STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH NO RECORDED VOTES and many members absent from the chamber, the House retained the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax along with state aid for the […]
House fends off film tax credit change
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
Sparing us further talk of Tsarnaev
For the first time today, jurors will begin to hear a defense of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. It will not be a legal defense that tries to plant doubt about his guilt […]
Posted inEducation, Opinion
Lowering math standards not the answer
IN HIS PERSPECTIVE PIECE in the Spring 2014 issue of CommonWealth (“To fill our talent pool, fix remedial education”), Higher Education Commissioner Richard Freeland expressed concern at the number of college […]
Posted inOlympics, The Download
Globe portrays Lucchino as Boston 2024 savior
I’m not one to put much stock in newspaper conspiracy theories, but I must admit I was a little taken back by the front-page splash in the Boston Globe today […]
Posted inEnvironment, The Back Story
New England governors vow to boost natural gas capacity
THE NEW ENGLAND governors met behind closed doors on energy issues in Hartford on Thursday and vowed afterwards to work collaboratively to expand the region’s natural gas pipeline capacity. What shape that […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Affleck blinded by his own star power
It is just too delicious a story to pass up: A tale of political correctness that ran off the rails, involving a couple of local guys with national star power […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker unveils MBTA reform legislation
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack unveiled legislation Wednesday to create a fiscal and management control board to take charge of the crisis-ridden MBTA. The move comes one day […]
Posted inEnvironment
Don’t rely on foreign LNG
IT WAS JUST PAST MIDNIGHT during the winter of 2013. Winter Storm Nemo was barreling down on our region with fierce intensity, and demand for heat and electrical power strained […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Poll: Baker is state’s most popular pol
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER SPENDING THE WINTER managing state budget shortfalls and snow emergencies, Gov. Charlie Baker weathered his first 100 days in office remarkably well, according to a […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Headlight law surcharge gets attention — after the fact
How much of a deterrent is a $5 ticket for failing to have headlights on in tandem with windshield wipers when it’s raining? Not much. How about tacking a surcharge […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
Alvaro critiques MBTA panel
FERDINAND ALVARO UNDERSTANDS the MBTA’s finances and inner workings better than most outsiders. Ask him who is to blame for the bundle of issues that led to the transit agency’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We need to reverse course on mandatory minimums
AT LAST MONTH’S second annual Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Summit, we heard two opposing views on the public safety impact of mandatory sentences for drug offenders. One camp, represented by […]
Posted inEnvironment
It’s time to sunburn National Grid
DURING A 2014 LEGISLATIVE HEARING, one state senator in Massachusetts compared our current utility structure to a Soviet system—bureaucratic, opaque, and inefficient with little public accountability. Hearing National Grid prevaricate […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Opinion
New England governors should lead region to a sustainable energy future
THIS WEEK THE New England governors will meet in Connecticut to discuss potential solutions to one of our region’s most serious economic challenges: the high cost of electricity and energy. […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
What do Hillary Clinton, the Globe’s Pulitzer, and Demi Moore have in common?
Income inequality seems to be a recurring theme in the news today in everything from presidential politics to Pulitzer Prizes to the for-sale sign on Demi Moore’s New York co-op. […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
Globe donates ad space to mayor
The Boston Globe donated a full-page ad to Mayor Marty Walsh on Wednesday to promote One Boston Day, his way of marking the anniversary of the Marathon bombings and to […]
Posted inPolitics
House-Senate split goes beyond rules
SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG and some of his colleagues indicated on Thursday that the Senate and House are in sharp disagreement over more than just legislative rules. The two branches […]
Posted inEducation, The Back Story
Tracking the EMK Institute’s funding
THE NEW EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE is a marvel of a museum, an architecturally breathtaking building that attempts to educate visitors about the role and operations of the US Senate. […]
Posted inEnvironment
New England needs 2 new natural gas pipelines
WE NEW ENGLANDERS are a hardy bunch. We put up with nasty winters, brutal traffic, and we waited nearly a century for our beloved Sox to beat the dreaded Curse […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker, Rosenberg go nuclear
There’s a new credo on Beacon Hill, apparently: If things aren’t going your way, blow it up. In the Legislature, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg appears to be following through on invoking the […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate ups ante in battle with House
IN A SHARP escalation of the infighting gripping Beacon Hill, the Senate took a major step Wednesday toward remaking the legislative process by ending the longstanding system of joint committees […]
Posted inPolitics
House plan exempts T from Pacheco Law
THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE unveiled on Wednesday a $38 billion spending plan for the coming fiscal year that tracks fairly closely to Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposal and even gives the […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Education programs needed for prostate cancer
TOO MANY MEN are still trying to run away but they cannot hide from prostate cancer. I was one of those men—until a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2008 brought […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Deval Patrick gains with Bain
Deval Patrick never made any secret of his desire to return to the private sector after leaving the governor’s office. After toe dipping in academia at MIT and a false […]