Three weeks after both Gov. Maura Healey and the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus offered separate roadmaps for action, it’s still unclear how or when House and Senate Democrats will proceed amid national pressure to respond to ICE raids.
federal government
Posted inHousing
Trump administration targets program for chronically homeless residents, sparking fear for vulnerable populations in cities like Springfield
The overhaul has been temporarily and partially blocked by a federal judge, but the move is impacting local administrators of the federal program across Massachusetts and has threatened millions of dollars in funding for permanent housing and thousands of beds for the chronically homeless.
Posted inEconomy
Survey: Mass. business confidence stuck in longest rut since pandemic
Federal policy changes and high costs within Massachusetts continue to squeeze businesses, and by one metric, Bay State employers have not felt this negative about the economic outlook since the first year of the COVID pandemic.
Posted inGovernment
Looming federal food aid cuts put state Democrats in the hot seat
Massachusetts Democrats are unwilling to tap into the state’s significant savings balance to replace food aid, previewing difficult decisions that loom on the horizon.
Posted inHealth Care
Massachusetts braces for ‘gut punch’ of health insurance costs if Congress fails to act
Elected officials, marketplace administrators, and health care advocates are ramping up pressure on Congress to extend Biden-era federal tax credits that help Americans pay for health insurance. Without action, they warn, out-of-pocket costs could increase dramatically.
Posted inHousing
Real estate developers in Gateway Cities grappling with Trump’s tariffs
Housing and real estate developers are beginning to feel the effects of President Trump’s taxes on imports – a move the administration claims will boost American-made products, but market experts say will hike already-elevated real estate production costs. Some are struggling to factor uncertain material costs into their current project plans.
Posted inEnvironment
Massport hires first climate chief
The Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates high emissions-producing Logan International Airport, has hired its first chief climate and resilience officer.
Posted inEnvironment
Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s big question on climate
“It’s a transition, but we all have to be more thoughtful,” she said recently.
Posted inEnvironment
‘We have time to reverse this. We have time to step up’
The Trump administration has begun to pull back on key environmental protections designed to transition the country off of fossil fuels.
Posted inEnvironment
Trump administration seeks review of California emissions waivers adopted by Massachusetts
Massachusetts’s climate goals could take a hit from the Trump administration’s decision to go after vehicle emissions waivers granted to California by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Posted inState Government
Mass. scrambles to understand, react to fed funding freeze
The Trump administration’s move to pause trillions of dollars in federal spending triggered an avalanche of uncertainty, panic and outrage, including a lawsuit from Attorney General Andrea Campbell and several of her counterparts.
Posted inGovernment
New England to benefit from federal appropriations law
IN THE FINAL DAYS of the 117th Congress, lawmakers passed a $1.7 trillion Omnibus Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2023, and President Biden signed it into law. Included in this […]
Posted inEconomy
An economy put in a ‘medically-induced coma’
THE ECONOMIC CONVULSIONS from the coronavirus pandemic are unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. We’re not being blindsided by an unwelcome economic downturn; we have decided to set one in motion. […]