leaders continue to fling criticism about the process even as they open the door for negotiations.
Posted inEnergy
‘It’s like Russian roulette’: A Bellingham man’s plan to add solar and battery storage to his home meets a nearly $12K utility price tag
In Massachusetts, as in most states, utilities charge the customer that triggers the need for a grid upgrade the full cost, even if it benefits multiple homes. That turns the system for connecting residential solar projects into a game of chance.
Posted inHealth Care
Taking stock of Massachusetts health care reform at 20
Two decades later, there is plenty to say about how it came to be, what its impact has been, and what the challenges are today for Massachusetts health care. Today, we are publishing six essays capturing a wide range of opinions on the law.
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
Massachusetts health care reform met the moral moment
Living out the Brandeis credo to be a laboratory for democracy, we showed a path to providing health care coverage for nearly all residents
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
We declared that access to health coverage should not be left to chance or circumstance
Two decades after making health care history, Massachusetts must now face unfinished work on affordability, primary care access, and behavioral care
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
We solved the health care access challenge, but are failing miserably to control costs
The business community backed the 2006 law on the promise that the state would address costs and spending — a promise that has gone largely unfulfilled
Posted inHEALTH CARE AT 20
Chapter 58 has made health care unaffordable for families and small businesses
We need an honest reckoning with the shortcomings of Massachusetts health care and what it would take to address them
