The Download: Taking aim at barriers for underrepresented developers
Taking aim at barriers for underrepresented developers
Rather than waiting for underrepresented groups to become eligible for traditional housing funding sources, a new fund is “just doing away with this chicken and egg thing.”
Community-centered equitable development
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Moddie Turay, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, to discuss the Equitable Developers Fund, and how to build enough housing to supply the current shortage while addressing community needs.
Here’s the biggest challenge facing Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard law enforcement
On Nantucket, the average price of a home is nearing $4 million. Visitors will spend $20,000 or more a week to rent a house – making a year-round rental for a police officer virtually impossible.
Antisemitism Awareness Act is insult to Jews like me
Based on both the Jewish values I was raised on and my experience living in Israel, I believe Israel is a fundamentally racist state. This is exemplified by its anti-miscegenation marriage law, a segregated school system that severely underfunds non-Jewish schools, and legally segregated towns.
Distributed justice must be key in state energy efficiency plan
The state’s energy efficiency programs continue to price out and leave behind low and moderate-income residents—a failure that is not only bad for our communities but a fatal flaw in our state’s efforts to meet our climate goals.
State agencies clear up confusion about hemp-based seltzers and gummies
The notice from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Agricultural Resources made explicit that the “addition of CBD and/or THC to food manufactured or sold in Massachusetts is illegal.”
Political Notebook: Judicial mischief | Incumbent stronghold | Home equity reckoning
“Chief Justice Gants has said that if he couldn’t have played for the Red Sox, being chief justice ultimately was a good second, solid choice,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
How to move beyond local resistance to more housing
Currently, private development is tasked with assessing the impact of their proposals. If this became a state-driven cost benefit analysis, we could standardize impact and support towns that lack resources and help residents to understand pros and cons associated with development.
House approves liquor licenses for under-served Boston neighborhoods
The redrafted bill steers 180 non-transferable licenses over three years to 12 ZIP codes in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, East Boston, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Charlestown, and Jamaica Plain.
Crunch time is coming to Beacon Hill
“It’s always been part of the process that no matter what you do, or who’s doing it, that there will be a lot of serious work left for the last few days of session,” said Marc Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat who is leaving the Senate after 32 years in the chamber.
State should increase funding for micro-transit services
When people don’t have access to transportation, getting to medical appointments or the grocery store can become close to, or truly, impossible.
More turmoil at the Cannabis Control Commission
Commissioner Roy alleges actions by fellow commissioner members caused upheaval and discord
Warren, Markey say Mass. not safe in national fight over abortion
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey sounded the alarm about the negative impact that a Trump presidency could have on reproductive rights, even in Massachusetts where lawmakers have done a lot to codify those rights.
65% of incumbents in Legislature face no opponents
130 incumbents appear to be going without a challenger in either a primary or the general election. Democrats are expected to continue to hold a super-majority in both chambers.
Business leaders say housing shortage is top concern
THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC, labor shortages and supply chain issues bedeviled Massachusetts businesses. But business leaders say the housing crisis in Massachusetts is now the major existential threat to the state’s […]
Cannabis regulator calls intoxicating hemp products a ‘public menace’
“I’ve heard from many of our licensees that [unregulated hemp is] impacting them greatly. It’s a phenomenon known as gas station weed,” said Roy. “These are hemp products that are unregulated, that aren’t tested, that our children can buy. It keeps me up at night, the concerns around this gas station weed.”
PWHL Boston finals bid a triumph of law and policy
In the much-larger Tsongas Arena, the fan base is growing. At each game, there are thousands of people – the majority of them girls and women. The vibe is joyful and positive.
Threading the region’s electricity needle
“The question of whether or not we will be in good shape or not five to 10 years from now is very much going to be a function of whether we can get that offshore wind industry up and going and interconnected into the system. And there are some troubling signs at the moment,” said Gordon van Welie.
Decarbonizing New England’s power grid
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Bruce Mohl is joined by Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of ISO New England, to discuss the challenges of moving to a decarbonized grid while maintaining an adequate and affordable electricity supply.