The first year of the Legislature’s two-year session ended with a whimper on Wednesday night. After 11 months of doing next to nothing, the two branches finally moved into high […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inUncategorized
House okays panel to review public records exemptions
THE HOUSE ON Wednesday unanimously approved a watered-down Public Records reform bill but beat back an attempt to lift the exemption covering the Legislature, instead agreeing to form a commission […]
Posted inPolitics
Public records bill does little to open access
THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS Committee is set to unveil a bill that would allow those who are thwarted in seeking public records to collect attorney fees, a stick designed […]
Posted inTransportation
Ridesharing changes benefit all
MORE THAN 30 years in law enforcement has taught me that the phrase “the only constant is change” is undeniably true. The pace of change is only accelerating and law […]
Posted inThe Download
Evil of Paris attacks clear, path forward not
French President Francois Hollande vowed to “lead a war which will be pitiless” against ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group that claimed responsibility for Friday’s massacre of more than 125 people […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
District attorneys back Baker on opioid bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ELEVEN COUNTY PROSECUTORS who deal with the fallout of the opioid addiction epidemic on a daily basis threw their support behind Gov. Charlie Baker’s substance abuse […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker’s coattails and other Mass. election outcomes
Gov. Charlie Baker’s coattails aren’t long enough just yet. Even though the wildly popular Republican got out on the campaign trail for Rep. Geoff Diehl, he couldn’t match the star […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Beacon Hill’s snail pace of action
Procrastinating is a way of life on Beacon Hill. Almost 10 months into the first year of a two-year legislative session, there has been a lot of talk but very […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Globe should publish the DeLeo transcript
House Speaker Robert DeLeo accused the Boston Globe on Wednesday of deliberately distorting and misrepresenting comments he made in a 2010 deposition about Probation Department hiring, so I expected the […]
Posted inGambling
Two of Big Three want to tax fantasy sports
SENATE PRESIDENT STAN ROSENBERG has joined his counterpart in the House by calling for regulations and taxes on the booming business of online fantasy sports gaming, dismissing the argument that it’s […]
Posted inPolitics
All bases covered at ML Strategies
(Updated October 20, 2015. A correction was added to the chart of leading lobbying firms.) Photographs by Frank Curran IT WAS CRUNCH TIME in the battle for a Greater Boston casino […]
Posted inEconomy
Contracting system isn’t saving money
Photographs by Mark Morelli IT SOUNDED LIKE a good idea at the time. Stung by the enormous cost overruns of the Big Dig and other open-spigot public projects, officials […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Lexington lawmaker looks to the people for tax boost
REP. JAY KAUFMAN has been a reliable member of the House Democratic caucus’s progressive wing for more than 20 years. In the 1990s, he was part of a small band […]
Posted inThe Download, Uncategorized
DeLeo undergoes weight-loss surgery
House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who often shies away from dealing with the press, opened up to the Boston Globe over the weekend about weight-loss surgery that has helped him shed […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Majority rules
While it didn’t start with its passage in 1980, Proposition 2½ opened the eyes of activists to what could be done through the ballot to change the laws in Massachusetts. […]
Posted inEconomy, Environment, The Download
Lobsters not on a roll
National Lobster Day is set for September 25 thanks to a group of New England senators who banded together to a co-sponsor the Senate-only resolution introduced by Sen. Angus King, the Maine […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Murray’s defense fund grows with insider donations
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO DAYS AFTER she left office, capping a 22-year career in the state Legislature, former Senate President Therese Murray in January established a legal defense fund that […]
Posted inEconomy, The Download
With tax holiday, sound thinking takes a vacation
Beacon Hill’s top legislative leaders are potent politicians with an ability to shape the direction of state policy or law with a nod of the head. Except when they’re completely […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo raises nearly $415,000 in 6 months
An update was added to this article on July 23 HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO’S political campaign committee raised nearly $415,000 during the first six months of 2015, a record […]
Posted inThe Download
Public records law may get boost, but it won’t come easily
The Globe’s Todd Wallack has been all over the story of problems with the state’s weak public records law. But his latest installment, on the front of Sunday’s paper, was […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Somerset goes after carbon tax funds
AN OUTSIDE SECTION of the Legislature’s budget would use up to $3 million from a regional carbon tax to help the town of Somerset offset the loss of property tax revenue […]
Posted inPolitics
Does budget run afoul of Baker push for no new taxes?
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday hailed the Legislature’s plan to boost the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and pay for the tax giveback for low-income working families by permanently doing […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Disrupting business as usual @ the MBTA
For MBTA riders, life on the T during the Wednesday morning rush was perfectly normal. There were “moderate” disabled-train delays on the Orange Line, signal problems on the Green Line, […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
House, Senate negotiators break budget stalemate
HOUSE AND SENATE NEGOTIATORS broke their deadlock on the fiscal 2016 budget Tuesday night by finding a novel way to fund an expansion of a tax credit that benefits low-income […]