SECRETARY OF STATE William Galvin ripped the Baker administration for proposing cuts in his budget that would make it impossible for him to run a presidential primary in March next […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
The price of leadership
CORRECTION: Several corrections were made to the original version of this story, all of them dealing with the pay of leadership positions in the House. Specifically, Rep. Jonathan Hecht’s leadership […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Rosenberg sees transportation disconnect
SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG said on Tuesday that the problems at the MBTA are straight out of “Democracy in America,” the book Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the 1800s which […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo says no to taxes
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DeLeo laid out his agenda for the upcoming legislative session on Wednesday, saying he will look to expand early childhood education, maintain local aid, increase drug abuse […]
Posted inPolitics
Rosenberg’s open door
THE PALATIAL OFFICE of the Senate president is big enough for the entire Democratic caucus of more than 30 lawmakers to occasionally gather for private sessions amidst its ornate wood […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Political paleontology
IN NATURE, EVOLUTION occurs over millions of years. In politics, it is often on a much faster timeline. In the Massachusetts House of Representatives, about six years seems to be […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo: My thinking has evolved
SAYING HIS THINKING has “evolved,” House Speaker Robert DeLeo said on Thursday that he wants to do away with a rule he instituted six years ago that would require him […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Stormy performance fit to a T
The jury is still out on Gov. Charlie Baker’s performance during the blizzard, though some are giving the rookie good grades at least for appearances. But one thing is certain as […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo reportedly wants longer Speaker term
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DeLeo will push his caucus on Thursday to approve new internal rules eliminating term limits on the speakership, allowing the Winthrop Democrat to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A new Speaker-for-life?
If there is one man who is happy about the blizzard that will white-out coverage of almost any other news for the next few days it may be Bob DeLeo. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Let there be light
What do you get when you jam an 18-month legislative session into a frenzied final few hours of votes? Well, you get what you deserve, but thankfully for the Legislature, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Citizen legislators
Massachusetts lawmakers are spending less time than ever writing and debating new laws. And, in response, citizens and interest groups in Massachusetts are increasingly turning to the ballot to make […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
A sudden burst of democracy on bottle bill
There’s nothing like the threat of a bit of direct democracy to get the slow-going wheels of representative democracy turning. For more than a dozen years, Beacon Hill lawmakers have […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State House on trial
Every weekday, for the next month or two, former state Probation Department boss John O’Brien will walk into the federal courthouse in South Boston and listen as prosecutors try to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Beacon Hill’s oyster runaround
Richard Cook is a fisherman who wants to build an oyster farm in Mashpee. His farm is in danger, not because he can’t get the right permits, which he can, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Elizabeth Warren, the presidency, and perils of a first-term senator
First-term senators are getting quite a bit of media attention, courtesy of the latest parlor game, “Is Elizabeth Warren running for president?” All the senior senator from Massachusetts had to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Free petitions and Bay State click bait
Boston magazine’s David Bernstein did journalism a favor this week. The web was aflame over a Massachusetts bill that purported to forbid a person seeking a divorce from having sex […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Republican candidates hiding in plain sight
It’s been a generation or two since the GOP in Massachusetts – the so-called Saltonstall, Sargent, and Lodge Republicans who would now be termed RINOs on the national stage – […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Probation trial won’t be pretty for Beacon Hill
Lawmakers on Beacon Hill looked like they got off easy in federal prosecutors’ investigation into corruption at the state Probation Department. But as former probation boss John O’Brien heads to […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
House rules
The Massachusetts House expelled Rep. Carlos Henriquez of Boston on Thursday because the representatives couldn’t tolerate having a colleague who was serving time in jail for assault and battery against […]
Posted inPolitics
House panel backs Henriquez expulsion
THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE issues a report setting the stage for a Thursday vote to expel Rep. Carlos Henriquez from the body. The committee voted 9-1 that House Speaker Robert […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Bay State is a bottom-dweller on budget planning
What do Massachusetts and Alabama have in common? They both are lousy at using the best tools available to craft state budgets. That news may come as a shock to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Political fallout from Jeremiah Oliver case
Gov. Deval Patrick pronounced the state of the Commonwealth “strong,” but the state of the Department of Children and Families is anything but. Patrick won’t be able to revel in […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Beacon Hill exodus
Despite comfortable perches on Beacon Hill, state lawmakers are fleeing the Legislature at a fast clip. Leading the outmigration are several top lieutenants to House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Lynn Democrat […]
