Is new House Speaker Robert DeLeo really just "a hamburger guy", and are other members of the House no more than "sheep"? Do voters pay more attention to public pension […]
“Starting Line 2009” tackles DeLeo, State House scandals, and the bleak economy
Posted inEnvironment, The Download
Private conservancy signs lease with Turnpike to maintain Greenway
A private conservancy will take over day-to-day operations of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway later this month under the terms of a five-year lease signed with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. The […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Up, up, and away in my beautiful gas tax trial balloon…
When last we saw Team Trans, we were waiting on the mother of all transportation plans, the one that would save our roads, our bridges, and our mass transit from […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Worcester’s trial balloon: Tax dorm rooms
Like almost every other Massachusetts municipality, Worcester is starved for revenue, and one city councilor has come up with a new source of tax dollars. From the Worcester Telegram’s Lisa […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
Jobs outlook in Mass. is stingy for the hospitality industry, devastating for construction
Via USA Today, Moody's Economy.com predicts that Massachusetts will tie with Kentucky for the seventh-worst job loss in 2009. (Who will supposedly be worse off than us? Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Freshman rep gets it right on pension perk
Freshman state Rep. Jim Arciero has only been in office for a month, but he seems to know an antiquated taxpayer-funded boondoggle when he sees it. The Westford Democrat has […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Pennies saved at the MBTA
Having your employer pay for your $10 commercial driver's license sounds fair. So the MBTA used to send bus drivers a $10 check reimbursing them for their license fees. They could look […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Follow the money
Follow the money. That was the advice Bob Woodward received from "Deep Throat" during the Watergate scandal and it's the advice reporters should be following on Beacon Hill during the upcoming debate […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Stateline.org calls Gov. Patrick “safe” for re-election in 2010
In a very early — if not premature — forecast of next year's gubernatorial races, Stateline.org lists Massachusetts as one of nine states considered "safe" for the incumbent party. (New […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Springfield budget cuts hit 311 phone line and CitiStat program
There's a widespread belief (or hope) that tough times can offer a "golden opportunity" for government reform, but things may not be working out that way in Springfield. Urban Compass […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Beacon Hill scandals and the one-party state
In the wake of Sal DiMasi's departure from Beacon Hill, CommonWealth magazine associate editor Alison Lobron weighs in on the Bay State's one-party political culture in today's Boston Globe: After […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Is Obama following in Romney’s devious, partisan footsteps?
Marc Ambinder reports on the GOP's shocked reaction to the idea that President Barack Obama might work toward electing more members from his own party in the next congressional election: […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Mike Dukakis on how to fix America
Former governor Michael Dukakis has an interview with The Infrastructurist in which he says he understands why Amtrak isn't getting that much money from President Obama's stimulus bill (not enough "shovel-ready" […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, The Download
FBI: Gangs migrating to suburbs; 640 gangs operate in New England
The FBI has just released its National Gang Threat Assessment 2009, which estimates that there are "approximately 1 million gang members belonging to more than 20,000 gangs" in the US […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Starting Line 2009: February 6 at the Parker House
It's the start of the legislative year on Beacon Hill — and the middle of a national economic crisis that brings increased demand, diminished resources and high expectations. How will […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service, The Download
Kayyem hailed for “responder revolution” in state homeland security
Juliette Kayyem, the Massachusetts undersecretary for homeland security, gets kudos for her success in shaping up Boston's notoriously territorial first responders from HSToday Magazine, a McLean, Virginia-based monthly that provides […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The Bay State “lurch” to the right?
In what can most charitably be chalked up to the dangers of wading into territory outside of one's zone of competence, The New Republic 's Marty Peretz has weighed in […]
Posted inEducation, The Download
Bay State is tops in college completion, not so hot for immigrants’ high school completion
The education gap between native-born citizens and immigrants is apparently higher in Massachusetts than in most states, according to a new report by the US Census Bureau. Last week's press […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State’s Public Records Law in need of repair
The state's Public Records Law is in desperate need of repair, according to a group of panelists who discussed the law today at a State House forum sponsored by CommonWealth […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
A Capital idea
John R. Schneider, MassINC's executive vice president, offers his take on the governor's FY 2010 budget: Included in the governor's FY2010 budget is a new approach to managing the state's […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Patrick wants greater tax credit disclosure
With Massachusetts issuing more and more tax credits to companies, Gov. Deval Patrick is calling for greater public disclosure of who is receiving these benefits and how much good they are doing for the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
New Mexico legislators fight for the right to doze through sessions
The New Mexico state legislature is reluctant to air its business on the Internet, and one lawmaker is refreshingly (or depressingly) frank about the reason. From the New Mexico Independent: […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
The tax horse is out of the revenue barn
Gov Deval Patrick, who rode into office on a promise of reducing property taxes, has come full circle on the T-word with the stark realities of the economy smacking him […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
The MBTA isn’t the only transit agency in dire straits
The MBTA isn’t the only transit agency in the country with fare hikes or service cuts on the horizon. Transportation for America, "a broad coalition of housing, environmental, public health, […]