The Supreme Judicial Court partially overturned a lower court decision that Tufts University did not violate promises of academic freedom and economic security made to tenured professors, concluding that a group of professors whose salary and full-time status were reduced can sue the university.
SJC gives life to complaints of Tufts tenured faculty
Posted inBy The Numbers
Massachusetts political parties are fading away
If current trends continue, party registration will be so unusual that a young registered Democrat will be an unusual sight and young Republicans will go on the endangered species list.
Posted inBallot Questions
Little sympathy for app-based tech companies at ballot question hearing
Two ballot campaigns underway would fundamentally redefine the relationship between gig-work drivers, the companies that manage them, and the state.
Posted inPolitics
Healey’s mixed messages on what’s public and what’s private
politicians and politics are like fish and water. It’s what they constantly swim in, a choice they made, and it can sometimes be suffocating for them and their families.
Posted inEducation
State officials seek ‘more coherent financial aid system’
The Department of Higher Education plans to evaluate gaps in financial support as officials consider redesigning the mix of tuition reimbursement, grant, loan forgiveness, and tax programs, said Michael Dannenberg, deputy commissioner of policy.
Posted inOpinion
Congestion pricing is the wrong answer to Boston traffic woes
Some have proposed congestion pricing as a solution to Boston’s traffic problems, but we should be wary of any plan that could harm the fragile post-pandemic downtown economy.
Posted inState Government
Lobbying activity picking up on Beacon Hill
Health care is where the big money gets spent in state government, and that’s where lobbying money is spent as well
Posted inOpinion
Remove the social worker exam requirement
We are facing a massive shortage of behavioral health providers in Massachusetts, and the behavioral health crisis has gotten worse. We need less barriers to entry into the profession, not more.
Posted inEconomy
Healey agenda aims to address 242,000 unfilled jobs
The agenda identifies four key industries where the workforce is particularly lacking: manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences, and clean energy.
Posted inImmigration
Senate bill also backs cap on stays in emergency shelter system
Like the bill that cleared the House earlier this month, the Senate bill could push some people out of the system after nine months, which would mark a shift in a state that by law guarantees access to shelter for eligible families and pregnant women.
Posted inCourts
Full SJC to hear Milton rezoning case
Justice Serge Georges Jr. said the case against Milton, which centers around how to enforce the MBTA Communities Act, “raises novel questions of law which are of public importance and which are time sensitive and likely to recur.”
Posted inHealth Care
On Steward crisis, Massachusetts Nurses Association head says ‘we invited it in’
As pressure ramps up to find a way to shore up the nine Massachusetts hospitals owned by Steward, which employ about 3,000 nurses represented by the nurses association, Pinkham worries that the state may be in the same position that let Steward get a foothold at the core of the state’s health care system more than a decade ago.
Posted inThe Codcast
A labor perspective on the Steward crisis
This week on The Codcast, longtime Massachusetts Nurses Association executive director Julie Pinkham talks to John McDonough and Paul Hattis about the MNA’s relationship to Steward Health Care over the years, the consequences of healthcare deregulation, and how the state can facilitate a positive outcome in the present situation.
Posted inPolitics
House Dem caucus appoints Pressley to key panel
The caucus, with the full backing of New England Democrats, named Pressley to the committee, replacing Rep. Lori Trahan who was elected co-chair of the caucus’s messaging arm in 2023.
Posted inOpinion
Debate over Everett soccer stadium shows flaws of decision-making by municipal boundary
Decisions about a possible professional soccer stadium along the Mystic River are being driven entirely by the City of Everett, though plenty of people in adjacent communities live closer to the site than some Everett residents. Does that make any sense?
Posted inOpinion
A travesty in Manchester by the Sea
The battle brewing at Shingle Place Hill in Manchester by the Sea is a paradigm for what affects cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
Posted inHousing
Milton special counsel steps down; MBTA alleged conflict
Tad Heuer, a partner at Foley Hoag, joined Milton’s legal team as a special counsel on Tuesday night and appeared at a hearing before a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday. But later that day state officials apparently raised concerns that Heuer had a conflict of interest because Foley Hoag in other capacities represents the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the MBTA.
Posted inPolitics
Political Notebook: Healey’s evolution, Ryan’s slow probe, Wu train
Gov. Maura Healey isn’t the first politician to flip-flop on a policy issue, and voters are typically less inclined to punish a pol if the flop is in the direction they agree with.
Posted inHealth Care
Lots of finger-pointing at health care cost growth hearing
A report released Wednesday estimated total health care spending in Massachusetts at $71.7 billion in 2022, and a per capita health care expenditure of $10,264 per resident, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis.
Posted inOpinion
Ending MCAS requirement would be a step backward
IN RECENT YEARS, many Massachusetts public education policy decisions have been made with an eye toward increasing equity. It’s a worthy goal, but too many of the policies have proven to […]