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.
Online lottery charges toward legalization with some safety tweaks
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.
Posted inOpinion
Cancer early detection tests work; let’s deploy them
As the incidence of cancers continues to soar, advances in cancer detection tools have become just as important as the development of new treatments.
Posted inTransportation
Eng says MBTA becoming more and more reliable
Eng also announced that a 24-day shutdown of the Braintree branch of the Red Line in September will eliminate 20 speed restrictions and lay the foundation for raising the top speed of trains on that branch from 40 to 50 miles per hour by early December. Subway trains haven’t gone that fast for decades, T officials say.
Posted inState Government
Healey signs state budget, goes light on vetoes
The governor signed nearly all of the budget the Legislature sent her 10 days ago, approving all but three of the 261 policy proposals lawmakers padded it with.
Posted inPolitics
Why are so many amendments being withdrawn on Beacon Hill?
A lawmaker gets up to make a speech, notes how important it would be for his or her colleagues to pass the amendment, and then withdraws the very amendment that was supposed to be so important.
Posted inOpinion
For-profit medicine is ruining Massachusetts health care
While much of Massachusetts’ medical care system remains resolutely non-profit, the signs of for-profit encroachment are slow, silent, and everywhere.
Posted inEducation
Comerford calls free community college one of the ‘great equalizers’
“I think of it as opening doors in every level of higher education,” Sen. Jo Comerford of Northampton.
Posted inThe Codcast
Doubling down on higher education
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Massachusetts Sen. Jo Comerford to discuss higher education policy, including the free community college measure in the state budget, as well as the full range of programs that support students, and the role of higher education in economic development and public life.
Posted inHousing
Lobbying intensifies on BlueHub mortgage amendment
A four-year court battle over the shared appreciation mortgages is coming to a head this September, but BlueHub isn’t waiting for a court judgment.
Posted inOpinion
My hopes for the upcoming busy week in health care
The state should focus on transforming the closed hospital sites into community centers providing some health care but also housing, education, and employment training.
Posted inOpinion
AG’s gig driver settlement is a good start, but only a start
The Massachusetts settlement with Uber and Lyft marks a substantial improvement over the companies’ withdrawn ballot measure. But the state and the voters can and should do more to help gig drivers.
Posted inOpinion
Doctors’ diagnosis on retail electricity misses the mark
The op-ed raises valid concerns about some suppliers’ unethical practices and rightly calls for consumer protection. RESA and its members agree. Where we differ is labeling an entire industry as bad actors. Taking away all licenses, rather than taking away the licenses of the bad actors, is overkill. More importantly, it dismisses the value of a competitive market.
Posted inHealth Care
Steward to close hospitals in Dorchester, Ayer
Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be closing on or around August 31, 2024, Steward said.
Posted inTransportation
Political notebook: Healey’s ‘tool kit’ task force | Pushback on merger of state agencies
“What we are really hoping to give [to the governor] is a tool kit that lists sources and uses. I am not so sure – again, I’m not a member of the task force, I’m staff to the task force — that they will get to the prioritization level. It’s possible, but we haven’t really discussed that yet.”
Posted inOpinion
Let’s start the conversation about congestion pricing
We must remember the $3.2 billion a year lost by Boston-area drivers to congestion.
Posted inOpinion
Restore the endowment match for community colleges
The budget has never been more generous to these colleges in terms of providing MassEducate, the free community college plan. But cutting this low-cost, high-impact match program is unnecessary and counterproductive.
Posted inOpinion
Don’t run my retail electricity company out of business
Massachusetts has a competitive energy market with many private market participants driving the state forward offering programs that compete with the utilities.