Senators are expected to vote Thursday on the $2.4 billion borrowing bill, which also includes $350 million in tax credits, a provision helping the prospects of a soccer stadium on the Mystic River waterfront in Everett, and the reauthorization of a long-running initiative boosting the state’s life sciences industry.
More consolidation of economic development agencies proposed
Posted inOpinion
Steward hospital crisis is opportunity to reclaim health care as public good
Our health care system is under-resourced and overburdened. Every hospital and emergency department in the state, from small community hospitals to large academic medical centers, is affected by the reality that Massachusetts simply does not have enough beds for the number of patients. It’s time for the Commonwealth to reclaim health care as a public good.
Posted inBallot Questions
Campbell explains why she settled Uber, Lyft case on eve of likely court victory
“A win in court might have given drivers restitution for pay they were owed in the past, but a successful ballot initiative would have wiped out its impact going forward,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said
Posted inNews Analysis
On Biden future, Healey steps out
Gov. Maura Healey, a former two-term attorney general, has generally taken a cautious, lawyerly approach to politics, but she stepped out by becoming the first Democratic governor to suggest President Biden consider giving up his reelection run.
Posted inOpinion
Lawmakers should give worker-owned cooperatives a boost
Worker-owned cooperatives are emerging as a powerful force in the Massachusetts economy. The Legislature can help but
Posted inTransportation
MBTA contactless payment coming to subways, buses Aug. 1
Starting August 1, MBTA riders will be able to tap a credit card or mobile wallet to pass through subway gates or board above-ground trolleys and buses, officials announced Tuesday.
Posted inTransportation
MassDOT reverses course, includes $243m for I-90 Allston project in capital plan
The explanations left many observers scratching their heads, and some wondering whether the MassDOT staff simply forgot to include funding in the capital investment plan for one of the Healey administration’s highest transportation priorities.
Posted inEnergy
DPU unveils plan to speed up municipal electricity aggregation approvals
Municipal aggregation plans allow cities and towns to negotiate electricity rates on behalf of their residents. The plans have gained tremendous popularity as the cost of electricity has risen and the aggregation efforts have often yielded lower prices than the basic service provided by utilities and the rates of retail suppliers.
Posted inMarijuana
Legislators wary of ‘nuclear option’ with cannabis commission
“I want to underscore, as someone who has been in the government for a long time, that receivership is a really big deal,” said Rep. Rob Consalvo of Boston, one of the vice chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Policy.
Posted inEnergy
Barnstable at the center of offshore wind debate
Many in town are asking why a residential beach community has become the onshore epicenter of the offshore wind business in Massachusetts.
Posted inEconomy
Senate preps for economic developent debate, including Everett soccer stadium
The Senate’s bill authorizes $2.444 billion in borrowing, giving the executive branch flexibility to put as much of that amount into use as it determines is necessary and wise, and $350 million in tax credits mostly to be deployed in the climate technology sector.
Posted inOpinion
In the face of climate change, mitigation is no longer enough
The world is at a crossroads. Now is the time to meet our greatest global threat with renewed courage and new ways of thinking. We must work together and take local action on the ground.
Posted inPolitics
Marty Walsh, Biden’s former labor chief and ex-mayor, gets married
Walsh and Lorrie Higgins, who have been together for about two decades, quietly married in March, almost a year after he left public service for the private sector, according to their marriage certificate. A local justice of the peace performed the ceremony.
Posted inTransportation
Audit faults MBTA for CharlieCard misuse by transit ambassadors
The ambassadors, who work for a private contractor that operates under the name Block By Block, help passengers buy tickets and navigate stations and also serve as the T’s eyes and ears monitoring safety hazards and maintenance needs inside the subway system.
Posted inThe Codcast
Environmental justice in climate legislation
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Rusty Polsgrove, an organizer with Arise for Social Justice, and by John Walkey, director of climate justice and waterfront initiatives at GreenRoots, to discuss the role of environmental justice in climate legislation. They focus especially on the environmental justice community designation, and why environmental advocates wish it had a larger presence in the current climate bill.
Posted inEnvironment
Advocates press for more emphasis on environmental justice populations
Environmental justice populations, broadly speaking, tend to be low-income communities and communities of color hit hard by the impacts of climate change. Getting to a clear definition in Massachusetts, let alone its policy implications, has been a long road through several climate bills.
Posted inBallot Questions
Lessons to learn from Oregon on psychedelics ballot measure
A group called Mass. for Mental Health Options has gathered the necessary signatures to put a question on the November ballot that would make it possible for Massachusetts residents to do the same. However, the measure in Massachusetts is much more expansive than the one that legalized psilocybin therapy in Oregon in 2020.
Posted inOpinion
It’s time to talk about what decarbonization will cost
We know how much carbon we emit, with reasonable accuracy. We know how much carbon we need to stop emitting. We know much about the carbon-free resources we need to procure. Now we just need to know the cost to the Commonwealth.
Posted inOpinion
Legalizing project labor agreements would be huge step backward
NO ONE WOULD tolerate a law that bans union labor from public construction. So why is it OK to shut out non-union workers? The House of Representatives has voted to […]
Posted inOpinion
Biden’s candidacy has to end
The only way the Democratic Party can win the upcoming elections is to be perceived as fresh, new, dynamic.
Is this fair? When has politics ever been fair? This is not about fairness but about reality.