STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER vetoed a bill Friday that would allow unions to charge non-union employees fees for representing them in certain labor disputes, challenging the House and Senate to override him in order to restore a key source of funding for public sector unions. Baker supports allowing unions to charge non-members […]
Massachusetts politics
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers eat away at transparency
WE’RE PRETTY SURE it’s not what our friends at State House News Service had in mind when they dubbed their weekly podcast “State House Takeout.” And if lawmakers haven’t budged on the issue yet, it’s not clear that an exposé on a tray or two — or even what appears to be considerably more than that — […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker flunks driver’s license test
THE REGISTRY OF MOTOR VEHICLES, with its interminable waiting time and paperwork, has long been the state bureaucracy bane of drivers’ existence. Now it’s proving to be the same for Charlie Baker’s political standing. Baker has long eschewed the idea that he must articulate a grand vision, that his stewardship of state government needs to […]
Posted inPolitics
Embedded AG fellows raise concerns
A NONPROFIT BACKED with money from Michael Bloomberg is paying the salaries of 14 lawyers who are working on environmental and climate change issues for Democratic attorneys general around the country, including Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law, created in 2017 with $6 […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey vs. Trump
IN A 2016 FUNDRAISING PITCH just after Donald Trump was elected president, Attorney General Maura Healey said she wouldn’t hesitate to take the incoming president to court if he carried out his “unconstitutional campaign promises.” She insisted her role as “the people’s lawyer” is the “first line of defense against illegal action by the federal […]
Posted inPolitics
Pro-union bill receives big bipartisan support in House
DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS in the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to pass a bill backed by all of the state’s public-sector unions that would restore some labor power that had been sapped by a controversial US Supreme Court decision. In a 5-4 ruling last year, the court sided with Mark Janus, deciding he did not have […]
Posted inUncategorized
Health panel wants to open ‘black box’ of drug brokers
A QUASI-INDEPENDENT state agency tasked with monitoring the health care marketplace has made a foray into the debate over pharmacy benefits managers, calling for more transparency about the role the companies play in setting the cost of drugs. Pharmacy benefits managers act as a broker between insurers or government on the one side, and drug […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sen. Brady settles drunk driving case
Updated at 5:18 p.m. SEN. MICHAEL BRADY of Brockton on Tuesday avoided the hazards of a criminal trial in connection with his March 2018 drunk driving arrest, agreeing to a settlement that could pave the way for all charges eventually being dismissed. Under the terms of the agreement, Brady will see his license suspended for […]
Posted inOpinion
Be Republican, don’t be intimidated
WE REPUBLICANS in Massachusetts often feel the brunt of intimidation from our neighbors, co-workers, and sometimes even family members. The listener hears us speak approvingly of the Republican Party, of conservatives, or of FOX news; and if we speak of our frustration with the mainstream media or criticize it for being biased and broadcasting its […]
Posted inPolitics
Lynch edges away from his ‘pro-life’ label
CONGRESSMAN STEPHEN LYNCH says he will renounce his “pro-life” label if the term becomes defined by the slew of measures passed by state legislatures to severely restrict or eliminate abortions. It is a subtle step in a debate with life and death implications that has been raging across the country as part of what Lynch […]