The Download: Big electricity shift coming: Are we ready?
Big electricity shift coming: Are we ready?
Demand for power from the grid is expected to grow by more than 17 percent over the next 10 years, as electrification of vehicles and home heating drives up consumption, more than offsetting growth in energy efficiency and solar installations.
Lawmakers hear testimony on bill banning political deepfakes
Finegold’s bill would also allow candidates targeted by a deceptive or fraudulent deepfake to seek civil legal action against people who create or post it, with damages of up to $10,000 per incident.
EPA should reject machine gun range on Cape
The National Guard’s proposal, which the public has not had the opportunity to review or comment on, fails to eliminate or meaningfully reduce the core threats to the water supply that were identified in the EPA’s review.
Senate budget plan makes community college free, eliminates RTA fares
Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, the chair of the Senate’s budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, said the budget plan also provides $10 million to launch bus routes connecting regional transit authorities.
SJC ponders environmental justice, East Boston substation
A clarification has been added to this story. A PROPOSED ELECTRICITY substation in East Boston has become a test case for how much energy infrastructure an environmental justice community should […]
Use the Steward crisis to improve health care equity
The crisis at Steward Health Care, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, can also be an opportunity to make good on the promise of equity in health care for all patients in Massachusetts.
Wu gets high marks from voters in think tank’s survey
The survey, conducted for the group by national pollster John Della Volpe, asked about Wu’s job performance, among other topics. Fifty-seven percent of registered voters believe she is doing a good job, while 35 percent rate her negatively.
SJC probes ‘relatedness’ for app-based driver ballot petitions
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT on Monday began to tackle an assortment of potential 2024 ballot measures that would establish the status and rights of app-based drivers. Initiative petitions put forth […]
A Message from Editor Bruce Mohl
Dear readers: There has been a lot of change here over the last 15 years and I am writing today with news of more. When I arrived, CommonWealth was a four-times-a-year wonky print […]
Steward bankruptcy filing presents pros and cons for Mass.
At a State House press conference with aides and local health care union and industry officials, Gov. Maura Healey sought to reassure patients, workers, and community officials that the eight Steward hospitals in Massachusetts would continue to operate normally even as the Dallas-based hospital chain goes through the bankruptcy process in Texas.
Response to Gaza campus protests demonstrates lack of preparation
With commencements approaching at campuses riven by pro-Palestinian protests, security expert Juliette Kayyem says we’re seeing a “lack of preparedness” on the part of universities for something “already known on the calendar.”
Safety and free speech at campus protests
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Juliette Kayyem, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, to discuss the ongoing student protests around Israel and Gaza. They touch on the character of the protests, different university responses, what an effective response to protest looks like, and how to balance free speech and safety concerns.
Steward stays open as it seeks bankruptcy protection
The company, which operates eight hospitals in Massachusetts and has been sinking under a pile of debt to vendors and its de facto landlord, said it does not expect any interruption to day-to-day operations.
Not easy turning artists into a political force on Beacon Hill
Paradoxically, the reason that artists need state support so desperately is the same reason they are often missing in political mobilizing: they are strapped for time and money.
Getting to yes on siting energy projects
Our studies suggest that the key is carefully structured negotiations that lead to enforceable agreement. At the project level, this is accomplished through enforceable community benefit agreements, or CBAs.
Answering the call to treat the hidden epidemic of loneliness
A rich network of community organizations is key to combatting the epidemic of loneliness that the country is facing.
April tax collections surpass target by $1b
Collections of $6.324 billion last month exceeded the Healey administration’s monthly benchmark of $5.291 billion by $1.034 billion, or 19.5 percent. But officials said much of that overage came in the form of capital gains tax revenue and income surtax revenue, money that is to be set aside for specifically mandated purposes.
Political Notebook: Healey’s no-new-taxes talk | Rollins pay adjustment | Who is Jeanne Louise?
Asked by reporters afterwards about a timeframe for the no-taxes talk, Gov. Healey said, “That’s how I see it now and for the foreseeable future. Yeah, no taxes. I’ve been focused on trying to lower taxes.”
Watchdog says Boston should look to reserve funds, spending cuts before hiking commercial taxes
The Boston Municipal Research Bureau threw cold water on a city plan to hike tax rates on commercial property, urging the city to instead look to reserve funds and spending cuts, among other approaches, to address a budget crunch.
What to do about our worrisome outmigration problem
Based on most current government data, outmigration cost the state $4.3 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) and $213.7 million in lost tax revenue in 2021. That year alone, Florida, New Hampshire, and Maine captured $1.77 billion, $1.1 billion, and $393 million, respectively, of AGI from those exiting Massachusetts.