By Bruce Mohl The House budget plan is not expected to include Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to move the state’s probation service out of the judiciary and into the executive […]
Patrick probation proposal not included in House budget plan
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Judge denies injunction
Gov. Deval Patrick scored a major election-year victory today when a judge denied a plea by Massachusetts health insurers for a temporary injunction against a cap Patrick ordered on premium […]
Posted inEducation
Contract a sign of things to come?
If teacher effectiveness has become the watchword of efforts to turn around failing schools, Washington, D.C., has been ground zero for this battle. The city’s reform-minded superintendent, Michelle Rhee, hasn’t minced […]
Posted inTransportation
T to spend millions replacing ties
The debt-ridden MBTA will spend tens of millions of dollars and disrupt South Shore commuter rail service over the next two years to replace nearly 150,000 defective concrete ties that […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, The Download
Transparency provision defeated
By Bruce Mohl The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed an overhaul of the state’s economic development agencies, but rejected by a 21-13 vote a measure that would have required greater public […]
Posted inEducation
The new paradigm on bullying
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Posted inPolitics
The squeaky wheel
Christy Mihos needs to attract the support of 15 percent of the delegates to next week’s Republican State Convention, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in currying favor with […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Duquette’s ticket absurdity
By Bruce Mohl The ethics charges against former Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette, detailed in today’s Boston Globe, highlight once again the absurdity of the state’s ticket resale law. […]
Posted inHealth Care
Regulatory change?
Gov. Deval Patrick is trying to rein in the cost of health insurance by stepping up state regulation of insurers and health providers, but he took the opposite approach two […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
Yin and yang
By Bruce Mohl The Boston Globe and the Herald cover the same city, but sometimes you’d never know if from reading the respective newspapers. Today, for example, the two papers […]
Posted inEconomy
Hedging the bet
Like most games of chance, the numbers looked too good to be true. And now it looks like they were. At the unveiling Thursday of House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s gaming […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion
DeLeo’s “jobs” bill
Let me be very clear: The legislation I’m proposing to you today is a jobs bill. It creates a new sector of our economy that will create jobs and help […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Federal health reform good for Massachusetts
The most obvious question in the wake of federal health reform is a simple one: how will it affect Massachusetts? Whether you are talking about yourself, your business or the […]
Posted inUncategorized
The big bet
If the “conservative” estimates by House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s casino bill hold up, Massachusetts would quickly be giving Las Vegas a run for its money. According to the speaker’s calculations, […]
Posted inEconomy
Bidding war continues
Six companies looking for state aid in return for staying or expanding in Massachusetts were awarded nearly $27 million in tax credits today. Liberty Mutual Group, the state’s lone Fortune […]
Posted inEconomy, Opinion, Politics
Economic development reform bill missing key transparency provisions
Senate President Therese Murray’s economic development bill scheduled for debate this Thursday includes a number of smart ideas. Topping the list are proposals to make state economic development spending more effective […]
Posted inUncategorized
What’s the “next stop” for public transit in the United States?
The growth and development of the nation’s public transportation systems may soon reach a screeching halt. If crumbling infrastructure, mounting debt, and painful service cuts aren’t evidence enough, the administrators […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
No holy alliance
The Democratic Party and Catholics enjoyed a long and fruitful marriage in Massachusetts. These days the commitment is more frayed than any political union this side of John and Elizabeth […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Worcester Regional Airport: back from the brink … again?
By Gabrielle Gurley Worcester has its share of municipal headaches, but by this summer city officials will have one less: Worcester Regional Airport. Under the transportation reforms signed into law […]
Posted inHealth Care
John McDonough on health care’s milestone
John McDonough helped bring guaranteed insurance coverage to all Massachusetts children in the 1990s as House chairman of the Legislature’s health care committee. As director of the advocacy group Health […]
Posted inPolitics
Cahill makes his pitch
State Treasurer Tim Cahill, looking to ignite his independent run for governor, is trying to grab onto some successful recent models of populism by invoking Bill Clinton’s mantra on the […]
Posted inPolitics
Free speech dust-up in Southborough
UPDATE: In the story below, I incorrectly wrote the Southborough Board of Selectmen sent a third letter to Susan Fitzgerald demanding she reveal the identity of one of the posters […]
Posted inEconomy
Reversal of fortune
House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s plan to bring casinos and racinos to the state looks on its face to be facing long odds — if the only casino vote on record […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Board games at MassDOT
By Gabrielle Gurley How long will the charade of trying to schedule the Massachusetts Transportation Department’s board of directors to appear before the Joint Transportation Committee continue? Indefinitely, it seems. […]