Most people who followed the day-to-day coverage of the trial of state Rep. Carlos Henriquez were confused. Katherine Gonsalves, the college student who accused Henriquez of hitting her when she […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Katherine Clark takes the fifth
State Sen. Katherine Clark’s victory in the crowded Democratic primary field almost assuredly fast tracks her to Washington, DC, just in time to cope with the fallout from the creep […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Gabriel Gomez’s Etch A Sketch moment?
Former Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez insists his conversion from staunchly defending an absolute Second Amendment right to bear arms to now supporting an assault weapons ban and limiting magazine sizes […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
DeLeo’s legal tab
House Speaker Robert DeLeo has long denied being a target of the federal investigation into the state’s corrupt probation department. But it’s hard to look at DeLeo’s most recent campaign […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
State GOP looks to 2014
The state’s Democrats kicked off their gubernatorial hunt last week with a convention in Lowell. The Republican answer came more quietly, in the form of a meeting and conference call […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Walsh shifting to Patrick’s PAC
John Walsh is stepping down this fall as the head of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and taking the reins of Gov. Deval Patrick’s political action committee, Together PAC. The story […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Patrick’s bewildering tax standoff
If you’re confused about the tax standoff on Beacon Hill, you’re not alone. Gov. Deval Patrick is going to the mat with legislative leaders over the mere possibility that transportation […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
Lyme disease wars
Warm weather is finally here and so begins the season for summer barbeques, long days on the beach, warm evening strolls — and Lyme disease. When it comes to the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Senate transparency moves — better than nothing (and House)
The Massachusetts Senate stepped gingerly into the digital age last week. And when the chamber arrived in the future, or at least a version of the future from several years […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The agita of agendas
It’s the time of year – actually, every other year – that the haughty process of setting agendas is at the forefront. It’s a period of high-mindedness, hope, promise, and […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
DiMasi appeal runs on Dunkin’
In the end, with Sal DiMasi, it all comes back to Dunkin’ Donuts.William Cintolo, the lawyer who unsuccessfully defended former House Speaker Sal DiMasi against federal corruption charges, is a […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, The Download
Weighing the Legislature’s containment strategy
Health care reform in Massachusetts has never been just about Massachusetts. It wasn’t when Mitt Romney, Robert Travaglini and Sal DiMasi pushed through a blueprint for national universal health care, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Gov. Patrick and the tale of two bills
If the end of the General Court’s 187th session precipitated a chaotic though predictable scramble to move the session’s most consequential bills, it was an even more challenging time for […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Legislature loses track of time
Two years ago, the Legislature slept on a ticking clock and paid the price. Lawmakers put off priority legislation, their prized casino bill, until the last possible moment, as is […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Sympathy for Sal
Former House speaker Sal DiMasi’s tragic story of failing to get prompt treatment from prison officials for tongue cancer is touching off a wave of sympathy, but it’s unclear whether […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download, Transportation
Death by a thousand transportation studies
When in doubt, study is the default strategy of Massachusetts lawmakers when it comes to dealing with prickly issues like transportation finance. Rep. Dan Winslow attempted to slaughter a sacred […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Tim-ber
This is the way the Legislature wanted it. If Tim Cahill had launched a quixotic gubernatorial run in 2006, and in the middle of this quixotic run, had he unleashed […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service, The Download
Tax breaks add up to big money
“Too complicated, too big.” Those were the words the Tax Expenditure Commission used to describe the tangle of tax breaks that amount to over $26 billion, or more in foregone […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download, Transportation
Transit insaniTy
It’s all over, including the shouting. If some MBTA riders actually thought that negative testimonies at public hearings were going to prevent fare increases and service cuts, now they know […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Mystery woman to run for office
The mystery woman who was at the center of a House chamber incident with a Braintree lawmaker last year says she is going to challenge Rep. David Torrisi of North […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
DeLeo bid to tamp down patronage talk does the opposite
Here’s how Charley Murphy rings out the old year, and rings in the new: The calendar turns, and the ambitious Burlington Democrat gets knocked down another rung in the House […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Odds improving for online poker?
Two Las Vegas gambling powerhouses, MGM Resorts and Boyd Gaming, are betting that Congress will legalize online poker — a development that could have deep ramifications for the casino gambling […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Compromise is cheaper
Bitter enemies are suddenly finding common ground on Beacon Hill. First, supermarkets and package stores endorsed legislation that would allow food stores to purchase more liquor licenses. Then insurance agents […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Rushin’ roulette
It’s hard to know what the right metaphor is to capture all the absurd gyrations and policymaking-on-the-run that have characterized the mad dash to casinos and slots. Sometimes it seems […]
